Maryland Smith’s Anil Gupta, Haiyan Wang Move up in Thinkers50 List

Noted as “global strategists, experts on entrepreneurship and the transformational rise of emerging markets, foremost China and India,” Maryland Smith’s Anil K. Gupta and Haiyan Wang (MBA '95) are No. 25 in the 2019 Thinkers50 global ranking of management thinkers. 

It’s a climb from 28^th in 2017 for the partners and frequent co-authors. Gupta is the Michael D. Dingman Chair in Strategy and Entrepreneurship for the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. While Maryland Smith MBA graduate Wang is Managing Partner of China India Institute. 

The Thinkers50 list is updated every two years as “the essential guide to which thinkers and which ideas matter now,” by British business consultants and authors Stuart Crainer and Des Dearlove. They tout the compilation as “the essential guide to which business thinkers and ideas are in – and which have been consigned to business history.” 

The latest ranking was revealed on November 18, 2019, as thinkers and business leaders from around the world convened in London. Gupta and Wang also were among the top 10 finalists for the Thinkers50 2019 Distinguished Achievement Award in “Strategy.” 

Gupta and Wang have ascended the Thinkers50 list through a combination of objective metrics and input from an international team of advisers, including Crainer and Dearlove. The criteria begins with relevance of ideas, research rigor, presentation of ideas, accessibility/dissemination of ideas and international outlook. Candidates are further evaluated according to originality, impact and practicality of ideas; business sense; and power to inspire.