Harman Professional has announced the creation of a new senior executive position, Head of Corporate Development, and the appointment of seasoned business development leader Jim H. Huang to fill the role.
Reporting directly to Michael MacDonald, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales and to Greg Henry, Chief Financial Officer, Huang is responsible for driving growth strategies including market analysis, M&A activities and emerging market initiatives such as branding, channel strategy and local sourcing and manufacturing.
Huang will also work with David Jin and M.Lakshminarayan, China and India Country Managers and with Charles Owen, Vice President of Corporate Strategy, to dovetail Harman Professional strategies with the Harman corporate strategy.
According to MacDonald, Huang will add a new dimension of focus, experience and commercial expertise to Harman Professional’s global business.
“Harman Professional is now well-positioned to grow our business globally by providing our existing customers with new exciting products and new customers with Harman’s unmatched offering of performance, integration and value,” MacDonald said. “With strong product development programs delivering compelling innovations; our step-change cost saving initiative returning strong efficiencies and the global economy showing positive indicators, we believe the opportunity is ripe for Harman Professional to grow market share in developed markets and provide strong value in emerging markets. I am confident that Jim Huang is just the person to help us achieve that growth.”
Huang has over 10 years of professional consulting experience. Prior to Harman, he was a lead engagement manager in the transaction advisory practice of Ernst & Young with experience in over 40 M&A transactions with total value in excess of $15 billion.
At Ernst & Young, Huang provided operational consulting services in the advisory practice of working primarily with The Walt Disney Company. He served as an internal consultant to the company’s internal advisory function, which impacted companywide policies. Huang helped develop and execute business process controls review of ERP implementation of SAP, which allowed macro analysis of Disney products and line of business.
Huang has also supported strategic and private equity buyers in a wide variety of industries including retail, consumer products, construction, high technology, media, entertainment, restaurants, pharmaceuticals, communications, manufacturing, business services, sport franchise and staffing/professional services. He has also supported the divestiture of a number of public and private companies including pre-sale due diligence, seller due diligence and reverse due diligence.
Huang noted, “I am very pleased to join this dynamic, ambitious team at the helm of a great company of innovative products and proven brands. I am confident that the direction Harman is on, will deliver considerable growth in the months and years ahead and I look forward to contributing to that growth!”
Huang has a Masters Degree in Accounting from the University of Virginia and Bachelors Degrees in Applied Economics & Management and Neurobiology and Behavior from Cornell University. He is also a Certified Public Accountant and has passed the Series 3, the National Commodity Futures Examination.
