John C. Beck is an associate partner and Director of International Research at the Institute for Strategic Change, where he is currently leading research projects on the future of wireless commerce and communication. In the past he has worked on the following topics: the process of globalization at the top companies in the world, the Asian Financial Crisis, economic development in emerging economies, global team building, and a model of large scale change and integration known as the Change Cycle. John earned his B.A. in East Asian Studies and Sociology summa cum laude from Harvard University, and was the first graduate of Harvard's integrative Ph.D. program in Business Studies. Dr. Beck is a Visiting Professor at the Anderson School of Management at UCLA and an Adjunct Professor at the Ivey School at the University of Western Ontario, where he teaches courses on eCommerce, Management Consulting, Globalization and Leadership. John has also taught courses in multinational management, strategy, group psychology, organizational behavior, and management in emerging economies at Harvard University and at the Thunderbird Graduate School of International Management.
Dr. Beck served as the senior strategic advisor to the First Prime Minister, Prince Ranariddh, during Cambodia's first three years as a democracy. John previously was Co-Director of the "Project on Strategies of the World's Largest 50 Companies" for the United Nations. Additionally, he worked as the Far East Advisor with Monitor Company, a Boston-based strategy consultancy, and oversaw the start-up of their operations in Korea and Japan. He was also President of Asian Business Information and Publisher of The Asian Century, a newsletter specializing in the strategic analysis of Asian companies and industries. Dr. Beck has published over one hundred books, articles, and business reports on the topics of business in Asia, strategic management, globalization, leadership, and organizational behavior. His is co-author (with Tom Davenport) of The Attention Economy.
The Attention Economy: Understanding the New Currency of Business