The World’s Top 50 Business Thinkers

Posted by Jim in World, People, Leadership, Education, Industry, trade, & economics, Business at October 20th, 2009

Des Dearlove and Stuart Crainer, visiting professors at IE Business School in Madrid and associates at London Business School’s Management Innovation Lab, have published “The Thinkers 50 - 2009“, their biennial ranking of the world’s top business thinkers. Sponsored by The Times and other organisations, their criteria included:

  • Are the ideas and examples used by the thinker original?
  • Have the ideas promoted by the thinker been implemented in organizations? And, has the implementation been successful?
  • How proficient is the thinker at presenting his/her ideas orally?
  • How proficient is the thinker at presenting his/her ideas in writing?
  • How committed are the thinker’s disciples to spreading the message and putting it to work?
  • Do they practice what they preach in their own business?
  • How international are they in outlook and thinking?
  • How well researched are their books and presentations?
  • Have their ideas had an impact on the way people manage or think about management?
  • The clincher: are they, for better or worse, guru material by your definition and expectation?

Professor CK Prahalad is #1 for the second time in a row, followed by a mix of academics, economists, business writers and business leaders.   I must admit that I’ve never heard of some of them before (and I think I’m reasonably well-read) so I’ll leave it for you to decide if everyone’s inclusion (or omission) and ranking are justified.

  1.  CK PRAHALAD (1)
  2.  Malcolm GLADWELL (18)
  3.  Paul KRUGMAN (-)
  4.  Steve JOBS (29)
  5.  Chan KIM & Renée MAUBORGNE (6)
  6.  Muhammad YUNUS (-)
  7.  Bill GATES (2)
  8.  Richard BRANSON (9)
  9.  Philip KOTLER (11)
  10.  Gary HAMEL (5)
  11.  Michael PORTER (4)
  12.  Ratan TATA (-)
  13.  Ram CHARAN (22)
  14.  Marshall GOLDSMITH (34)
  15.  S. (Kris) GOPALAKRISHNAN (-)
  16.  Howard GARDNER (39)<
  17.  Jim COLLINS (10)
  18.  Lynda GRATTON (19)
  19.  Tom PETERS (7)
  20.  Jack WELCH (8)
  21.  Eric SCHMIDT (-)
  22.  Joseph STIGLITZ (-)
  23.  Kjell NORDSTRÖM & Jonas RIDDERSTRÅLE (13)
  24.  Vijay GOVINDARAJAN (23)
  25.  Marcus BUCKINGHAM (38)
  26.  Richard D’AVENI (46)
  27.  Rosabeth MOSS KANTER (28)
  28.  Clayton CHRISTENSEN (25)
  29.  Stephen COVEY (15)
  30.  Thomas FRIEDMAN (26)
  31.  David ULRICH (42)
  32.  Roger MARTIN (-)
  33.  Henry MINTZBERG (16)
  34.  Daniel GOLEMAN (37)
  35.  Chris ANDERSON (-)
  36.  Warren BENNIS (24)
  37.  Robert KAPLAN & David NORTON (12)
  38.  Jeff IMMELT (31)
  39.  Don TAPSCOTT (-)
  40.  Nassim Nicholas TALEB (-)
  41.  John KOTTER (30)
  42.  Niall FERGUSON (-)
  43.  Charles HANDY (14)
  44.  Rakesh KHURANA (45)
  45.  Manfred KETS DE VRIES (-)
  46.  Tammy ERICKSON (-)
  47.  Costas MARKIDES (44)
  48.  Barbara KELLERMAN (-)
  49.  Rob GOFFEE & Gareth JONES (32)
  50.  Jimmy WALES (-)
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One Response to “The World’s Top 50 Business Thinkers”

  1. Paul Says:
    October 21st, 2009 at 7:45 am

    Ah well, Maybe next time….

    Interesting to me that the people on this list are the people who either think about growth or deliver it….

    This at a time when the prevailing wind is the hatchet brigade

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