Fons Trompenaars

About Fons Trompenaars

‘Cultural diversity is not only a tremendous challenge, it is also a critical succes factor for worldwide operating companies and their leaders’.

Fons Trompenaars is the Managing Director of Trompenaars Hampden-Turner Intercultural Management Consulting (previously known as the Centre for International Business Studies; CIBS). An acclaimed author and advisor, he works with major global corporations to benefit from the vast opportunities presented by cultural differences. Trompenaars is an informative and insightful speaker who tries to convince his audience, lively and humourously with his liverly and humorous style, of the importance of cultural diversity in organisations. ‘A good leader brings the paradoxes, coming from that diversity, together. That’s why George Bush isn’t a good example for leadership’. Some people call him ‘the globetrotter among the Dutch gurus’.

Together with Michael Porter, Tom Peters and Edward de Bono he belongs to a group of leading management consultants. Fons Trompenaars serves as visiting professor for the international MBA Programme at the Erasmus University – Rotterdam School of Management. He studied Economics at the Free University of Amsterdam and later earned his PhD at from Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, writing his dissertation on the ‘differences in conceptions or organisational structure in various cultures’.

After completing his studies he worked for the personnel department of the Royal Dutch Shell Group in Rotterdam. In 1989, he founded the Centre for International Business Studies, nowadays Trompenaars Hampden-Turner Intercultural Management Consulting. His list of clients includes Shell, Motorola, Mars, TRW, Philips, Heineken, Applied Materials, Dow Chemical, GM, CSM, Telfort, Masterfoods, Dexia and Bombardier. Fons Trompenaars has developed a model to analyse cultural differences, the ‘Seven Dimensions of Culture Model’. He explains how reconciling cultural differences will lead to competitive advantage.

He is the author of the book ‘Riding the Waves of Culture, understanding cultural diversity in business’ (2nd edition, Nicholas Brealey, 1998). He co-authored with Charles Hampden Turner ‘The Seven Cultures of Capitalism’ (Doubleday, 1993) and `Mastering the Infinite Game’. October 2000 his book ‘Building Cross-Cultural Competence’ was published. 1991, Trompenaars received the International Professional Practice Area Research Award from the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD).