Hakan Butuner has received his B.Sc. in industrial engineering from Middle East Technical University; MBA from Bilkent University; and Ph.D. in engineering management from the University of Missouri-Rolla. He has been active both in professional and academic life for several years. Additionally, as an entrepreneur, he has acted as the affiliate of several US consulting companies' industrial management and engineering consulting and training field; and has also built various international franchising businesses. During the same period, he has lectured in renowned universities' business schools and/or industrial engineering departments worldwide.

Currently, he is acting as an associate professor at TED University and running IMECO (Industrial Management and Engineering Consulting, an affiliate of well-known US consulting companies.) Additionally, he is the founder-president of the Institute of Industrial & Systems Engineers - Turkish professional chapter; and the board member of the Institute of High-Performance Planners. During his long career path, as an industrial engineering and management professional, consultant, academician, and trainer, he has completed and participated in over 100 professional industrial engineering and management projects (especially in Strategic Planning, Facilities Design, Operations Improvement, and Process Reengineering) and developed and deployed many training programs and workshops to over 200 corporations and universities with several million dollars' worth of result-based solutions. Also, as a Planning-by-Design-based developer of Systematic Strategic Planning (SSP), Systematic Planning of Business Functions (SPBF), and Target-Based Systematic Improvement Planning (SIP) methodologies, he has several cited books and papers (especially in Planning by Design, Operations Management and Improvement, Supply Chain Management, and Strategic & Business Planning areas) published by globally recognized publication houses (such as Taylor & Francis, SAGE) and journals.