GEORGE TH. KASTNER, PhD
George Kastner has a unique combination of experience in academia, management, and entrepreneurial endeavors. Throughout a career committed to the utilization of knowledge and experience, he has devoted his time to management consulting, and teaching with a dedication to the advancement and success of his colleagues and students. His achievements are characterized by developing new and innovative approaches and programs that are practical and results-oriented.
Dr. Kastner is well known for his innovative approach to managerial consulting specializing in strategy; family businesses; and operations efficiency. He is invested in modernizing approaches to Executive education, In-company, Executive MBA, and Advanced Management Programs (AMPs). Several institutions recognize his integrated classroom teaching approach to subject matters combined with daily issues and life training.
More recently he has worked in several Latin-American countries, the USA and China. Through this experience, he has introduced a process of developing Governance models for family-owned businesses succession strategies and business protocols. He has taught in Venezuela, Colombia, UK, Dubai, China, and the US in MBA programs and AMP equivalents.
RECENT PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Dr. Kastner is the founding President and CEO of REDITUS International, Inc., and First GTK, LLC, both international management consulting firms providing strategic support to companies that encounter crises, in business, operations, or management. Dr. Kastner developed an innovative approach to hands-on coaching for CEOs helping them build their strategic agenda and become the internal ‘maestro’ of their teams. His business development skills and broad multicultural experience have helped him develop close relations with global and pan-American corporations.
As CEO of First GTK, LLC Dr. Kastner put together a team of seasoned consultants and managers located in five countries who participated in project work virtually and when needed in person. The scope of work has led the company to develop a strong and vibrant portfolio of services geared to medium-sized companies in expansion or turn-around mode, family-owned businesses facing succession or seeking to professionalize their business, and non-USA-based companies pursuing to strategically penetrate the US market. In parallel, to attending to key clients and leading the business, Dr Kastner exercised an innovative approach to C-suite executives helping them sharpen their management approach and preparing them to face daily and future challenges as the profiles of their companies change due to diversity and culture as well as technology.
Throughout his career, Dr. Kastner has generously shared his knowledge of business, global operations, and strategy in the classroom with students and through consultations with clients. His vast experience enables him to pull together seemingly disparate ideas, fuse them with practical solutions, and then implement the tactics that support the ultimate goals of the company. His students find his lectures stimulating and motivating, and his sincere interest in their goals and careers is a catalyst for many students to excel in their careers or even start their businesses.
Previously, Dr. Kastner was the CEO and Executive President of Coldwell Banker Affiliates of Latin America. He developed their current business model and assembled a powerful and effective management team. In less than three years, he developed operations in Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Peru, and Ecuador. He introduced an innovative business model that led to an accelerated penetration in the marketplace. With the support of a proprietary technological platform he initiated, the operations managed just under 50 offices, and by the time he left the company, it encompassed more than 60 offices and 700 agents. One of the driving forces of this effort was his focus on training, networking team building, and adapting the franchise model to local culture.
As Senior Vice President of Arthur D. Little, Inc. Dr. Kastner was promoted to the position of Co-Director of Global Key Client Management. He was also appointed President of Arthur D. Little Latin America, in charge of five countries with 212 consultants and support staff. Before that, he held the position of Managing Director of Arthur D. Little Latin America In Venezuela and Colombia. Dr. Kastner’s professional interests focus on major business management transformation, industrial restructuring, productivity improvements, and modern maintenance approaches to manufacturing organizations and strategy. He also is a renowned professor in several countries, concentrating his teaching on operations management, both in the traditional economy as well as the e-economy environment.
During his tenure as President and Regional Managing Director for Latin America, Dr. Kastner led the effort to consolidate Arthur D. Little’s position in the marketplace and unified the consulting activities around a single market approach to achieve economies of scale, value creation and strategic repositioning while responding to a growing number of regional and key local clients.
Dr. Kastner developed a successful dominant consulting practice for Arthur D. Little de Venezuela, C.A., launched the Bogota office and led the turnaround for Arthur D. Little in Buenos Aires. In addition to a very strong business development and market management drive, he has participated in, led, and managed a wide range of large and complex consulting assignments in Latin America, the U.S., and Eastern Europe. Throughout more than twenty years, he achieved a broad knowledge and understanding of a variety of industries and their business needs, in particular, TIME (Telco, Information Management, and Electronics), Banking, Utilities, and Consumer Goods.
SOME MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS
As founder and CEO of REDITUS International, Inc. and First GTK, LLC, he advised and managed the expansion of over 18 family businesses in Mexico, Colombia, Panama, Spain, Venezuela, and the US, He acted as advisor to the Board of four companies and was active in improving the professional focus of their business ventures. During that time despite the difficult economic downturn, he attained a total revenue of US$ 4.5 MM, and on average improved the performance of his clients by more than 7.5% annual growth.
C-suite coaching activities helped in a significant way several US-based companies. Amongst them are a fast-expanding start-up in the field of education; a third-year exponentially growing IoT connectivity business; and a family-owned design outsourcing company seeking to expand internationally.
A strategic approach and the adaptation of technology and organizational structure to implement the strategy allowed First GTK to help the turnaround of a stagnating family-owned stairs manufacturing business.
Professionalizing a medical equipment distribution company operating in five different countries in the Americas.
As CEO of Coldwell Banker Latin America, he extended the reach of the company into six countries in a record time of two years. This model of expansion was later adopted/replicated by headquarters.
Developed the Caracas operation from an obscure money-losing operation to become one of the most profitable operations in the ADL worldwide network of offices starting with revenues of US$148,000 and five part-time consultants. The office engaged 32 full-time consultants and 30 full-time support staff and invoiced over US$11.5 Million.
During his tenure as a consultant, he achieved fourteen-star cases, more than anyone else during the same period, as recognition from clients and colleagues for the quality of the work carried out by his teams and the value generated.
He directly developed family constitutions/protocols, governance model procedures, and operational organization for family-owned businesses in Venezuela; Colombia; Argentina; the USA; China; and Mexico
Shortly after, he opened the Bogota operations, which very quickly grew to hire eleven full-time consultants and within two years generated US$2.4 MM in revenue.
He helped start the Buenos Aires operations and later directed its strategic repositioning.
While leading the Latin American operations, as one of fourteen Senior VPs of the firm, he consolidated the five independent offices into a single region operation to represent over US$44MM in revenues, close to US$57MM in bookings, with a total staff of over 200.
During this time, he led the effort to develop a client base relationship status system, which later was adopted (with minor modifications), as the company standard for Key Client Management.
He served on the company's Senior Leadership Team, the Key Client Management task force, the management task force to select the new CEO, and the company task force to redesign our management consulting services to “go global”; he later assumed the leadership of the Key Client Management team worldwide.
He developed a closely kept network of top-level executive relationships throughout Latin America, several locations in the US and Europe.
He worked with the start-up of The NOMOS project at the Harvard CFIA and served as Co-Director of the program, during its 16 years of activity.
He maintains a parallel part-time academic career where he has received recognition for teaching and research.
He is very dynamic and shows a high level of stamina and enthusiasm, and his direct and driven approach helps him create from scratch a dynamic consolidated project team and strong sustained client relations.
He often participates in international conferences as a speaker or moderator.
He is sought after as a trainer and visiting scholar at advanced executive training programs, MBA programs, and Board meetings.
As CEO of REDITUS International Inc., he worked closely with several CEOs in Mexico, Venezuela, and Colombia on developing their strategic agendas and success platforms.
As CEO of the First GTK, LLC he helped family-owned businesses develop their family protocol, family office, and succession plans. He also worked with service companies on operational efficiency issues focusing on service delivery.
Through his relationships with NEORIS a technology development company, he helped conceive a parts and components logistics tracking and cost reduction system
ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE (some aspects)
Dr. Kastner started his teaching and research activities while at The University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. He was a teaching fellow at the graduate program of The School of Public Health. At that time, he also worked at the SENIC project which was a large CDC-funded research project aimed at reducing the costs of fighting hospital-acquired infections.
After his graduation, he joined the faculty at Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administration, IESA in Venezuela. During his tenure at the school he became a full professor and held positions as the director of the Advanced Management Program, which he designed and launched, developed and coordinated the Academic International Exchange Program, was Head of the Center for Operations Management, a member of the Academic Council, designed and launched the Management Day, as a placement event for graduates and was a member of the school’s executive committee. In recent years he acted as coach to two deans and was invited to work with young faculty on teaching methods.
During his academic career, Dr. George Kastner taught in nine universities in six countries at the MBA and Executive MBA levels. While teaching at the HULT International Business School, he also acted as a Special Advisor to the President and Board of the school and was appointed Global professor of Operations and Management.
Dr. Kastner held short-term seminar-like programs as a visiting scholar at a large variety of schools all over the world, including Cornell University, UNC, UVM, NYU, MIT Sloan School, The HULT International Business School, The Technion in Israel, and a newly launched management institute in Prague. Also, for 16 years Dr. Kastner was the co-director of the NOMOS Program at the Harvard Centre for International Affairs, CFIA. The program annually brought together executives with policymakers from all aspects of society in eight countries in the Americas to discuss cases specifically for the week-long event.
Dr. Kastner has taught in a full-time capacity at IESA in Venezuela; HULT in Boston, Shanghai, Dubai, and London; and UNIANDES in Bogota. Also, he held adjunct professor appointments in the business management departments at Southeastern NOVA University in Ft Lauderdale, Florida, and the University of Miami, Miami School of Business, Coral Gables, Florida.
MAJOR ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS (some examples)
During his academic career Dr. Kastner graduated close to 8,000 MBA and EMBA level students
Launching the most successful AMP program in Latin America currently in its 98th offering. The program is offered in four major cities in Venezuela and Panama. Dr. Kastner is the only faculty who taught in each of the first 50 programs. He has been elected several times as the best faculty of the program.
The AMP became the most distinguished program at IESA and has been financially successful for the school.
Dr. Kastner has participated nine times as a delegate at the World Economic Forum annual meetings and three times at the regional level. Six of these times he was a panel speaker on global managerial issues.
A founding member and the executive co-director of the Harvard CFIA-based NOMOS project that brought together executives, academics, and political figures from eight countries in the Americas to discuss issues of relevance for management and society. The group size and composition varied from a small number of core participants to larger groups based on meeting topics and convened every 18 months at Harvard University. The project lasted for 16 years and also supported three Ph.D. dissertations about subjects of relevance to the program.
A member of the renowned Santa Lucia Group in Venezuela. He has been appointed several times as discussion leader and many times was asked to write position papers for the annual meeting.
A guest member of the Jirahara group in Venezuela. An opinion group that meets annually to discuss issues of importance for society.
Dr. Kastner has launched the student and faculty exchange program between IESA and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This initial experience served as a model that was replicated for students and faculty exchange with 11 other academic institutions in Europe and the US, eventually leading to a shared doctorate program with Tulane University.
While with HULT International Business School, Dr. Kastner designed and launched a model class aimed at recruiting and incentivizing students to join the school for their MBA. Dr. Kastner offered the program with great success in the US, Venezuela, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Spain, UK, Turkey, Russia, Malaysia, India, Thailand and Hong Kong.
Dr. Kastner was interviewed as an expert by newspapers, radio, and TV on relevant management and business-related topics in Venezuela, Peru, Argentina, Mexico, The Chech Republic, the USA, Lithuania, and Colombia leading to more than 200 articles and programs.
Has published more than 50 articles in refereed business and Operations Research Journals. Also, for six years Dr. Kastner served as a referee for the ORSA publication. His Ph.D. dissertation and models were referenced 34 times.
Also, Dr. Kastner was asked to write key chapters in books edited by his colleagues. In addition, he was invited to write the leading chapters in two books on family-owned businesses.