Welcome to the International Directory of Business Biographies (IDBB). This four-volume set covers more than 600 prominent business people from around the world and is intended for reference use by management students, librarians, educators, historians, and others who seek information about the people leading the world's biggest and most influential companies. The articles, all of which include bylines, were written by a team of journalists, academics, librarians, and independent scholars. (See Notes on Contributors.) Approximately 60 percent of the entrants are American, while 40 percent are from other countries. Articles were compiled from material supplied by companies for whom the entrants work, general and academic periodicals, books, and annual reports. With its up-to-date profiles of important figures from the world of international business, IDBB complements the popular St. James Press series International Directory of Company Histories (IDCH), which provides entries on the world's largest and most influential companies. Leaders of many of the companies covered in IDCH are profiled in IDBB.

INCLUSION CRITERIA

The list of entrants in IDBB was developed by the editors in consultation with the academics and librarians serving on IDBB 's advisory board. (See List of Advisers.) The majority of people profiled here are current or recent chief executives of large, publicly traded companies such as those found on the Fortune 500 and Global 500 lists of companies compiled by Fortune magazine. Among this group are familiar names such as H. Lee Scott Jr. of Wal-Mart, Carly Fiorina of Hewlett-Packard, John Browne of BP, and Nobuyuki Idei of Sony. Retired or former executives like GE's Jack Welch and Vivendi Universal's Jean-Marie Messier also make the list, as do a few deceased individuals who were active in the past few years, including Jim Cantalupo of McDonald's and Chung Ju-yung of Hyundai.

In addition, we have included other high-profile individuals whose companies are privately held or are not large enough to make the Fortune lists but whose influence makes them valuable candidates for study, such as Kase L. Lawal of CAMAC Holdings, Oprah Winfrey of Harpo Productions, and Terence Conran of Conran Holdings. We also mix in upand-coming executives who may not currently be chief executives but who are rapidly gaining prominence in the business world; among this group are Indra K. Nooyi of PepsiCo and Lachlan and James Murdoch of News Corporation. For these latter categories, we have attempted to highlight female and minority executives who, even in the early twenty-first century, continue to be underrepresented in the upper echelons of the corporate world.

Readers should note that our aim was to produce balanced, objective profiles of influential executives, and individuals were not disqualified if they or their companies were enmeshed in scandal. Thus, the set includes articles about executives such as Ken Lay of Enron, Dennis Kozlowski of Tyco International, and Martha Stewart of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, all of whom were indicted on criminal charges in the early 2000s.

ARRANGEMENT OF SET AND ENTRY FORMAT

The four-volume set is arranged alphabetically by surname. An alphabetical list of subjects is included in the frontmatter. Within each entry, readers will find the following sections:

Fact Box: This section provides details about the subject's birth and death dates, birth and death locations, family information, educational background, work history, major awards, and publications. For entrants affiliated with a specific company at the time of publication, the Fact Box also includes the company address and URL address, except in cases where the subject is no longer affiliated with a company.

Main Text: This section provides a narrative overview of the subject's life, career trajectory, and influence. The text includes subheadings to assist the reader in navigating the key periods in the subject's life.

Sources for Further Information: This section lists books, articles, and Web sites containing more information about the subject. Also included here are sources from which quotations are drawn in the main text.

See also: At the end of most articles is a cross-reference to applicable company profiles in the International Directory of Company Histories.

INDEXES

IDBB includes four indexes. The Nationality Index lists entrants according to their country of birth, country of citizenship (if different from country of birth), and country of long-term residence. The Geographic Index lists entrants according to the country of the headquarters of operation or the country where the subject works (if different from country of the headquarters); the index lists entrants according to their employer at the time of publication as well as significant previous companies where they were employed. The Company and Industry Index lists entrants according to their current and former companies of employment as well the industries in which those companies operate; in this latter index, industries are listed in small caps, while companies are listed in roman font with upper- and lowercase letters. The Name Index lists all entrants as well as other significant individuals discussed in the text.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Numerous individuals deserve gratitude for their assistance with this project. I am indebted to everyone at St. James Press and Thomson Gale who assisted with the production, particularly Margaret Mazurkiewicz, who provided crucial help at all stages of production; I also thank Chris Nasso, Peter Gareffa, and Bridget Travers for their support. At Schlager Group, Marcia Merryman Means elucidated style matters and coordinated the copyediting and fact-checking process, while Jayne Weisblatt and Vanessa Torrado-Caputo provided valuable editorial assistance.

Neil Schlager

SUGGESTIONS WELCOME

Comments and suggestions from users of IDBB on any aspect of the product are cordially invited. Suggestions for additional business people to include in future new editions or supplements are also welcomed. Please write:

The Editor
International Directory of Business Biographies
Thomson Gale
27500 Drake Rd.
Farmington Hills, MI 48331-3535