Dr. Talil Abrhiem’s Journey to Success

This article chronicles the life and success of Dr. Talil Abrhiem. Growing up in the Middle East and the Mediterranean, local and national culture played a large role in developing Abrhiem’s desire to succeed. As a translator in Athens, Greece, Abrhiem was able to help immigrants apply for jobs or asylum. The position also gave him a greater respect for the political and economic freedoms of the United States, where he moved a few years later. It was there that a combination of family encouragement and the opportunities of American capitalism helped lead to Dr. Abrhiem’s success as an entrepreneur. After twenty years of success in the business field, Abrhiem decided to further his education, eventually earning a Ph.D. in business. Throughout his life, Dr. Abrhiem had to learn and master essential life skills, as well as overcome challenges typical for adult students. His story can serve to motivate adults who also want to return to college.

In this day and age, it’s never hurts to be reminded that hard work can pay off - and Dr. Talil Abrhiem is a great example. Dr. Abrhiem was born in Mosul, Iraq, whose population in the 1950s was smaller than that of Akron-Ohio today. Dr. Abrhiem’s father worked for a travel agency, while his mother stayed at home and supported the family. His family lived frugally, due in large part to his parents’ insistence that all four of their children attend school. “In my culture, education was a point of pride for families,” Dr. Abrhiem says. “When they would get together, it was always ‘my kid got this score, my kid got that score’.” In fact, his mother valued his education so much that she would tell him to stay in his room and study. “If I needed anything, she would bring it to me – she wanted me to read.”

All the effort paid off. Iraq had three nationally administered examinations -all of which took days to complete. All of them were monitored, and calculators were banned. Dr. Abrhiem often studied five or six hours per day because the results of those exams determined which universities he could attend. Today, studying that much can seem like a daunting task for university students, but he was doing it before the age of 18. Dr. Abrhiem went on to earn a Bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering, where only two students performed higher than him.

At the age of twenty-two, Dr. Abrhiem moved to Athens, Greece, where he used his trilingual skills to help refugees and temporary workers file for jobs and in some cases, asylum from oppressive governments. In hindsight, he says, that experience gave him a greater appreciation for the political and economic freedom in the United States. “Here, you can belong to whatever party you want, and you get ahead based on your skills” When he was around thirty, Dr. Abrhiem and his family immigrated to the United States. Almost immediately, he set a goal of owning a small business. He recollects, “I saw the nice cars, and the people owning businesses, and I wanted that, too.” Over the next twenty years, he successfully started and operated three businesses, got married, and had a family. But once again, it was his mother’s encouragement to continue his education that prompted Abrhiem to pursue not only his MBA, but a PhD as well.

As for many working adults, achieving those graduate degrees was not easy. For a long time, his wife helped run the business he owned, while graduate studies became his full-time job. Some days, Dr. Abrhiem didn’t have much time to interact with friends or family. And then, while he was in the final stages of his dissertation, both of Abrhiem’s parents died. To say that he knows the struggles adult students face is an But again, Dr. Abrhiem was working toward a goal. “I figured, I have the MBA, so why not go all the way so I could teach?” Having spent several years as both an entrepreneur and a human resources professional, Dr. Abrhiem had decided it was time to give back to a country that had given him his education. For the past several years, Dr. Abrhiem has been a campus dean and business professor at a university focused on adult students. “I want to use my experience and my knowledge, and help transform peoples’ Dr. Abrhiem believes one of the main goals of teaching is to challenge students' mindsets and former knowledge, and to help them develop a critical perspective on things. His role in this process is to guide discussion, to offer critical, philosophical, and historical information to suggest possible approaches. And while he guides his students’ intellectual development, he also believes that they guide him through the observations and perspectives they bring to class. These new perspectives have the potential to alter his beliefs about what makes an effective instructor, and constantly challenge him to reassess his conceptualization and organization of the field of management. As such, the terms “retention” and “growth” have a twofold meaning in terms of Dr. Talil Abrhiem’s story should remind us of two things. First, achieving your goals isn’t always easy; sometimes it will take substantial work, and there will be obstacles. But secondly, it reminds us that hard work and determination can pay off as long as you keep sight of your goals, and refuse to quit.

Dr. Abrhiem has outstanding teaching skills, and a unique ability to motivate students through apositive learning environment and his sincere passion for their success. In the academic arena, hehas pioneered academic research and developed methodologies focusing on strategic Arab-American entrepreneurial success. He has superior knowledge of American, European, and Middle Eastern business culture, as well as broad international business experience with histrilingual language skills and military service training. His global multi-disciplinary approach to strategic business management is supported by experience in Research, Operations, Sales,Human Resources management, and Marketing strategy. Dr. Abrhiem has over thirty years of small business entrepreneurial management and corporate management experience with several Fortune 500 companies. Throughout his tenure with AJAJ Corporation, he led integration activities for numerous business acquisitions, implemented TQM initiatives that improved financial performance and Retail Food Industry efficiencies, and instilled a stronger operational focus on customer satisfaction. Central to the success of these business activities was the ongoing development of general strategic management leadership capabilities and succession planning programs as well as targeted organizational communications strategies.

Ability to assess motivational fit of talent to organizations needs
Ability to research and consolidate information required for the analysis of HR operations
Flexible and adaptive to rapid change
Able to effectively communicate with all levels of management, clients, customers,or the general public.
Able to organize and coordinate multiple projects and team activities.
Ability to stay in tune with the market for talent and modify recruitment strategies as needed

EDUCATION

Ph.D. - Organization and Management Concentration in Human Resource Managemen t

Capella University, 2005

225 South 6th Street, 9th Floor

Minneapolis, MN 55402

Master of Science in Business Administration Concentration in Human Resources

Central Michigan University, 2002

1200 S Franklin St, Mt Pleasant, MI 48859

Bachelor of Science - Agricultural Engineering Concentration in Soil and Environmental

University of Mosul, 1979

Al-Majmoa'a Street, Mosul, Iraq

PUBLICATIONS

BOOKS

Abrhiem, T.H. (2015). Business Plan with the Qualitative Approach. Germany: OmniScriptum GmbH & Co.
KG- VDM Publishing. ISBN-13: 978-3-659-78881-9

Abrhiem, T.H. (2015). Aligning Strategic Growth with Practice. Germany: OmniScriptum
GmbH & Co. KG- VDM Publishing. ISBN-13: 978-3-659-77835-3

Abrhiem, T.H. (2015). Building Value through Human Resources. Germany: OmniScriptum
GmbH & Co. KG- VDM Publishing. ISBN-13: ISBN 978-3-659-76638-1

Abrhiem, T.H. (2015). Crafting Organizational Change. Germany: OmniScriptum
GmbH & Co. KG- VDM Publishing. ISBN-13: 978-3-659-74274-3

Abrhiem, T.H. (2015). Developing Employees for Future Success. Germany: OmniScriptum
GmbH & Co. KG- VDM Publishing. ISBN-13: 978-3-659-70560-1

Abrhiem, T.H. (2015). Astute Manager: Maintaining Positive Employee Relations Germany: OmniScriptum
GmbH & Co. KG- VDM Publishing. ISBN-13: 9783659403613

Abrhiem, T.H. (2015). Management Performance through Functional-Level Strategies Germany: OmniScriptum
GmbH & Co. KG- VDM Publishing. ISBN-13: 978365967343

Abrhiem, T.H. (2014). The Four Bells Small Business Model. Germany: OmniScriptum
GmbH & Co. KG- VDM Publishing. ISBN-13: 9783659619816

Abrhiem, T.H. (2008). A Successful Arab-American Marketing Strategy. Germany: OmniScriptum
GmbH & Co. KG- VDM Publishing. ISBN-13: 978-3639067163

ARTICLES

Abrhiem, T. H. (2015). Taking Responsibility: Balance Work with Personal Lives.
International journal of Innovative Research in Management, ISSN 2319 -6912
(September-October 2015, issue 4 volume 7).

Abrhiem, T. H. (2015). Strategic Management: Improve the Process for Managing Change.
International journal of Innovative Research in Management, ISSN 2319 –6912
(July-August 2015, issue 4 volume 6).

Abrhiem, T. H. (2015). Organizational Behavior: Vision Attracts the Best People. International
journal of Innovative Research in Management, ISSN 2319 –6912(May-June 2015, issue
4 volume 5).

Abrhiem, T. H. (2014). The Role of Parenting Styles in Psychosocial Development of
Adolescents. Business and Management Review, 3(11), 47-52.

Abrhiem, T. H. (2014). The Principle Diagnostic Methods used to devise Intervention: Employee
Governance. Business and Management Review, 3(06), 01-11.

Abrhiem, T. H. (2013). Managing Transformation and Change for the Business Leader.
Business and Management Review, 3(02), 14-22.

Abrhiem, T. H. (2013). Training on Succession Planning and Policy Decisions: Enhancing
Organizational Productivity. Business and Management Review, 2(11), 13-23.

Abrhiem, T. H. (2012). Products and services: Creating a sustainable competitive advantage.
Business and Management Review, 2(6), 34-45.

Abrhiem, T. H. (2012). Ethical leadership: Keeping values in business cultures. Business and
Management Review, 2(7), 11-19.

VIDEOS

Resistance to change

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmLeRVpVvkU

Managing Organizational Change

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFAsXRdzkzg

Recruiting, Selecting, Training, and Developing Employees

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeQWf0bx1VU

Small Business and Entrepreneurship

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5K8IR-qno8

Motivation Enhancing Performance