Meet the U of T experts ranked among world's top management thinkers

The University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management is the only Canadian school in the bi-annual Thinkers50 ranking of world’s leading management thinkers – for the second time in a row.

Three U of T faculty members with the Martin Prosperity Institute (MPI) were named to the Thinkers50 at a gala dinner in London, UK on Nov. 9, including two in the top ten. Another two MPI fellows also made their debut in the ranking,

With a total of five thinkers in the ranking, U of T accounts for 10 per cent of the total. 

Professor Roger Martin, the former dean of the Rotman School and current Institution Director of its MPI, placed seventh in the ranking and was cited for his work in Strategy, Integrative Thinking and Social Entrepreneurship.  

Martin was also the joint winner, with Sally Osberg, Skoll Foundation President & CEO, of the Social Enterprise Award. Their book, Getting Beyond Better: How Social Entrepreneurship Works, was published by Harvard Business Review Press, earlier this year.

Read more about Martin and Getting Beyond Better

Don Tapscott, an adjunct professor and fellow at the MPI, placed fourth on the list for the second consecutive ranking. He is considered to be a leading authority on innovation, media, globalization and the economic and social impact of technology on business and society.
 
Professor Richard Florida, director at the MPI, made a strong showing on this year’s ranking placing 14th, up from 25th in 2013. He is globally recognized for his leading work on the creative class, innovation and the drivers of city prosperity. 
 
The two MPI fellows who debuted on the list are Nilofer Merchant placing 48th and Professor Adam Grant of the Wharton School placing 25th. 
 
A record 14 women were included in the ranking and 14 thinkers also made their debuts in the ranking this year. 
 
For the second ranking in a row, Canada was well represented with two thinkers in the top 10 with the Rotman School’s Martin and Tapscott. Canadian Syd Finkelstein, a professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College also made the list and Canadian Henry Mintzberg of the Desaultels Faculty of Management at McGill University received a lifetime achievement award. 
 
“Interesting times yield interesting ideas,” Thinkers50 founders Stuart Crainer and Des Dearlove said. “How we view business and how business is practiced is changing. The ideas of the people featured in the Thinkers50 ranking make a difference on the factory floor and in the boardrooms of the world. In business today, ideas matter because they can be the difference between success and failure.”
 
Thinkers50 scans, ranks and shares the very best in management ideas. Its definitive global ranking of management thinkers is published every two years. Previous winners include Professor Clayton Christensen of Harvard Business School (2013 and 2011); CK Prahalad (2009 and 2007); Michael Porter (2005) and Peter Drucker (2001 and 2003). 
 
For Thinkers50 2015, more than 20,000 people named their favourite thinker at the Thinkers50 website and 1,200 people nominated thinkers for specific Distinguished Achievement Awards.
 
Further information on the Thinkers50 awards and program is online at www.thinkers50.com.