Freek Vermeulen

Freek Vermeulen is Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at London Business School. His research and teaching cover topics such as strategic management, managing innovation, corporate transformation, and corporate entrepreneurship. His research has been published in prominent academic journals including the Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, Organization Science, and the Strategic Management Journal. He regularly communicates his views on strategic management in the popular press, contributing to Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Strategy+Business, Marketing Magazine, and HR Magazine, among others.

At London Business School, Professor Vermeulen was the first-ever recipient of the School's Excellence in Teaching Award and also received the Best Teacher Award, particularly for his course on Strategies for Growth and Transformation. He is a regular keynote speaker at company and industry conferences, having worked with firms such as Bosch, BP, GE, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Lufthansa, Maersk, Novartis, Roche, Sara Lee, Toshiba, and Vodafone. In 2025, his article “Take the bias out of big decisions” was included in Harvard Business Review’s Ten Must Reads on Strategy. His article “You should be able to boil your strategy down to a single clear visualization” (with Joao Cotter-Salvado) was one Harvard Business Review’s 10 most read in 2025.

He holds a PhD from Utrecht University, and two MAs and a PhD from Tilburg University, where his PhD was awarded Cum Laude. He has served on London Business School's Management Board, was a member of its Board of Governors, Chair of the Strategy and Entrepreneurship Department, and Director of Strategy of the School. His books include "Business Exposed: The naked truth about what really goes on in the world of business", published by FT Prentice Hall, and "Breaking Bad Habits: Defy industry norms and reinvigorate your business," published by Harvard Business Review Press. His books have been translated into various languages including Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, and Russian.