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Howard Yu

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Howard Yu
Howard Yu in 2022
Born
Hong Kong
OccupationProfessor
Known forFuture Readiness Indicator
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Hong Kong
Harvard Business School
Academic advisors
Clayton Christensen and Joseph Bower
Academic work
DisciplineManagement and innovation
Notable works
Taiwan's PC Industry, 1976–2010: The Evolution of Organizational Capabilities
Leap: How to Thrive in a World Where Everything Can be Copied
Websitehowardyu.org

Howard Yu is a Hong Kong-born academic and author who is the LEGO professor of management and innovation at IMD Business School.[1] He is also the director of Advanced Management Program and Future Readiness Strategy open program of IMD.[2]

Yu is the author of the book, Leap and was the recipient of the Thinkers50 Strategy Award in 2023.[3]

Early life and education

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Yu was born in Hong Kong. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Hong Kong in 2001. Before pursuing his doctorate, Yu worked in the banking industry in Hong Kong and earned a Doctor of Business Administration in general management from Harvard Business School in 2011.[4] His doctoral research was supervised by Clayton Christensen and Joseph Bower, and it focused on disruptive innovation.[5][6]

Academic career

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Yu joined the faculty of IMD Business School in 2011. In 2017, Yu was appointed director of the Advanced Management Program, and he co-directs the Strategy for Future Readiness program alongside the Future-Ready Enterprise initiative. In 2020, Yu became the director of the IMD Center for Future Readiness, which was established with the help of The LEGO Group.[7]

In 2021, Yu led the development of the Future Readiness Indicator, a rule-based methodology that uses publicly available data to assess organizational resilience.[8]

In May 2025, MIT Sloan Executive Education and IMD jointly launched the Future Ready Enterprise Academy, a two-module executive education program delivered at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts and at IMD in Singapore. Yu serves as faculty for the program alongside IMD colleague Mark Greeven.[9][10]

As of 2026, Howard is the LEGO professor of management and innovation at the IMD Business School.[11]

Writing

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In June 2018, Yu published Leap: How to Thrive in a World Where Everything Can Be Copied, which received a Gold Medal at the 2019 Axiom Business Book Awards[12] and was named among the best business books of the year by Inc. and Strategy+Business.[13][14][15] The book was published by PublicAffairs, New York, an imprint of Hachette Book Group.[16] It was also selected as an FT Business Book of the Month in the same month of 2018.[17]

Research

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His research focuses on the dynamics of innovation and sustainable growth, specifically examining how organizations build capabilities to navigate technological disruption and commoditization. A theme of his scholarship is the "leap" strategy,[18] which details how firms can jump to new knowledge frontiers to maintain a competitive advantage over imitators.[19][20] His research also focuses on Asian economies.[4]

His recent work includes Future Readiness Indicators for several industries to gauge industry incumbents' preparedness.[7][21]

Bibliography

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  • Yu, Howard H.; Shih, Willy C. (2018). Taiwan's PC Industry, 1976–2010: The Evolution of Organizational Capabilities.
  • Yu, Howard (2018). Leap: How to Thrive in a World Where Everything Can be Copied
  • Yu, Howard (2018). Leap: How to Thrive in a World Where Everything Can Be Copied. PublicAffairs. ISBN 978-1610397609.

Honors and awards

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Yu is recipient of the Thinkers50 Strategy Award in 2023 and the 2015 Poets & Quants "Top 40 Business Professors Under 40" ranking.[22][19] He was also included in the Thinkers50 Ranking of the world’s top management thinkers in both 2023 and 2025.[23] He has also received multiple EFMD Gold Awards and Case Centre accolades for his research on digital transformation and organizational development.[24]

References

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  1. ↑ "Howard Yu, a professor with a profound message for educators". Australian Financial Review. July 8, 2018.
  2. ↑ "How Companies Can 'Leap' Ahead of their Competition". August 2, 2018.
  3. ↑ Schachter, Harvey (June 21, 2018). "Why fruitless debates occur over, and over … and over again" – via The Globe and Mail.
  4. 1 2 "Reinvent rules of the game to beat copycats: Howard Yu". The Business Times. October 9, 2018. Archived from the original on May 29, 2026. Retrieved May 29, 2026. [...] A former banker from Hong Kong, Prof Yu received his doctoral degree in management from Harvard Business School, [...] Prof Yu has worked on hot-button issues such as the risks and opportunities for companies presented by Big Data, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things. [...] Throughout the years, Prof Yu's research and consulting work has largely focused on Asian economies [...]
  5. ↑ Geller, Laura W. "Howard Yu Disrupts Disruptive Innovation". Strategy+Business.
  6. ↑ Carter, Andrea (April 17, 2015). "2015 Best 40 Under 40 Professors: Howard Yu, IMD Business School".
  7. 1 2 Warner, Kelsey (December 15, 2021). "How future-proof are Apple, Twitter and Spotify? Not very, researchers find". The National.
  8. ↑ "Using creativity to foil copycats". Business Times. October 9, 2018. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
  9. ↑ "The Future Ready Leadership Academy". MIT Sloan Executive Education.
  10. ↑ "Future-Ready Enterprise Program | IMD Business School".
  11. ↑ "Why fruitless debates occur over, and over … and over again". The Globe and Mail. June 21, 2018. Retrieved April 15, 2026.
  12. ↑ Roberts, Allison (October 31, 2019). "2019 Medalists".
  13. ↑ Lancefield, David. "Best Business Books 2018: Strategy". Strategy+Business.
  14. ↑ Kaplan, Soren (September 14, 2018). "Inc.'s Best Strategy Books of 2018". Inc. Retrieved May 29, 2026.
  15. ↑ Lancefield, David (November 5, 2018). "Making The Leap". Strategy+Business. Retrieved May 29, 2026.
  16. ↑ Khanna, Vikram (July 10, 2018). "Business professor has message for educators". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved June 1, 2026. [...] Leap - How to Thrive in a World Where Everything can be Copied, by Howard Yu, was published in June by Public Affairs, New York. [...]
  17. ↑ Hill, Andrew; Janina, Conboye; Berwick, Isabel; Matsa, Nassia (June 4, 2018). "FT business books of the month: June edition". Financial Times. Retrieved May 29, 2026.
  18. ↑ "Tesla most 'future-ready' carmaker, China's BYD rising: Report". Aljazeera.
  19. 1 2 Geller, Laura W. "Howard Yu Disrupts Disruptive Innovation". Strategy+business.
  20. ↑ "How Companies Can 'Leap' Ahead of their Competition". Mack Institute for Innovation Management. August 2, 2018. Retrieved May 29, 2026.
  21. ↑ Lun, Tan Nai (December 15, 2021). "Tesla, Lululemon, Mastercard among top future-ready companies on aggressiveness, digitisation: IMD". The Business Times.
  22. ↑ Andrea, Carter (April 16, 2015). "2015 Best 40 Under 40 Professors: Howard Yu, IMD Business School". Poets & Quants. Archived from the original on May 29, 2026. Retrieved May 29, 2026.
  23. ↑ "Announcing the New Thinkers50 Ranking and Distinguished Achievement Awards 2025 - Thinkers50".
  24. ↑ "Howard Yu - IMD business school for management and leadership courses". July 7, 2022.
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