Three Canadian business school professors have been named to an elite list of the "top 50" business thinkers in the world, according to a new global ranking released today.
Roger Martin, dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, shot up the list to 6th spot on The Thinkers50, an award issued every two years to showcase "the very best new management thinking" around the world. He moved up from 32nd spot in 2009.
Prof. Martin was recognized as a "champion of integrative thinking," which looks for creative solutions to business problems instead of traditional either-or choices, and for his latest book, Fixing the Game.
In 9th spot, and cracking the top 10 for the first time, is Rotman adjunct professor Don Tapscott, a digital media guru and co-author of Macrowikinomics.
Henry Mintzberg, John Cleghorn Professor of Management Studies at McGill University's Desautels Faculty of Management. Prof. Mintzberg, described as "cheerfully contrarian" for his views on traditional MBA education, moved up three spots to 30th place.
In 10th spot was British-born Canadian journalist Malcolm Gladwell, a staff writer for the New Yorker magazine and author of a string of best-sellers, most recently What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures.
First place in the rankings, which evaluates business gurus on the originality and impact of their ideas, went to Harvard business professor Clayton Christensen for his work on innovation and growth.
Thinkers50, was founded by Des Dearlove and Stuart Crainer, adjunct professors at IE Business School in Madrid. The results are based on voting on their organization's website and input from a panel of advisers.
See the full list on The Thinkers50 website here.
Jennifer Lewington