Richard Post Rumelt (born November 10, 1942)[1] is an American emeritus professor at the University of California, Los Angeles Anderson School of Management.

[2][3][4] Richard Rumelt earned Bachelor's and Master's of Science degrees in Electrical Engineering from UC Berkeley.

In 1980, Rumelt developed a method of evaluating business strategy in which he observed that almost all successful business strategies utilise four common characteristics:[7] A joint 1982 paper co-written with Steven Lippman showed how classical industrial organization results—profitability being related to concentration and to market share—could arise under perfect competition if there was uncertainty in the sources of efficiency.

He argues that good strategy involves identifying key facts and problems and then coordinating a focused response.

Examples include the Battle of Cannae, where Hannibal used a large-scale troop maneuver to negate the Romans' numerical advantage, and Steve Jobs' second tenure as Apple Inc.'s CEO, where he streamlined product lines to position Apple as a niche computer provider while awaiting new opportunities.