Len Sherman

Biography

Len Sherman brings over thirty years of business experience and academic research on growth strategy, innovation and entrepreneurship to Columbia Business School. At CBS, Professor Sherman teaches “Strategy for Long-Term Growth” and "Entrepreneurship in Large Enterprises to MBA and EMBA students, earning the Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence in 2013.

Prior to teaching at Columbia, Dr. Sherman was a Senior Partner at Accenture, where he served in a variety of positions including President of two Business Process Outsourcing units: Accenture Procurement Solutions and Accenture Learning. At Accenture, he also served as a founding General Partner of Accenture Technology Ventures, where he led Accenture's investment activities in Supply Chain Management, Procurement and eLearning. He sat on the Boards of Directors of five technology-based firms. Prior to these positions Dr. Sherman also led Accenture's Global Strategic Services Practice covering client services in the Automotive & Industrial Equipment, Transportation & Travel Services, Food & Consumer Package Goods, Retail and Pharmaceuticals/Medical Products industries.

Dr. Sherman joined Accenture in 1995 from J. D. Power and Associates where he had been managing partner of the firm's management consulting practice and responsible for European business operations. Prior to that, he was a partner with Booz, Allen & Hamilton with responsibility for its U.S. automotive practice. Prior to joining Columbia, Professor Sherman taught "Innovation and Enterprise Growth" in Northeastern University's MBA program. He has published and presented widely on automotive marketing and distribution strategy, customer satisfaction measurement and effective approaches to corporate education.

Since joining CBS, Sherman has authored case studies in the automotive, retail, consumer packaged goods and hard goods industries. His book on growth strategy – If You’re in a Dogfight, Become a Cat!: Strategies for Long-Term Growth – was published in 2017 by Columbia University Press. Sherman frequently writes articles on a range of business strategy issues in Forbes and Entrepreneur Magazine, and has be contributed expert commentary to The Economist, Financial Times, Bloomberg, New York Times and other business publications.

Dr. Sherman has a BS in aeronautical engineering, a MS in transportation systems and a Ph.D. in transportation economics, all from M.I.T.