Vladimir Pucik is a Visiting Professor in the Department of Management at China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai. Until his retirement, he was for fifteen years a Professor of International Human Resources and Strategy at IMD, in Switzerland, where he directed a variety of executive programs. Before joining IMD, he taught at Cornell University and the University of Michigan and spent three years as a visiting scholar at Keio and Hitotsubashi Universities in Tokyo. He was born in Prague where he studied international economics, law, and political science. After falling out with the country’s repressive government, he left Czechoslovakia and received a master’s degree in international affairs— specializing in East Asia—and a PhD in business administration from Columbia University. He has published extensively in first-tier academic and professional journals, contributed to more than 30 books and monographs in the area of international business and HRM, and written numerous case studies in the field of business strategy, organization, and international HRM. His recent research interests include strategic HRM in multinational firms, cross-border M&A and strategic alliances, building organizational capabilities for global competition, and comparative management with a particular emphasis on China, Japan, and Central and Eastern Europe. During his career, he has consulted and conducted workshops for major corporations worldwide, including ABB, Allianz, AGC, Baxter, BMW, Bosch, Canon, Daimler, GE, Hitachi, IBM, Intel, J&J, KPMG, Merck, Nokia, Oracle, Shell, and Toyota. In addition to his work as an academic and consultant/coach to senior management teams, Dr. Pucik is also a founding partner in several high-tech start-up ventures.