Panel C: Managing and Leading Organizations

Mr. William R. Dodson is CEO of Silk Road Advisors, a China Business Development and Legal Services firm with offices in Chicago, Beijing and Suzhou, China. He is on the faculty of the University of Notre Dame's International Programs for Executive Education Department. He has spoken extensively throughout the United States on various China-entry topics, and has been quoted in Chinese, Australian and American publications about Doing Business in China. Several MBA programs use China-business case studies he has developed as part of their curricula. He makes his home in Suzhou.

Mr. Yasuyoshi Koie is credited for the commercializing and launching of the 1st color plasma display monitor in the world market. Mr. Koie is a Board Member and Senior Corporate Auditor of Fujitsu General Limited, a Fujitsu Group company specializing in manufacturing and marketing of home appliance and visual system products, and until recently, he managed Fujitsu General’s global sales and marketing efforts as the Executive Vice President of International Operations. Spending most of his career outside of Japan, he is credited for Fujitsu General’s global expansion, creating a sales force of over 400 in regions including Oceania, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. Originated as a domestic manufacturer in Japan, Fujitsu General now has annual sales above $2 billion, of which over $1.5 billion are from global sales.

Mr. Koie earned his economics degree in 1969 from the Kobe University of Commerce. He has lived in the New York area for over 20 years. Married with two children, he is an avid runner, and is scheduled to run the Chicago Marathon this Sunday.

Ms. Kyung Yoon is Vice Chairman of Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc., the world's premier provider of senior-level executive search and leadership consulting services. Ms. Yoon leads the Asia Pacific expansion for Heidrick & Struggles and has management responsibility for the Singapore, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Taipei, Shanghai and Seoul offices.

Prior to joining Heidrick & Struggles, Ms. Yoon was President of Benten Investments, Inc. Previously, she was President of Pacific Union Asset Management and Vice President of Dillingham Development Company. Ms. Yoon started her career with Banque National de Paris.

Ms. Yoon is recently elected President of the Asia America MultiTechnology Association (AAMA) for 2006, She also serves on Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government Women's Leadership Board and Stanford University's SPRIE Greater China Networks Project Advisory Board.

Ms. Yoon has received numerous awards including the most recent 2004 Asia Pacific Leadership Award by the University of San Francisco Center for the Pacific Rim, for building bridges of understanding between Asian cultures and the United States. She is featured frequently in major media and publications including "Managing Asia," "Working Women in Asia" and "SmartMoney Asia" on CNBC, and Sunday Times, The Business Times in Singapore, Han Kook Il-Bo and Business Weekly in Korea, South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, and Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal.

Ms. Yoon obtained a bachelor's degree in economics and French from Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland, and holds an MBA in finance and marketing from the University of Chicago.

Professor Tanya Menon is Associate Professor of Managerial and Organizational Behavior at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business where she currently teaches a course on Power and Influence in Organizations and a Ph.D. course on Social Psychology of Organizations.  She has written articles that consider how national culture affects people's everyday assumptions and their patterns of decision making.  In addition, she has published papers about how organizational culture affects knowledge transfer and learning.  This research examines how managers respond to new ideas, and particularly why they sometimes value knowledge from insiders, competitors, and consultants differently.  Her articles have appeared in the Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, Personality and Social Psychology Review , and Management Science among others. She is currently researching leadership and culture.

Professor Menon has taught courses in India, Singapore, Barcelona, and Chicago.  She was the winner of the 2006 Faculty Excellence Award for exceptional commitment to teaching as voted by Evening and Weekend M.B.A. programs.   

Professor Menon earned her BA degree in Sociology from Harvard University and her PhD in Organizational Behavior from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.  At Harvard, she won a Thomas Templeton Hoopes Prize for having one of the best senior theses. Menon was also the recipient of an American Marshall Memorial Fellowship, a Kaufman Foundation Grant for research on Entrepreneurship, and a Stanford Center for Conflict and Negotiation Fellowship.  Prior to graduate school, Menon was a research assistant in INCAE Business School in Costa Rica and an intern in Morgan Stanley's London office.