IMD business school for management and leadership courses


Picking up where Case A ends, Case B reveals that Grupo Inca decided to innovate internally and develop a new fabric from the rare black alpaca fiber. After nearly three years of effort, the Inoue brothers’ dream of creating a luxury collection from undyed black alpaca fiber became a reality. The collaboration between the Inoue brothers, Incalpa…
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Grupo Inca, a conglomerate that owned Peru’s leading textile business with a long history of working with alpaca fleece, was at a crossroads regarding the conservation and commercialization of black alpaca fiber. Historically, black alpacas were as common as their lighter-colored counterparts, but market preferences drove them to near extinction…
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This case follows the steps taken by Kaichi Yokoyama, Moon Creative Lab’s CEO, to establish the entity as a pioneering venture studio and entrepreneurial talent development entity within the Mitsui Group. As a corporate venture, the story began in 2018 when Kaichi embarked on a mission to reshape Mitsui’s deeply entrenched traditions and pursue …
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AMAG is Switzerland’s premier automotive retail and service company, holding exclusive rights to import Volkswagen Group car brands such as Audi, Volkswagen, Skoda, Cupra and Seat. In 2022 AMAG had 7,300 employees and a revenue of CHF 4.4 billion. The electrification of the automotive industry and the introduction of the agency model by the Volk…
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Nespresso, the global leading brand in portioned coffee, is facing an existential threat. The company’s current market base, which consists primarily of aging consumers, is likely to decline in the medium to long term. To compensate for the certain shortfall, the company needs to attract young coffee drinkers among Millennials and Generation Z, …
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Dolf van den Brink, CEO of HEINEKEN, left the company’s global headquarters in Amsterdam for a company retreat. Over the next three days, the entire executive team would gather to discuss the company’s future. The preliminary results for 2022, presented during the recent two-day Capital Markets Event, were positive, and the company’s progress on…
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This study offers novel insights into how team structure and flexibility affect pivoting. It details how founding team coordination practices shape individual and collective sensemaking of feedback and efforts to improve a venture idea. Following seven founding teams, we identified how teams with overlapping responsibilities enjoyed the flexibil…
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This paper presents a compact and intuitive framework that consolidates, simplifies, and extends results on the links between technology, trade, and labour market outcomes. It makes three main contributions. First, it presents closed-form solutions for the impacts of different types of technical change (TC) on jobs (the sectoral allocation of em…
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This study investigates whether male and female entrepreneurs exhibit systematic differences in the customer learning actions they pursue, and how those actions convert to venture performance. Drawing from a dyadic sample of founders and startup advisors in the high-technology context, we explore the effects of two alternative customer learning …
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Jess Chua was a leading scholar in the field of family business and a major contributor to Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice both as an author and editor. His significant contributions to the field were acknowledged by the Web of Science, which listed him among the world’s most highly cited researchers in Economics and Business in 2017, 2019,…
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Assortment optimization presents a complex challenge for retailers, as it depends on numerous decision factors. Changes in assortment can result in demand redistribution with multi-layered consequences. This complexity is even more pronounced for omnichannel retailers, which have to manage assortments across multiple sales channels. Choice model…
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At the European Management Journal (EMJ), our mission is to publish manuscripts that challenge “the status quo through critically informed empirical and theoretical investigations, and present the latest thinking and innovative research on major management topics, while still being accessible and interesting to non-specialists” (Muratbekova-Tour…
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The case explores the principles and challenges of operational excellence through the experience of Magdi Batato, former EVP of Operations at Nestlé. It examines how he implemented Mission-Directed Work Teams (MDWTs) to empower front-line workers, align goals and drive accountability within a collaborative culture. MDWTs, introduced in South Afr…
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The board of Nestlé S.A. announced that Anna Mohl would become the CEO of Nestlé Health Science (NHSc) — a global leader in nutritional science — on 1 January 2024. She was delighted to hear about her new position but knew there was little time to celebrate. The pressure was on her to make timely strategic decisions to navigate some operating ch…
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The B case picks up at the end of Case A. It’s now autumn 2022. Klaas Ariaans and Eric Jones, leaders within ABN AMRO’s Personal and Business Banking Division had been reflecting on the success of self-organization in their divisions. This new working method gave branches and banking teams more autonomy over how, when and where they worked, as w…
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This technical note introduces the Negotiation Staircase Framework, a comprehensive approach to understanding and managing complex negotiations. The framework presents six distinct levels of negotiation: Set-up, Process Definition, Guiding Principles, Shared Fact-bases, Deal Architecture and Detailed Bargaining. The note explains how skilled ne…
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Founded by Lim Hock Chee in 1985, Sheng Siong has evolved from a humble grocery store into a leading supermarket chain in Singapore, renowned for its cost-effective pricing and commitment to customer satisfaction. Mr Lim’s unique philosophy, which emphasizes self-cultivation, perseverance and positivity, has been instrumental in shaping Sheng Si…
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This technical note introduces two powerful frameworks for navigating complex, rapidly changing business environments: TSUNAMI and SURF. The TSUNAMI framework provides a comprehensive tool for assessing external challenges across seven dimensions: technological disruption, socio-economic shifts, upheaval potential, network vulnerability, acceler…
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Business schools must champion values-led leadership as companies retreat from DEI. Now’s the time to stand firm and lead by example, says David Bach.
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Despite policy and market headwinds, the clean energy transition is accelerating. Here are five key insights business leaders need to know in 2025.
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Regional developers have tried and failed to emulate Silicon Valley’s VC-driven model for innovation. Detroit Entrepreneurship is following an alternative route.
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Understanding the 4 types of responsible leader helps you blend styles, avoid pitfalls, and meet challenges while managing stakeholder expectations effectively.
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CFOs must drive a financially disciplined way to manage environmental and climate risk amid growing push back against sustainability efforts.
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Most senior leaders struggle with the decision to step down, often holding on long after their optimal departure date. Take this quiz to find out if you’re really ready – and read on for tips on managing the psychological transition. Most senior leaders struggle with the decision to step down, often holding on long after their optimal departure …
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Business schools must champion values-led leadership as companies retreat from DEI. Now’s the time to stand firm and lead by example, says David Bach.
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Despite policy and market headwinds, the clean energy transition is accelerating. Here are five key insights business leaders need to know in 2025.
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Regional developers have tried and failed to emulate Silicon Valley’s VC-driven model for innovation. Detroit Entrepreneurship is following an alternative route.
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Understanding the 4 types of responsible leader helps you blend styles, avoid pitfalls, and meet challenges while managing stakeholder expectations effectively.
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

CFOs must drive a financially disciplined way to manage environmental and climate risk amid growing push back against sustainability efforts.
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Most senior leaders struggle with the decision to step down, often holding on long after their optimal departure date. Take this quiz to find out if you’re really ready – and read on for tips on managing the psychological transition. Most senior leaders struggle with the decision to step down, often holding on long after their optimal departure …
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Understand how GenAI is different from other tech innovations and what you can do to harness its power. This book argues that GenAI represents a genuine paradigm shift in technological innovation. The authors, the hosts of the popular podcast ‘Mike & Amit Talk Tech’, combine academic rigor with practical business insights, incorporating perspect…
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Based on extensive research conducted in the past several years at the International Institute for Management Development in Switzerland (IMD), Leading the Sustainable Business Transformation: A Playbook from IMD helps readers understand why sustainability matters, what it involves, how it fits with corporate strategy and how to implement it acc…
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In response to the increasing demands of today’s fast-paced, adverse environments, Care, Dare, Share: The Secure Base Coach was developed to help individuals, teams, and organizations thrive. This guide focuses on a transformative approach to coaching that emphasizes resilience, creativity, and adaptive thinking. The playbook provides practical …
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Families are the most prevalent type of business owners in any global economy. But succeeding across generations is tricky, and only a few continue to prosper across generations. The Family Business Book is your comprehensive guide to building a strategy for your entrepreneurial family to prosper now and thrive across generations into the future…
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The IMD World Competitiveness Ranking (WCR) is a renowned tool for assessing the competitiveness of economies worldwide. This year, IMD’s World Competitiveness Center (WCC) has expanded its scope to include Ghana, Nigeria, and Puerto Rico. The incorporation of the former two is part of a deliberate strategy to incorporate more African economies …
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This practical book will help you transform your business from a linear “take-make-waste” approach into one that is sustainable, circular, but also profitable, resilient, and competitive.
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