Christine Pearson, Ph.D.

Features for January 2010 Log on for Faculty to Alumni webcast presentation: Thunderbird Professor Christine Pearson, Ph.D., will present "The Cost of Bad Behavior: How Incivility Is Damaging Your Business and What to Do about It" at noon EST on Jan. 13. Read more... 50 percent discount available for certificate programs: Thunderbird alumni now receive a 50 percent discount on executive education certificate programs taught online or in the classroom in 2010. Read more... Students set up laboratories in Peru, Rwanda and Vietnam for TEM-Lab: Teams of full-time Thunderbird students will soon be on the ground in Peru, Rwanda and Vietnam as business consultants in a new program called the Thunderbird Emerging Markets Laboratory (TEM-Lab). Read more... Rankings 101: Understanding the rankings and the role alumni surveys play in their results: As alumni, your participation in surveys holds considerable weight in the calculations used by top rankings organizations such as the Financial Times, BusinessWeek, the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, and U.S. News & World Report. Read more...

News Briefs

Homecoming registration now open
Homecoming registration has started. Celebrate with your T-bird friends March 25-28 on the Glendale, Arizona, campus. The four-day event includes presentations from Thunderbird professors and the always-popular Regional Night. Alumni from all graduating class years are encouraged to return to campus. For a schedule of events or to register, click here.

Resolve to attend a chapter event in 2010
If you haven't been active in the Thunderbird Alumni Network, make 2010 the year you connect with fellow T-birds in your hometown and around the globe. See events in the Chapter News section below or search for your local chapter on MTB. Traveling in 2010? See if there is an alumni chapter in your destination city. Local T-birds will be glad to know you are visiting.

Thunderbird helps Iraq reconnect to global economy
Senior Iraqi officials, faced with the challenge of reintroducing their country to the global economy following decades of isolation, conflict and corruption under Saddam Hussein, came to Thunderbird for a custom program Dec. 14-17, 2009. Click here to read more.

Winterims to bring students and alumni together
Thunderbird students travel the globe on Winterim programs each January to experience new regions and cultures. In New York City, finance and marketing students will meet NYC alumni on Wednesday, Jan 6. Students focused on sustainability will join Rio de Janeiro alumni on Thursday, Jan 14. Shanghai alums will host students at a reception on Friday, Jan 15, and then those students will travel to meet Hong Kong alums aboard a harbor cruise on Friday, Jan 22. Thank you to all alumni chapters hosting students this month!

Student call center reaches alumni
The Alumni Relations Office would like to thank all alumni who have spoken with students during the first months of a new Campaign Thunderbird call center. Students have spoken with more than 3,000 alumni on six continents and have received updated contact information from more than 1,000 graduates. This updated information is critical to the strength of the alumni network. If you would like to update your contact information, please call 602-978-7358 or e-mail alumni@thunderbird.edu.

Chapter News

Knowledge Network

Visit the Thunderbird Knowledge Network

Thunderbird Making Headlines

Thunderbird Alumnus Kevin Chenowith featured as a "Laid Off and Looking Blogger", Wall Street Journal, December 16, 2009

Thunderbird lands Iraqi deal, Financial Times, December 10, 2009

Inspiration makes up for that smaller wage cheque, Financial Times, December 9, 2009

More Thunderbird in the News

January Features (continued)

Log on for Faculty to Alumni webcast presentation
Thunderbird Professor Christine Pearson, Ph.D., will present the second forum in the 2009-10 "Faculty to Alumni Webcast Series" at noon EST on Jan. 13.

Her presentation, "The Cost of Bad Behavior: How Incivility Is Damaging Your Business and What to Do about It," will examine the toll that bad behavior can have on otherwise well-functioning companies. Stopping workplace incivility is not about making 'nice' but about making money. Pearson will share strategies that successful organizations use to stop incivility before it takes hold.

The webcast series offers T-bird alumni a way to stay connected to the school and its faculty and to extend learning beyond graduation.

Please join us to learn more about this timely topic. To submit questions for the professor, please e-mail alumni@thunderbird.edu. You may e-mail questions anytime, including during the webcast. If you have questions or need assistance, please contact Janet Chicvara at 602-978-7358 or janet.chicvara@thunderbird.edu.

mms://thunderbirduni.wmlive.internapcdn.net/live_thunderbirduni_vitalstream_com_AlumniStream

Click here on Jan 13 to join the webcast.

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50 percent discount available for certificate programs
Thunderbird alumni now receive a 50 percent discount on executive education certificate programs taught online or in the classroom in 2010. Continue learning at Thunderbird even after your MBA with these short, nondegree programs, which focus on current global business issues and skill development.

All Thunderbird Corporate Learning programs are designed by Thunderbird's world-class faculty especially for working professionals.

Classroom programs range from three days to two weeks and are taught by Thunderbird faculty on campus and other locations. They are filled with practical lessons and offer a chance to network with diverse professionals from around the world.

Upcoming classroom programs include:

-- Leading and Managing in Turbulent Times: Global Leadership Certificate Program, March 2-4, 2010 or May 25-27, 2010, Thunderbird campus.

-- Effective Leadership Communication, five evenings from April 13-27, 2010, Phoenix, Arizona.

-- Communicating and Negotiating with a Global Mindset, May 11-13, 2010, Thunderbird campus.

-- Advanced Management Program for Oil and Gas Industry Executives, Nov. 1-12, 2010, Thunderbird campus.

-- Globalization: Merging Strategy with Action, dates to be determined, Thunderbird campus.

-- Leading Global Projects for Strategic Results, dates and location to be determined.

Thunderbird also offers independent study online programs and facilitated executive online certificate programs. Some of the topics covered include: Leadership, marketing, finance, strategy, supply chain management, cross-cultural communication and negotiation.

Online programs feature 24-hour secure Web-based access, a highly interactive learning environment and Thunderbird-quality content.

To register or get more information on any program, visit www.thunderbird.edu/open or call (602)978-7627.

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Students set up laboratories in Peru, Rwanda and Vietnam for TEM-Lab
Teams of full-time Thunderbird students will soon be on the ground in Peru, Rwanda and Vietnam as business consultants in a new program called the Thunderbird Emerging Markets Laboratory (TEM-Lab).

The laboratory is a capstone course where participants apply the full range of professional skills they acquired in their studies. During the spring 2010 trimester that starts Jan. 25, students will spend six weeks in the field working directly with host organizations in emerging markets.

One goal of the laboratory, led by Thunderbird Professor Michael Finney, Ph.D., is to transfer knowledge and skills that will help build social and economic infrastructure in countries that traditionally have been left out of the rush to development.

"TEM-Lab is leading Thunderbird into the next decade as we redefine economic growth as not only sustainable, but inclusive," said Charles Reeves '09, TEM-Lab Program Manager.

Finney said the laboratory will help student success in emerging economies when they graduate, further differentiating Thunderbird from other global business schools. "It will bring knowledge and skills to real pressure points in the global economy-where inclusive growth is ready to break out at the base of the pyramid," he said. "TEM-Lab is what Thunderbird is all about."

To grow, TEM-Lab needs to tap the Thunderbird Alumni Network all over the world for potential consulting projects and funding. Connections made now, in the Lab's inaugural year, will have a lasting impact on what is ultimately envisioned as the signature experience of the Thunderbird MBA.

For more information, please contact Finney at michael.finney@thunderbird.edu or Reeves at charles.reeves@thunderbird.edu.

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Rankings 101: Understanding the rankings and the role alumni surveys play in their results
As alumni, your participation in surveys holds considerable weight in the calculations used by top rankings organizations such as the Financial Times, BusinessWeek, the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, and U.S. News & World Report.

Participation in surveys is important on two fronts: 1.) Each of the rankings require a predetermined percentage of survey responses for Thunderbird to even qualify for the ranking. 2.) The answers to the surveys are factored into Thunderbird’s total score. Keep in mind that many of these surveys only go to graduates from a particular year or set of years, so it is important for you to respond if you receive a survey.

Many of the rankings are based on a combination of school-provided data as well as results from surveys of students, alumni, corporate recruiters, and/or business school deans and program directors. The specific methodology varies by organization.

The snapshots below will serve as a quick guide for you in understanding some of the rankings and how they are factored.

Rankings that involve alumni surveys:

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