Faculty Profile

Dr. Hugh G. Courtney Professor of the Practice of Strategy and Associate Dean of Executive Programs Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2416A Van Munching Hall Phone: (301) 405-9544 E-mail: hcourtney@rhsmith.umd.edu Curriculum Vitae

Hugh Courtney is Associate Dean of Executive Programs and Professor of the Practice of Strategy at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. In addition, he is Chairman of the Board of Directors of D&E Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: DECC), a provider of voice, data and video services in central and eastern Pennsylvania. Dr. Courtney also maintains an active consulting practice focused on business strategy formulation in highly uncertain and/or oligopoly markets. He serves clients on his own and through affiliations with McKinsey & Company, Katzenbach Partners LLC, Decision Strategies International, and the Analysis Group.

Dr. Courtney’s publications on business strategy and competitive dynamics have been featured in leading practitioner journals such as the Harvard Business Review, McKinsey Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, Optimize, Research ·Technology Management and Strategy & Leadership. He is an Associate Editor of Long Range Planning. His book on strategy under uncertainty, 20/20 Foresight (Harvard Business School Press, 2001), was a business bestseller on Amazon.com, and received outstanding reviews from both practitioner and academic publications. In addition to these publications, Dr. Courtney disseminates his research results through frequent invited presentations to industry and academic conferences, and through interviews and invited letters in publications such as the Sloan Management Review, Business Week Online, Entrepreneur, and CIO Insight.

Dr. Courtney is an award-winning MBA teacher and frequent contributor to open enrollment and custom-designed executive education programs. His custom program clients include McKinsey & Company, Black & Decker, IBM, McCormick, National Security Agency, Entergy, Nextel, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, and Hughes Network Systems.

Before returning to academia in 2002, Dr. Courtney was an Associate Principal with McKinsey & Company in Washington, DC. While at McKinsey, he was a leader of its Global Strategy Practice and served clients on six continents across most industry sectors, with particular emphasis on the chemicals and health care industries. His innovative consulting and research contributions while at McKinsey were recognized when Consulting Magazine named him as one of the five "Up and Comers" in the consulting industry in 2001.

Dr. Courtney earned his Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his B.A. in economics from Northwestern University.

Primary Research Areas

• Strategy under conditions of high environmental uncertainty
• Competitive dynamics and applied game theory
• Strategic planning and decision making

Selected Publications

20/20 Foresight: Crafting Strategy in an Uncertain World, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2001. (Available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean and Chinese editions).

“A Fresh Look at Strategy Under Uncertainty: An Interview,” The McKinsey Quarterly, published online at http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/fresh_look_at_strategy_under_uncertainty_2256, December 2008, and forthcoming in print, January 2009.

“Getting Inside Your Competitor’s Head,” The McKinsey Quarterly, (with John Horn and Jayanti Kar), forthcoming, January 2009.

“Perceived Causes and Solutions of the Translation Problem in Management Research,” (with Debra L. Shapiro and Bradley L. Kirkman), Academy of Management Journal, Volume 50, No. 2, 2007.

“Bringing Rigor and Reality to Early-Stage R&D Decisions,” (with Dan Lovallo) Research · Technology Management, Volume 47, No. 5, September-October 2004.

“Strategy Under Uncertainty,” (with Jane Kirkland and Patrick Viguerie), Harvard Business Review 75, no. 6 (November-December 1997): 66-79.

“Games Managers Should Play,” World Economic Affairs, vol. 2. No. 1 (Autumn 1997): 48-49.

Honors and Awards

• National Science Foundation Fellowship.
• Named one of five "Up and Comers" in management consulting, Consulting Magazine, December 2001.
• Numerous teaching awards including the Krowe Award for teaching excellence and the "top 15%" award for teaching evaluation scores every year that he has taught at the Smith School.

Consulting Work

• A former leader of McKinsey & Company's Global Strategy Practice
• Consulting practice has focused on strategy formulation and implementation in highly uncertain and oligopolistic business environments