Education: Ir (University of Delft, Holland)
Formerly Professor of General and Strategic Management at Strathclyde, Kees van der Heijden retired in 2001 and is now Emeritus Professor. In addition, Kees is a director, and co-founder, of the Global Business Network (GBN) in the United States where he is a member of the GBN leadership team.
Kees has developed the context of scenario planning and pioneered the concept of "strategic conversation" which envelops scenario planning as well as conception and development of the Business Idea. His research focuses on institutional strategic thinking and learning, and on processes for intervention in these areas.
Kees is director of the Centre of Scenario Planning and Future Studies at USGSB. Together with the other Principals of the Centre - George Burt, Professor George Wright, Dr George Cairns and Ron Bradfield - he works with private and public organisations to enable them to negotiate a successful course for their organisation in the face of uncertainty.
His groundbreaking book on how to use scenarios - 'Scenarios: the Art of Strategic Conversation' - reached the last six for the World Business Book Prize and numerous articles on Kees' work in scenario planning and strategy have been published in a range of books and journals world wide.
Prior to his move into academia at Strathclyde in 1991, Kees was head of the Business Environment Division in Group Planning at Royal Dutch/Shell, London.
In this capacity he was responsible for the development and application of Shell's scenario planning, including monitoring and analysing the business environment and communicating with top management on outlook and strategic implications.
Before that, he headed up Shell's Internal Strategy Consultancy Group, assisting management teams in strategy development and implementation.
Kees spent many years with Shell, working in operating companies in Holland, Manila, Singapore and Curacao, mostly in activities concerned with commercial planning, economics, and corporate planning and strategy.
