The Leading Speakers Bureau

Serial Entrepreneur, Founder & Owner of AirAsia.com, Owner of Lotus F1 team, 2009 Airline CEO of the Year

Tony Fernandes is the founder of Tune Air Sdn. Bhd., who introduced the first budget no-frills airline, AirAsia, Malaysia’s second largest airline of which he is the Director. He was also instrumental in lobbying the then-Malaysian Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammad in mid-2003, to propose the idea of open skies agreements with neighbouring Thailand, Indonesia, and Singapore. As a result, these nations have granted landing rights to AirAsia and other discount carriers.

“Believe the Unbelievable, Dream the Impossible and Don’t Take No for An Answer” Tony Fernandes

[expand title=”In detail”] Educated at Epsom College 1977-83 and then graduating from the London School of Economics in 1987, Tony Fernandes started his career at Virgin Atlantic as an auditor, subsequently becoming the financial controller for Richard Branson’s Virgin Records in London from 1987 to 1989. Upon his return to Malaysia, he became the youngest-ever managing director of Warner Music where he was responsible for revolutionising ethnic music. However, when Time Warner Inc announced its merger with America Online Inc., Fernandes left to pursue his dream of starting a budget no-frills airline. In 2009 he launched the first ever long-haul Low cost airline (with Sir Richard Branson) flying from London to Kuala Lumpur.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Having joined the ranks of the world’s elite leaders in the ‘Young Global Leaders’, Tony Fernandes is a true visionary and exceptional leader whose presentations are high in actionable content and full of inspiration.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]A familiar face in the aviation industry as well as on an international level having been featured on the front cover of many high profile magazines, Tony Fernandes means business. He has an amicable, warm and yet highly informative style.[/expand]
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Expert on Japanese Issues, President of International Business School IMD (Switzerland)

Prof. Dominique Turpin was named IMD President in 2010. He is also Nestlé Professor at IMD and was previously the director of the IMD MBA (Master of Business Administration) and PED (Program for Executive Development). Given the recent developments in Japan in 2011, he is in great demand in the media for insights into Japanese issues as he attained his Ph.D. in Japan, speaks Japanese, lived in Japan for 5 years and has been responsible for the Japanese market for 25 years.

“Dominique Turpin is a leading Business Expert”

[expand title=”In detail”] Dominique Turpin received his master’s degree from ESSCA in France and earned a doctorate in economics from Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan. He has worked as a consultant and management educator, directing customized programs with a large number of international companies. He also served as a board member for ITOCHU Europe, a leading Japanese trading company and the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne. Prior to joining IMD, he spent several years in Tokyo as a representative of a French firm in Japan. He served as Visiting Professor at the Keio Graduate School of Business Administration, Japan. Since 1994, he serves as the IMD representative on the Academic Council of the China-Europe International Business School in Shanghai (People’s Republic of China).[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]With widespread executive seminar and consulting experience for clients in Europe, Asia and Latin America, Dominique Turpin shares his insights on the impact of brands in a global world and models for long-term growth, profitability, stability and survival through periods of crisis. His current research focuses on brand management. He has been widely published in more than 100 books, articles and case studies including the Financial Times, European Business Forum and MIT Sloan Management Review. In his presentations he shares his extensive knowledge in areas of marketing and international strategy both in Europe and in Asia, particularly in the area of brand management, customer orientation and communications strategy.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Educating business leaders to address managerial dilemmas has long been IMD’s central tenet and Dominique Turpin is a high-calibre speaker who helps nurture a new generation of emerging market leaders eager to assume their new role on the world stage.[/expand]
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Asia Economist, ASEAN Strategic Affairs, Director & CEO-Centennial Asia Advisors, Singapore

Manu Bhaskaran has spent nearly 30 years analyzing political and economic trends in Asia, first working for the Singapore government in the area of regional security and then for 12 years as Chief Economist and Chief Strategist for Asia of SG Investment Bank, the international investment banking arm of Société Générale. He has also developed excellent personal contacts with policy makers as well as business leaders in Asia. He is a leading figure in a number of economic institutions.

“Manu Bhaskaran is a well-regarded commentator on Asian financial & economic affairs”

[expand title=”In detail”] Manu Bhaskaran has a Masters degree in Public Administration from the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a Bachelors degree in economics from Cambridge University. In addition to these, he has also qualified as a Chartered Financial Analyst. He has penned columns for the Far Eastern Economic Review and continues to have regular columns in business weeklies such as the Nikkei in Japan. He has also served as a Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, a Singapore think tank. Although he left service with the Singapore government in 1989, he has continued to participate in several governmental initiatives. He is a Council Member of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs which advises the Singapore Foreign Ministry. Manu joined Centennial Group in 2002.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Heading the Centennial Group’s strategic advisory work in developing Asia and leading the group’s economic research practice, which provides in-depth analysis of Asian macro trends for investment institutions, governments and companies with interests in Asia, Manu Bhaskaran is ideally positioned to provide unique, on-the-ground assessments of the Asian macroeconomic environment for business executives trying to weigh-up the risks and rewards of investing across different countries in Asia. He is a frequent speaker on Asian issues at major conferences such as the World Economic Forum. His strength is in being able to look at countries from an overall perspective, rather than looking at them as individual economies.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]With experience from close to 30 years working at the highest levels in both the financial sector in South and Southeast Asia and government service in Singapore, leading Asian economist, Manu Bhaskaran delivers highly informative and astute presentations at prestigious events worldwide.[/expand]
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INSEAD Chaired Professor of Strategy, INSEAD & Chief Advisor, China India Institute

Prof. Anil K. Gupta is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading experts on strategy and globalisation. He is currently the Professor of Strategy and Organization as well as Research Director at the Center for International Business Education & Research at The University of Maryland. He also serves as chief advisor to The China India Institute, a Washington DC-based research and consulting organization.

“One of the Top 20 North American Superstars for research in strategy and organization” Management International Review

[expand title=”In detail”] Prof. Gupta received a doctorate from Harvard Business School and an M.B.A. from the Indian Institute of Management. He has served as a visiting professor at Stanford University, Dartmouth College, Bocconi Business School (Italy), Helsinki University of Technology (Finland), and IPMI (Indonesia).

The recipient of numerous awards for excellence in research and teaching, Prof. Gupta has been recognized by Business Week as an Outstanding Professor in its Guide to the Best Business Schools and inducted into the Academy of Management Journals’ Hall of Fame. He is frequently quoted by the media in the U.S., China, India and Europe.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Prof. Gupta outlines how companies can leverage the market and the resource opportunities presented by the China and India phenomenon to achieve global dominance within their particular industries. He also talks about the key questions that business leaders must address in order to develop winning strategies to go global and to transform global presence into global advantage. He offers conceptual frameworks that business leaders can use to answer these questions.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Anil Gupta’s candid presentations on the global perspective and the realities of China and India are highly captivating, insightful and thought-provoking.[/expand]
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One of the leading European liberal economists, Global adviser for the President of South Korea and Chair the India France economic council

Prof. Guy Sorman is considered one of the leading European liberal economists. He has held several public offices, including advisor to the prime minister of France (1995-1997), Member of the National Commission for Human Rights and deputy mayor of Boulogne (since 1995), near Paris. In 2008, he was appointed as Global adviser for the President of South Korea. Since 2000 he chairs the India France economic council, since 2007 a syndicated columnist for Project Syndicate and since 2009 he is the President of the Boulogne – Billancourt Economic Council.

“A leading French thinker”

[expand title=”In detail”] Guy Sorman has been awarded the highest Argentinian and Brazilian distinctions: The Order of May and the Southern Cross. He taught economics at the Paris Institute of Political Sciences from 1970 to 2000 and at many other Universities over the globe. In 1985, he was a visiting scholar at Stanford, Hoover Institution. He is a regular columnist for Le Figaro in France, the Wall Street Journal and City Journal (contributing editor) in the US, Dong A in Korea, Fakt in Poland , La Nacion in Argentina, and other publications around the world. In 1975, Guy Sorman founded Editions Sorman, a publishing company specialized in Economics and Legal affairs.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Guy Sorman has renovated classic liberalism by showing how it could lead any country towards growth, in any civilization: culture, religion, tradition, even political institutions. He explains how obstacles to development can be overcome when the right economic policy is implemeted. He advises governments and organisations worldwide on the importance of a rational and economically sound answer to ecological anxieties.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Human rights leader, Government advisor and leading economist, Guy Sorman expertly provides his worldwide audiences with whole new perspective on economics, China, India and other global issues.[/expand]
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Former Canadian Minister of Trade, Canadian Ambassador to the WTO, President Canada China Business Council

Sergio Marchi is a former Canadian politician who served as a federal Cabinet Minister in three different portfolios during his time in government: Citizenship and Immigration, Environment, and International Trade. He was also the Ambassador of Canada to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Office of the United Nations (UN), in Geneva, 1999 – 2004, and a UN Migration Commissioner, 2004 – 2006. He also served as the former President of the Canada China Business Council. Sergio Marchi is an Adjunct Professor at Webster University, in Geneva, where he teaches a graduate course on Globalisation.

“Sergio Marchi is one of the leading voices on global politics and economics”

[expand title=”In detail”] Marchi left politics in 1999 to accept an appointment as Canadian Ambassador to the World Trade Organisation in Geneva. He was subsequently elected unanimously as Chairman of the WTO’s General Council. In the private sector he has fulfilled roles as the Senior Business Advisor, Lang Michener LLP, from 2006 to 2008 and is the Senior Advisor, to the Chairman of a Family-owned International Business Enterprise. He was also the Chairman of the Canadian Services Coalition from 2006 to 2008.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Sergio Marchi informs and engages as he contributes incisive analysis of how organisations and individual leaders can deal with challenges, prepare for a new world and develop a truly global perspective. He brings a trusted, tested international perspective to such issues as the world economy, politics, and globalisation showing audiences how global events resonate locally. An extensive career, both in business and government, puts the Honourable Sergio Marchi in an excellent position to also explain the impressive growth and role of China within the international community.[/expand]
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Professor of Management Practice, Global Authority on Achieving Strategic Agility

Donald N. Sull is a Professor of Management Practice in Strategic and International Management and Faculty Director of Executive Education at the London Business School where he designed, directs and teaches an intensive week-long “boot camp” to help senior executives thrive in turbulent markets. He has been identified as a guru by the Economist, which named his theory of active inertia as an idea that has shaped business management over the past century. His current research areas include how successful companies make and execute strategy in unpredictable markets, regulated technology-intensive industries (medical devices, telecommunications), and high-tech sectors (enterprise software, consumer electronics).

[expand title=”In detail”] Donald’s current research areas include how successful companies make and execute strategy in unpredictable markets, regulated technology-intensive industries (medical devices, telecommunications), and high-tech sectors (enterprise software, consumer electronics).[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]In his invaluable presentations Donald advises established and start-up companies on the most suitable business strategies and growing revenues while maintaining financial and operational discipline. In particular he demonstrates how to successfully operate in volatile industries and markets.[/expand]
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Leading Strategic Advisor on Branding Excellence

Martin Roll is founder and CEO of VentureRepublic, the leading strategic advisory firm on Branding Excellence to corporate boards and top-management teams in multiple industries across Asia Pacific and Europe. Martin brings 15 years of senior experience from the global advertising industry, and he also served as Chief Marketing Officer for a global technology company and a healthcare company. He holds an MBA from INSEAD and divides his time between Asia and Europe.

“Martin was instrumental in supporting our initiative, and particularly in focusing the audience”
Andrea Ragnetti, Chief Marketing Officer, Royal Philips Electronics

[expand title=”In detail”] Martin Roll is Visiting Professor in Strategic Brand Management at the China European International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai recently ranked the top Executive Education in Asia by Financial Times. He is guest lecturer at INSEAD, and he also lectured at The Danish Marketing Association, the Danish Design Academy and the Copenhagen Business School.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Martin delivers the combined value of an experienced international branding strategist, a senior advisor to boards and management teams and an internationally renowned speaker and sought-after workshop host.[/expand]
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Leading Business Specialist on Asia

In January 2006 he left Arthur D. Little’s Asia Pacific Advisory Council, where he was Vice Chairman providing council on high level strategic and operational issues for companies in the Asia Pacific region.

“One of the best managers ever seen in China”

[expand title=”In detail”] Martin’s prolific career began in the automotive industry. He is the former Commercial Executive & Deputy Managing Director of the Shanghai-Volkswagen Automotive Company in China. Continue Reading »

Leading Management Strategist

Dr. Kenichi Ohmae is an acclaimed management strategist renowned for his work on globalisation and the borderless economy. He is a concert playing flutist, a nuclear physicist, would-be politician, a former McKinsey consultant and much more. He is also the dean of two private schools in Tokyo: Isshinjuku, which studies public policy, and Attacker’s Advantage, which studies Entrepreneurship. He is also the Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the UCLA School of Public and Social Research.


The Financial Times called Kenichi Ohmae “Japan’s only Management Guru”

Kenichi Ohmae has been ranked among the top 50 most influential business thinkers. In 2009 Thinkers 50, the global ranking of management gurus, placed him among the list of most influential thinkers

[expand title=”In detail”] A graduate of Waseda Unversity and the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Ohmae joined McKinsey consultants in 1972 after the completion of his PhD at MIT. He spent 23 years at McKinsey where he cofounded its strategic management practice, eventually leaving to stand for the Governorship of Tokyo in 1995.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]His special area of expertise is formulating creative strategies and developing the organizational concepts to implement them. Some of the world’s most successful companies continue to seek his help in shaping their competitive global strategies. He urges executives to tap into the new global stage and its new platforms of economic power and growth.[/expand]
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