Curriculum Vitae – Rob van Tulder

Rob van Tulder is full Professor of International Business-Society Management at RSM Erasmus University Rotterdam. He holds a PhD degree (cum laude) in social sciences from the University of Amsterdam. He has been visiting professor in a number of universities and consultant to international organisations (such as the UN, the IMF and the European Union), multinational enterprises, Non-Governmental Organisations and ministries around the world. He is co-founder of the department of Business-Society Management, one of the leading departments in the world studying and teaching about the contribution of business and leaders towards society.

For more than ten years he worked together with UNCTAD to compile the annual list of the ‘world’s largest TNCs’ (Published in the World Investment Report). Dr. Van Tulder is presently also academic director of the Partnerships Resource Centre that studies the cross-sector partnerships between firms, NGOs and government for sustainable development.

He published in journals like the California Management Review, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of International Business Policy, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of World Business, World Development, Transnational Corporations, European Management Journal.

His latest book publications include: Principles of Sustainable Business (2021: Routledge), Getting all the motives right. Driving ICR to the next level (2018: SMO books); Business and the Sustainable Development Goals (2018 RSM Series in positive change); International Business in a VUCA world (2020: Emerald); International Business and Sustainable Development (2014: Emerald); The Challenge of the BRIC Multinationals (2017: Emerald); Managing the Transition to a Sustainable Enterprise (2014, Earthscan), Doing Business in Africa, a strategic guide for entrepreneurs (2013), Corporate Responsibilities in Turbulent time, Beijing (2012; 2010) China Economic Publishing House (in Chinese); Skill Sheets: an integrated approach to research, study and management, Amsterdam (2018): Pearson International (www.skillsheets.com); International Business-Society Management, London (2006): Routledge (www.ib-sm.org)

Awards & Nominations

1994: Winner of the Erasm Research Award, Erasmus University Rotterdam
1996: Winner of the Gunnar Myrdal Award, European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy (EAEPE)
1998: Winner of the 1998 Teachers Award, for special merit in teaching at the Erasmus University Rotterdam
2004: Nominated ‘best management book of the year’ prize in the Netherlands for book on Reputation management
2005: Best paper Award of the International Business Review Journal, on article Antecedents and performance consequences of international outsourcing (co-authored with Michael Mol and Paul Beije)
2007: best ERIM book award for book ‘International Business-Society Management: linking corporate responsibilities and globalization‘ (Routledge: assisted by Alex van der Zwart)
2007: Best Paper award, CIBS Conference – Reading (UK), for paper entitled ‘Internationalization trajectories of MNEs: 1990-2004’ (co-authored with dr. Fabienne Fortanier)
2013: Management book of the year nomination shortlisted for book ‘duurzaam ondernemen waarmaken’ ( English edition “managing the transition to a sustainable enterprise’ published with Earthscan). [Co-authored with Rob van Tilburg, Mara Francken and Andrea da Rosa]
2013: Listed on top 100 (placed 72) most sustainable Dutch persons, by Trouw – a leading Dutch newspaper
2018: RSM Positive Change Award 2018
2019: MSc Global Business & Sustainability in Eduniversal Ranking. Global Top 100 Best Masters in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility. Ranked no. 1 in the world (coordinated by Steve Kennedy)
2019: SDSN Networks (SDG Academy). Winner 2019 MOOC Awards of Excellence. ‘Driving business towards the SDGs’ (coordinated by Eva Rood)
2020: Rector’s Award University Poznan (Poland) for book: International Business in a VUCA world, Progress in International Business Series # 14 (co-edited with Alain Verbeke and Barbara Jankowska)

Research Activities

Founder (together with three other business schools) of the Expert Centre on Sustainable Business and Development Cooperation (Ecsad.org) focusing on the role of companies in developing countries. Founder of the follow-up: Partnerships Resource Centre that focuses in particular at cross sector partnerships and collaborative solutions for ‘wicked problems’
Research fellow of ERIM, the research school of the Rotterdam School of Management; research coordinator for the department of Business-Society Management.
1990-2005 period: Awarded a number of research grants from European framework programme on (a) regional integration, (b) the European car industry, (c) innovation programmes
2011-2014 period: awarded several big research grants by Dutch scientific organisation (NWO) on topic related to development and sustainability: (a) escaping the middle income trap, (b) inclusive business-inclusive growth, (c) sustainable business models
Initiator – together with Amnesty – of the Amnesty endowed Chair on ‘international business and Human Rights’ at the Rotterdam School of Management
2009-2018: awarded several big research grants by companies, NGOs and governments;
2015: co-organiser of the New World Campus (in the Hague) and designer of the ‘Wicked Problems Plaza’ – a concept aimed at addressing complex societal issues in an effective manner;
2016: co-founder of the PEP facility in support of the Global Partnership on Effective Development Cooperation: focus unleashing the potential of partnering for the sustainable development goals.
2015-present: active in large number of networks around the Sustainable Development Goals

Academic Experience

Visiting professor at several universities: Australian National University (Canberra), Institute for Higher Studies (Vienna), University of California (Berkeley), Copenhagen Business School (Denmark), Tampere university (Finland), Fundacao Dom Cabral, Fumec, Universidad Positivo (Brasil), University of the Philippines (Manila).
Member of numerous PhD committees in the Netherlands as well as abroad: supervisor of around 30 PhDs.
Lectured for senior executives of major companies and social organisations (in addition to the above mentioned courses). Some of these companies are: Ballast Nedam International, Philips, Corus/Tata, Unilever, KPN.
Developed a number of supportive teaching programmes/modules for these teaching programmes: (1) peer teaching module: how to organise learning between “peers”; (2) cases from the newspapers: how to get research relevant information from an important source like the daily newspapers; (3) Skill Sheets: a loose-leave collection of often (ab)used minimum skills in social sciences; (4) Cases in Strategy and Information Technology: a new methodology of cases and teaching notes in order to tackle complexity in processes of organisational change; (5) audiovisual programmes on topics of international political economy:”the origins of the world economic system”, “imperialism” and “decolonisation” for students at the University of Amsterdam. MOOC on the SDGs.
Collaborated in the preparation and editing of a series of television documentaries for a Dutch newsprogramme (NOVA) on “Toyotism in the Netherlands”, 1994. Support for a number of other media activities
Teacher in management skills, research skills; interface management and the like. Initiator of website and other supportive material for skill and leadership development (like a ‘leadership profiler’)
Set-up and coordination of the Masters in Business-Society Management.
Initiator of a variety of courses in the curriculum of the RSM that integrate relevant aspects of the business-society question: (1) macro-economics and institutional context, (2) interface management (coordinating also business law and financial markets), (3) international masters in business administration, (4) The Netherlands Inc., (5) Global Business strategies, (6) sustainable business models
Academic coordinator for Master
Annual organisation of the Max Havelaar Lecture (2007 – 2018 period)

Bridging Activities

Series editor ‘Progress in International Business Research” (with prof. Alain Verbeke)
National Representative for European International Business Academy (EIBA – until 2018)
Member Board of Advisors on sustainability, KPN the Netherlands
Chair advisory board, Schuttelaars and Partners (until 2016)
Chair supervisory board Wage Indicator Foundation (since 2020)
Member Scientific Advisory Council Africa Studies Centre (university of Leiden)
Academic Representative ISO 26000 committee (Netherlands Standardization Institute – NEN)
Board Member Stichting Tijdschrift voor Politieke Economie (until 2015)
Member Advisory council International Questions (AIV) Netherlands
Member several reference groups for IOB (evaluation department of ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Member national Advisory Committees on Public-Private Partnerships (sustainable water facility and food security; Ghana Wash Window)
Supervisory board member ‘Social Enterprise.NL’
Research Associate ‘Dynamics of Inclusive Prosperity’ (Erasmus University)

Publications

For a complete overview of Professor van Tulder’s publications, see the publications page.