Thunderbird in Russia

Since 1996, The Center for Business Skills Development in Russia (CBSD) has been part of Thunderbird School of Global Management. Originally founded by U.S. West and USAID in 1994, CBSD was one of the first to offer personnel development services in the Russian market. Today, CBSD — also known as Thunderbird Russia — is a leader in customized training and development programs for the Russian market. Thunderbird Russia, with its training and employee development focus, helps solve business issues and develop future leaders through custom programs and licensed international offerings. Learn more about Thunderbird Russia’s (CBSD) executive development programs and hallmarks:

• Thunderbird Russia Partners
• Thunderbird Russia Clients
• Thunderbird Russia Programs
• Hands-On, Experiential Learning Opportunities
• Personnel Assessment/Development and Lean Courses
• Professional Certifications

Thunderbird Russia Partners

Partnerships with a host of globally recognized institutions, certification entities, training technology specialists and consultants allows Thunderbird Russia to offer cutting-edge programs that benefit Russian and international companies operating in the CIS:

• Eagle’s Flight
• Center for Creative Leadership
• Stalla
• Becker
• WorldatWork
• BTS
• Strategic Management Group
• Belbin

Thunderbird Russia Clients

Companies in a range of industries — oil and gas, energy, consumer goods, retail, information technology, automotive, telecom, mass media/advertising, consulting, logistics, and agriculture — have taken advantage of Thunderbird Russia’s programs that include a four-prong approach: needs-identification, program materials development, program delivery and post-program assessment. Below is a partial list of global clients:

• Coca-Cola
• McDonald's
• Shell
• Adidas
• Microsoft
• Boeing
• Jaguar/LandRover
• Golden Telecom
• DHL
• Citibank
• GlaxoSmithKline
• Philips
• BASF

Thunderbird Russia Programs

Thunderbird Russia offers dozens of executive development programs that focus on the following business topics:

• Management and Leadership
• Project Management
• Sales and Marketing
• Human Resources
• Finance and Managerial Accounting
• Personal Effectiveness
• Special Skills Programs

Hands-On, Experiential Learning Opportunities

Research has proven that active, hands-on instructional activities help learners cement new knowledge and incorporate ideas and habits into their professional work environment. Thunderbird Russia offers a series of business simulations, business games and experiential learning programs:

• Looking Glass Leadership Program — four-day management program designed to identify strengths and development needs of leaders at all levels, using a sophisticated business simulation and assessment/feedback tools.
• Experiential Learning Programs — five experiential learning simulations on the Russian Market offered in partnership with Eagle’s Flight, a provider of hands-on training programs for organizations and employees around the globe.
• Case Studies — cases developed and written by Thunderbird trainers, based on the actual facts and business realities of a client company, exposing critical business problems for review.
• Board-game Simulations — three board simulations for the Russian market – Sales Efficiency, Business Acumen and Black Gold — provided in cooperation with Thunderbird Russia partner, BTS.
• Computer Simulations — three computer-based simulations focused on strategic management, project management and collaborative negotiations, offered in conjunction with Strategic Management Group (SMG).

Personnel Assessment/Development and Lean Courses

Thunderbird Russia’s Personnel Assessment team has worked with more than 2,000 individual employees from dozens of Russian and multinational companies, providing a range of services:

• Candidate selection for vacant positions
• Succession planning
• Performance management services
• Performance-based compensation program development
• Training and development needs identification
• Training costs optimization

Thunderbird Russia’s Lean Trainers also offer courses that utilize the Toyota Production System’s systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste associated with manufacturing processes and service delivery (known as Lean Manufacturing/Lean Production):

• Introduction to Lean
• Value Stream Mapping
• Building a Lean Organization
• Lean Office

Professional Certifications

In association with its international partners, Thunderbird Russia offers executives a comprehensive range of certification programs in the accounting, finance and international human resources fields:

• Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
• Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
• Certified Management Accountant (CMA)
• Global Remuneration Program (GRP) certification