Who We Are

James Hamilton - BridgeS E C role (j.hamilton@bridges-ec.com)

    Executive Coach (in German and English) for strategic issues. The emphasis is first, on growth strategies and crisis management (new ventures, product introductions, value migration and market disruption) and second, on complex international negotiations. As the firm’s managing director (Vorstand) since year-end 2009, guide its practice development.

Experience

Management Positions

• Member of the board (Aufsichtsrat), Sparkleview Ltd., Hong Kong, since ´05.

• Director (Vorstand),Lauren Jane Associates, LLC, California, since ´98, representing the firm´s European interests.
  
• Interim Managing Director (Vorstand) and court appointed conservator, Hampton Books (1995 -´97), South Carolina, U.S., a privately held holding concern spun off from the New York Merchandise Company, Inc. in 1946.
• President (Geschäftsführer), BFS GmbH (1990 - ´94), until its sale to the conglomerate Krupp AG.    
• Project manager in Silicon Valley in the 80s. Representative projects:

      - extensive work for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in San Francisco,         with loan review signatory authority to $500,000, also served as the district´s              Foreign Trade Officer for two years (´87-´88).

      - auditing project for the Industrial Indemnity Financial Corporation, a subsidiary                of Xerox Corp. in San Francisco on a $750 million portfolio of surety bonds and               limited partnerships as part of discontinuing the operation (´86). 

• Area manager (Gebietsmanager), developed an agency and distributor network in 26 countries for Olin Corp., a Fortune 500 chemical multinational, based out of East Alton, Illinois (´79-82).
• Manager, New York Merchandise Company, Inc., New York U.S.

      - Country Manager, Iran (´75-79), professional staff of 30, held P&L responsibility.

      - Business Analyst in Switzerland, coordinated team of six Harvard MBAs (´74-75).

Academic Positions

• Faculty leader, European University, Munich campus, 2004. Previously:

      - Adjunct faculty since the 90s, with an international emphasis in marketing,               corporate strategy and negotiation courses and seminars (the deal versus the                on-going business), cf. Negotiation Milestones.

• Adjunct faculty, Midland Tech, South Carolina (´96-´97).
• Adjunct faculty, Graduate School of Business, Golden Gate University, San Francisco (´88-´89).

 Education

•  MBA (´74) Massachusetts Institute of Technology, (M.I.T.´s Sloan School), Accelerated Graduate Program in cross-registration with Harvard Business School, Harvard Law School and the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Master’s thesis on Aspects of Foreign Direct Investment in U.S. Real Property, 226 p. (´74). 
• B.A. (´70) Economic History, University of Pennsylvania (Honors Economics, Wharton).

Addendum

• Notary public (Notar) in the State of South Carolina with a term from May 17th 2010 to May 17th 2020.¹
• Entrepreneurial interests: winner, Munich Business Plan Competition, Stage 1, (2004); awarded two patents (German, 2000 & U.S. 1998); served on start-up advisory boards since the 90s and on the Steering Committee, Stanford New Enterprise Forum of Stanford Business School (´88-´89).
  
• Continuing Education: University of South Carolina (´84-´85); Rheinische Friedreich-Wilhelms Universität Bonn, Germany (´72).
• International background: Lived in eight countries, including over a decade in Germany; done business in over thirty, cf. International Experience. Languages - English (native speaker) and German (Großes Deutsches Sprachdiplom, GDS 2004; Toastmasters CTM, 2000); some Spanish.
• Personal: Physical fitness enthusiast since serving in the U.S. Marine Corps (Honorable Discharge,´72); eclectic reader and sometime book collector.

1 The appointment to public notary in South Carolina does not require one to be an attorney, but rather to receive a political nomination, which is then (automatically) approved by the governor. The deonitic requirements for discharge of one´s duties are hence less strict than in the German case. However the notary´s powers do extend to that of marrying people.

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Magdaléna Dušková - BridgeS E C role (m.duskova@bridges-ec.com)

    Key Account Manager responsible for cllent acquisition. Assists determining the firm´s marketing strategy and the associated CRM system. On leave of absence to complete a Masters thesis.

Experience 

• Instructor Eurolingua s.r.o. in Bratislava, Slovakia (2008). Concentrated on small group courses (maximum of four students) and individual tutoring.
• Acting Supervisor Department of Foreign Transactions at Tatrabanka a.s., Bratislava, the country´s largest bank (2007-2008). Direct report to the department´s head, Dr. Zuzana Kollarova. Appointed as acting supervisor of the staff for the accounting and charging fees section -- at the age of 19 the youngest section manager in the bank´s history. Held this position for a year before leaving to devote full time to university studies.

Education

• Completing graduate studies in management at the University of Economics, Bratislava, Slovakia. Master’s thesis is on Iterative Strategy Formation, an Inductive Approach in which strategy as a concatenation of key decisions is examined. As an integral part of the empirical research, have developed a brief questionnaire about the use and delivery of Strategy Tools & Techniques. Would greatly appreciate its being filled out!
• Attended the MBA program at the Leipzig Graduate School of Management, Germany (2007/2008) for one year as an exchange student through winning an Erasmus scholarship, receiving a total grants package of 9,500€.
• B. Sc. (2009) in Economics, University of Economics, Bratislava, Slovakia.

Addendum

• Co-founder of a planned EC Competency Center for Corporate Strategy.
• Languages: Slovak (native speaker), fluent Czech and English. Enjoyed childhood courses in French and traveling to Paris; current focus on learning German. Attended English-speaking Toastmasters Clubs in Munich and also represent Bridges at the Munich branch of the American-German Business Club.
• Personal: long distance running (shades of Kathrine Switzer and Bobbi Gibb, cf. ”12, Two Role Models” at CXO Careers) and white water rafting (4 to 12 person teams navigating rapids, a good strategy-in-turbulence analogy).

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Philipp Fröhling - BridgeS E C role: (p.froehling@bridges-ec.com)

    Operations Officer on a project basis; Career Coach (in German and Spanish) for people beginning their careers, or facing an abrupt change in them. Contribute to Entrepreneurship Coaching and also to Executive Coaching when it is related to marketing opportunities or cultural issues within an Hispanic context.

Experience

• Market researcher and freelance journalist in Munich since 2008. Assignments include B2B and B2C research for H,T,P Concept with branches in Munich, Zurich, and Mumbai (India).
• Consultant for ConM Gesellschaft für Meinungsforschung und Regionalanalysen mbH (2007- 2008). Prepared qualitative and quantitative reports, such as CSI & MSI (Customer and Management Satisfaction Indices) and devised procedures for CATI (Computer Aided Telephone Interviews). Met high priority deadlines in a self-directed team. 
• Advisor (associated with graduate studies) to “Regeneración Cultural,” a UNESCO project in Oaxaca, Mexico (2004).
• Market Research for a tourism management firm in San Jose, Costa Rica (2004).
• Dispatcher for a shipping operation in Gröbenzell via the Malteser Hilfsdienst organization (1999-2000).

Education

• Masters (´07) in Geography with a 1st (Diplom, Note sehr gut, 1.5) from Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich. Major in geopolitical conflict resolution in Latin America with a double minor in political science and ethnology. Masters thesis was an empirical study of a political movement in Mexico: Die Raumeinahme einer sozialen Bewegung in Oaxaca, Mexiko, eine empirische Untersuchung.

Addendum

• Guest lecturer about Mexican political issues at Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich (2008), and at the Institute for Sociology, Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria (2008).
• Member of ARGE ÖLAF in Austria for Latin American researchers since 2008.
• Youth councilman for the city of Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany  (2000 - 2001).
• Member of CEDI, Centro de Dialogos Interculturales de Encuentros, since 1997.

• Languages: German (native speaker), fluent Spanish and a good written command of English.
• Personal: perfomer and instructor of a Latin dance; SCUBA (PADI Advanced Open Water + Nitrox license); ice hockey (Team Captain 1990 - 2000). 

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Janel Thomas - BridgeS E C role: (j.thomas@bridges-ec.com)

    Administrative officer in the U.S. Responsibilities include the planning and organization of seminars and workshops held there.

Experience

• Adminstrator at the offices of Dr. Green in Newberry, a general practice of over 2,000 patients from 2002 to 2009. Responsibilities included scheduling, inventory control and keeping up with an ever-changing regulatory environment (Medicare, etc.).
• President, Carolina Royal Blue Granite Co., Newberry, South Carolina. Started in sales in 1970, taking over the business in 1977 and running it until its disposition in 2002.
• Mentor from time to time since the 90s for women interested in a business career. Advise on retail sales and consultative selling, including network and multilevel marketing (MLM) -- its risks and rewards.
• Production worker, Celanese Corporation in Rock Hill, S.C. in the 60s.
• Shop Assistant, from the age of 15 on, while attending Elbert County High School in Elberton, GA, and also after graduating. Did window displays and worked in sales for a local merchant.

Addendum

• Community affairs: as a long-term resident of Newberry, take an active role, including being a supporter of  the Newberry Opera house and of local artists.
• Personal: a full family life (including looking after the granddaughter), and giving guidance to the daughter, currently completing a degree in chemical engineering at Clemson University, S.C.

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                              Vasco de Gama Bridge over the Tagus River near Lisbon, Portugal.                                                           Another view of it with a little of its history appears at Contact.                                                                   © Allan Baxter, photdisc, Getty Images; Gyan Web Design (2009, 2010)