Monday, June 12, 2006
TOP 50 BUSINESS GURUS/THINKERS
Accenture Study Yields Top 50 ‘Business Intellectuals’ Ranking of Top Thinkers and Writers on Management Topics
Who are our best-known, highest-profile business intellectuals?
Accenture’s Institute for Strategic Change has compiled an intriguing ranking of the top 50 living business gurus, most of whom are business school academics, consultants, journalists or business executives. “For the purposes of this study, we define business intellectuals as influential thinkers and writers on business management topics,” said Tom Davenport, an Accenture partner and director of the Institute, which conducts original research focused on providing insight and ideas into strategic business issues. The list was compiled as part of a broader study on the circulation of new ideas in business. A team of Institute researchers headed by Davenport conducted the study, which took seven months to complete. “The list is sure to cause some discussion around the water coolers of the business world,” said Davenport. “Yet it does give an objective, quantitative ranking of those individuals in the business arena whose ideas, writings, and teachings are forefront in the public consciousness.”
Topping the list is Michael E. Porter, who has been called the world’s most influential business school academic. The Harvard Business School professor and strategy expert is the author of Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors, which is required reading for every Harvard MBA student. Finishing tied for second are Tom Peters and Robert Reich. Peters is the management consultant who 20 years ago wrote In Search of Excellence, the bestseller on what it takes to compete and win in the world of business. Reich is the former Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration, a social and economic policy professor at Brandeis University, author of several books, including The Future of Success, and Democratic candidate for governor of Massachusetts. Completing the top 10 are: Peter Drucker, a business philosopher and consultant for 60 years who is widely recognized as the father of modern management; Peter Senge, MIT professor and author of The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization; Gary Becker, winner of the 1992 Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on human capital, and an Economics and Sociology professor at the University of Chicago; Gary Hamel, Chairman of the boutique consulting firm Strategos, and author of Leading the Revolution; Alvin Toffler, author of Future Shock and The Third Wave; Hal Varian, dean of the School of Information Management & Systems at the University of California at Berkeley, and author of Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy; Daniel Goleman, journalist and author of the best seller Emotional Intelligence. The list uses the same criteria followed by Richard A. Posner in his book Public Intellectuals:
1. Michael E. Porter
2. Tom Peters
3. Robert Reich
4. Peter Drucker
5. Peter Senge
6. Gary S. Becker
7. Gary Hamel
8. Alvin Toffler
9. Hal Varian
10. Daniel Goleman
11. Rosabeth Moss Kanter
12. Ronald Coase
13. Lester Thurow
14. Charles Handy
15. Henry Mintzberg
16. Michael Hammer
17. Stephen Covey18. Warren Bennis19. Bill Gates
20. Jeffrey Pfeffer
21. Philip Kotler
22. Robert C. Merton
23. C. K. Prahalad
24. Thomas H. Davenport
25. Don Tapscott
26. John Seely Brown
27. George Gilder
28. Kevin Kelly
29. Chris Argyris
30. Robert Kaplan
31. Esther Dyson
32. Edward De Bono
33. Jack Welch
34. John Kotter
35. Ken Blanchard
36. Edward Tufte
37. Kenichi Ohmae
38. Alfred Chandler
39. James MacGregor Burns
40. Sumantra Ghoshal
41. Edgar Schein
42. Myron S. Scholes
43. James March
44. Richard Branson
45. Anthony Robbins
46. Clay(ton) Christensen
47. Michael Dell
48. John Naisbitt
49. David Teece
50. Don Peppers
Who are our best-known, highest-profile business intellectuals?
Accenture’s Institute for Strategic Change has compiled an intriguing ranking of the top 50 living business gurus, most of whom are business school academics, consultants, journalists or business executives. “For the purposes of this study, we define business intellectuals as influential thinkers and writers on business management topics,” said Tom Davenport, an Accenture partner and director of the Institute, which conducts original research focused on providing insight and ideas into strategic business issues. The list was compiled as part of a broader study on the circulation of new ideas in business. A team of Institute researchers headed by Davenport conducted the study, which took seven months to complete. “The list is sure to cause some discussion around the water coolers of the business world,” said Davenport. “Yet it does give an objective, quantitative ranking of those individuals in the business arena whose ideas, writings, and teachings are forefront in the public consciousness.”
Topping the list is Michael E. Porter, who has been called the world’s most influential business school academic. The Harvard Business School professor and strategy expert is the author of Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors, which is required reading for every Harvard MBA student. Finishing tied for second are Tom Peters and Robert Reich. Peters is the management consultant who 20 years ago wrote In Search of Excellence, the bestseller on what it takes to compete and win in the world of business. Reich is the former Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration, a social and economic policy professor at Brandeis University, author of several books, including The Future of Success, and Democratic candidate for governor of Massachusetts. Completing the top 10 are: Peter Drucker, a business philosopher and consultant for 60 years who is widely recognized as the father of modern management; Peter Senge, MIT professor and author of The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization; Gary Becker, winner of the 1992 Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on human capital, and an Economics and Sociology professor at the University of Chicago; Gary Hamel, Chairman of the boutique consulting firm Strategos, and author of Leading the Revolution; Alvin Toffler, author of Future Shock and The Third Wave; Hal Varian, dean of the School of Information Management & Systems at the University of California at Berkeley, and author of Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy; Daniel Goleman, journalist and author of the best seller Emotional Intelligence. The list uses the same criteria followed by Richard A. Posner in his book Public Intellectuals:
1. Michael E. Porter
2. Tom Peters
3. Robert Reich
4. Peter Drucker
5. Peter Senge
6. Gary S. Becker
7. Gary Hamel
8. Alvin Toffler
9. Hal Varian
10. Daniel Goleman
11. Rosabeth Moss Kanter
12. Ronald Coase
13. Lester Thurow
14. Charles Handy
15. Henry Mintzberg
16. Michael Hammer
17. Stephen Covey18. Warren Bennis19. Bill Gates
20. Jeffrey Pfeffer
21. Philip Kotler
22. Robert C. Merton
23. C. K. Prahalad
24. Thomas H. Davenport
25. Don Tapscott
26. John Seely Brown
27. George Gilder
28. Kevin Kelly
29. Chris Argyris
30. Robert Kaplan
31. Esther Dyson
32. Edward De Bono
33. Jack Welch
34. John Kotter
35. Ken Blanchard
36. Edward Tufte
37. Kenichi Ohmae
38. Alfred Chandler
39. James MacGregor Burns
40. Sumantra Ghoshal
41. Edgar Schein
42. Myron S. Scholes
43. James March
44. Richard Branson
45. Anthony Robbins
46. Clay(ton) Christensen
47. Michael Dell
48. John Naisbitt
49. David Teece
50. Don Peppers
