George Yip Keynote Speaker

Renowned expert on global marketing, strategy and innovation
Thinkers 50 Hall of Fame 2020
Critically acclaimed author of several books including his latest: "Pioneers, Hidden Champions, Change Makers, and Underdogs: Lessons from China's Innovators"

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George Yip's Biography

Professor George Yip is one of the world’s leading speakers on global strategy and marketing, managing global customers, and internationalisation.

He is Emeritus Professor of Marketing and Strategy at Imperial College Business School in London, and a Distinguished Visiting Professor D’Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University, Boston.

He is a Fellow of the Academy of International Business and of the International Academy of Management; a Visiting Professor at Imperial College Business School; Co-Executive Editor of Chinese Management Insights and serves on the Editorial Advisory Boards of California Management Review and MIT Sloan Management Review.

Previous academic roles include Professor of Strategy and Co-Director of the Centre on China Innovation at the top business school, China Europe International Business School, and Dean of Rotterdam School of Management-Erasmus University, a top six European business school with over 7,500 students. He has held other faculty positions at Harvard, UCLA, Cambridge and London business schools.

Previous business positions include Vice President and Director of Research & Innovation at Capgemini Consulting, as well as senior roles at Unilever and Price Waterhouse (USA), and various boards.

George is the author and co-author of several books on the topics of innovation, strategy, and managing change. His writing has been translated into many languages and received widespread praise.

These include “Pioneers, Hidden Champions, Change Makers, and Underdogs: Lessons from China’s Innovators” (2019); “China’s Next Strategic Advantage: From Imitation to Innovation” (2016); “Strategic Transformation: Changing While Winning” (2013); ” Managing Global Customers” (2007); “Asian Advantage: Key Strategies for Winning in the Asia-Pacific Region” (1998) ; and “Total Global Strategy: Managing for Worldwide Competitive Advantage” (1992; 2012).

George has written over 100 publications, which feature in prestigious academic journals such as California Management Review, Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review and Strategy+Business.

He completed his BA and MA at the University of Cambridge, and MBA and DBA at Harvard Business School.

In 2020, Professor Yip was inducted into the prestigious Thinkers 50 Hall of Fame.

George Yip's Speaking Topics

Organizational Intelligence (OQ) for Leaders

George presents his new and unique concept that ranks with IQ and EQ. He argues that leaders in today's complex business environment need OQ (organizational intelligence). The essence of which is knowing how to get a large organization to do what you want. In this talk, he presents five competences shown by effective leaders; the ability to foster an ethos, an understanding of action strategy, an understanding of the importance of rebelling from the top, the ability to stage moments of theatre, and a penchant for sending messages that reinforce the strategy.

The Rise of Innovation in China and Implications for Global Companies (MNCs)

In this presentation, George talks about how Chinese companies are moving from imitation to innovation, based on a ten-year research programme conducted by the CEIBS Centre on China Innovation at Zhejiang University. George discusses several topics including - the characteristics of China that foster innovation (supply and demand), - the specific nature of Chinese companies approach to innovation, - an insider's view of China's under-the-radar innovator, - the evolving significance of China as a base for innovation, among others.

Strategic Transformation

In this talk, George explains how successful firms do not focus on past-successes. Businesses should make continual radical changes or strategic transformations to change their existing business model. Managers should be able to recognise the need for change, and identify the key organizational barriers to change. George presents audiences with a framework for strategic transformation and how to develop traditions for transformation (based on a study of the 20-year financial and strategic performance of 215 of the largest publicly listed British companies). He draws on his experiences as Dean of the Rotterdam School of Management and leader of digital transformation to online learning at Imperial College Business School.