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  3. William Pietersen

William Pietersen

Professor of Professional Practice in the Faculty of Business
Management Division
Faculty Member
Executive Education
Photo of William Pietersen
Areas of Expertise
Strategy
Contact
E-mail: [email protected]
Links
Personal Website
Curriculum Vitae

Willie Pietersen was raised in South Africa, and received a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University. After practicing law, he embarked on an international business career. Over a period of twenty years he served as the CEO of multibillion-dollar businesses such as Lever Foods, Seagram USA, Tropicana and Sterling Winthrop's Consumer Health Group. In 1998, Pietersen was named Professor of the Practice of Management at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. He specializes in strategy and the leadership of change, and his methods and ideas, especially Strategic Learning, are widely applied within Columbia's executive education programs, and also in numerous corporations. He has served as a teacher and advisor to many global companies, including Aviva, Bausch & Lomb, Boeing, Chubb Corp., Deloitte, DePuy, Ericsson, ExxonMobil, Henry Schein, Inc., Novartis, SAP and also the Girl Scouts of the USA.

Education
BA, LLB, Rhodes, 1960; MA, Oxford, 1963
Joined CBS
1996

All Activities

  • Research
  • Teaching
  • Awards and Honors
  • Press
  • CaseWorks
  • Journal articles
  • Working papers
  • Articles
  • Books
  • Chapters
Journal Article
Pietersen, William
. “The Mark Twain Dilemma: The Theory and Practice of Change Leadership.”
Journal of Business Strategy
vol.
23
, (January 01, 2002):
32
-
7
.
Explore Further about The Mark Twain Dilemma: The Theory and Practice of Change Leadership
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Working Paper
Pietersen, William
. Strategic Learning: A Leadership Process for Creating and Implementing Breakthrough Strategies. January 01, 2005.
Explore Further about Strategic Learning: A Leadership Process for Creating and Implementing Breakthrough Strategies
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Working Paper
Pietersen, William
. Strategy: In Search of a Method. January 01, 2005.
Explore Further about Strategy: In Search of a Method
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Newspaper/Magazine Article
Pietersen, William
. “Translating Your Strategy Into a Compelling Leadership Message.”
The European Business Review
. November 01, 2010.
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Newspaper/Magazine Article
Pietersen, William
. “Defining Competitive Advantage: How Much More Value Do You Deliver Than Your Competitors?”
The European Business Review
. September 01, 2010.
Explore Further about Defining Competitive Advantage: How Much More Value Do You Deliver Than Your Competitors?
Newspaper/Magazine Article
Pietersen, William
. “Strategy as Learning.”
The European Business Review
. July 01, 2010.
Explore Further about Strategy as Learning
Book
Pietersen, William
. Leadership--The Inside Story: Time-Tested Prescriptions for Those Who Seek To Lead. 
Irvington, New York
:
Rivertowns Books
, 2024.
Explore Further about Leadership--The Inside Story: Time-Tested Prescriptions for Those Who Seek To Lead
Book
Pietersen, William
. Strategic Learning: How to Be Smarter Than Your Competition and Turn Key Insights into Competitive Advantage. 
Hoboken, New Jersey
:
Wiley
, 2010.
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Book
Pietersen, William
. Reinventing Strategy: Using Strategic Learning to Create and Sustain Breakthrough Performance. 
New York
:
Wiley
, 2002.
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  • Courses
  • Case Studies
This faculty member has no associated courses currently. Please check back next semester.
  • Awards & Honors
  • In the Media
  • Articles
In the Media

Why Trump’s Aluminum Tariffs Won’t Raise the Price of Your Can of Coke

CNN
Article

The Awesome Power of Questions

Read More about The Awesome Power of Questions
  • CaseWorks
This faculty member has no associated CaseWorks cases currently.

External CSS

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