Dr. Alan G. Robinson specializes in managing high-performing organizations, creativity, ideas, innovation, and lean. He is the co-author of twelve books, many of which have been translated into more than twenty-five languages.

"Corporate Creativity," co-authored with Sam Stern, was named “Book of the Year” by the Academy of Human Resource Management and was a finalist in the Financial Times/Booz Allen & Hamilton Global Best Business Book Awards.

His book "Vos Idées Changent Tout," co-authored with Isaac Getz, has been translated into six languages. In his preface to the German edition of this book, Heinrich von Pierer, President and CEO of Siemens AG, called this “an important book on a topic that is fundamental to every business.”

According to the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), "Modern Approaches to Manufacturing Improvement," his 1991 book with Shigeo Shingo, who was one of the developers of the Toyota Production System, “remains a must-read for anyone interested in lean production.”

Robinson’s book, "Ideas Are Free," co-authored with Dean Schroeder, was named Reader’s Choice by Fast Company magazine and one of the 30 best business books of 2004 by Soundview Executive Books and was featured on ABC World News and CNN Headline News.

"The Idea-Driven Organization," also co-authored with Dean Schroeder, came out in 2014 and was named the best book in 2014 on Management and Leadership by USA Book News, and won the 2015 Beverly Hills Book Award in the General Business Category.

His latest book "Practical Innovation in Government: How Front-Line Leaders Are Transforming Public-Sector Organizations" was published in July 2022.

Robinson has advised more than 300 companies in thirty countries on how to improve their performance. Over the years, his research has been written about in almost every major newspaper in the United States, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, and The Washington Post. His work has also been featured in many business publications, including The Economist, Inc., Fortune, BusinessWeek, Forbes, and Entrepreneur, and he has been interviewed on numerous local and national radio and television shows, including National Public Radio, CNN, ABC World News with David Muir, and CNBC’s Powerlunch. He also co-hosted a two-hour show on innovation for PBS/The Business Channel.

Dr. Robinson is on the faculty of the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts. He received his Ph.D. in applied mathematics from the Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, and a B.A. and M.A. in mathematics from the University of Cambridge.

He has also taught at St. Petersburg Technical University in Russia, the Athens Laboratory of Business Administration in Greece (affiliated with INSEAD), the Jagiellonian University in Poland, the University of Porto in Portugal, the Hanoi Business School, and Tianjin University in China.

Dean M. Schroeder is an award winning author, consultant and scholar. His work focuses on creating high-performing organizations and improving people’s work lives through the application of better management.

Dr. Schroeder’s latest book, The Idea-Driven Organization: Unlocking The Power in Bottom-up Ideas, will be available March 31, 2014. His best-selling book, Ideas Are Free: How the Idea Revolution is Liberating People and Transforming Organizations (co-authored with Alan Robinson), has been translated into nine different languages, was voted the Reader’s Choice by Fast Company magazine and selected as one of the 30 best business books of the year by Soundview Executive Books. Dean shares the “Author of the Year – 2010” award from the Swedish Standards Institute with co-authors Louise Östberg and Alan Robinson for SMÅ IDÉER – STORA RESULTAT (Small Ideas – Huge Results). Dr. Schroeder has also published over eighty articles, for which he has received a number of awards including two Shingo Prizes.

As a consultant and speaker, Dr. Schroeder has worked with many types of companies and organizations in North America, Europe, and Asia. He has personally led organizational turn around and transformation initiatives, and served on the Board of Examiners of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for five years.

Dr. Schroeder is the Herbert and Agnes Schulz Professor of Management at Valparaiso University and has taught at the University of Massachusetts, St. Petersburg Technical University in Russia and at ALBA in Greece. He received his Ph.D. in Strategic Management from the Carlson School at the University of Minnesota, his M.B.A. from the University of Montana, and his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Institute of Technology at the University of Minnesota.