Richard Rumelt

Richard Rumelt is a renowned business consultant and academic known for his groundbreaking work in strategy. As Emeritus Professor of Strategy at UCLA's Anderson School of Management, he has dedicated his career to dissecting the principles of effective strategic thinking. His seminal work, Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters, published in 2011, has become a cornerstone text in business education and practice, lauded for its clear articulation of what constitutes genuine strategy versus mere policy or goal-setting. Rumelt emphasizes the importance of identifying a central challenge and developing a coherent response to overcome it, a framework he terms the 'kernel of good strategy'.

Beyond Good Strategy/Bad Strategy, Rumelt's contributions extend to other significant works like The Strategy Process: Learning by Doing and Competitive Advantage. His research and consulting have impacted how businesses and organizations approach strategic planning, emphasizing pragmatic, actionable insights over abstract theories. He is celebrated for his ability to distill complex strategic concepts into accessible principles, making his work invaluable to students, executives, and anyone seeking to understand the dynamics of competition and leadership in a challenging world. His focus on identifying and overcoming critical obstacles remains a central theme throughout his influential career.