Strategy Forum: Turning Adversity into Success
 
                          
  

Carsten SCHLOTER, CEO, Swisscom
Carsten Schloter has been CEO of Swisscom since January 2006. While studying business administration at the Université Paris-Dauphine, he joined Mercedes Benz in France and rapidly rose to become Head of the Dealer and Office Automation/Organisation Department. He entered the telecommunications sector in 1992, joining the newly-founded debitel France. In 1995 he moved to the company's head office in Stuttgart following his appointment to the Executive Board as Head of Customer Care, Risk Management, IT and Quality Management. In April 2000 Carsten Schloter joined the Swisscom Executive Board as Head of Swisscom Mobile. Mandates: Chairman of the Board of Directors, Fastweb S.p.A. Milan, Italy.
 
  
 

Frank BROWN, Dean, INSEAD
Frank Brown is the second American Dean since the foundation of the school in 1957. His appointment in 2006 – on the basis of business rather than academic credentials – made INSEAD history. Prior to joining INSEAD, Brown had a distinguished 26-year career at PricewaterhouseCoopers, including leadership of the firm's Assurance and Business Advisory Service, Transactions Services and Corporate Development practices, then head of the $3.5 billion Advisory Services operating unit. During this time, he was a guest speaker on leadership at various universities and business schools and started a leadership development programme called Genesis Park in order to develop the next generation of PwC leaders, drive cultural change and promote a global perspective. More


 

Lonnie HOWELL, CEO, EFG International
Lonnie Howell is currently Chief Executive Officer of EFG International, a public bank holding company.  From 1995 to 1997, he was CEO of the predecessor entity, EFG Bank.  He had been Chief Executive Officer of EFG Bank Zurich  from 1997 to 2005. He was with Coutts & Co. International Private Banking from 1989 until 1995, where he was Head of Americas based in New York and responsible for clients domiciled in the Americas as well as for the bank's offices in the U.S., the Bahamas, Bermuda, Cayman, and Latin America.   Prior to 1993, he was Head of Americas and Asia in Zurich and New York. From 1986 to 1989, he spent three years at Citibank Switzerland as Vice President in charge of Swiss Ultra High Net Worth Clients. From 1985 to 1986 he was with McKinsey & Co. in New York consulting on insurance, retail banking and private banking.

   


Martin OESTERREICHER, Member of Group Management Board, Head Casualty Division, Swiss Re
Martin Oesterreicher joined Swiss Re in 1978 as a member of the Non-Proportional Property Treaty department. Since then he has more recently worked on the underwriting side but across the entire time span also for more than 15 years in various client market functions. From 1983 to 1989 he worked in Tokyo and from 1989 to 1992 in Zurich in marketing for the Japanese and South Korean non-life market, before moving to the non-life marketing department for Germany, Central and Eastern Europe. In 1997 he was appointed head of this marketing department and a year later joined the Executive Team of the Europe Division heading Property and Casualty Underwriting. From 2001 till September 2005 he has been serving as Divisional Underwriting Officer for Europe Division. Martin Oesterreicher is Stanford Alumn.

 

Monika RIBAR, President & CEO, Panalpina
Monika Ribar joined Panalpina in 1991. She held several positions within the Group’s controlling, IT and global project management departments. From 2000 until 2005, she held the position of the Chief Information Officer of the Group and was member of the Executive Board. In 2005 Monika Ribar was appointed as CFO of the Group and in June 2006 her appointment as CEO was announced. She officially took office as CEO in October 2006. She holds a university degree in Finance and Controlling from the University of St. Gall. She participated in the Executive Program of the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, in 1999. Other functions: Member of the board of directors of Bank Julius Bär Ltd., Zurich. Member of the board of directors of Logitech International SA, Romanel / Morges.
   

 
Swiss Global Business Forum (Swissglobe)
 
   

Blaise GODET, Ambassador of Switzerland to China, Mongolia and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
Blaise Godet was born in 1947 in Neuchatel. He has a law degree from the University of
Neuchatel and is qualified as a lawyer. He started his professional career in one of the big Swiss banks and entered the diplomatic service in 1974. Prior of being appointed Ambassador to China, Mongolia and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in 2008, he served as Ambassador in over 8 countries as well as at Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York.
   
   


Christian ETTER, Ambassador, Member of the Executive Board of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO)
Christian Etter is the Delegate of the Swiss Federal Government for Trade Agreements and Member of the Executive Board of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) at the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Bern, Switzerland. He heads the Special Foreign Economic Service Division of SECO, in charge of trade in goods, trade in services, international investment and international economic treaty law. In his position, Ambassador Etter is chief negotiator and head of the Swiss delegation in negotiations on Free Trade Agreements. Since 2000, he negotiated Free Trade Agreements with Canada, Mexico, the Republic of Korea, the Gulf Cooperation Council, Egypt, Tunisia, Croatia and Lebanon. He currently leads negotiations with China, Thailand and Hong Kong. Christian Etter studied eco­nomics, management and law at the University of Bern, Switzerland, and economics and business administration at the Graduate Business School of the University of Rochester, Rochester NY, USA. He received a Master's and a Ph. D. degree in economics from the University of Bern, Switzerland.
   

Donald S. BEYER JR, the United States Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein 
Donald S. Beyer Jr. was sworn in as the United States Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein on August 5, 2009. He took up his duties in Bern on August 15, 2009. Ambassador Beyer is a nationally recognized political, business and philanthropic leader.  Over the last thirty years, he built a strong reputation in Virginia, where he grew a successful and reputable business, and spent eight years as Lieutenant Governor.  Throughout his adult life, Ambassador Beyer has been very active in Virginia and national politics.  In 2008, he chaired the Transportation and Land Use working group of the Governor’s Virginia Commission on Climate Change.   Before his nomination to be Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, he was asked by President-elect Barack Obama to lead the United States Department of Commerce Transition Team. More
   
 



 Gustavo RAITZIN, CEO Latin America, Spain, Russia, Central & Eastern Europe and Israel,
Julius Baer
Gustavo Raitzin has been heading Julius Baer’s private banking business for the Americas, Spain and Portugal since 2005. As of 2010 heading International Markets in Latin America, Spain, Russia, Central, Eastern Europe and Israel. He began his career in international banking in 1981 with Citibank N.A. in Buenos Aires, New York and Zurich. In 1990, Raitzin joined Chase Manhattan Private Bank in Geneva as Director Latin America. From 1995 until 1998, he assumed responsibility for the Brazilian market and served as Chief Operating Officer for Latin America and Asia-Pacific at Union Bancaire Privée in Geneva. Until 2005, Raitzin held several key management positions with ABN Amro, including Head of Private Clients Latin America, Global Head of Products & Sales and Head of Private Banking Switzerland. He was a Member of the Executive Committee of ABN Amro Private Banking, Amsterdam. Raitzin graduated from the Belgrano University, Argentina, in 1989 with a degree in law. He completed senior management programs at Insead, France, and IMD, Switzerland.
   
 

Johnny CHEN, CEO, Greater China / Southeast Asia, Zurich Financial Services
As a member of the Executive Committee of Zurich’s International Businesses Division, Johnny oversees the businesses in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan markets. Chen began his career at KPMG in public accounting. After KPMG, Johnny went to work within such accounting firms as Peat Marwick Mitchell & Company and Price Waterhouse Coopers. In 2005, he joined Zurich Financial Services. Chen emigrated from Taiwan to New Haven, Conn. at 13. In 1987, as part of a teaching team for the Professional Accountancy Training Program organized by the World Bank, he was one of the first professional accountants from the U.S.A. in China. Chen has served as Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in China since 1995.
   

Kurt HAERRI , Managing Director Top Range Division, Schindler Elevator Ltd &
President, Swiss-Chinese Chamber of Commerce 
 Kurt Haerri worked for Schindler in China from 1996 to 2003. During the initial stage of his assignment he introduced several new Elevator Product Lines to the Chinese market. He also became a member of the Schindler China Management Team taking charge of the New Installation Business in this booming market. After his return to Switzerland in 2003, he took over the Supply Chain Management Division at Schindler Switzerland as a member of the Executive Committee. In 2005 he became Head of the New Installation Business of Schindler Switzerland and in addition in 2008 Head of the Modernization Business.
Since May 2006, Kurt Haerri is the President of the Swiss-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, a private non-profit organization founded in 1980 and registered in Zurich. Kurt Haerri graduated at the University of St. Gallen as an Executive MBA HSG and before that in 1990 as Mechanical Engineer at the Lucerne University of Applied Science.
   

Ernesto Niklaus MOERI, Chairman & CEO, ECOGEO
Chairman and CEO of ECOGEO, the holding company which controls GEOKLOCK - environmental consulting and engineering, BIOSOL - assembly and operation of remediation systems, BIOLATINA and ECOGENESYS – energy generation from renewable, non-food based biofuels, and BACHEMA – soil and water analysis. ECOGEO has approximately 180 employees and a turnover of US$ 25 million in 2008. After receiving his Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Berne, Switzerland (1975), he began his professional career as an exploration geologist, working in the USA, Greenland, Bolivia and Brazil. In 1980 he founded GEOKLOCK, which is today a leader in environmental technology. Ernesto Moeri was President of the Swiss-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce from 2000 to 2006, and has been President of the INSTITUTO EKOS BRASIL since 1999.
   

Rafael BENKE, Senior Executive of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability, Vale
Rafael Benke is Senior Executive of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability at Vale, the world’s second largest mining company. Rafael joined Vale in 2006 to support the set up of the international affairs department, was later  appointed Vice President of Corporate Affairs and International Relations for Vale Inco (nickel business), based in Toronto, and more recently as Senior Executive, Corporate Affairs and Sustainability at Vale International in Switzerland. Rafael held positions in the public and private sectors, including legal advisor to Brazil's Secretary of Foreign Trade (Brasilia, Brazil); coordinator of international affairs in the Brazilian Textile Industry Association (São Paulo, Brazil); consultant for the Organization of American States - OAS (Washington-DC); trainee at the World Trade Organization - WTO (Geneva, Switzerland);  international associate at the law firm Steptoe & Johnson LLP (Washington DC); general manager for international affairs at the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Brazil). Rafael is an attorney, specialized in international law. He holds a Master in Law of International Economic Relations (Catholic University of São Paulo, Brazil) and an LLM in International Economic Law (The University of Warwick, England). He was a visiting scholar and editor assistant at Georgetown University Law Center (Washington DC, USA) and a fellow of the Institute of International Economic Law (Washington DC, USA).
   

Felix M. SUTTER, Senior Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers & Swissglobe Chair (China Track)
Felix M. Sutter is a senior Partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers Switzerland's Risk & Control Solutions Practice based in the Singapore office. He has had many opportunities to work and travel within the Asian region during the last decade. In particular, he has spent the last five intensive years, living in Beijing and serving local and international clients in mainland China. Having relocated to Singapore recently, he now focuses on serving MNC clients operating in or out of Asia. Mr Sutter's recent clients included China Life, New China Life, China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co. Ltd, Zurich Financial Services, Novartis, AIA/AIG, Shanghai Electric and Shandong Gold. Sutter has an Executive MBA from IMD, Lausanne.
   
  Maria Stela Pompeu BRASIL FROTA, Ambassador of Brazil to Switzerland
(more info soon)
   
Stephan TITZE, CEO, Syngenta China
Mr.Stephan Titze has been in China for the last 6 years, leading the growth track for the Syngenta Crop protection business to the leading market position in China, by introducing new technologies to Chinese farmers to improve their yields, food quality and farm income. He is originally Swiss and also an Australian citizen. He studied Agriculture and Marketing at Queensland University and spent his early working life in Australia with ICI, (now Orica). He has held various marketing and business management positions in Australia, Europe, East Europe, and Asia. Previous roles included General Manager Indonesia, Business Manager East Europe and European Strategy Manager. Stephan has been the Chairman of Crop Life China, the International Crop Protection Companies industry association in China and is also the Vice President of Swisscham China in Shanghai.
   
New Management Forum
   
April Samulewicz, Global Head Talent Acquisition Center of Expertise, Zurich Financial Services
April Samulewicz (born in the United States) joined Zurich Financial Services in Zurich, Switzerland, on November 1, 2009 as the Global Head of Talent Acquisition CoE. Ms. Samulewicz holds an MBA on International Human Resources from the Chaminade University, Hawaii, and has more than 15 years experience in Group Human Resources leadership positions across Human Resource Business Partner (HRBP), Operations and Center of Expertise (CoE) roles. Before joining Zurich, Ms. Samulewicz was the Managing Director for Human Resources & Operations for Bearing Point Inc., Asia Pacific and Latin America. Ms. Samulewicz’s key areas of expertise are building strategic HR organizations and initiatives to accelerate business transformation and growth, including but not limited to employer branding, recruitment marketing, innovation in human capital and talent acquisition strategies and practices.
   
Beatus Hofrichter, Senior Manager, Life Science Industries, Deloitte Consulting AG
Beatus is co-author of the "Swiss MedTech Industry Survey” – Editions: 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010. As specialist in strategy, business transformation and operational excellence, he has over 10 years' consulting experience across a variety of industries, predominately in the medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and food industry. Beatus has also held positions in European and global operations at Sony Music Entertaiment Europe and Cilag AG International (a Johnson&Johnson Company)

 

  
   

Francisco FERNANDEZ, CEO & Member of the Executive Committee, Avaloq
Franciso Fernandez has been CEO of Avaloq since 2000. Fernandez was leading the growth of Avaloq from a start-up company to a holding company with more than 500 employees. The Avaloq Group AG is a Swiss software and IT services firm that specializes in banking software. Their core activity is the development and distribution of its own core banking system, the Avaloq Banking System, which is currently used by more than 30 leading banks in Switzerland. Fernandez has a degree in Computer Science from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH) and a post-graduate degree in business administration from BWI Zurich.
   

Igor AKHMEROV, CEO, Avelar Energy
Igor Akhmerov is the founder and CEO of Avelar Energy Group. Prior to joining Avelar, he was CFO of Renova Group, a major international investment management company with wide-ranging interests in the energy sector, including a substantial share in TNK-BP, a vertically-integrated international oil and gas company. He started his career with Bain & Company, before taking a role as First Vice President of Economics in TNK, one of the largest Russian oil & gas companies at that time. After the acquisition of a 50% stake in TNK by BP, he was placed in charge of strategy and investment for the newly-formed TNK-BP as Vice President for Investment Governance. He holds a BA degree from the Moscow Institute of Management, an MBA from the Wharton School of Business and MA from the Lauder Institute of International Relations.
   
Diana VERDE NIETO, Founder, Clownfish
Diana Verde Nieto is the founder and CEO of Clownfish, a sustainability communications consultancy
established in London in 2002. Besides her 14 years of experience in the marketing communications
sector, she has an extensive knowledge of sustainability issues and legislation. Verde Nieto has also served as a consultant specializing in marketing alliance for sustainable management. She has advised the Chartered Institute of Marketing’s Sustainable Programme and has been involved with a number of non for-profit organizations, such as the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the United Kingdom Meteo-rological Organization (Climate Group), Clinton Global Initiative, Tomorrow’s Company, the United Nations Environment Program, the British Government and the European Union. In 2009 she was ranked
6th in the CSR International Top 100 Leader list.
   
Leadership Forum
   


 		  Beth KORN, Alumni Career Coach, Kellogg School of Management
Beth provides career coaching to MBAs and alumni of top U.S. and international business schools.  Beth focuses on personal effectiveness and is experienced in career transitions and career re-entry, helping people discover and launch their "Chapter Two."  She helps her clients get "unstuck," providing motivation and accountability so that they can create their desired future.  Beth counsels on a wide range of career issues, including: Resume Review, Self-Assessment, Search Strategies, Networking, Interview Preparation, Negotiations, and Executive Coaching. Beth has a strong industry background; she previously held senior marketing positions with Fortune 100 companies across the U.S., like Kraft, AT&T, and Time Warner.  A native of New York, Beth holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management in Marketing and International Business, and a BA from the University of Michigan. She also trained at the Copenhagen Business School. For more information, go to: www.bkcareercoach.com
   
Hannah GREENWOOD, Managing Director, Cascãd &
Associate of London Business School
Hannah is a leading international teacher and Executive Coach who works with individuals and global teams, from senior executives to board level, to facilitate creative enquiry and implement change. She specialises in Transformational Leadership, Personal Impact and Communication. Formerly a teacher of English Literature and Language and Head of Counselling Courses at the Metanoia Training Institute for Psychotherapy, Hannah combines her teaching and therapeutic expertise to enable individuals to engage with their passion and to achieve excellence in their chosen field. Clients include London Business School, WPP, the BBC, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds, Nestlé, Roche Pharmaceuticals and Danone. Hannah is also an Associate Tutor and Coach on Leadership Development programmes at London Business School, including the Senior Executive Programme, MBA, Sloan Fellowship. For more information, go to:  www.hannahgreenwood.com
   
 

William COLLINS, Rotterdam School of Management
Bill Collins is Senior Academic at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and teaches in-company management development programmes and classes in Human Resources and Organisational Behaviour. Bill has taught programmes for AstraZeneca, Kendrion, Vopak, Corus, Henry Schein, Pliva, Unilever, Deutsche Telekom and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Before moving to the Netherlands, taught executives at Instituto de Empresa in Madrid, where he was also the Director of the Human Resource Center. Previously, Bill was a Human Resource consultant at Towers Perrin, one of the world’s largest global management consulting firms, in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. His work also included the development of competency based training systems and the development frameworks for attracting, selecting and retaining talents. Bill received his Ph.D. and Master’s degrees in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, USA.

   
Innovation Session
   


Alan MATCHAM, Director, Leading Edge Forum Executive Programme
Alan is a Director of the Leading Edge Forum Executive Programme, a global research and advisory organisation dedicated to addressing the key issues at the intersection of business and IT. Prior to joining the LEF, Alan was the Executive Director of the Management Innovation Lab (MLab) at London Business School an applied research centre dedicated to identifying new models of management fit for the 21st century. Prior to MLab, he worked for the Oracle Corporation as Director of Change Management, Europe, Middle East and Africa, then moved on to become Director of eBusiness Consulting and – finally – its first Head of Thought Leadership and Academic Programmes. Alan remains a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and is an Associate of the MLab at London Business School, Oxford Said Business School and a Visiting Professor at Newcastle University Business School.

  
  
  

Marc P. BERNEGGER, Co-Founder, Country Manager Switzerland &
Chief Customer Officer, amiando.com
amiando, a leading online tool for event organization, has been selected as a Technology Pioneer 2010 by The World Economic Forum. Marc is responsible for all clients and as Country Manager Switzerland, he is furthermore in charge for the Swiss market. Besides his studies at University of Zurich the attorney has experience in banking, journalism and legal and after graduation he worked at a corporate law firm. As an entrepreneur Marc P. Bernegger founded usgang.ch, the leading event platform in Switzerland (bought by Axel Springer).
   
 
 Markus SCHMID, Member of Executive Board, Head of the IT Division, Swiss Re
Schmid started his career at Andersen Consulting in 1991 and, from 1996 to 2000, worked for Boston Consulting Group, where he mostly focused on market strategy, client segmentation and business models/organisation as well as IT value management. Markus Schmid joined Swiss Re in 2001 as Chief Information Officer and Executive Team Member of the Property & Casualty Business Group. His main focus was on managing the global implementation of the P&C application landscape. He fostered the development of a global approach to the operational steering of Swiss Re's P&C business and initiated the
implementation of a global IT business support organisation on the basis of the ITIL framework.
In 2005 he was assigned responsibility for Swiss Re’s Client Markets & Products related
business application architecture including Life & Health, Property & Casualty, AdminRe and
Commercial Insurance business. 
   



Dr. Patrick GRISS, Business Unit Manager and Partner, Zühlke Technology Group
Patrick Griss is developing cutting-edge technologies and interdisciplinary products mainly in the biomedical and industrial sector. In his capacity he is analyzing, assessing and optimizing innovation and industrialization processes. He received the M.Sc. degree in microengineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, in 1999 and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2002. His research is focused on the application of microdevices to the biomedical field, including transdermal interfaces and biochemical lab-on-chip.  Dr. Griss won, together with two colleagues, the final of the Swedish Innovation Cup in 2001. Zühlke is an independent technology and consulting company for customized software solutions, product innovation and management consulting.