John Saleeby
Adjunct Instructor, at Darla Moore School of Business
Schools
- Darla Moore School of Business
Links
Biography
Darla Moore School of Business
Background
John Saleeby is vice president of corporate business development at ABB Inc., a publicly traded global leader in power and automation, where he helps the company grow across all 20 business units operating in the Americas region. Saleeby serves as an adjunct faculty member for the Darla Moore School of Business with a focus on Capstone Experience projects, strategy, and mergers and acquisitions. His career with ABB spans over 25 years of progressive functional leadership in BU, division and corporate marketing and business development roles with a focus on energy, electric utility and industrial markets.
Saleeby is recognized as a “go to” resource for strategic growth processes and direction. He has served as the project leader for many growth projects, including acquisitions, and as a member of ABB’s technology investment board in the United States and has represented ABB at various trade and government organization activities. He has an MBA from the University of South Carolina and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Duke University. He completed the merger and acquisition advisory program at Loyola University, Chicago, and is a member of the Alliance of Merger & Acquisition Advisors and a certified M&A adviser. John retired from the U.S. Air Force as a Lt. Colonel.
What courses do you teach?
International Mergers & Acquisitions (IBUS 735), occasional guest speaker on M&A topics for Strategic Management (MGMT 478)
Why should a student take your class? How does your class help students become employable?
Students are exposed to a broad toolbox of inorganic and organic approaches to corporate growth and get the benefit of practical experience in considering these options. In recent classes, some student teams worked on projects such as helping companies in Columbia think about business strategy. Others developed recommendations for ABB on international projects such as how to approach the food and beverage industry in Africa or how to identify and participate in opportunities for microgrid development in Southeast Asia. Practical exposure helps students identify potential employment opportunities, prepare for interviews and make more immediate contributions to employers.
How does your prior experience contribute to the classroom discussion and the way you teach?
In nearly three decades of experience, I have had the opportunity to communicate with and across all organizational levels and functions, from the factory floor to the chairman, as well as across diverse energy and industrial business units. I have learned that I work best as a listener and strategic process facilitator who can help shape conversations to reach meaningful conclusions — sometimes decisions, sometimes just key take-away points. That is how I like to teach; I try to provide a strategic framework and awareness of options and then try to nurture open discussions with the class or project team.
What is one thing you try to teach ALL of your students?
The one thing is that it is not just one thing. In making strategic choices, including acquisitions, employees and leaders have to be resourceful in gathering and considering information, involve team members from many functions, choose the best approach from a variety of options, be persuasive and persistent in making recommendations, and execute with precision and accountability.
What is your teaching style?
I like to use short lectures followed by open discussion of topics that involves the preparation, insights and experiences of students. I often use guest speakers to add great perspective from real-world experience. I try to recommend (or require) projects that are as realistic as possible. I insist on polished, professional communications. In my most recent capstone class, project teams presented research and recommendations to a panel of ABB executives, who participated in grading.
What are your expectations for students?
Classroom participation is critical to facilitate discussions. If you’re not enthusiastic about a particular topic, participation and contributions are required anyway. It’s the way business works. Team projects are cross-functional, team members are picked by the leader (me) and everyone needs to carry a fair share of the workload — all reflecting the real world. Students might sometimes be challenged to get a basic grasp of some elementary technical concepts, just as they would be if working for a consulting firm, for example.
What inspires you about your work?
Helping businesses reach their full potential. Helping people advance in work they enjoy and find rewarding.
What are you doing when you’re not working?
I enjoy my grandkids and mission trips.
Read about executive education
Other experts
Doug Boyle
With over 30 years at PepsiCo and Royal Dutch Shell, Doug managed some of the world’s leading brands and led global Sales & Marketing organizations across B2B, B2C and Retail industries. During his 12 years with Shell, Doug helped lead the globalization of the Downstream businesses focusing ...
Ryan Jablonski
Dr. Ryan Jablonski joined the Department of Government in 2013 as an Assistant Professor of Political Science. Dr. Jablonski received his Ph.D. and M.A. in political science from the University of California, San Diego. Education Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) University of California, San Diego ...
Janice Gross Stein
Janice Gross Stein is the Belzberg Professor of Conflict Management in the Department of Political Science and was the founding Director of the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto (serving from 1998 to the end of 2014). She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a m...
Looking for an expert?
Contact us and we'll find the best option for you.