<!-- Please do not remove or change this AfD message until the discussion has been closed. --> <!-- The nomination page for this article already existed when this tag was added. If this was because the article had been nominated for deletion before, and you wish to renominate it, please replace "page=Howard Yu" with "page=Howard Yu (2nd nomination)" below before proceeding with the nomination. -->{{Article for deletion/dated|page=Howard Yu|timestamp=20260524075057|year=2026|month=May|day=24|substed=yes}} <!-- Once discussion is closed, please place on talk page: {{Old AfD multi|page=Howard Yu|date=24 May 2026|result='''keep'''}} --> <!-- End of AfD message, feel free to edit beyond this point --> {{Short description|Hong Kong professor}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}} {{Infobox academic | honorific_prefix = <!-- see MOS:CREDENTIAL and MOS:HONORIFIC --> | name = Howard Yu | honorific_suffix = | image = Howard Yu during a presentation.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Howard Yu in 2022 | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name = <!-- use only if different from full/othernames --> | birth_date = <!-- {{birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | birth_place = Hong Kong | death_cause = | nationality = <!-- use only when necessary per WP:INFONAT --> | citizenship = <!-- use only when necessary per WP:INFONAT --> | other_names = | occupation = Professor | period = | known_for = Future Readiness Indicator | title = | boards = <!--board or similar positions extraneous to main occupation--> | awards = <!--notable national-level awards only--> | website = {{url|https://howardyu.org/}} | education = | alma_mater = University of Hong Kong <br/> Harvard Business School | thesis_title = | thesis_url = | thesis_year = | school_tradition = | doctoral_advisor = | academic_advisors = Clayton Christensen and Joseph Bower | influences = <!--must be referenced from a third-party source--> | era = | discipline = Management and innovation | sub_discipline = <!--academic discipline specialist area – e.g. Sub-atomic research, 20th-century Danish specialist, Pauline research, Arcadian and Ugaritic specialist--> | workplaces = <!--full-time positions only, not student positions--> | doctoral_students = <!--only those with WP articles--> | notable_students = | main_interests = | notable_works = ''Taiwan's PC Industry, 1976–2010: The Evolution of Organizational Capabilities'' <br/> ''Leap: How to Thrive in a World Where Everything Can be Copied'' | notable_ideas = | influenced = <!--must be referenced from a third-party source--> | footnotes = }} '''Howard Yu''' is a Hong Kong-born academic and author who is the LEGO professor of management and innovation at IMD Business School.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.afr.com/policy/health-and-education/howard-yu-a-business-professor-with-a-profound-message-for-educators-20180705-h129ox|title=Howard Yu, a professor with a profound message for educators|date=July 8, 2018|website=Australian Financial Review}}</ref> He is also the director of Advanced Management Program and Future Readiness Strategy open program of IMD.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mackinstitute.wharton.upenn.edu/2018/leap-howard-yu/|title=How Companies Can 'Leap' Ahead of their Competition|date=August 2, 2018}}</ref><ref name="imd">{{Cite web|url=https://www.imd.org/faculty/professors/howard-yu/|title=Howard Yu|website=www.imd.org}}</ref>
Yu is the author of the book, ''Leap'' and was the recipient of the Thinkers50 Strategy Award in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/careers/management/article-why-fruitless-debates-occur-over-and-over-and-over-again/|title=Why fruitless debates occur over, and over … and over again|first=Harvey|last=Schachter|date=June 21, 2018|via=The Globe and Mail}}</ref>
==Early life and education== 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.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2018-10-09 |title=Reinvent rules of the game to beat copycats: Howard Yu |url=https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/cutting-edge/reinvent-rules-game-beat-copycats-howard-yu|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260529064156/https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/cutting-edge/reinvent-rules-game-beat-copycats-howard-yu |archive-date=2026-05-29 |access-date=2026-05-29 |website=The Business Times|quote=[...] 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 [...]}}</ref> His doctoral research was supervised by Clayton Christensen and Joseph Bower, and it focused on disruptive innovation.<ref name="s+b">{{Cite web|url=https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Howard-Yu-Disrupts-Disruptive-Innovation|title=Howard Yu Disrupts Disruptive Innovation|first=Laura W.|last=Geller|website=Strategy+Business}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://poetsandquants.com/2015/04/16/2015-best-40-under-40-professors-howard-yu-imd-business-school/?pq-category=business-school-news|title=2015 Best 40 Under 40 Professors: Howard Yu, IMD Business School|first=Andrea|last=Carter|date=April 17, 2015}}</ref>
==Academic career== 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.<ref name="imd"/>
In 2020, Yu became the director of the IMD Center for Future Readiness, which was established with the help of The LEGO Group.<ref name="imd"/>
In 2021, Yu led the development of the Future Readiness Indicator, a rule-based methodology that uses publicly available data to assess organizational resilience.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/future/2021/12/15/how-future-proof-are-apple-twitter-and-spotify-not-that-much-imd-researchers-find/|title=How future-proof are Apple, Twitter and Spotify? Not very, researchers find|first=Kelsey|last=Warner|date=December 15, 2021|website=The National}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/cutting-edge/using-creativity-foil-copycats|title=Using creativity to foil copycats |website=Business Times|date=Oct 9, 2018|access-date=2026-06-02}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://executive.mit.edu/course/future-ready-enterprise-academy/a05U10000088vvmIAA.html|title=The Future Ready Leadership Academy|website=MIT Sloan Executive Education}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imd.org/strategy/fre/future-ready-enterprise/|title=Future-Ready Enterprise Program | IMD Business School}}</ref>
As of 2026, Howard is the LEGO professor of management and innovation at the IMD Business School.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2018-06-21 |title=Why fruitless debates occur over, and over … and over again |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/careers/management/article-why-fruitless-debates-occur-over-and-over-and-over-again/ |access-date=2026-04-15 |work=The Globe and Mail |language=en-CA}}</ref>
==Writing== 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<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://axiomawards.com/blog/2019-medalists|title=2019 Medalists|first=Allison|last=Roberts|date=October 31, 2019}}</ref> and was named among the best business books of the year by ''Inc.'' and ''Strategy+Business''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Best-Business-Books-2018-Strategy|title=Best Business Books 2018: Strategy|first=David|last=Lancefield|website=Strategy+Business}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.inc.com/soren-kaplan/the-top-10-business-strategy-books-of-2018.html|title=Inc.'s Best Strategy Books of 2018|date=Sep 14, 2018|access-date=2026-05-29|website=Inc.|last=Kaplan|first=Soren}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lancefield |first=David |date=2018-11-05 |title=Making The Leap |url=https://digitaledition.strategy-business.com/publication/frame.php?i=543283&p=&pn=&ver=html5&view=articleBrowser&article_id=3237198|access-date=2026-05-29 |website=Strategy+Business}}</ref> The book was published by PublicAffairs, New York, an imprint of Hachette Book Group.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Khanna |first=Vikram |date=2018-07-10 |title=Business professor has message for educators |url=https://www.afr.com/policy/health-and-education/howard-yu-a-business-professor-with-a-profound-message-for-educators-20180705-h129ox|access-date=2026-06-01 |website=Australian_Financial_Review |quote=[...] Leap - How to Thrive in a World Where Everything can be Copied, by Howard Yu, was published in June by Public Affairs, New York. [...]}}</ref> It was also selected as an FT Business Book of the Month in the same month of 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hill |first=Andrew |last2=Janina |first2=Conboye |last3=Berwick |first3=Isabel |last4=Matsa |first4=Nassia |date=2018-06-04 |title=FT business books of the month: June edition |url=https://www.ft.com/content/07180750-64e5-11e8-a39d-4df188287fff |access-date=2026-05-29 |website=Financial Times}}</ref>
Yu is a frequent contributor to ''Harvard Business Review'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hbr.org/2022/03/what-makes-a-company-future-ready|title=What Makes a Company "Future Ready"?|first1=Howard|last1=Yu|first2=Jialu|last2=Shan|first3=Angelo|last3=Boutalikakis|first4=Lawrence|last4=Tempel|first5=Zuriati|last5=Balian|date=March 21, 2022|via=hbr.org}}</ref> ''MIT Sloan Management Review'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/how-future-thinking-can-derail-your-companys-present/|title=How Future Thinking Can Derail Your Company's Present|first=Howard Yu and Alyson|last=Meister|website=MIT Sloan Management Review}}</ref> ''Channel News Asia'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/author/howard-yu|title=Howard Yu|website=CNA|access-date=2026-06-02}}</ref> and ''Inc.com''<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Howard Yu |url=https://www.inc.com/author/howard-yu |website=Inc.com}}</ref>. In 2022, Yu co-authored the Harvard Business Review article "What Makes a Company 'Future Ready'?".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hbr.org/2022/03/what-makes-a-company-future-ready|title=What Makes a Company “Future Ready”?|first1=Howard|last1=Yu|first2=Jialu|last2=Shan|first3=Angelo|last3=Boutalikakis|first4=Lawrence|last4=Tempel|first5=Zuriati|last5=Balian|date=2022-03-21|via=hbr.org|access-date=2026-06-01|website=Harvard Business Review}}</ref>
==Research== 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, which details how firms can jump to new knowledge frontiers to maintain a competitive advantage over imitators.<ref name="auto2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.strategy-business.com/article/Howard-Yu-Disrupts-Disruptive-Innovation|title=Howard Yu Disrupts Disruptive Innovation|first=Laura W.|last=Geller|website=Strategy+business}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mackinstitute.wharton.upenn.edu/2018/leap-howard-yu/|title=How Companies Can 'Leap' Ahead of their Competition |date=2018-08-02|access-date=2026-05-29|website=Mack Institute for Innovation Management}}</ref> His research also focuses on Asian economies.<ref name=":0" />
His recent work includes Future Readiness Indicators for several industries to gauge industry incumbents' preparedness.<ref name="auto1"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/5/4/tesla-most-future-ready-carmaker-chinas-byd-rising-report|title=Tesla most 'future-ready' carmaker, China's BYD rising: Report|website=Aljazeera}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/tesla-lululemon-mastercard-among-top-future-ready-companies-on-aggressiveness-digitisation-imd|title=Tesla, Lululemon, Mastercard among top future-ready companies on aggressiveness, digitisation: IMD|first=Tan Nai|last=Lun|date=December 15, 2021|website=The Business Times}}</ref>
==Bibliography== * {{cite book |last1=Yu |first1=Howard H. |last2=Shih |first2=Willy C. |author-link2=Willy Shih |date=2018 |title=Taiwan's PC Industry, 1976–2010: The Evolution of Organizational Capabilities |trans-title= |language= |format= |publisher= |location= |isbn= |page= |url= |url-access= |access-date= |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-date= |via= |quote=}} * 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== Yu is recipient of the Thinkers50 Strategy Award in 2023 and the 2015 ''Poets & Quants'' "Top 40 Business Professors Under 40" ranking.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Andrea |first=Carter |date=2015-04-16 |title=2015 Best 40 Under 40 Professors: Howard Yu, IMD Business School |url=https://poetsandquants.com/2015/04/16/2015-best-40-under-40-professors-howard-yu-imd-business-school/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260529063944/https://poetsandquants.com/2015/04/16/2015-best-40-under-40-professors-howard-yu-imd-business-school/ |archive-date=2026-05-29 |access-date=2026-05-29 |website=Poets & Quants}}</ref><ref name="auto2"/> He was also included in the Thinkers50 Ranking of the world’s top management thinkers in both 2023 and 2025.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thinkers50.com/blog/announcing-the-new-thinkers50-ranking-and-distinguished-achievement-awards-2025/|title=Announcing the New Thinkers50 Ranking and Distinguished Achievement Awards 2025 - Thinkers50}}</ref> He has also received multiple EFMD Gold Awards and Case Centre accolades for his research on digital transformation and organizational development.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imd.org/faculty/professors/howard-yu/|title=Howard Yu - IMD business school for management and leadership courses|date=July 7, 2022}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.cnbc.com/video/2022/12/21/professor-discusses-nikes-better-than-expected-financial-results.html Howard Yu, IMD Business School for Management and Leadership, Professor of Management and Innovation]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Yu, Howard}} Category:Living people Category:Hong Kong writers Category:Alumni of the University of Hong Kong Category:Harvard Business School alumni Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Academic staff of International Institute for Management Development