Corporate Diplomacy: the Key for Success in Global Business

When: 14.12.18, h 18.00

Where: Executive Center, Università della Svizzera italiana

Corporate Diplomacy: the Key for Success in Global Business

For international companies, navigating the unchartered waters of global business is becoming increasingly challenging. Geopolitical and economic uncertainties coupled with the necessity to engage strategically with a wide variety of different stakeholders in different markets with different cultural and institutional systems create new layers of complexity that require a new set of skills.
To create successful global strategies, today companies need to engage in corporate diplomacy, which is the ability to build strategic relationships with external stakeholders and leverage them to improve corporate reputation and create economic value. Political and cultural intelligence, strategic stakeholders’ engagement as well as the ability to communicate effectively across markets and cultures are all “soft skills” that are becoming essential to prevent and mitigate “hard” risks.
Drawing on both academic research and practical examples, the lecture will show how, in today’s volatile, ambiguous, and uncertain world, corporate diplomacy has become a competitive advantage for companies with international ambitions.

Guest Speaker

Diego Gilardoni, an international strategic consultant with professional experience in Europe, US, Asia and Africa, advises international companies faced with the communication and cultural challenges associated with operating in an increasingly complex global business environment.
An expert on China, he is the author of “Decoding China. Cross-cultural strategies for successful business with the Chinese” (Itim International, 2017).

Gilardoni is also an international speaker specialized in global business, corporate diplomacy and reputation. He has been invited to international conferences such as the Istanbul Leadership Summit, the World Communication Forum, the High Forum for Intercultural Business Communication in Beijing, the annual convention of the China International Public Relations Association and the Euro-China Forum in Brussels.
A graduate in History from the University of Fribourg, he holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Global Business from the University of Oxford and an Executive Certificate in Advocacy in International Affairs from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva.

The event is in collaboration with AIF, Associazione Imprese Familiari.