Mark Thomas

Areas of expertise

• Strategic Networks
• Organizational Practices
• Institutional Change
• Competencies
• Personal and Managerial Development

Biography

Mark Thomas is Associate Dean and Director of International Affairs at Grenoble Ecole de Management, France. Originally an economist (University of York, GB), he began his career in the banking and insurance industry in the United Kingdom. He has worked in higher education in France for the past 20 years as professor, course director, director of business school programs and director of international affairs. His team manages international mobility for over 900 students, faculty and staff in 125 partner institutions as well as 700 000 euros in grants and scholarships. They have created and manage 3 off site programmes in China, the USA and Canada which bring together French and local students on a joint academic programme. In 2008, Mark was asked to set up an ambitious project to coordiante the international marketing activities of 7 independent French schools. This strategic alliance currently generates more than 2 million euros in revenue. He has worked extensivley for EFMD and AACSB. He is a Peer Review Team member of EPAS and will Chair his first peer review team in December 2013. He has spoken at many EFMD conferences on subjects such as the Promotion of Masters programmes, Intercultural Awareness within business schools and the use of Social Networks in the development of business schools. He is currently Chair of the Associate Deans Affinity Group at AACSB and has participated in the organisation of several conferences for AASCB. He has worked for the regional council of the Rhône Alpes Region, France as President of the International Commission for the Alliance of the 34 Grandes Ecoles for the region. He is professor of Strategic Management and has done research on the retailing and transport industry. He has also published articles on areas such as intercultural management and the future of education as well as the impact of accreditation. He has written for EMFD (Global Focus), AACSB (BizEd), the Financial Times & The Economist, Commerce in France, Les Echos etc. He has presented at many conferences for EFMD, CIBER and CAMOT. He also writes a blog, GlobalEd International Affairs in Higher Education, which deals with topical issues in management schools and higher education at large. He has completed 2 Masters Degrees in France (one in Strategic Management (EM Lyon & IAE Lyon III) and one in Linguistics (Lyon II)). In September 2013 he will complete the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School. His research deals with the resource based view of management development and looks specifically at the transfer of learning in within executive education. He current work includes a book on the international development of higher education over the next decade and research on the ethics the finance industry.