Featured Presenters
Keynote address: Martin G. Carver
Former Bandag CEO Martin Carver will share his organization’s journey from a technical, individual merit-based organization to an innovative, collaborative work environment that changed the lives of employees, customers and shareholders. Don’t miss his story of leading a small Iowa-based company among industry giants and leaving a marketplace legacy that continues to shape and influence both Bandag employees and the truck tire retreading industry.
Other Organizational Best Practices Conference: Achieving Results Through Teams speakers will include:
Dianna Anderson, Cylient
Merrill Anderson, Cylient
Linda Bowers, LinguiSystems
Al Carlson, Pella Corporation
Col. Craig Cotter, US Army
Seth Davies, Competitive Solutions, Inc.
Vanessa Urch Druskat, Whittemore School of Business and Economics
Jeff Foltz, Bandag
Joe Froehlich, Monsanto
Greg Irmen, Sr., Rockwell Collins
William Mayo, Caterpillar
Dave O’Connell, St. Ambrose University
Ed Schaniel, Boeing
Randal Sergesketter, Deere & Company
Janet Sichterman, Muscatine Foods
Tim Summers, HON Company
Ron Wastyn, St. Ambrose University
Dianna Anderson, MCC is the vice president of leadership coaching for Cylient, a professional services firm offering coaching-based leadership development, culture change and MetrixGlobal™ evaluation services. Dianna is an accomplished leadership coach and management consultant, with a true passion for partnering with individuals, teams and organizations to create transformational change.
Merrill C. Anderson, PhD is a business consulting executive, author and educator with over twenty years experience improving the performance of people and organizations. He is currently the chief executive officer of Cylient, a professional services firm that offers coaching-based leadership development, change management and MetrixGlobal™ evaluation services.
Linda Bowers is one of the founders and owners of LinguiSystems, Inc., direct-mail, special education publishing company that has customers world-wide, over 250 authors, 600+ titles, and 30 employees. LinguiSystems operates with ten teams (facilities, financial, marketing, advertising, production, editorial, testing, customer service, continuing education, and inventory) who perform as individuals, coming together as teams as needed. With only 30 employees, they get the job done well, on time, and with excellence. All employees know our ONE goal: To be the best company in the universe for speech-language pathologists.
Al Carlson is a 22 year employee with Pella Corporation. He has held positions in manufacturing, sales and human resources during his tenure with Pella. Al is a master communicator, equally at ease with senior executives, independent business owners, line managers and production workers. Over the years, Al has presented to Pella and college campus audiences numbering from single figures to many hundreds, in locations as diverse as ballrooms, boardrooms, executive suites, company cafeterias and assembly lines. Many of Pella's departments and divisions routinely book Al year after year to present keynotes for their annual conferences, and he is a go-to resource for everything to do with corporate growth and development.
Colonel Craig S. Cotter became the 45th commander of the Rock Island Arsenal – Joint Manufacturing & Technology Center 2 August 2007. Col. Cotter was commissioned a lieutenant of Ordnance following his graduation from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., in 1984. After completing the Ordnance Officer Basic Course, he was assigned to the 515th Ordnance Company at Redstone Arsenal where he served as Platoon Leader and Executive Officer. He completed his tour at Redstone as the Brigade S4, 269th Ordnance Brigade from January to November 1987. Following the Ordnance Officer Advanced Course, Col. Cotter was assigned to the Materiel Office of the 101st Ordnance Battalion, 2d Corps Support Command, in Heilbronn and later, Schwaebisch Hall, Germany, from May 1988 to November 1989. Col. Cotter then commanded the 501st Ordnance Company in Crailsheim. From there he deployed the unit to Southwest Asia for operations in support of VII Corps during Operations DesertShield/Desert Storm. In July 1991, Col. Cotter was assigned as Executive Officer, the Executive Director for Conventional Ammunition, Alexandria, Virginia. In July 1992 he assumed duties as Assignments Officer, Ordnance Branch, U.S. Army Personnel Command, where he assigned lieutenants and captains prior to attending the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas.
Seth Davies has over 18 years experience in the consulting and training arena. At Competitive Solutions, Inc. he is a consultant delivering business solutions to organizations. He is also a member of CSI’s Readiness Assessment Team analyzing the business processes of companies such as, Ford Motor, Lender’s Bagels, Excel Foods and several Army Depot’s. As a member of the Readiness Assessment Team he helps organizations realize strengths as well as areas of development within their organization. He has been involved in the formation, implementation and development of business-focused process with many other CSI’s customers. Organizations he has worked with include Revlon, Michelin Tire, BF Goodrich, Eastman-Kodak, Ford Motor, Lender’s Bagel, Philip Morris, Texaco-Panama, Delta Apparel Textile, Excel Foods, and several Army Depots. Prior to joining CSI he was a Performance Consultant with a large national training and consulting organization working in the Atlanta office.
Vanessa Urch Druskat is Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior and Management at the Whittemore School of Business & Economics at the University of New Hampshire. Professor Druskat joined the Whittemore School faculty as an Associate Professor in 2003 after spending eight years on the faculty of the Department of Organizational Behavior at Case Western Reserve University. Her research examines group norms and processes that enable a team to exceed its performance potential and leadership behaviors and strategies that support the development of effective team norms and processes. She is particularly interested in teams that face complex interpersonal challenges such as self-managing or cross-functional teams.
Jeff Foltz is a member of the Bandag Equipment Division Operations Team and is responsible for helping develop the Business Plan, Strategies and Goals for the Equipment Division Operations and ensuring that all Team / Team Member business and personal goals are in alignment.
Joe Froehlich is a human resources, training and development professional with an undergraduate and MBA from the University of Iowa’s school of management. Joe started his career at Rockwell Collins for several years before joining the Target Corporation. As an HR Manager at Target, Joe opened two large distribution centers, a 2.5 million square foot facility in Cedar Falls Iowa and one in Topeka Kansas where he resided for 2 years with his family. Joe is currently the leader for HR and people strategies for Monsanto Muscatine.
Greg Irmen, Sr. is VP/GM of Business and Regional Systems for Rockwell Collins Commercial Systems (CS), Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Mr. Irmen is a successful business management professional with a strong background in aerospace engineering. He has over 23 years of experience in the aerospace field holding a variety of positions including Program Management, Technical Director, Operations Analyst and Strategic Planning, and Systems Engineering. Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer of Commercial Systems, Mr. Irmen has responsibility for the Business and Regional Systems business area performance. His responsibilities include business area growth, strategic planning, customer satisfaction, profit and loss, and advanced product development program performance
William “Bill” Mayo recently retired as a vice president of Caterpillar Inc. with responsibility for the company’s North American Commercial Division (NACD) that is accountable for the company’s North American dealer development and machine marketing. He was elected a company vice president in December 2005. Bill joined Caterpillar in July 1979, after serving nine years in the US Navy. He has held a wide variety of positions during his 29 -year career, including Marketing & Sales, National Accounts, Product Support, Dealer Administration, and Field Operations-- primarily in the On-Highway and Commercial Engine segments. He also worked with Caterpillar Financial Services and was Product Manager, TTT Division, East Peoria. In April 2003 he was named Europe Region Manager, EAME Marketing Division.
Dave O’Connell joined the faculty of St. Ambrose University in 1998. He holds a DBA in Organizational Behavior from Boston University. He has published articles in the Journal of Management Education, Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, Leadership and Organizational Development Journal, and The CASE Journal. He also published a book review in Administrative Science Quarterly. His research has included contingent employment success factors, team development, leadership competencies, adaptability and case pedagogy. Currently, he is researching the development and dissemination of organizational vision.
Ed Schaniel, a leader of cultural transformation and change has directed the strategic integration of Employee Involvement, Employee Engagement, Lean+ and Knowledge Management as well as all facets of operations including commercial and military programs for the largest aerospace company in the world. He has held a multitude of program management and leadership positions. Ed began his career in aerospace in Production Operations and has held a multitude of progressive leadership positions achieving exemplary results.
Randal Sergesketter is Senior Vice President for the Worldwide Commercial & Consumer Equipment Division of Deere&Company, responsible for worldwide manufacturing, engineering, supply management and order fulfillment. He began his career at Deere&Company in 1980 through the company's summer training program, and became a manufacturing management trainee in 1981. He has held a number of engineering and operations management positions, including Director, Worldwide Ag Order Fulfillment; General Manager, JohnDeere Ottumwa Works; and General Manager, JohnDeere Harvester Works. In June 2005, Sergesketter was appointed to his current position.
Janet R. Sichterman is the Vice President, Human Resources and Communications at Muscatine Foods Corporation Muscatine Iowa, a food ingredients company. In this role she is responsible for the leadership of all human resource, learning and organization development processes, internal communications and public relations. As an officer of the parent corporation, Ms. Sichterman provides strategic focus and serves both parent company employees and employees of subsidiaries, Grain Processing Corporation (a corn wet-milling operation), Precision Foods (a dry mix ingredients manufacturer and retailer), Kent Feeds, and Blue Seal Feeds (a large animal and companion animal feeds manufacturer and distributor).
Tim Summers, has over 20 years of engineering, operations and general management experience in participating and leading organizational teams to deliver financial results. Prior to his current role, his most recent positions were Vice President, Lean Enterprise, HNI Corporation and Vice President, Operations, Allsteel. Most of his career has been spent studying, practicing and deploying lean manufacturing principles through the use of teams. The past 17 years have been with HNI Corporation where their unique member-owner culture integrated with a structured continuous improvement system, creates a highly participative and team-based environment.
Ron Wastyn is the Director, Master of Organizational Leadership Program at St. Ambrose University. He primarily teaches Decision-Making and Leadership, Strategic Communication and Leadership, and Building and Strengthening Teams. Wastyn holds a PhD from the University of Pittsburgh.
For More Information
Contact Allison Ambrose, 563/333-6155