Maris Martinsons is director of the Pacific Rim Institute for the Studies of Management and a professor of management currently associated with the City University of Hong Kong, the Stockholm School of Economics and the University of Toronto. He received his B.A.Sc. (Engineering Science) and M.B.A. degrees from the University of Toronto, and a Ph.D. in Industrial and Business Studies from the University of Warwick. He has served as editor for the following scholarly journals: IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, the Journal of Applied Management Studies, the Journal of Information Technology Management, the Journal of Management Systems, and the Communications of the ACM.
Martinsons is a leading authority on strategic management, organizational change, and knowledge management/information systems. His research and insights have been published widely in Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Russian and Spanish as well as English.
Martinsons also has extensive experience as a business consultant, mostly in association with Ernst & Young, DRI/McGraw-Hill and McKinsey & Co.. He has successfully completed more than 30 large-scale projects in Western, Chinese and cross-cultural settings, and has served as an external advisor to leading organizations and institutions around the world, including the governments of Hong Kong and Latvia.
Martinsons received the Distinguished Young Scholar Award from the International Association of Management in 1995. He has been a keynote speaker at meetings of scholarly societies, industry groups and professional associations, such as the Baltic Business Congress, the East Asian Executive Forum, the International Association of Management, the Pacific Rim Leadership Summit, the Peak Time international business case competition and the World Knowledge Forum.
Martinsons exemplifies a new generation of global scholars. He is a Latvian-Canadian who was educated in both North America and Europe, has been a visiting professor at leading universities on 6 continents, and is now based in the heart of the Asia-Pacific region. Maris played instrumental roles in establishing the world-wide Association of Information Systems, as a member of its original Organizing Committee, and internationalizing the (U.S.) Academy of Management, primarily by bridging the East-West divide.
Martinsons is an influential researcher on the strategic management of competitive enterprises in uncertain business environments as well as the diagnosis, planning and implementation of transformational organizational change. The level of analysis in his studies has ranged from individuals (top management decision making) and small groups (knowledge management systems) to organizations (business performance management, links between business strategy and information technology/systems) and entire industries and economies (strategic intelligence in pre-handover Hong Kong, post-Soviet reform in Latvia, e-commerce in 21st century China). Martinsons also pioneered the research of both green business issues (sustainable development and environmental technologies) and information ethics in the context of Hong Kong and China. According to Google Scholar, Maris Martinsons has authored 3 of the 10 most cited articles on Chinese management.
Martinsons has also been a pioneer with action research and e-learning. Based on a philosophy that stresses the integration of theory and practice and the application of systematic frameworks/models and principles, the "Martinsons on Management" learning platform and a series of "Management by Martinsons" masterclasses have played significant roles in professionalizing management in transitional economies such as mainland China and the Baltic States. The programs incorporate various intellectual and physical challenges that take participants beyond their comfort zones in order to develop both greater confidence and competence. He has also used IT extensively to develop multimedia teaching materials and online education environments that take the learning process far beyond the classroom.
Martinsons was the first triple winner of a university-level teaching excellence award in Hong Kong. In winning these awards in 1995, 2003 and 2012, he was cited for his thoughtful teaching philosophy, meticulous course planning, self-developed course materials, deep knowledge of business and management, creative presentations, series of IT innovations, and ability to foster a high degree of interaction in both the classroom and online.
Martinsons is also an accomplished athlete, having represented Canada, Latvia and Hong Kong in international sporting competitions.
His philanthropic activities focus on developing and improving international relationships, particularly between academic and business communities in Baltic Europe and East Asia. Professor Martinsons was a co-founder of TALKA, the Far Eastern Latvian Cultural Association, and has served on its board of directors since 1989. In recent years, he has cultivated social entrepreneurship among the younger generation in Hong Kong and southern China, helped to set up student exchange programs at both the university and secondary school levels, and collaborated with the Clinton Global Initiative to popularize the best practices and useful innovations in higher education.