The Hansa Thought Leaders Network comprises a group of select, expert practitioners who are available to support our clients as part of a unified Hansa team. Hansa Thought Leaders are outstanding in their respective fields related to brand and customer experience challenges.
Charlie is an expert on life stage and cohort marketing and the impact of the aging baby boom on markets and consumer needs. He is also an expert on the implications of an aging workforce on company talent and organizational management.
Charles Schewe is a full professor in the Department of Marketing in the School of Management at the University of Massachusetts. He is also a principal and partner of Lifestage Matrix Marketing, focusing on positioning organizations for an aging marketplace. Representative clients at Lifestage include Eastman Kodak, Kellogg USA, The Vermont Country Store, Viacom, Levi-Strauss, Coca-Cola and Time Warner Cable. His areas of interest include managerial decision making, strategic planning, consumer behavior, marketing implications of an aging population, healthcare marketing and generational cohort segmentation. Dr. Schewe has authored numerous books and articles across a range of topics. Representative book titles include: Managing by Defining Moments: Innovative Strategies for Motivating 5 Very Different Generational Cohorts, Defining Markets; Defining Moments: America's 7 Generational Cohorts, Their Shared Experiences, and Why Businesses Should Care; and The Portable MBA in Marketing. He holds an AB in Economics and an MBA in Marketing from the University of Michigan and a PhD in Marketing from Northwestern University.
Curt is an expert on sustainability and green issues. He provides consulting to help organizations align around sustainability policies and practices.
Curt Berrien is a senior organizational consultant at Sustainability Partners. He is a recognized expert in workplace learning and organizational change in North America and internationally. Prior to joining Sustainability Partners, Mr. Berrien was president of The Bay Group, a training and consulting organization specializing in education of executives on ethics and installation of systems and management practices that support ethical and socially responsible behavior. He has completed extensive consulting and executive development assignments with numerous organizations including top-tier banks in the U.S. and Canada, energy corporations, financial services companies, media institutions and leading manufacturing and services corporations. Mr. Berrien has worldwide teaching experience. He received a BA degree with distinction from Wesleyan University and an MBA degree from the Harvard University Graduate School of Business with a concentration in organizational development.
Edward is an expert on the application of unique qualitative research approaches to uncover subconscious motivators behind human behavior. He has refined his own unique approach to metaphor elicitation to uncover opportunities for companies to create emotional bonds with prospects and customers.
Edward Wachtman is the founder and principal of StoryTellings, Inc.; StoryTellings™ is a proprietary research process that uses stories and storytelling to understand the emotions that motivate human behavior as well as a way to bridge the sometimes awkward chasm between academia and commerce. Applications of StoryTellings include understanding the emotions that drive customer and employee loyalty; identifying the most emotionally compelling story associated with a particular brand or experience; and providing input for creating effective communication strategies. He has worked with global organizations such as Ford, Daimler-Chrysler, General Motors, General Electric, IBM, Intrawest, DHL, British Airways, TD Bank Financial Group and Procter and Gamble as well as many smaller organizations to help them understand and articulate their stories and brands. He has a BA in Economics and Philosophy from Fordham University, an MA in Religion and advanced academic work in Educational Research from Syracuse University.
Dick is an expert on the application of behavioral science techniques to organizational operations and processes. He provides tactical and concrete ways of better managing customer relationships and creating emotional bonds with customers.
Dick Chase holds the Justin Dart Professorship in Operations Management at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business. Dr. Chase is widely known for his work in service design, specializing in applying concepts from operations management, organizational theory, and services marketing to the design of service processes. He is the originator of the customer contact theory for service organization design. Dr. Chase has consulted with a variety of organizations including IBM, MGM Grand, Westin Hotels, and Aloha Airlines. He has been listed among the top 20 contributors in the history of operations management in the International Journal of Operations & Production Management. The Journal of Retailing has identified him as one of the leading scholars in services marketing. He has published papers in numerous journals including the Harvard Business Review, the Journal of Service Research and the Journal of Operations Management. He serves on the editorial board or the editorial advisory board of a number of publications on operations management. He holds a BS in Business Administration, an MBA in Operations Management and a PhD in Operations Management from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Rick is an executive consultant specializing in executive coaching, leadership development, and the management of organizational talent and cultures for business results. He is a skilled facilitator of executive teams and an expert on enhancing people behaviors aligned with business strategies.
Richard C. Harris heads a private consulting practice founded in 2000, focusing primarily on leadership development and talent management strategy for senior executives. In this capacity he has conducted coaching engagements for United Technologies, The New York Times Company, and the TD Bank Financial Group. Senior leaders worldwide have participated in his leadership development programs. Prior to establishing the consulting practice, Dr. Harris worked for 20 years for The Forum Corporation, an industry-leading workplace learning company headquartered in Boston and held leadership positions at Forum including Managing Director for the U.K. and Global Head of Research as well as serving on the Board of Directors. In addition to executive responsibilities with Forum, Dr. Harris had significant responsibility for clients such as American Express, BP, Glaxo, Goldman Sachs and KPMG. His client work was concentrated in the areas of leadership development and learning strategy. Dr. Harris has extensive experience in the aerospace, financial services, energy, professional services and pharmaceuticals industries. He received a BA in English from Allegheny College and a PhD in Organizational Behavior from Cornell University.
Richard is a sought-after speaker for executive audiences worldwide. He presents on the topics of “Becoming Customer Driven” and on “Re-spiriting The Workforce”
Richard C. Whiteley is the principal of The Whiteley Group, an international speaking and consulting firm. His areas of expertise address high-impact leadership, employee retention and job satisfaction—elements of re-spiriting the workplace. He is a recognized expert on the customer-driven organization. Before establishing The Whiteley Group, Mr.Whiteley held the position of Vice Chairman of The Forum Corporation, an industry-leading workplace learning company headquartered in Boston. He is the author of The Customer-Driven Company, one of Fortune Magazine’s top business books; Customer-Centered Growth, a Business Week best-seller and one of Selling Magazine’s top business books; and Love the Work You're With: A Practical Guide to Creating Greater Joy and Productivity in Your Job. He has appeared on national and local television and radio and is a former columnist for Sales and Marketing Magazine. Mr.Whiteley holds an MBA from Harvard.
Steven is a senior physician-executive with an established track record of achievement in healthcare marketing, product design and management and strategic leadership. He has special skills and experience in accelerating the process of clinical acceptance of new technologies, knowledge management, public and medical affairs, and relationship management within the healthcare community.
Steven Merahn is currently the General Manager & Chief Medical Officer of DE-ID Data Corp LLC (automated solutions for patient data repositories that meet patient privacy standards) and also the General Manager of Modern Medicine (online clinical decision-support for healthcare professionals). With diverse experience as both an entrepreneur and a corporate executive, he has, as examples, both led the development and growth of a venture-backed technology start-up through acquisition and served as general manager of an operating division of a global, publicly held company. As a marketing and product management professional, Dr. Merahn has overseen 20% growth of a $30 million healthcare information services product portfolio, successfully launched new products into highly competitive markets resulting in millions of dollars in first year revenue and consistently driven new business development efforts at 25% growth levels. A board-certified pediatrician, Dr. Merahn is a graduate of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
VK is an expert on market research methods and customer lifetime value analysis. He has developed leading edge techniques to improve companies’ returns on investment from marketing programs for numerous global firms.
V. Kumar is Chairman and CEO of IMC International. He is also the ING Chair Professor of Marketing and Executive Director, ING Center for Financial Services in the School of Business, University of Connecticut. He has extensive consulting experience in Marketing Intelligence, Database Marketing, CRM Analytics and Marketing Strategy projects for Fortune 500 firms. Dr. Kumar has received many teaching and research excellence awards and is currently listed in Who's Who Worldwide and Who's Who among Global Business Leaders. He has published numerous articles on marketing in scholarly journals including the Harvard Business Review, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Marketing Science, and Operations Research. Dr. Kumar has also authored several books on marketing topics. His book Managing Customers for Profit was recently released by Wharton School publishing. A member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, Dr. Kumar received his Bachelors in Engineering (with Honors) and Masters in Industrial Management (with Honors) from the Indian Institute of Technology, and his PhD. in Marketing from the University of Texas at Austin.
