Founder and President of The Phoenix Group, 1993, Lausanne, Switzerland, Dr. Oliff has been actively engaged with leading manufacturing enterprises in guiding and accelerating successful change the world over. As a top management coach, he has worked with executive teams on six continents helping them initiate and sustain large scale transformation programs. He has served as an external coach to Andersen Consulting worldwide since 1990, conducting over 100 partner workshops and client seminars in twenty countries. His 1996 monograph, Navigating the Enterprise in Turbulent Times -- Dominance or Death?, has been internationally acclaimed.
As a Professor and Director of Manufacturing 2000, IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland, Dr. Oliff initiated and lead an international project that focused on the restructuring and transformation of global products companies. Andersen Consulting, Bally, BP Chemicals, Carnaud Metalbox, Digital, Du Pont, Exxon Chemical, GKN Automotive, Heineken, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Nestle, Nokia Mobile Phones, Omega, Siemens, Sony and Volkswagen were among his board members. Manufacturing 2000, one of the largest international projects ever conducted as a joint venture between business and academia, required 500 man years of investment and produced over 100 case studies, books and management reports during its five-year tenure.
Michael Oliff joined IMD's Management Committee, serving as Director of Research and Development, during 1990 and 1991. He directed and managed the institution's development portfolio across its 50 programs.
With previous experience as Corporate Manager of Operations Research for Milliken & Company, Dr. Oliff has written over 125 articles, management cases, monographs and books since 1985. He is the developer and producer of Beyond Manufacturing: Restructuring for Tomorrow's Market, distributed internationally as a video-based management development tool. His executive monograph, Dominance or Death: from Distinctive Competency to Customer Value, has been utilized by some of the world's most dominant companies to sustain their dominance.
Professor Oliff received his Ph.D. from Clemson University and was selected as The 1987 Ascending Scholar by the American Management Association. As an International Fellow at the University of South Carolina, he organized and chaired numerous international conferences, executive forums and seminars in North America, Europe, the Far East and South America. Dr. Oliff was one of the first academics in America to successfully bridge the gaps between information systems and manufacturing, as well as U.S. businesses and business schools in organizing and hosting the widely acclaimed Executive Forum on Intelligent Manufacturing.
A fequent coach, consultant and advisor to international products companies, Professor Oliff has worked with twenty-five Fortune 100 firms in twenty countries. As a Distinguished Fellow of the World Productivity Council, his contribution to management practice and theory has been recognized globally.
