Thunderbird in Europe, Middle East and Africa

While Thunderbird’s Executive Education rankings speak for themselves, so too do the school’s connections across the globe. Consider Europe, the Middle East and Africa, where Thunderbird not only assists multinational corporations and nonprofits in their global strategies, but also plays a role in improving economic prosperity.

• Switzerland
• France
• Germany
• United Arab Emirates
• Saudi Arabia
• Jordan
• Libya
• South Africa

Switzerland

Geneva, Switzerland is home to Thunderbird Europe, home of our Executive MBA-Europe program and headquarters for the school's Executive Education operations across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. An influential hub for international affairs, major multinational companies, the United Nations and dozens of NGOs, Geneva serves as a host city for various Thunderbird programs each year.

Thunderbird's reach across Switzerland includes:

• Customized programming for multinational clients such as Swiss-based Novartis, for which Thunderbird has developed a series of executive leadership courses, delivered annually in multiple cities worldwide
• A strategic partnership with the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) in Geneva, focused on shared programming in Executive Education, including support for Thunderbird’s Executive MBA-Europe program (modular, for working professionals across EMEA). The partnership leverages the research, expertise and networks of both institutions for delivering open enrollment and certificate programs to address both the private and public sectors.
• Participation at the World Economic Forum (based in Geneva) events in Davos, Switzerland. Named a “Global Leader for Tomorrow” by the World Economic Forum, Thunderbird President Ángel Cabrera has attended and presented at the Forum’s Annual Meetings. Cabrera serves as the founding chair of the Forum’s new Global Agenda Council on Promoting Entrepreneurship.
• Open Enrollment Executive Education courses (non-degree programs on rotating topics)
• Annual one-week and two-week programs that host students from other Thunderbird programs for exposure to the various United Nations Organizations, NGOs and corporate sectors
• Value-added activities for Thunderbird alumni Chapters based in both Geneva and Zurich

France

French company Legrand, a world provider of electrical installation products and services, has a global presence in more than 70 countries, a workforce of more than 30,000 and nearly 170,000 product offerings.

To manage its diversity and global business strategy, the company worked with Thunderbird on the development of a customized International Leader’s Program. Key program modules included “Leveraging Organizational Resources for Business Results,” “Leading and Managing the Team,” and “Preparing for the Transition from Managing to Leading.”

Germany

Since 2007, about 100 top-tier executive leaders of Fortune Global 500 company Henkel AG & Co. KGaA have participated in a custom executive development program held twice each year at Thunderbird’s Glendale campus.

With 55,000 employees operating in 125 countries, Henkel sought to develop global leaders who are adept at executing strategy in unfamiliar environments. The answer was Thunderbird’s two, custom five-day programs that focus on practical solutions for emerging multinational corporations. Executive participants have included those from the company’s Dusseldorf, Germany, headquarters and Henkel’s North American consumer products division headquarters in Arizona (Dial Corp.), as well executives from China, Russia and Turkey.

United Arab Emirates

Since April 2008 Thunderbird has partnered with Abu Dhabi- and Dubai-based Zayed University, providing faculty for the university’s M.S. in international business degree, as well as a U.S. (Arizona) capstone experience for students. This partnership is supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. Department of State’s Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) and the Higher Education for Development (HED).

• As part of a grant from the HED, Thunderbird has administered the Global Mindset Inventory to Zayed faculty, staff and students to help modify the university’s curriculum to better develop students’ global leadership potential.
• The HED grant also supports collaborative casestudy work between both institutions, focusing on UAE global business strategy, business expansion within the UAE and economic development opportunities in the country.
• The Thunderbird-Zayed partnership includes Zayed-hosted immersion classes for Thunderbird students in the UAE.

Saudi Arabia

• The Xenel Group, a global conglomerate, is reshaping the way HR works in Saudi Arabia thanks to Thunderbird's insight. Experts in Thunderbird’s Learning and Consulting Network developed a two-week, action-centered learning workshop to enhance HR employees’ business consulting skills. Through the Business Acumen Development workshop, the HR team is now a business partner with constituents throughout the company.

Jordan

Thunderbird was chosen to partner with the Jordanian Business Development Center as part of a USAID grant aimed at bringing business education expertise to the region. In its effort to assist with the growth and development of entrepreneurs and small- and medium-sized enterprises in Jordan, Thunderbird delivers:

• SEEDS (Supporting Entrepreneurs and Enterprise Development Seminars) – a program that provides women with entrepreneurial training, coaching, mentoring and access to resources that allow them to start or grow businesses in Jordan.
• Executive Training – in-country seminars taught by Thunderbird faculty that focus on business management and leadership for mid-level managers, executives, business owners and women entrepreneurs.
• Maharat Program – a trimester experience at Thunderbird’s U.S. campus for graduate-level Jordanian students, who earn a Certificate of Global Studies.
• Friends for Success – business consulting services offered to Jordan’s small- and medium-sized enterprises by Thunderbird students individually and in teams, while completing their Winterim and trimester study programs.

Libya

When trade sanctions were lifted from Libya, the country’s oil and gas sector experienced a sudden surge in growth, as well as an influx of international partnerships and joint ventures. Libya’s National Oil Corp. (NOC) turned to Thunderbird’s 20 years of oil and gas expertise to help develop a sustainable talent development blueprint to meet the industry’s growing needs as a modern international corporation and to prepare the company for future growth.

In preparation for the development of a customized oil and gas training program, Thunderbird conducted focus groups at major NOC operations, as well as a hands-on, three-day seminar for employees. The custom program under current development will include three specific modules for employees at the leadership, managerial and supervisory levels.

South Africa

• With offices in more than 20 countries and on five continents, South Africa's Standard Bank sought to educate leaders in understanding and approaching the varied environments and cultures of its emerging markets. This knowledge, taught through Thunderbird’s Understanding Emerging Markets program, helped hundreds of executives better understand and predict consumer behaviors.
• Thunderbird has also introduced Full-time MBA and Executive MBA students to South Africa’s emerging markets since 1997, offering onsite, three-week transatlantic seminars. Taught by Thunderbird professor Femi Babarinde, a Nigerian native and expert on business issues in Africa, the seminar exposes students to local high-level corporate executives and alumni, as well as historic sites and social and political conditions.