BRIAN CHRISTIAN Mr. Christian is principal and founder of DASO Consulting LLC, a general management consultancy with a special focus in the areas of innovation, product strategy and sourcing strategy.  He brings to clients 25 years of diverse business experience in product development, marketing, manufacturing, procurement and information technology across multiple industries and geographies.  Throughout his career, his passion and strength has been his ability to drive real change in organizations whether as a corporate executive, a management consultant or a front-line employee.  The mission of DASO is to help both small and large companies improve their product and service offerings and innovation, development and sourcing capabilities. Recent clients include Kohler, Honeywell and Whirlpool.

Prior to launching DASO Consulting, Mr. Christian spent eleven years at Whirlpool Corporation where his last role was Vice President of Global Product Development for the $1 billion home cleaning category. In this position, Mr. Christian was responsible for several hundred engineers in four locations around the world and was also accountable for overall profit & loss performance and global product strategy for the home cleaning category. During his 5-year tenure in this role, Whirlpool made the difficult transition from a traditional cost-focused home appliance company to a company recognized inside and outside the appliance industry as an innovation leader. Mr. Christian’s cleaning category introduced a number of important innovations to Whirlpool’s brands including the in-sink Briva dishwasher, the drawer dishwasher, the “turbo zone” dishwasher and a whole new line of water dispensing and treatment products. Prior to this global product development role, Mr. Christian was Vice President of Enterprise Resource Planning for the North American business. His initial role at Whirlpool was Director of Strategy and Planning for the Global Procurement Organization.

Mr. Christian first learned the consulting craft during his five years in Booz, Allen & Hamilton’s Chicago office. His assignments spanned multiple industries and strategic areas including a new product development process for a prominent U.S. sportswear company; a global procurement strategy for one of the world’s largest oil companies; an organizational restructuring for a large international paper products company; a manufacturing strategy for a leading casual footwear brand; and a salesforce effectiveness study for a Canadian publishing company.

Mr. Christian started his career in the petrochemical industry in which he held positions in research and development, field technical services and technology marketing and sales.

Throughout his career, Mr. Christian has worked internationally and has lived overseas on two occasions, once in the former Soviet Union in 1982-1983 and once in Singapore in 1996.

Mr. Christian holds an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago and a Chemical Engineering degree from the University of Michigan. He is an active member of the Product Development & Management Association (PDMA) and currently participates in an Innovation Thought Leader Panel sponsored by PDMA’s Chairman.