Thunderbird Alum
Rich Schoener ’07

United States, Director of Market Research at Hilti, North America

Rich Schoener’s childhood passion for discovering knowledge is, ironically, exactly what he’s professionally responsible for today as the director of market research for Hilti North America.

Born in Nebraska to an American chief master sergeant in the U.S. Air Force and to a German mother, Schoener grew up in Germany from the ages of 3 to 14. This upbringing, he feels, helped shape his curiosity about other cultures and his desire to absorb information from his surroundings.

Today his information–gathering skills help Hilti create better tools and fastening systems for the world’s construction and building maintenance industries.

"Data mining is the process of discovering knowledge," explains Schoener, of his role in developing new methods to analyze and use customer, market and competitive data. "Data mining can involve a very simple approach such as understanding what is driving a product sales spike or decline, to a very complex approach such as understanding patterns in regard to customer purchase behavior."

Building upon an existing master’s degree in marketing research, Schoener says his MBA training in Thunderbird’s On–Demand program is what helped refine his research skills. It also led him from a primarily U.S.–based sales and marketing career to a multinational corporation.

"My competence as a market researcher was honed," he says. "I have also applied my learning of competitive analysis into a more focused competitive intelligence model." Today, other Hilti employees take advantage of similar knowledge, working closely with the Thunderbird Learning Consulting Network to develop the company’s competitive intelligence model into a sustainable program.

"Material I learned from Thunderbird was applied immediately on the job while I was in class," says Schoener, who works closely with peers from country offices around the world – in Germany, France and Brazil. "That was the beauty of the On–Demand program. I’m still applying negotiation skills I learned to contractual negotiations and can apply cross–cultural communication skills in many situations working with global peers."

Schoener’s advice to future On–Demand students: "The time you spend soaking in the knowledge at Thunderbird should continue for the rest of your lives. The ability to build alignment and consensus across cultures is a skill sorely needed everywhere – within Hilti, within global business, and within global diplomacy. T–birds have a unique orientation to make a difference in the world at every level. Only you can define your full potential. Find the knowledge you need to realize it."