Freek Vermeulen

Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship

MA PhD (Tilburg)

I am a professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the London Business School. My research and teaching cover topics such as strategic management, managing innovation, corporate transformation, and entrepreneurship. I have served on London Business School’s Management Board, was a member of its Board of Governors, the Chair of the Strategy and Entrepreneurship Department, and the Director of Strategy of the School.

In addition, I am a regular keynote speaker on company and industry conferences, having worked with firms such as Bosch, BP, GE, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Lufthansa, Maersk, Novartis, Roche, Sara Lee, Toshiba, Vodafone, and many others. At the London Business School, I was the first-ever recipient of the School’s “Excellence in Teaching Award”. I also received the “Best Teacher Award”, particularly for my course on Strategies for Growth and Transformation. The Financial Times wrote about me: “The London Business School professor is a rising star, and his pithy observations are both accessible and authoritative”. Separately, the same newspaper described me as a new management guru.

My book “Business Exposed: The naked truth about what really goes on in the world of business”, published by FT Prentice-Hall, was WHSmith’s Business Book of the Month and – to my own surprise – received much praise in the business press—for example, the Financial Times described it as “ornery and entertaining: a rigorous challenge to many business assumptions” where the Economist labeled it “punchy and readable”. Particularly in Japan, it became a best-seller and was temporarily the highest-selling business book on Kindle. My most recent book was published by the Harvard Business Review Press and is titled “Breaking Bad Habits: Defy industry norms and reinvigorate your business”. My books have been translated into various languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, and Russian.

My research has been published in various prominent academic journals in the field of Management, such as the Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, Organization Science, and the Strategic Management Journal. As a result, I received the prestigious “Academy of Management Journal Best Paper Award”, particularly for my research on international expansion, and the INFORMS/ISA Best Paper Award for my work on organizational learning.

In addition, I enjoy communicating my views on strategic management in the popular press, including newspapers, magazines, and using online media. For example, I regularly contribute to Harvard Business Review, and I have written articles for the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, Strategy+Business, Marketing Magazine, HR Magazine, and many others. The Vienna University of Economics and Business honoured me with their inaugural “Theory-to-Practice Award”. Much to my surprise, the website Best-online-universities placed me number 1 in their global ranking of “Top 100 Web-savvy Professors”. More importantly, I won my department’s geese herding competition (after which I was elected as department chair) and the “best solo performance” at the karaoke competition during our Christmas party.

Freek talks about his research on management speak

Freek talks about his research on strategy visualisation

Research Awards

2014 INFORMS/ISA 2013 Best Paper Prize
2012 Outstanding Reviewer Award, the Editorial Board of the Academy of Management Journal, 2011-2012
2009 Outstanding Reviewer Award, the Editorial Board of the Academy of Management Journal, 2008-2009
2008 Outstanding Reviewer Award, the Editorial Board of the Academy of Management Journal, 2007-2008
2007 Outstanding Reviewer Award, the Editorial Board of the Academy of Management Journal, 2006-2007
2006 Outstanding Reviewer Award, the Editorial Board of the Academy of Management Journal, 2005-2006
2005 Outstanding Reviewer Award, the Editorial Board of the Academy of Management Journal, 2004-2005
2004 Outstanding Reviewer Award, the Editorial Board of the Academy of Management Journal, 2003-2004
2000 Honourable Mention, Royal Dutch Society of Political Economy, as one of the four best dissertations in the Social Sciences in The Netherlands, 1998-2000
1999 Academy of Management Journal 1998 Best Paper Award
1999 Ph.D. awarded Cum Laude, Tilburg University

Teaching Awards

2008 London Business School Excellence in Teaching Award
2005 London Business School Junior Faculty Teaching Award
2000 Runner-up Innovation in Learning Teaching Award (Edward Jones Programme)
1998 Best Teacher, International Business Programme, Tilburg University
1997 Best Teacher Nominee, School of Business Administration, Tilburg University