When Thunderbird and LG executives first began discussions, one thing was clear: LG considered their human capital the company’s most important resource. Together, we built a custom MBA program specifically for LG, delivered by Thunderbird faculty and focused around LG’s global vision, strategy, products, industry and competitors.


Global Mindset

Situation

LG is a major South Korean electronics and telecommunications company with 72,000 employees doing business in over 39 countries. With overseas sales accounting for 86% of LG’s annual revenue of $35 billion, this forward-thinking company has an ambitious goal: by 2010, to become one of the top three electronics and telecommunications companies worldwide. The issue its top executives face? How to impart a Global Mindset® on the company’s next generation of leaders in order to grow its enterprises around the world.

Thunderbird Approach

When Thunderbird and LG executives first began discussions, one thing was clear: LG considered their human capital the company’s most important resource. Although ideas first centered around developing an executive leadership program, together the two sides gravitated toward a very different idea: a custom MBA program built specifically for LG, and delivered by Thunderbird faculty at the LG Learning Center in South Korea. Working together, the two partners used a solutions-based approach by focusing the MBA content not around functional areas, but around LG’s global vision, strategy, products, industry and competitors.

LG Result

According to members of the first class of LG executives who graduated in 2006, the custom Thunderbird-LG MBA program has resulted in:

  • More insight into global strategies and greater ability to view opportunities and threats from a global perspective.
  • A higher degree of next-day application of concepts through applied learning, since the program is centered around LG’s specific strategy, industry and competitors.
  • Increased openness to innovation, with senior managers more able to take on roles as change agents.
  • Greater passion company-wide to develop and value a truly Global Mindset®.

Bottom Line

With more than 150 LG executives slated to complete the custom MBA program in the next 4 years, LG’s unique learning partnership with Thunderbird is building the Global Mindset® of the company’s next generation of leaders to achieve their business results.

Read more about Language, Culture & Negotiation Programs.