Fons Trompenaars

Authority on Managing Cultural Diversity

Fons Trompenaars is the Managing Director of Trompenaars Hampden-Turner Intercultural Management Consulting (previously known as the Centre for International Business Studies; CIBS). An acclaimed author and advisor, he works with major global corporations to benefit from the vast opportunities presented by cultural differences.

Having developed a model to analyse cultural differences, the so-called “Seven Dimensions of Culture Model”, he shows how managing complexity in a heterogeneous environment is a major challenge for today’s international managers and corporate leaders as well as a critical component of long term success. He explains how reconciling cultural differences will lead to competitive advantage.

Fons gained hands on experience while working for the Royal Dutch Shell Group handling operations in nine different countries and his 15 years of research. He now develops programs for cross-cultural management that have empowered organisations throughout the business world. He not only discusses the implications for managing or being managed, working together, building relationships, team working, negotiating and communicating with people from other cultures, but more so aims to increase understanding the underlying values of different cultures. This leads to greater respect for diverse ways of operating and to the desire and skills for reconciling cultural differences to achieve “world class” business performance.

Fons Trompenaars has worked as a consultant for such companies as: Shell, 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.

A highly acclaimed author, Fons’ Riding the Waves of Culture was a world wide best seller and is described as a masterpiece on intercultural management in the emerging global village. He recently published his latest book, 21 Leaders for the 21^st Century.

Fons serves as Visiting Professor for the international MBA Programme at the Erasmus University - Rotterdam School of Management. He read Economics at the Free University of Amsterdam and later studied for his PhD from Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, writing his dissertation on the 'differences in conceptions or organisational structure in various cultures.

An informative and insightful speaker, Fons also entertains with his lively and humorous style. He addresses audiences around the world, in English, French, Dutch and German.