Mike Guillaume
Professional
1999 - Onwards: Co-founder and manager of e.com-ReportWatch, a company that specializes in report assessment and benchmarking, headquartered in Delaware, U.S. with its head office in London, UK. He has reviewed thousands of reports to investors and stakeholders, and has consulted for more than one hundred and thirty international blue chips and listed corporations (from Sweden to Canada to Hong Kong to Japan). The firm is well known for its “Annual Report on Annual Reports” (www.reportwatch.net).
1987 - 1999: Managing then Executive Director of the Enterprise Group, a consultancy focused on strategic, financial and marketing planning services for growing enterprises. The company was based in Brussels (and also later had an office in Texas) and was involved in many transnational programs (e.g. between European regions such as Catalonia, North of France, Scotland, and extensively in South-East Asia. For the latter, managed the European part of a Euro-Asean business cooperation program to promote the use of cogeneration and renewable energies). In the 90s, the group added a financial communication unit to its business and worked on annual reports in the financial sector (the unit was spun off as e.com in 1999 after the group had defaulted). From 1993 through 1997: Supervised the annual report of a large Benelux bank.
1981 - 1987: Co-founded a non-profit association (a “management boutique”) to help startups and SMEs (as well as buyouts and spinoffs) prepare their business and financial plans, raise equity, get loans and find partners.
1980 - 1981: Junior Consultant at Alexander Proudfoot Corporation (Chicago-Paris-Brussels). Learned American management practices and participated in various restructuring missions in the cement, steel, tobacco, food and other industries in a few areas.
Publications - seminars - articles - academics
- “The Seven Deadly Sins of Capitalism” (self-published book, 2009), published simultaneously with the launch of www.mikeconomics.net website, where some of his articles about economics and other issues may be found.
- Editor of the “Annual Report on Annual Reports”, often regarded as the most authoritative global survey on annual reports (published by e.com-ReportWatch) since 1997. Besides report scoring, has written articles on “Corporate substance and relevance”, “How are financials reported?”, “The rise and fall of American reports”, “The case against quarterly profit warnings”, et al. (some available on http://www.reportwatch.net/report-essentials/)
- “Competing in the Asian Energy Markets – Financial Conditions” (research published in 1996 within the EU-ASEAN Cogen Programme).
- Professor and program manager of international strategy and innovation at St. Louis Business School (Brussels) (1989-1994).
- Contributed monthly articles on strategic and financial management and international economics for a banking magazine (1988-1994).
- “L’Entreprise en Compétition” (“The competing company”) (book, Quorum, 1993).
- Regular OECD consultant on entrepreneurship and local employment initiatives in the 80s.
- “Partager le Travail” (“Labor-sharing policies”) (Preface by Michel Rocard) (book, PUF, 1983).
- Research assistant in macroeconomics at the University of Mons-Hainaut (1981-1983).
- Participation in seminars, workshops, roundtables in Britain, Netherlands, Belgium, France, U.S., Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines...
Education
1987: Training on innovation and technology transfer (TII, Luxembourg-London-Barcelona).
1982-1983: Special trainings on financial (and risk) analysis and management (classes by financial institutions’ specialists).
1978-1979: Master in international economics (European economics and politics) (IEE, Brussels).
1974-1978: Graduate in political science and international relations (ULB, Brussels).
1967-1974: Secondary school with a degree in economics (ARG, Gosselies, Belgium).
Personal
Born in Charleroi (Wallonia, Belgium) (1955), Mike (aka Michel for the francophones, Michael in Deutschland und Österreich, or Miguel for Espanoles) has lived, worked and consulted in twenty-five countries, of which “a few adopted regions and parts of lifestyles”, on four continents. Mike defines himself as a cosmopolitan and a mix of Anglo-Saxon culture and Walloon roots (not Belgium, “which is an accident of history”). He speaks English, French, Dutch, Spanish and German, and “wouldn’t mind learning other languages when he finds the time.” After having played football and tennis in previous lves, his hobbies now include reading, traveling, hiking, biking, watching movies, and "listening to and playing as much music as possible."

