Ranking of World's Foremost Business Thinkers

Founded in 2001 by business management researchers Stuart Crainer and Des Dearlove, the Thinkers50 Category Awards were established and immediately hailed as the Oscars of Management Thinking. Every two years, publishes this definitive global ranking of management thinker; in 2011, the overall winner was Harvard Business School’s Professor Clayton Christensen. The previous winners were CK Prahalad (2009 & 2007), Michael Porter (2005) and Peter Drucker (2003 & 2001).

The Thinkers50 are generally acknowledged to have influenced commerce worldwide and have made groundbreaking contributions in his/her area of specialization. Nominees come from across the academic spectrum representing scholars, educators, consultants, executives, economists, and social scientists.

Once nominated, Crainer and Dearlove sort and post 80 names on the Thinkers 50 website and ask readers to address one question: “Who is the most important living management thinker?” Readers select one name from a pull-down menu of Thinkers. Opinions are also collected by email and mail-in surveys. The Thinkers are then ranked on a 1 – 10 scale using the following criteria:

1. Originality of ideas

2. Practicality of ideas

3. Presentation style

4. Written communication

5. Loyalty of followers

6. Business sense

7. International outlook

8. Rigor of research

9. Impact of Ideas

10. “Guru” factor

How participate

The team opens the acceptance period of nominations for the Thinkers 50 Awards in 2013. The process is simple: all you have to do is send some information about and resources for the thinker you would like to nominate before 31 July 2013. All nominations will be considered by the T50 Advisory Panel. The shortlisted nominees will be announced in September 2013. Winners will be announced at the T50 Awards event on 11 November 2013.

To nominate a thinker you have to send a 500 word bio of them and their work; the thinker’s contact details; a high-resolution photo; any other helpful resources (eg. a list of publications, links to websites) and which award you would like the thinker to be considered for as well as the overall Thinkers50 ranking.

And send the nomination information to [email protected]

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