Biography

Professor Eric Flamholtz has broad interdisciplinary interests. He began his academic career as one of the founders of the field of human resource accounting, and his book on this subject (Kluwer Academic Press, 1998) is generally recognized as the landmark work in this area.

Since 1976, Flamholtz’ interests have focused on organizational growth and development, especially in entrepreneurial firms. His research has led to several frameworks that analyze the key building blocks of organizational success and the transitions required from one stage of development to the next. He has also developed validated methodologies for organizational assessment, strategic planning, performance management and culture management that have been applied by organizations globally. His co-authored book Growing Pains: Building Sustainably Successful Organizations, Fifth Edition (Wiley, 2016) describing this research and related applications is widely considered the definitive work in this area. It has been translated into several languages, including Bulgarian, Chinese, German, Japanese, Polish, Russian and Spanish.

Flamholtz has also authored and co-authored several other widely read books, including: Building Family Business Champions (Stanford University Press, 2016); Corporate Culture: The Ultimate Strategic Advantage (Stanford University Press, 2011); Leading Strategic and Organizational Change (Cambridge University Press, 2008); Changing the Game: Managing Organizational Transformations of the First, Second, and Third Kinds (Oxford University Press, 1998); Organizational Control (Kluwer, 1996); The Inner Game Of Management (American Management Association, 1988); and Human Resource Accounting (three editions). His most recent book is The Leadership Crisis Playbook (Vandeplas Publishing, 2020). He is currently revising the Inner Game of Management.

In 1978, Flamholtz founded Management Systems Consulting Corporation, an organizational development firm specializing in helping rapidly growing organizations manage their growing pains and become sustainably successful organizations. The firm now has licensed affiliates using its proprietary, validated and proven methodologies in Argentina, Bulgaria, China, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Russia, Singapore and Ukraine, as well as in the U.S. He has consulted to or conducted executive leadership programs at companies such as Amgen, Guggenheim Partners, PIMCO, Starbucks, Simon Properties, Neutrogena, American Century Investors, Baskin-Robbins, the Disney Stores, IBM, Navistar International, Nike, the Kusto Group (Kazakhstan and Singapore), the Silk Road Group (Georgia) and Techcombank (Vietnam), and several organizations in Australia, Bulgaria, China, France, Georgia, Mexico, Philippines, Poland, Singapore, Switzerland, Russia and Vietnam. Flamholtz served as a member of the board of directors of 99 Cents Only Stores for nine years, and was chair of the strategic planning and compensation committees.

Flamholtz has been a frequent lecturer at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in China. He has also presented seminars and workshops to a wide variety of firms and organizations, including IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Monsanto, Nestlé, Nike, Citrix Systems, American Express Travel, Colgate Palmolive, AT&T, Young Presidents Organization (YPO), Forbes Presidents Forum, Fortune Growth Conference, Fortune Human Resources Forum, Fortune CFO Forum, General Motors, PepsiCo, Allergan, the Hyatt Corporation, Borg Warner, TRW, Federal Express, Warburg Pincus (Singapore), Xu Zhou Construction Machinery Group (China), Xiamen University (China), Shanghai Advanced Finance Institute (China), Cornell University’s Executive Master of Management in Hospitality, Oristano University (Italy), University of Lugano (Switzerland), CETYS University (Mexico) Moscow School of Management Skolkovo (Russia) and Almaty University (Kazakhstan), as well as many others globally.

His Ph.D. dissertation was co-winner of the McKinsey Foundation for Management Research Doctoral Dissertation Award. In 2007, he received the Distinguished Ph.D. Alumni Award from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan “in recognition of his contributions to and excellence in management and organization.” In 2012, he was appointed honorary professor at Almaty University, Kazakhstan. In 2014, Flamholtz received a Distinguished Alumni Award from Washington University in St. Louis, where he received his MBA.

In addition to serving on the faculty of UCLA, Flamholtz previously served on the faculties at the University of Michigan and Columbia University.