Keynote Speakers

Dr. Alfredo Jiménez is a Professor at KEDGE Business School in Bordeaux, France. He has a Master degree in Business Economics Research and a PhD in Business Management. Previously he was Associate Professor at the University of Burgos in Spain. His research interests are focused on the process and determinants of success in the internationalization strategy of firms. His current lines of research include the impact of institutional variables, political risk, cultural and psychic distance and corruption on foreign direct investments and entrepreneurship. He is also working on a research line devoted to virtual team and multi-cultural team management and dynamics. He has published several papers in international journals including the Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of World Business, Business and Society, International Business Review, Journal of Business Research Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Journal of International Management, Management International Review, and European Journal of International Management. He has also been a visiting scholar in different institutions in Norway, Germany, Australia, Singapore, Italy, Ecuador and Mexico, as well as participating in the X-Culture Project as a member of its Advisory Board and instructor. He is project reviewer for the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and for the Government of Ecuador and Poland.

Kurt Treumann started his career in private German enterprises. Later he moved to the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK), for which he has been working for more than two decades. He studied economics at Verwaltungs und Wirtschaftsakademie Wuerzburg (VWA) and completed his studies as Betriebswirt (VWA) in 1999. Kurt Treumann started to work for the IHK as a consultant for International Affairs. In 2012 he became Referent, and he has been the Director for International Affairs / Bereichsleiter International since 2014. Mr. Kurt Treumann is responsible for the promotion of internationalization of Mainfranconian companies through the provision of various types of services such as export- and import consultancies, market development projects, events and meetings, international business travels, certification, and confirmation of special documents relating to foreign businesses. Together with Bayern International, a sister organisation of Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Wirtschaft, Landesentwicklung und Energie, he has developed, organized and attended a number of official participations at international trade fairs for SMEs all over the world.

His employer, the IHK Wuerzburg-Schweinfurt, operates within the service network of 78 another IHKs all over Germany, 8 other IHKs in Bavaria, and 150 offices of the German Chambers of Commerce Abroad (AHK) in 93 countries. The IHK Wuerzburg-Schweinfurt has got 71.000 members. Mainfranconia´s  export rate is approximate 44 percent.