Chairman
www.arguden.net

Education

• PhD. Policy Analysis, Rand Graduate Institute (General Distinction)
• BSc. Industrial Eng., Boğaziçi University (Top Engineer and President’s Prize for Student Leadership)

Experience

Dr. Argüden is the Chairman of ARGE, an Istanbul based management consulting firm, which specializes in business strategy, governance, business excellence methodologies, and sustainability. He has worked with more than 500 companies on more than 1,500 consulting projects. Prior to founding ARGE, he worked at the RAND Corporation, World Bank, led the Privatization Program and served as the Chief Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister.

He is also the Chairman of Rothschild & Co. – Türkiye and has served on boards of 70+ major corporations and as the Chairman of the largest Turkish steel company, Erdemir (1997-99).

He is a renowned governance expert: serving on the Private Sector Advisory Group of IFC, Chairman of the Governance Committee of Business at OECD, Chairman of the Argüden Governance Academy Foundation Trustees, and author of many books on governance.

He has served as an adjunct Professor of Business Strategy at the Koç University and Bogaziçi University (formerly Robert College). Dr. Argüden is also an active participant in non-governmental-organizations. Elected as the Global Chair of UN Global Compact Local Networks and served on the Board of UN Global Compact. Served as the Chairman of the Turkish Quality Association; Chairman of Turkish-American & Turkish-Canadian Business Councils; as a board member of TÜSİAD-US; founding Board Member of the independent Turkish think-tank, TESEV, The Turkish Education Volunteers Foundation (TEGV), and Corporate Volunteers Association.

He is a Tübitak, Fulbright, and Eisenhower Fellow, a recipient of numerous leadership, distinguished citizenship, and career awards and was selected as a “Global Leader for Tomorrow” by the World Economic Forum.

Areas of Expertise

• Strategy
• Governance
• Sustainability
• Change Management
• Business Excellence

Reference Experiences

HR Systems for a Conglomerate:
Had a leading role in introducing HR and compensation systems for a leading Turkish conglomerate. The systems were rolled out to all of the companies belonging to the conglomerate.

Crisis Management and Development Strategy:
Led a strategy project to restructure a leading company that was struck by the decline in the market. The company was reorganized within 9 months to reduce the overheads by %50. The company that was making a loss of %10 of its turnover, reached a profitability level of %15 and its shares gained value %75 faster than the Istanbul Stock Exchange Index.

New Business Development:
The Group with mainly industrial holdings was analyzed for capabilities based competitive strengths to identify market opportunities in service businesses. Within two years, through internal development and acquisitions the Group entered new businesses which helped its shares to increase in value %300 faster than the Istanbul Stock Exchange Index.

Total Quality Management:
Led a change management project to establish world class MIS and human resources systems and to introduce TQM philosophy to the Group. One of the Group’s companies won the European Foundation for Quality Management’s Award.

Family Business:
In a Family Business that is leading its industry the family, business, and ownership issues were identified and separated, succession planning, developmental education and training programs were designed for the second generation, and principles were established for building and managing Board performance. Management responsibility is were passed to a team of second-generation representatives and professionals.

Corporate Governance:
Reorganization of a JV between a leading global company and the Turkish Government was accomplished to the satisfaction of both parties. The principles of the board and management relations, internal development and communication plan for the board were established.