Robert M. Tomasko

Robert Tomasko is a management consultant, author, and frequent speaker at management conferences throughout the world. Over 150,000 copies of his books have been sold and translated into Chinese, Dutch, German, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish.

His most recent book, Go For Growth, challenges managers to commit their businesses to growth rather than endless cycles of cost cutting and restructuring. Published by John Wiley & Sons, it offers five alternative ways a business may grow, and describes the kinds of people and organizations best for each.

Tomasko has written two other well-received business books. In Downsizing: Reshaping the Corporation for the Future, he urges corporations to eliminate bureaucracy and unneeded work. Rethinking the Corporation provides a vision for the kind of company that needs to emerge from a decade-long period of radical change.

Tomasko has spoken about the ideas in these books to several hundred groups on six continents, including events sponsored by the American Management Association, Center for Creative Leadership, Coca-Cola, Conference Board, Daimler-Benz, Edison Electric Institute, Hewlett Packard, IBM Brazil, Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, Portugal Telecom, Strategic Leadership Forum, and Singapore Institute of Management.

Tomasko's experience as a management consultant has included 15 years with Arthur D. Little, Inc. and a partnership at another major international consulting firm, now part of Mercer Management Consulting. He has advised clients throughout the world in ways to organize their businesses to be more competitive, including Exxon, Marriott, Mitsubishi, Toyota, chemical manufacturers in France and Japan, oil companies in Peru and Thailand, and four of the "Baby Bell" regional telephone companies. His public sector clients include the Auditor General of Canada, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and UNICEF. Tomasko has helped businesses in Brazil and Venezuela become more competitive in anticipation of new free trade agreements, and energy companies in Peru and Thailand redesign their organization structures. His ideas guided the restructuring of several major South African firms as that country rejoined the world economy with the end of apartheid.

For seven years, Tomasko served on the board of directors of Right Associates-a rapidly growing NASDAQ company that was voted one of the "best small companies in America" for four years in a row by Forbes. He chaired the board's Compensation and Finance Committee and led its Succession Planning Committee.

Tomasko's articles have appeared in Newsweek, The New York Times and The Wall Sreet Journal. He has been quoted in Business Week, Fortune, Forbes and many other business periodicals. His most recent article, The End of Growth: Why it always ends and what you can do about it, discusses the new rules for growth in the post-Enron era. It warns against confusing the kinds of growth accountants create with the real thing. This essay is included in Business: The Ultimate Resource, a 2,000-page reference to leading business ideas, thinkers and best practices.

Tomasko holds a master's degree from Harvard and a bachelor of science from Case Institute of Technology. Tomasko is a member of the Academy of Management, the American Psychological Society, and the Society for Advancement of Management.