Biography - Ralph Brown - President

Ralph D. Brown, a graduate of Eastern Michigan         University (BBA), has over 40 years of experience in the travel industry.  With United Airlines, he gained a base of expertise in purchasing, negotiation techniques, contract development and travel expense control.  He developed United's Business Travel Guide for employees and was the senior management resource for all company travel management policies and procedures.   

Mr. Brown left United in 1983 to form the basis of R.D. Brown Company. Since then, the company has completed major projects for corporate and government clients with combined travel budgets of over $8 billion.  He is a nationally recognized leader in corporate and government travel consulting with foremost expertise in the following: strategic sourcing, benchmarking, travel system analysis, technology system integration, process reengineering, and change management.   

Ralph Brown has worked with hundreds of corporate and government clients to implement best practices. Multinational client projects include: global agency sourcing, benchmarking of travel programs, implementation of card programs in all global regions, and benchmarking of global airline contracts and multinational hotel programs. Multinational clients include: Disney Worldwide Services, American Red Cross, US Departments of Transportation, Labor, Interior, Energy, Agriculture, Heidrick & Struggles, Lockheed Martin, Zurich Insurance, Texas Instruments, and National Institutes of Health. 

Mr. Brown’s accomplishments include the development of “Best Practices in Travel Management,” an interactive travel system evaluation product used in projects for multinational clients, and “Best Practices in European Travel Management.” The travel programs of more than 1,000 companies have been evaluated using these tools over the past ten years, which are updated regularly to reflect current industry best practices.  The benchmarking surveys are available in four different languages.

Additional tools developed by Ralph Brown include:

OnTAP - Online Travel Agency Procurement: electronic travel agency sourcing tool.

eBuyerSolutions – procurement site providing tools for sourcing travel suppliers.

Service Cost Index – used for evaluating travel agency contracts.

Mx4 – Meetings Management Maturity Measurement: benchmarking meetings mgt.

TRIP – Travel Review and Improvement Plan: determine savings potential from change.

Ralph Brown has been involved in all types of travel management related support for clients, including the following during the last 12 months: