Professor Stephen Bungay
Stephen Bungay is a Director of the Ashridge Strategic Management Centre and Programme Director of Strategic Decisions and Making Strategy Happen. He teaches managers about strategy and leadership and consults to a wide range of organisations which include some of the world’s leading companies.
His expertise in military history is influential in his approach to business. Stephen sees military history not so much as a clash between nations or individuals, but as a clash of organisations. Business is not war, but in the areas of strategy, leadership and organisation, many of the issues facing military and business leaders are the same. In addressing client problems and in teaching executives he draws on his work as a historian to cut through management jargon and offer an engagingly fresh approach. Therefore, what makes him unique is the way in which he brings history and business together.
Areas of Specialisation
Stephen’s teaching and consulting work focuses on strategy, organisation and leadership. His recent work has been on strategy execution, in 2010 his book; The Art of Action was released. His current research is about the role of chance and serendipity in strategy.
Client Organisations
Outside Ashridge he works as an independent consultant and teacher, and is a sought after speaker at corporate conferences. His clients include Reuters, Mitchells & Butlers, Bosch, Harlequin Mills & Boon, Philips, Shell, Pfizer, Astra Zeneca, Novartis, ACE Insurance, Generali and McLaren. He is also a guest lecturer at the UK Defence Academy, the Joint Services Command and Staff College at Shrivenham.
Career Background
The foundation of his practice is some 30 years of consulting experience, almost two thirds of which were spent at The Boston Consulting Group, but he has a broad set of interests.
He worked in the London and Munich offices of The Boston Consulting Group for a total of seventeen years, eight of them as Vice President and Director. Stephen was a member of the Financial Services and Organisation Practice Groups, and also founded BCG’s Human Resources Practice. His experience covers most main sectors of the economy from energy and manufacturing through to retailing and service businesses.
On leaving BCG, he became CEO of the Commercial Division of a Lloyds-based insurance company before subsequently joining the Ashridge Strategic Management Centre in 2001.
Published Literature
He published his first book on military history, The Most Dangerous Enemy – A History of the Battle of Britain, in 2000, and it has now become the standard work on the subject. A second, Alamein, appeared in 2002.
Qualifications and Training
Stephen read Modern Languages at Oxford, where he received an MA with First Class Honours and is also a respected military historian. He subsequently studied for a doctorate in philosophy at Oxford and the University of Tübingen, West Germany.
