STEVEN WITTEN

Newbury Park, California 91320 ~ (805) 807-6006 stevewitten60@yahoo.com

EXECUTIVE-LEVEL LEADERSHIP
Market Research ~ Business Development ~ Operations ~ Consulting ~ Social Media ~ Digital
Creative, innovative, and results oriented executive leader with more than 20 years of success in managing and executing large, complex syndicated, small proprietary, global, quantitative, and qualitative research studies; exceptional ability in managing large organizations, fostering a team building atmosphere and breaking down interior barriers to achieve strategic business objectives. Proficient in collaborating with cross functional teams; insightful, influential communicator with superior interpersonal skills; skilled in translating complex technical solutions into understandable business terms. Demonstrated expertise in managing high-visibility and time-critical projects in demanding environments. Champion of organizational and staff development with demonstrated experience in cultivating relationships and developing and motivating dynamic, customer-focused teams at all levels of the organization. Versatile executive with proven capacity to adapt to constant change, adjusts to varying business models and remains flexible and productive in ever-evolving markets.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE
Creative Thinking ~ Media Measurement ~ Research Consulting ~ Sales Satisfaction Studies ~ Cost Reductions Workload Balancing ~ Quantitative & Qualitative Research ~ Consulting ~ Training ~ Analytics ~ Presentations Strategic Planning ~ Product Quality ~ Product Design Product launch ~ Sales Satisfaction ~ Focus Groups Market Research ~ Automotive Industry ~ Research Operations ~ Process Standardization ~ Outsourcing Media Usage ~ Vendor Management ~ Product Clinics ~ Concept Testing ~ Request for Proposals ~ B2B Conjoint Analysis ~ Regression Modeling ~ Statistical Testing ~ SAS Programming ~ Internet Usage Process Redesign ~ Press Interviews ~ Conference Speaking ~ Social Media ~ Marketing ~ Sales Questionnaire Design ~ Report Writing ~ Performance Improvement ~ Website Design ~ Digital

KEY PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Drove contract negotiations with a JV partner to develop a new product for J.D. Power; achieved an agreement allowing J.D. Power to produce the product with minimal internal labor costs and position the company to return $3M in revenues within a 24 month period. Facilitated the reduction of J.D. Powers operation cost by 15% through workload normalizing, process standardization and eliminating non-value tasks. Spearheaded the merging of five J.D. Power independent automotive research departments into one group while moving the entire organization to a matrix structure to improve collaboration, process standardization, and cost savings; Successfully launched the firms Automotive Internet practice, creating yearly revenue exceeding $2M. Championed the restructuring of pricing strategies for J.D. Powers Marketing and Media automotive business resulting in exceeding sales targets by 5%.

PROFESSIONAL WORK HISTORY

J.D. POWER AND ASSOCIATES, Westlake, California 1995 - Present
Executive Director, Global Automotive Business Development Thought leader for the U.S. automotive media and marketing department. Developing new studies merging J.D. Power data with third party data to produce tools providing media measurement of new vehicle buyers online internet behavior, and another providing measurement of television viewing via set top box data, and ad exposure data. Work as an internal research consultant with J.D. Power Mexico and Brazil offices in addition to assisting the Asia offices in the redesign of their dealership sales satisfaction studies. Consulted with on-site J.D. Power Mexico office launch team members on how to conduct press interviews, build sales presentations, report writing and study designs.

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PROFESSIONAL WORK HISTORY

(continued)
Executive Director, Global Automotive Business Development (continued from previous page) Drove contract negotiations with a JV partner to develop a new product for J.D. Power; achieved an agreement allowing J.D. Power to produce the television return path data product with minimal internal labor costs and position the company to return $3M in revenues within a 24 month period. Championed the restructuring of pricing strategies for J.D. Powers Marketing and Media automotive resulting in exceeding sales targets by 5%. Executive Director, U.S. Automotive Research Oversaw all of the companys U.S. and Mexico automotive syndicated studies. Conducted press interviews, client presentations and conference presentations. Manage P&L of a department of 35 staff members. Assisted account representatives in sales, pricing development and strategic planning for designing long standing syndicated research studies. Facilitated the reduction of J.D. Powers operation cost by 15% through workload normalizing, process standardization and eliminating non-value tasks. Drove the migration of all studies to an on-line reporting tool allowed the company to streamline and standardized the process and provide one look and feel for all studies a client would see. Championed the re-design of the client presentation process to ensure key client needs were met and a clear ROI story was told; client satisfaction, as measured by internal surveys, improved by 10%. Managed the transfer of all data processing functions to J.D. Powers Singapore office from the U.S. offices and various external vendors; improved cost structure through reduced labor costs and ensured standardized processes were followed by having all studies done in one location. Executive Director, Social Media Research, Financial Services & Insurance (FS&I) Division Led the development of products based on social media for the financial, insurance and health care sectors. Assisted the account staff within the FS&I Division in marketing and selling social media products. Marketed social media research both internally and externally. Conducted analysis and created presentations for internal and client sales presentations. Attended sales meetings and communicated with sales staff and key clients on how social media can be used by clients and developed products based on information obtained. Developed the divisions sales strategy and sold more social media projects, $200K in annual revenues, than any other division in the company. Conducted internal training/marketing sessions for account staff members for the new type of social media research. Championed the concept to create a Green Consumer Study based on social media that created a lot of buzz; added a social media component to several syndicated products to build awareness of the companys capabilities in this area. Executive Director, U.S. Automotive Marketing & Media Research Oversaw all of the companys U.S. automotive syndicated studies related to marketing, media and digital including strategic planning. Conducted press interviews, client presentations and conference presentations. Manage P&L of department. Assisted account representatives in sales, pricing development. Responsible for the successful launch of the firms Automotive Internet practice. Co-creator of the Manufacturer Web Site Evaluation Study providing auto manufacturers with consumer insights about their web sites, leading to $700K annual revenue to the firm. Launch new suite of syndicated studies combining click stream data with a new-vehicle buyer data base allowing marketers for the first time to see the actual online behavior of new-vehicle buyers, resulting in over $1M in annual revenue. Consulted with both Kia and Ford on web site redesigns. Kia move from the bottom to the top of the list in customer satisfaction within three years; Ford realized significant improvement on key KPI measurements. Developed the firms first conference focusing on automotive internet, the J.D. Power and Associate Internet Roundtable which quickly became the firms most profitable conference with attendance exceeding 1,000.

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Executive Director, U.S. Automotive Research Oversaw all of the companys U.S. and Mexico automotive syndicated studies (23); ensuring quality, timeliness of the studies; conduct analysis, presentations of the findings and press interviews. Manage P&L of department with revues over $24M. Assisted account representatives in sales, pricing development. Oversaw the successful merging of five independent research departments into one group to improve collaboration, process standardization, which led to a 20%+ reduction of costs. Manage study redesigns to ensure objectives are met and methodology is sound. Played lead role on committee that investigated and implemented building a J.D. Power and Associates consumer panel saving the firm over $500K in sample costs. Successfully launched a new syndicated study in the Mexico market (Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey); the first study the firm conducted in Mexico bringing over $200K in revenue. Active participate in the firms strategic planning process. Active participate in the planning and execution of moving the firm to a matrix organization. Areas of study include: product quality, product design, new product launch analysis, sales satisfaction, service satisfaction, shopping process studies, web site evaluation, online & offline focus groups, B-to-B, media usage, newmedia usage Participate in or led many special committees and task forces; Corporate Research Committee, Quality Management Team, Roles and Responsibilities Documentation, Process Improvement teams Research Supervisor to Research Manager, U.S. Automotive Research Managed a team of up to five responsible for launch new proprietary research studies. Took basic concept for new studies ideas and developed them into viable products. Assisted other teams in the successful completion of key initiatives and research studies. Redesigned deliverables of key syndicated studies, responded to RFPs and assisted in client sales presentations to secure business. Managed the firms first automotive product clinics which created a new revenue stream for the firm, leading $800K in yearly revenue. Design and managed the firms first accelerated vehicle quality study which eventually lead to the creation of the firms vehicle quality consulting department bringing in revenues over $3M. Working with the IT department, was project manager of developing the firms first online reporting tool used for automotive tracking studies. The tool allowed reporting down to the dealer level, improving client satisfaction scores by 50% and led to renewals of several programs. This tool helped secure over $6M in tracking study business and reduced internal costs by 12%. Previous career roles include: Research Associate to Research Supervisor with MARTIZ MARKETING RESEARCH, AUTOMOTIVE DIVISION; Research Intern with NISSAN MOTOR OF AMERICA; Assistant Manager of PARNELLI JONES FIRESTONE Tire and Service center. Details on request.

EDUCATION
MS, Organizational & Industrial Psychology California State University Long Beach, California BA, Psychology California State University Westlake, California