Rita McGrath works extensively with leadership teams in Global 1000 companies who wish to hone their ability to drive strategic growth. She is a popular speaker and facilitator, whose current clients include Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., Nokia, Microsoft, AXA Equitable, Swiss Re, Sungard Higher Education and the World Economic Forum. She has co-authored two books: The Entrepreneurial Mindset (2000) and MarketBusters: 40 Strategic Moves that Drive Exceptional Business Growth (2005), both published by the Harvard Business School Press. MarketBusters has been translated into ten languages, named one of the best business books of 2005 by Strategy+Business. It was featured by Bill Gates at the 2005 Microsoft CEO Summit, whose theme “New Pathways to Growth” was derived from the book’s main topic.

Rita is often cited in the press and maintains an active blog on topics relevant to the disciplines of strategic growth (see www.ritamcgrath.com). She has appeared on television and in numerous radio programs. Her co­-authored articles in the Harvard Business Review are: Discovery Driven Planning (1995), Discover Your Products’ Hidden Potential (1996) Discovering New Points of Differentiation (1997) Global Gamesmanship (2003) MarketBusting (2005) and The Value Captor’s Process (2007). Discovery Driven Growth, A Breakthrough Process to Reduce Risk and Seize Opportunity, published by the Harvard Business Press, March 2009. See www.DiscoveryDrivenGrowth.com for more detail.

Rita joined the faculty of Columbia Business School in 1993. Prior to life in academia, she was an IT director, worked in the political arena and founded two startups. Her Ph.D. is from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Rita’s academic publications have appeared in leading journals such as the the Strategic Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal and Management Science. She has won numerous awards for excellence in scholarship. Among these are the Strategic Management Society ‘best paper’ and ‘runner up’ awards in 2001 and 2004; the Maurice Holland award from the Industrial Research Institute; the Academy of Management Review “best paper” award, the Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice Award for the Best Conceptual Paper (both 1992 and 1996) and the European Foundation for Entrepreneurship Research (EFER) best paper award. She is on the editorial boards of the Academy of Management Review, the Journal of Business Strategy, the Strategic Management Journal, the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal and the Journal of Business Venturing. At Columbia, she teaches MBA and Executive MBA courses in strategy and the innovation process. She teaches regularly in Columbia’s top-rated executive education programs, and is the Faculty Director for Leading Strategic Growth and Change, and Creating Strategy, Tokyo.