About Us
About Robert F. Hayden
As president of Robert F. Hayden & Company, Mr. Hayden oversees his clients' direction in global business opportunities, especially in Asia.
Prior to founding Robert F. Hayden & Company, he worked nine years in industry marketing traveling 35 countries for EMC Corporation. Mr. Hayden was fundamental in establishing close cultural relationships with foreign clients. In addition to EMC, he spent a decade with Hitachi Data Systems.
Mr. Hayden began his career with General Electric, where he was selected for GE's Marketing Development Program (MDP). His colleagues elected him president of his MDP class and he received General Electric's Morgan Presentation Award for marketing expertise.
He earned a B.S. in marketing and computer studies from Louisiana State University and an MBA from San Francisco State University. Mr. Hayden has also studied at Harvard University, the University of California-Berkeley, and La Sorbonne — University of Paris. He attended EMC's executive management program at the International Institute of Management Development (IMD), Lausanne, Switzerland. IMD is the sister school of MIT's Sloan School of Management. In addition, Mr. Hayden completed Emory University's China Insider program as well as two courses in Japanese language studies at Oglethorpe University.
Mr. Hayden has done business in the following countries:
Asia: China, India, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan
Middle East: Turkey, Israel, United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia
Australasia: Australia and New Zealand
Africa: South Africa and Egypt
Europe: France, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Netherlands and Portugal
Americas: United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina
We're A Global Consultant With An Asian Focus
According to the December 2007 Harvard Business Review, China was
growing at 11.1% annually and India is growing at 9.4%. While these
numbers were revised in 2008 to 8.0% and 5.1%, they are still
significantly higher than -2.0% for Europe
or -1.6% for the United States.
By 2016 China will be the largest economy in the world and India will
the third largest. This incredible growth presents opportunities for
Western companies.
Robert F. Hayden & Company offers a way to tap into these markets successfully. After investing billions of dollars in China and India, many companies were left frustrated and unfulfilled. Countless firms never enjoyed a reasonable return on their investments. A significant part of the problem is they did not understand the Asian market or culture.
What We Offer
- 25 years of experience working in 35 countries - Globally trained with an Asia focus.
- Expertise in working with U.S. agencies in Beijing and Washington, D. C., that direct funding for U.S. corporations selling in China.
- Knowledge of protocol from previous meetings with U.S. officials at the U.S. embassy in Beijing and with Chinese officials at the Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C.
- Mitigation of international business risk. These issues include: refusal to pay, bankruptcy, insolvency, and breach of contract.
- Mitigation of international political risk. These issues include: import or export embargoes, nationalization, expropriation, confiscation, war, strikes, riots, currency inconvertibility, and government intervention.
- Assistance with exporting: Nearly 42 percent of all U.S. exporters in 2005 had fewer than 19 employees. Firms with fewer than 500 employees made up 97.3 percent of all exporters in 2007.
- Access to top legal firms in China. These can guide you through contracts, intellectual property issues, and setting up wholly foreign owned enterprises or joint ventures.
- Knowledge of Chinese organizations representing more than 3,000 agents and companies that purchase U.S. manufacturing and electronic equipment.
- Exceptional Chinese language experts, both translators who work with the written word, and interpreters who work with the spoken word.
- Supervision of critical sales/marketing presentations in simplified Chinese and Mandarin.
- Executive education in communication, business practices and cultural orientation for a specific country.
- Expert guidance through the Chinese negotiation process.
- Visa and immunization guidance, business card translation, product or company name evaluation and travel insights.
- Cultural fluency to bridge cross-cultural communication.
Our Clients
"I have utilized Bob Hayden's consulting knowledge and relationship building skill for over twenty years. He is the best I have worked with. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and the opportunities it presents. Bob has outstanding relationships with the key business and government people across the world to facilitate building on those opportunities. And he has the business expertise to focus on the core value creation that can be derived from those opportunities."
John King
Chief Executive Officer
321 Transform LLC and former Vice President of Information Technology for Delta Air Lines
"I am amazed at Bob Hayden's knowledge of both business and culture, and his understanding of the relationship between the two. His emphasis on both aspects has clearly helped us position ourselves with international customers."
Ed McQuillan
Senior Vice President
"EDM suffered international account receivable losses during the global financial crisis of 2009. Bob Hayden showed us how to mitigate those risks in a very cost effective manner. We appreciate Bob’s guidance in this area. EDM now feels more secure venturing forth in the global market."
H. Russell Hallman II
Executive Vice President
& Chief Operating Officer
Electronic Data Magnetics, Inc.
"After working with Bob Hayden in China, I can truly say Bob is a citizen of the world."
Dan Vertachnik
Chief Revenue Officer
& Executive Vice President
Atlanta Grotnes Machine Company
* A partial list