Expertise

Fons Trompenaars is known all over the world for his work as consultant, trainer, motivational speaker and author of various books on the subject of culture and business. As founder and director of Trompenaars Hampden-Turner, an intercultural management firm, he has spent over 20 years helping Fortune 500 leaders and professionals manage and solve their business and cultural dilemmas to increase global effectiveness and performance, particularly in the areas of globalization, mergers and acquisition, HR and leadership development.

Professional Experience

Fons began his career in the Personnel Division of the Royal Dutch Shell Group in 1981, where he looked at job classification and management development at the Shell Research Laboratories in nine different countries. Here he met his partner, Charles Hampden Turner, with whom he has pioneered the Seven Dimensions of Culture and Dilemma Reconciliation philosophy into a powerful approach for reconciling cultural differences. With his growing team of consultants he has translated this approach into innovative, practical and profitable results in all areas of international business for such companies as: BP, Philips, IBM, Heineken, Applied Materials, AMD, VNU, TRW, Mars, Motorola, General Motors, Dow Chemical, CSM, Telfort, Wolters Kluwer, Gerling NCM, Merrill Lynch, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, ABN AMRO, ING, PepsiCo, and Honeywell.

Background

Fons Trompenaars studied Economics at the Free University of Amsterdam and later earned a Ph.D. from Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, with a dissertation on differences in conceptions of organizational structure in various cultures. He experienced cultural differences firsthand at home, where he grew up speaking both French and Dutch. Listed regularly since 2001 as one of the world's most influential, living, management thinkers, he has been awarded the International Professional Practice Area Research Award by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD).

Publications

Fons Trompenaars is the author/co-author of 10 books, including the best seller, Riding the Waves of Culture, Understanding Cultural Diversity in Business, published by Nicholas Brealey (1993). This book has been translated into eleven languages (including Chinese, Japanese, Turkish and Russian) and the Dutch translation of this book was awarded "Book of the Year" by the Order of Experts and Consultants on Organization (OOA). Some of his other books include 21 Leaders for the 21st Century (John Wiley and McGraw Hill, 2001), Did the Pedestrian Die (Capstone/Wiley 2003) and the Culture for Business series, which comprises four books (Capstone 2004-5). His latest book is Riding the Whirlwind: Connecting People and Organizations in a Culture of Innovation(Infinite Ideas 2007).

The Need for Innovation in Turbulent Times

Servant Leadership

Intercultural management

Working in a Global Environment

Internationalizing

The Global vs Local Dilemma