Managing Across Cultures - 3rd ed.

China’s apparel sector in 2025 sees local brands rise and global players adapt amid digital, Research & Development, and innovation-led growth.

Explore how innovation, R&D, and policy reforms are reshaping China’s pharmaceutical sector amid rising healthcare demand and demographic shifts.

As corporate America adjusts to a shifting political environment under President Donald Trump, companies must rethink their approach to DEI.

This Technical Note explores the significant transition that leaders face when moving from functional to enterprise-level leadership roles. It introduces the "Seven Seismic Shifts" framework, which identifies the fundamental changes in mindset and responsibility required for success at the enterprise level. The note examines each shift in detail: from specialist to generalist, analyst to integrator, tactician to strategist, bricklayer to architect, problem-solver to agenda-setter, warrior to diplomat, and supporting cast to lead role. Using the case example of Johannes Vandervliet, a leader transitioning to general manager at BSC Chemicals, the note illustrates the practical challenges of navigating these shifts and balancing existing skills with new leadership demands. Beyond identifying these transitions, the note provides a comprehensive approach for organizations to assess and develop enterprise leadership talent. This includes rigorous assessment methods, structured developmental experiences, targeted conceptual learning, executive coaching, mentoring and sponsorship programs, and ongoing evaluation systems. The note emphasizes that effective enterprise leadership development requires deliberate effort and organizational support, not just time and experience. It offers valuable insights for both aspiring enterprise leaders seeking to understand their development needs and organizations looking to build robust leadership pipelines to navigate increasingly complex business environments.

This case study explores AstraPay’s journey to become a significant player, despite its latecomer status, in Indonesia’s burgeoning digital payments landscape. Launched in 2018, AstraPay had grown to serve over one million customers, but it faced intense competition from tech-first digital super-apps like GoTo and OVO. Led by Rina Apriana, who became CEO in 2023, AstraPay had to leverage its unique position within Astra International, a vast conglomerate with deep roots in Indonesia’s economy, to differentiate itself. The case first explores the conceptual differences between a platform and an ecosystem. It then considers how AstraPay can leverage Astra International’s unique characteristics to unlock synergies and evolve into an ecosystem. The question is underpinned by considerations on how AstraPay can best leverage its late mover status to compete with established digital first competitors. Finally, the students are encouraged to explore a range of alternative options available to Astra for building its ecosystem by highlighting the pros and cons of each approach against which to assess the final path taken by AstraPay.

Embracing greater diversity is key as new EU legislation mandates stronger female representation on corporate boards. Diana Markaki shares expert guidance.

On 12 March 2025, new and expanded tariffs on aluminium, steel, and downstream “derivative” products come into force. This briefing shows that derivative products alone represented $151 billion of imports in 2024, with 27 foreign economies each ha...

Axel P. Lehmann emphasizes why boards must foster a speak-up culture, ensuring warning signs are addressed openly at the table, not hidden under it.

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 solution...

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...