John Rickard: Four years in the British Army provided his introduction to Logistic Support functions. Practical experience of operations under less-than-ideal conditions was gained by eight years (as owner manager) of establishing and running five “bush” hotel / restaurants in West Africa.

John Rickard spent a further two years as a Project Manager (specializing in industrial epoxy flooring), again in West Africa before joining the IRC in Azerbaijan for his first humanitarian “contract”. He consulted regularly for the IRC over the following two years before being asked to take on the newly created position of Director Logistics in 2001.

Jon A. Olson joined Intel Corp, a $39B semiconductor and electronics manufacturing company, in January 1993. As manager of Global Transportation and Logistics Outsourcing, Olson is responsible for development and implementation of Intel’s worldwide transportation and 3^rd party logistics strategies supporting Intel’s worldwide manufacturing and distribution supply network. Prior to his transportation role, Olson was Geography Logistics Manager for North and South America, and held roles in finance, procurement, and operations management.

Prior to joining Intel, Olson was an officer in the United States Air Force with billets in Arizona, Texas, and Washington State. He was a Flight Instructor in the T-37 aircraft and held additional roles in Standardization and Evaluation as a Wing Check Pilot. Prior to this position, Olson worked in the general aviation field in flying and operations management.

Olson earned his Master’s in Business Administration with a concentration in Strategic Management from Western International University. He also holds a Bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Louisiana, Lafayette.

The speakers are introduced by Dr. Anisya Thomas, a respected scholar who directs the global operations of Fritz Institute and its charge to strengthen the infrastructures of humanitarian relief organizations. Her experiences in Asia, Europe and the U.S. have enabled her to delve into the dynamic social, economic and operational issues of humanitarian relief. An experienced consultant in strategic management, she also served as the co-founder and president of Tradami Logistics. Previously, Dr. Thomas was an associate professor of strategic management and international business at the Ryder College of Business Administration at Florida International University and a visiting professor at the Stockholm School of Economics.

The author of numerous articles, her areas of expertise include competitive strategy, international entrepreneurship and cross-cultural management. She has a B.A. from Loyola College in Maryland and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Management from Virginia Tech

Resources:

• Other suggested readings from the Stanford Graduate School of Business library.
• More events from the Center for Social Innovation.