Michael Porter

Regarded as the father of modern business strategy, Porter, who has consulted to dozens of corporations and a number of national governments including the UK, returns to the No. 1 slot in 2015 after previously topping the list in 2005.

Porter’s influence on business strategy has been immense. His Five Forces Framework was the definitive approach for decades and is still taught in every business school in the world. Since the financial crisis of 2008, Porter’s theory of Shared Value has led the way in a re-evaluation of the role and expectations of capitalism.

Since 2001, Porter has devoted considerable attention to competition in the health care system. And most recently, he has applied his ideas to show how smart, connected products (those containing embedded sensors, processors and software to create connectivity) are creating a technological revolution that will transform competition and have profound implications for society.