VERNON HILLS, Ill., Jan. 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- A two-day CEO summit, "Redefining Reality: For Sustainable Profit Growth," will be held in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday and Thursday, January 9^th and 10^th.  With business and government banking on innovation to fuel economic growth, this conference will bring together global thought leaders and leading CEOs to cast a fresh lens on these issues.  The conference will be held at two venues – the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and the United States Institute of Peace – under the aegis of Tetra Pak, the leading food processing and packaging solutions company recently named one of the "Top 100 Global Innovators" by Thomson Reuters.

John Kao, bestselling author of Innovation Nation and chairman of the Global Advisory Council on Innovation of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, will open the conference on January 9^th at the Mandarin Oriental with a presentation on how America is losing its innovation edge, why it matters and how to get it back.  Dubbed "Mr. Creativity" and "a serial innovator" by The Economist, Kao is a leading authority on organizational transformation and emerging technologies.  A Q&A session will follow his presentation.

Relationship skills, and their critical relevance to CEOs, will be addressed that evening in a presentation by Yale-trained sociologist Pepper Schwartz.  The topic responds to IBM's 2012 Global CEO Study of 1,700 CEOs in 64 countries and 18 industries, which found that leaders must empower their employees through values, engage customers as individuals and amplify innovation with partnerships.  According to Schwartz, all three objectives require the same thing: good relationship skills.  A professor at the University of Washington in Seattle, Schwartz is considered the nation's leading expert in business and romance, and will share her perspectives in a presentation titled, "It's all about the relationship: what research on romance can tell you about harmony in the workplace."

Joining the line-up from Paris, INSEAD strategy professor Renee Mauborgne, co-author of the award-winning international best-seller book Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Spaces and Make Competition Irrelevant, will discuss how businesses are facing more competition than ever, creating diminished brand loyalty and commoditized product lines; why it matters; and critical strategies businesses can use to create healthy and sustainable portfolios. 

James Allen, Bain & Company senior partner in London and a recognized expert on global growth, emerging market entry and turnaround strategies, will address how U.S. businesses will face increasing threats from competitors in developing markets and learn to thrive through global expansion.

His topic, "Globalization. Opportunity? Maybe. Threat? Definitely," will also stress leveraging repeatable models to reduce the complexity inherent in running multinational businesses and propose a seven-step plan to reach this goal – including strategies to maximize multi-national partners such as Tetra Pak.

Steven Rattner, head of the Obama Administration's successful effort to restructure the automobile industry and chairman of Willett Advisors LLC, the investment arm for New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's personal and philanthropic assets, will examine "Cost Competitiveness."  

He chronicled his experience as a counselor to the U.S. Treasury Secretary in his book, Overhaul: An Insider's Account of the Obama Administration's Emergency Rescue of the Auto Industry.  His presentation will cover how cost competitiveness is critical, why a quick look at the GM bailout matters and how executives can benefit by looking at their companies through the eyes of a private equity firm.

Arnold Dratt and John Chen of Hilco Trading, one of the world's largest and most respected asset valuation advisories, will shed further light on Rattner's approach with a presentation on the private equity perspective.  Hilco Trading's industrial disposition platform is one of the largest in the world, providing solutions for manufacturing companies, including GM, Ford, Chrysler, Boeing, Seagate Technology and Western Digital.  Dratt and Chen will provide examples and case studies of companies that have hit speed bumps and then successfully restructured, and also discuss how to take an offensive posture with internal steps to stay profitable.

Last but far from least, Alan Hinchman, global marketing director for infrastructure at GE Intelligent Platforms' Energy, Oil & Gas, Water and Commercial Buildings, will discuss "The Environment and Why it Matters for Sustainable Profit Growth." The environment can and will affect corporate profits, and Hinchman will cover the most pressing issue on the horizon (water) and why corporations need to put plans in place to address this issue now. 

The conference will offer C-Suite executives a reality check, and leave them with new perspectives designed to challenge the way business profitability is currently viewed in America.  Michael Zacka, president and CEO of Tetra Pak United States and Canada, will close out program with key takeaways.   

ABOUT TETRA PAK
Tetra Pak is the world's leading food processing and packaging solutions company. Working closely with our customers and suppliers, we provide safe, innovative and environmentally sound products that each day meet the needs of hundreds of millions of people in more than 170 countries around the  world. With almost 22,000 employees based in over 85 countries, we believe in responsible industry leadership and a sustainable approach to business.  Our motto, "PROTECTS WHAT'S GOOD™," reflects our vision to make food safe and available, everywhere.  More information about Tetra Pak is available at www.tetrapakusa.com.

Media Contact:

Dionne Williams, Intralink Global
708-953-0339
diwilliams@intralinkglobal.com

Giovanna Lemos, Tetra Pak
847-955-6281
giovanna.lemos@tetrapak.com 

SOURCE Tetra Pak