Roger L. Martin is a leading business strategist, author and Dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. He left the perks, prestige and power of elite strategy consulting firm the Monitor Group to pursue a mission to re-invent business education.
He has written seven Harvard Business Review articles and published four books including his latest book, The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage which was published in 2009 by Harvard Business Press. His last book, The Opposable Mind: How Successful Leaders Win Through Integrative Thinking, brought a fresh perspective to bear on leadership by examining the way the world's successful business leaders create better solutions to complicated problems with conflicting demands.
In 2007 Prof. Martin was named a BusinessWeek 'B-School All-Star' and as one of the "10 Most Influential Business Professors in the World". BusinessWeek also named him one of seven 'Innovation Gurus' in 2005, and in 2004, he won the Marshall McLuhan Visionary Leadership Award. In 2009, he was selected to be among the "Thinkers 50", a prestigious listing of the world's top 50 business thinkers.
At the Rotman School, he also holds the Premier's Chair in Competitiveness and Productivity and is Director of the AIC Institute for Corporate Citizenship.
He writes extensively on design and is a regular columnist for BusinessWeek.com’s Innovation and Design Channel. He is also a regular contributor to Washington Post’s On Leadership blog and to Financial Times’ Judgment Call column.
Roger was formerly a director of Monitor Group, a premier strategy consulting firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. During his 13 years with Monitor, he founded and chaired Monitor University, the firm's educational arm, served as co-head of the firm for two years, and founded the Canadian office.
He serves on the Boards of Thomson Reuters Corporation and Research in Motion and is a trustee of The Hospital for Sick Children.
Martin received his AB from Harvard College, with a concentration in economics, in 1979 and his MBA from the Harvard Business School in 1981.
Diaminds: Decoding the Mental Habits of Successful Thinkers (Published: November 28, 2009)
Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage (Published: November 9, 2009)
The Future of the MBA: Designing the Thinker of the Future (Published: April 9, 2008)
The Opposable Mind: How Successful Leaders Win Through Integrative Thinking (Published : December 4, 2007)
The Responsibility Virus: How Control Freaks, Shrinking Violets and the Rest of Us Can Harness the Power of True Partnership (Published : December 16, 2003)
Named one of the top 50 management thinkers in the world. (October 15, 2009)
BusinessWeek
Named One of the World’s Most Influential Designers, by Helen Walters and Venessa Wong (February 1, 2010)
Powerful Profs (August 22, 2007)
Named a “B-School All-Star” and one of the "Ten Most Influential Business Professors in the World".
"Meet the Innovation Gurus: The Academic: Roger Martin" (August 21, 2005)
Named one of the "Ten Innovation Gurus" in BusinessWeek’s special report: "Get Creative".
The Marshall McLuhan Awards
Named the winner of the "Marshall McLuhan Award (2004) for Visionary Leadership”, in the business category
Canadian Business Magazine
The 25 Most Influential People in Business (June 15, 2009) Named one of the 25 most influential business people in Canada. The only academic member of the list.
Roger was born in Wallenstein, Ontario. He is married to Nancy Martin (née Lang), and has two sons (Lloyd and Daniel) as well as a daughter (Jennifer).