John C. Beck is President of the North Star Leadership Group and Senior Research Fellow at the Center for the Digital Future at USC Annenberg. He leads research and consulting projects on topics of globalization, the future of communication, leadership, and organizational design. John earned his B.A. in East Asian Studies and Sociology summa cum laude from Harvard University, and was the first graduate of Harvard's integrative Ph.D. program in Business Studies. Dr. Beck is a Visiting Professor at the Anderson School of Management at UCLA and an Adjunct Professor at the Ivey School at the University of Western Ontario, where he teaches courses on Media and Entertainment, eCommerce, Management Consulting, Globalization and Leadership. John has also taught courses in multinational management, strategy, group psychology, organizational behavior, and management in emerging economies at Harvard University and at the Thunderbird Graduate School of International Management. He is Trustee at the Monterey Institute for International Studies.

Dr. Beck served as the senior strategic advisor to the First Prime Minister, Prince Ranariddh, during Cambodia's first three years as a democracy. John previously was Co-Director of the "Project on Strategies of the World's Largest 50 Companies" for the United Nations. Additionally, he was Director of International Research at Accenture's Institute for Strategic Change and worked as the Far East Advisor with Monitor Company, a Boston-based strategy consultancy, and oversaw the start-up of their operations in Korea and Japan. He was also President of Asian Business Information and Publisher of The Asian Century, a newsletter specializing in the strategic analysis of Asian companies and industries.

Dr. Beck has published over one hundred books, articles, and business reports on the topics of business in Asia, strategic management, globalization, leadership, and organizational behavior. His co-authored book, The Attention Economy, was named one of the best ten business books of 2001 by Amazon, Border's and the Library Association. DoCoMo: The Wireless Tsunami (with Mitch Wade) was published in September 2002 and has been recommended by Amazon ( "With lessons for all business leaders, in any industry, this book stands as a testament to the pivotal role of conviction, integrity, and personal passion in business success.") and Library Journal ("Highly recommended") Another book with Mitch Wade, Got Game: How Computer Games are Transforming Business