In Memoriam
It is with great sadness that we mark the passing of Dr Charles Hampden-Turner, co-founder of Trompenaars Hampden-Turner, distinguished management philosopher, author, academic and friend. Charles devoted much of his life to exploring the dilemmas, tensions and complementarities that shape cultures, organisations and human relationships. Together with Fons Trompenaars, his ideas became an enduring part of the intellectual foundations of THT.
His remarkable curiosity taught us to look beyond either/or thinking, to recognise that seemingly opposing values can strengthen one another and create something greater when they are reconciled.
Charles’s thinking will continue to live through our work and through the many people around the world whom he influenced, challenged and inspired.
We are proud to carry his name, grateful to carry his ideas and committed to carrying his work forward.
We are proud to carry his name.
We are grateful to carry his ideas.
And we are committed to carrying his work forward.
Thank you, Charles. You will be deeply missed.
About Charles
Dr Charles Hampden-Turner was a British management philosopher and a distinguished business consultant, academic researcher and esteemed co-founder of THT. Charles worked as a consultant for leading companies including Apple, Shell, BP, Digital Equipment, the Economic Council of Canada, BBC, Philips, Nissan, DSM, Dow Chemical, AMD and Sematech.
He was widely acknowledged as the earliest author of “dilemma (or paradox) theory”, first explored in Maps of the Mind (1981). Charles devoted much of his life to the investigation of complementarities, tensions, uncertainties and dilemmas.
In the academic sphere, Charles conducted extensive research into global business culture. He received his master’s and doctorate degrees from Harvard Business School and was the recipient of the Douglas McGregor Memorial Award, as well as the Columbia University Prize for the Study of the Corporation. He was awarded Guggenheim, Rockefeller and Ford Foundation Fellowships. He was based at the Judge Institute of Management Studies at the University of Cambridge.
Charles was the author of numerous books, including Maps of the Mind, Charting the Corporate Mind, and Corporate Culture: Vicious and Virtuous Circles. With THT co-founder Fons Trompenaars, he co-authored The Seven Cultures of Capitalism, Mastering the Infinite Game, Building Cross-Cultural Competence and 21 Leaders for the 21st Century.
Encomium: In 2024, to celebrate Charles’s 90th birthday, friends and colleagues came together to honour his life, thinking and influence.
View Charles Hampden-Turner’s 90th Birthday Encomium