About the Contributors
Josh Bersin is president and CEO of Bersin & Associates, founded in 2001. During the last decade, he has worked with hundreds of companies to help them deliver high-impact employee learning, leadership development, and talent management. He has been quoted on the topic of enterprise learning and talent management in the Wall Street Journaland on National Public Radio and is a regular columnist for Chief Learning Officer magazine. In addition, he is often quoted and the firm’s research is cited in HR Executive, Workforce Management, Talent Management, Training magazine, and many other industry publications. He is a frequent speaker at events including the annual ASTD International Conference & Expo and HR Executive’s HR Technology Conference & Expo. He is also the author of The Training Measurement Book: Best Practices, Proven Methodologies, and Practical Approaches (Pfeiffer, 2008) and The Blended Learning Book: Best Practices, Proven Methodologies, and Lessons Learned (Wylie/Pfeiffer, 2004). Earlier in his career, he spent 25 years in product development, product management, and the marketing and sales of e-learning and other enterprise technologies at companies including DigitalThink (now Convergys), Arista Knowledge Systems, Sybase, and IBM.
Jim Caprara is vice president of global human resources development for Ciena. He is charged with the enterprise-wide company strategy and implementation of human capital investment for both employees and customers worldwide. Before joining Ciena, he was chief learning officer for NVR, vice president of human resources development at Nextel Communications, and held director-level positions at Sears. He serves as chairman of ASTD’s Board of Directors. He has spoken at Georgetown University, the Johns Hopkins University School of Business, the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, the 2005 Learning Analytics Symposium, and ASTD International conferences.
Marc Effron is vice president, talent management, at Avon Products. His earlier experience includes starting and leading the global leadership consulting practice at Hewitt Associates, where he created the Top Companies for Leaders study. He was also senior vice president, leadership development, at Bank of America; director of organization effectiveness and learning at Oxford Health Plans; and a compensation consultant for a global consulting firm. He previously served as a political consultant and a congressional staff assistant. He is the author of One Page Talent Management (Harvard Business Press, forthcoming); coauthor of Leading the Way (with Robert P. Gandossy; John Wiley and Sons, 2003); coeditor of Human Resources in the 21st Century (with Robert P. Gandossy and Marshall Goldsmith; John Wiley and Sons, 2003); and has written chapters in eight management and leadership books. He received a BA in political science from the University of Washington and an MBA from the Yale School of Management. In 2007, he founded the New Talent Management Network (www.newtmn.com), a nonprofit networking and research organization that has grown to more than 1,000 talent management professionals.
Larry Israelite is the vice president of human resource development at Liberty Mutual Group, with responsibility for supporting the development of managers capable of functioning effectively in a changing, competitive environment and employees capable of sustaining a high level of performance. His other areas of responsibility include the development and management of processes and tools that support companywide human resources practices, management and professional development, training product design, and learning technology research and development. Before joining Liberty Mutual, he held learning management positions at Pitney Bowes, the Forum Corporation, John Hancock Financial Services, Oxford Health Plans, and the Digital Equipment Corporation. He has worked in all instructional media but has always focused on how technology can be used to enhance the effectiveness, efficiency, and impact of learning. He is the editor of Lies about Learning (ASTD Press, 2006), and he contributed chapters to 2009 eLearning Annual (edited by Michael Allen; Pfeiffer, 2009); Learning Rants, Raves, and Reflections: A Collection of Passionate and Professional Perspectives (edited by Elliot Masie; Pfeiffer, 2005); and The AMA Handbook of ELearning Effective Design, Implementation, and Technology Solutions (AMACOM, 2003). He received a bachelor’s degree from Washington College and an MA in instructional media and PhD in educational technology from Arizona State University.
Robert Kovach is the director of the Center for Collaborative Leadership at Cisco, where he also serves as the talent officer for European and emerging markets. He is internationally recognized for helping companies achieve their growth objectives by developing leadership talent. Before joining Cisco, he was managing director of the London office of RHR International; director of human resources for Central and Eastern Europe and Russia for PepsiAmericas, based in Warsaw; and a director of the Executive MBA Program and a member of the executive education faculty for both Ashridge Business School in England and the Central European University in Budapest. He started his career in human resources planning with Ameritech. He has provided expert commentary for many publications, including the Financial Times and The Times of London, and has written numerous articles and book chapters. He received his PhD in industrial and organizational psychology from Wayne State University.
Neal Kulick served as vice president, global talent management, at McDonald’s, with responsibility for executive assessment, executive development, executive placement and movement, executive recruitment, and succession management and planning. He retired from McDonald’s in July 2009 and is currently working on non-profit initiatives for which he has a strong interest and passion. Before joining McDonald’s, he ran his own organizational consulting practice specializing in human resource effectiveness and leadership development. Before consulting, he spent more than 25 years at Ameritech Corporation, where, as vice president for corporate human resources, he helped lead the company’s cultural transformation by developing the leadership talent needed to effectively manage in an environment of rapid change. He also spent seven years as a line operations manager at Michigan Bell Telephone Company. He received a BA in psychology from the University of Michigan and an MA and PhD in industrial and organizational psychology from Wayne State University. He teaches the course “Leadership and Organizational Change for the MBA” at the University of Windsor.
Adam Miller is founder, president, and CEO of Cornerstone OnDema nd, which has achieved a leadership position in the fields of on-demand talent management and online education. Before founding OnDemand, he was an investment banker, with a focus on media and technology banking, with both Schroders (now part of Citigroup) and an international affiliate of Montgomery Securities (now part of Bank of America). Before that, he was a small business consultant with the Card Group and a small business owner. He holds a JD from the School of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles; an MBA from the Anderson School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles; a BS in systems analysis from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania; and a BA in European history from the University of Pennsylvania. He is the coauthor of Business Capital for Women: An Essential Handbook for Entrepreneurs (with Emily Card; Macmillan, 1996) and Managing Your Inheritance: Getting It, Keeping It, Growing It—Making the Most of Any Size Inheritance (with Emily Card; Random House, 1996).
Larry Mohl is vice president and chief learning officer at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, where he is responsible for an integrated set of talent levers, including leadership and organization effectiveness, talent planning, and performance management. At Children’s Healthcare, he is also responsible for clinical staff development, physicians’ continuing education, and technology training, and he leads the development of human resources technology infrastructure. Before joining Children’s Healthcare, he served as vice president and chief learning officer for American Express. Earlier, he held senior positions in learning and organization development as well as in business operations at Motorola. He serves as vice president of programs for the Atlanta Human Resources Leadership Forum and as an adviser to the Human Capital Institute. He received an MS in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan and a BS in electrical engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He holds three international patents in the field of telecommunications technology. He has been quoted in various publications, including Training magazine and CIO magazine. The story of the development of the Children’s Healthcare Center for Leadership has been told in Courageous Training, by Robert Brinkerhoff and Tim Mooney (Berrett-Koehler, 2008).
Annmarie Neal is vice president of talent at Cisco, where she leads the Center for Collaborative Leadership, which provides succession management, executive assessment, and development and organization development for the firm’s executives. Before joining Cisco, she served as the senior vice president, Global Talent Office, with First Data Corporation. Earlier, she served as a senior executive consultant for RHR International. She has provided expert commentary for many publications, including the Wall Street Journal, and has written numerous articles and book chapters. She also serves on the Advisory Board of the University of Colorado, Denver. She received her PsyD in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology. She serves as the co-chair of the Conference Board’s Council for Talent Management Executives.
Nigel Paine, the managing director of nigelpaine.com, is a coach, mentor, writer, broadcaster, and keynote speaker of international acclaim. He is currently working in Europe, Brazil, the United States, and Australia on a variety of assignments that hinge on making work more creative, innovative, and aspirational, and making workplaces more conversational, team based, and knowledge sharing. His consultancy focuses on the use of learning technologies, organization development, leadership, innovation, creativity, and excellence, with a spotlight on maximizing human potential and performance in the workplace. Previously, he was head of people development at the BBC, where he built the training and development operation into one of the most successful learning and development operations in Britain—including an award-winning leadership program, state-of-the-art informal learning and knowledge sharing, and a highly successful intranet. He has published articles and white papers on diverse subjects, including “Creativity in the Workplace,” “Building Corporate Heroes,” and “Why Talent Walks Out of the Door.” He was until recently a board member of Ealing Hammersmith and West London College, London’s largest further education and higher education college. In 2006 and 2007, he was the part-time chief executive of the Broadcast Training & Skills Regulator, where he introduced media-sector training awards and produced a definitive state-of-training report for the industry. He has been a visiting professor at Napier University since 1998. He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development and of the Royal Society of Arts.