Fons Trompenaars is one of the world's most influential, living, management thinkers. He is recognised around the world for his work as consultant, trainer, motivational speaker and author of various books on all subjects of culture and business. As founder and director of Trompenaars Hampden-Turner (THT), an intercultural management firm, he has spent over 20 years helping Fortune 500 leaders and professionals manage and solve their business and cultural dilemmas to increase global effectiveness and performance, particularly in the areas of globalisation, mergers and acquisition, HR and leadership development. Fons began his career in the Personnel Division of the Royal Dutch Shell Group in 1981, where he looked at job classification and management development at the Shell Research Laboratories in nine different countries. He studied Economics at the Free University of Amsterdam and later earned a Ph.D. from Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Fons co-founded THT in 1985, with Charles Hampden Turner and together they pioneered the Seven Dimensions of Culture and Dilemma Reconciliation philosophy into a powerful approach for reconciling cultural differences. With his growing team of consultants, Fons has translated this approach into innovative, practical and profitable results in all areas of international business for such companies as: 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. Fons is the author/co-author of 13 books, including the best seller and “Book of the Year” Riding the Waves of Culture, Understanding Cultural Diversity in Business (1993). His other books include: the Culture for Business series, which comprises four books (2004-5), Riding the Whirlwind: Connecting People and Organisations in a Culture of Innovation (2007), and Innovating in a Global Crisis (2009). His most recent publication was in 2010 and is The Global M&A Tango: How to reconcile cultural differences in mergers, acquisitions and strategic partnerships. The Harvard Business Review has recently published his co-written article with Peter Woolliams entitled “Lost in Translation” regarding culture and failure. Fons Trompenaars has been awarded the International Professional Practice Area Research Award by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD).