Arie de Geus
Encyclopedia
Arie de Geus was the head of Shell Oil Company
's Strategic Planning Group and is a public speaker.
in 1930. He joined Royal Dutch/Shell in 1951 and remained there until his retirement in 1989. During his tenure as head of Shell's Strategic Planning Group, the department made important advancements to the ideas of portfolio analysis (i.e. Directional Policy Matrix) and scenario planning
. Other key members of the team were Kees van der Heijden, Peter Schwartz
, Pierre Wack
.
Since he retired he has been a visiting fellow of London Business School
and has worked with MIT's Center for Organizational Learning.
With a wealth of experience gained as a top level corporate strategist, Mr. de Geus has earned a reputation as an excellent speaker with great insight into management planning and organizational learning.
A popular quote of his: “Your ability to learn faster than your competition is your only sustainable competitive advantage.”
Shell Oil Company
Shell Oil Company is the United States-based subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, a multinational oil company of Anglo Dutch origins, which is amongst the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 22,000 Shell employees are based in the U.S. The head office in the U.S. is in Houston, Texas...
's Strategic Planning Group and is a public speaker.
Background
De Geus was born in RotterdamRotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
in 1930. He joined Royal Dutch/Shell in 1951 and remained there until his retirement in 1989. During his tenure as head of Shell's Strategic Planning Group, the department made important advancements to the ideas of portfolio analysis (i.e. Directional Policy Matrix) and scenario planning
Scenario planning
Scenario planning, also called scenario thinking or scenario analysis, is a strategic planning method that some organizations use to make flexible long-term plans. It is in large part an adaptation and generalization of classic methods used by military intelligence.The original method was that a...
. Other key members of the team were Kees van der Heijden, Peter Schwartz
Peter Schwartz
Peter Schwartz may refer to:* Peter Schwartz , writer and journalist* Peter Schwartz , futurist and co-founder of GBN-See also:* Peter Schwarz, German football player...
, Pierre Wack
Pierre Wack
Pierre Wack was an unconventional French oil executive who was the first to develop the use of scenario planning in the private sector, at Royal Dutch Shell’s London headquarters in the 1970s...
.
Since he retired he has been a visiting fellow of London Business School
London Business School
London Business School is an international business school and a constituent college of the federal University of London, located in central London, beside Regent's Park...
and has worked with MIT's Center for Organizational Learning.
With a wealth of experience gained as a top level corporate strategist, Mr. de Geus has earned a reputation as an excellent speaker with great insight into management planning and organizational learning.
A popular quote of his: “Your ability to learn faster than your competition is your only sustainable competitive advantage.”
Publications
- Book "The Living Company" Nicholas Brealey, London (1997)
- Article "The Living Company," (Harvard Business Review, 1997); winner of the McKinsey Award
- Lecture, "Companies: What Are They?" (Royal Society of Arts, 1995)
- Article "Planning as Learning" Harvard Business Review (1988)