Alf Rehn

Overall, professor Alf Rehn is one of the most interesting new voices in business thought today. A well-regarded academic, he combines rigorous analysis with a creative and often surprising outlook on life, bringing in things like popular culture and philosophical theory into his analyses of modern business and contemporary economy.

Alf's approach to management and business is highly creative and often turns taken-for-granted notions on their head. Rather than presenting the same buzzword everyone else does, he challenges our thinking by arguing for things like taking frivolity seriously, that innovation has become boring, that brands are uninteresting and that real business wisdom can be found in comic books. At times provocative and always engaging, he represents a fresh new way of thinking about business.

Currently, Alf holds a chair of management and organization at Åbo Akademi University in Finland, a professorship of innovation and entrepreneurship at the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, and is recognized as one of Europe's top young management scholars. He received a chair of management at the age of 31, and is still one of the youngest full professors in Scandinavia.

His research focuses on novel ways to understand management, organization and economy, and has been published in leading academic journals such as Creativity and Innovation Management, Group and Organization Management, Management and Organizational History and Entrepreneurship and Regional Development. Alf has contributed to works such as the Routledge Companion to Creativity and the Sage International Encyclopedia of Organization Studies. He is on the editorial board of several top management journals and edits a book series at a prominent Scandinavian publisher.

Topics: Alf has spoken on a number of topics, with audiences ranging from academic professors to CEOs and civic leaders. As a speaker and consultant, he has worked with major business conferences, global industry, finance and insurance companies, CIO's, pharmaceuticals and the high-tech industry, as well as mentored a series of start-ups. In doing so he has talked about things as far apart as discussing novel ways to develop city economies, economy as entertainment, cannibalism as strategy and going beyond creativity. In addition, he has appeared on TV talking about things such as business language, boredom in organizations, extreme wealth and new business models.

Among the things he speaks on are: – The Frivolous Economy, Creating Wealth Through The Completely Pointless – After Innovation – The Post-Original Economy And The Business Of Tomorrow – Business Is Child's Play! Children And Tweens As Core Consumers – Simpler – Why The Strategic Management Of The Future Will Be About Less Rather Than More. – Tomorrow’s Consumer – Why Platforms Will Matter More Than Products.