Skip to Content
Report an accessibility problem
Tom Hunsaker

Tom Hunsaker

Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Global Management, Thunderbird School of Global Management

tom.hunsaker@thunderbird.asu.edu

Thunderbird School of Global Management
Arizona State University
1 Global Place
Glendale, AZ 85306-6000

Titles

  • Senior Global Futures Scholar, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory
  • Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Global Management, Thunderbird School of Global Management

Biography

Tom Hunsaker is among the faculty of the world’s leading global management school, Thunderbird School of Global Management (a unit of Arizona State University), where he has taught in the areas of competitive and global strategy, interpersonal management, organizational consulting, and performance leadership and is multiple recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award as top professor. As Thunderbird's Associate Dean for Innovation Tom works closely with Executive Education and Thunderbird for Good and leads select academic initiatives. As Academic Director for Applied Learning (including the Thunderbird Emerging Market Laboratory (TEMLab), (GCL) Global Consulting Laboratory, and Consulting Practicum) he has mentored strategic consulting engagements in Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia. To emphasize the benefits of well-executed applied learning, Tom coined the phrase “Social Proof of Mastery” which now permeates learning efforts globally.

Professor Hunsaker has authored prominent work in innovation management, behavioral strategy, performance leadership, and higher education. He is co-author of the Bridger™ model, originally published in Harvard Business Review, which highlights how people best scout and win adoption for innovative ideas. His other noted work includes Mindset Positioning™, which describes why similarly talented people get dramatically different results from the same activities - and what to do about it.

Hunsaker’s work has appeared in practitioner and scholarly outlets including Harvard Business Review, Financial Times, Business & Economy, Research in Higher Education, Learning in Higher Education, Thunderbird Case Series, BizEd and on Businessweek and Bloomberg, among others.

Tom enjoys extensive global experience. He has helped to influence strategy for enterprises (from Fortune 500 to start-up and the social and public sectors) operating in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. As a trainer and speaker he has addressed audiences on four continents in diverse sectors, including: consumer goods, energy, financial, healthcare, biotech, manufacturing, food systems, productivity tech, and telecom.

Education

  • PhD, Sociology of Complex Organizations, University of New Mexico
  • MBA, Business Administration, University of New Mexico
  • MA, Latin American Studies, University of New Mexico
  • BA, International Studies, Brigham Young University

Expertise

Journal Articles

2018

Hunsaker, B. T. and D. E. Thomas. 2018. Your Turn: Answering the great questions. BizEd (May/June):54-55. (link )

2017

Hunsaker, B. T. and D. E. Thomas. 2017. The viability triad: Desirability, feasibility, and sustainability as the new strategic decision imperative. Journal of Management Policies and Practices 5(2):1-4. DOI: 10.15640/jmpp.v5n2a1.

2014

Hunsaker, B. T. and D. E. Thomas. 2014. Predicting public confidence in higher education institutions: An analysis of social factors. Research in Higher Education Journal 22:1-9. (link )

Thomas, D. E. and B. T. Hunsaker. 2014. Disrupting the value chain. BizEd 5(Sep/Oct):. (link )

2013

Hunsaker, B. T. and D. E. Thomas. 2013. Graduation rates and the higher education demographic evolution. Journal of Learning in Higher Education 9(2):29-34. (link )

2012

Washburn, N. T. and B. T. Hunsaker. 2012. Finding great ideas in emerging markets: The idea in practice. Harvard Business Review (January):. (link )

2011

Washburn, N. T. and B. T. Hunsaker. 2011. The globe: Finding great ideas in emerging markets. Harviard Business Review (September):. (link )

Washburn, N. T. and B. T. Hunsaker. 2011. Why someone from Apple needs to ride the Shanghai subway. Harvard Business Review (September):. (link )

Books

2017

Hunsaker, B. T. and B. L. Klippel. 2017. Mindset Positioning: Why Similar Talent Yields Dramatically Different Outcomes. And What To Do About It. Qualtis Group. ISBN: 978-0998518602.

Reports

2018

Hunsaker, B. T. and W. E. Youngdahl. 2018. IBM: Building with blockchain. Thurnderbird School of Global Management, Arizona State University. Thunderbird Case Studies

Hunsaker, B. T. and W. E. Youngdahl. 2018. Intel: AI and industry 4.0 strategy. Thurnderbird School of Global Management, Arizona State University. Thunderbird Case Series

Youngdahl, W. E. and B. T. Hunsaker. 2018. Coda Coffee & Bext360: Machine vision AI, IoT, and blockchain. Thurnderbird School of Global Management, Arizona State University. Thunderbird Case Studies

Youngdahl, W. E. and B. T. Hunsaker. 2018. SinguliarityNET: Blockchain-driven AI marketplace and quest for AGI. Thurnderbird School of Global Management, Arizona State University. Thunderbird Case Studies