Message from the Chairman and Vice Chairperson

Dear Friends of IMD

IMD has overcome yet another challenging year in 2022: its bold and successful re-engineering, together with a united team spirit and leadership structure, has allowed IMD to weather the storm and resume its growth pattern after the Covid period.

The pandemic pushed us to reconsider our strategy, invest in technology, and acknowledge that our business model was no longer fit for the current economic environment. The implementation of our new strategy made IMD more resilient to face the implications of the war in Ukraine, ongoing economic uncertainty, and the operating challenges caused by the strong Swiss franc. We have taken a fair number of risks – including taking on debt for the first time in the history of the institution – and were able to count on the relentless hard work of our faculty and staff to adjust to these changes. The strategy is paying off, positioning IMD as a strong leader in this new Business School market reality.

Indeed, the strength and innovation of IMD’s programs and research was highlighted just as 2022 came to a close when the Swiss Accreditation Council granted IMD institutional accreditation as a University Institute. This is a major achievement which will enhance our academic stature in Switzerland and abroad. Although private establishments are not required to earn accreditation, IMD chose to pursue this as a mark of our commitment to the highest possible standards.

In 2022, IMD continued to re-energize its product portfolio and revamp its offering. New pedagogical innovations enabled us to make an even greater impact on business and society by leveraging a blended toolkit of synchronous virtual learning, asynchronous online learning, and face-to-face programs with record numbers of participants.

As part of our new business model approach, we made solid strides in fundraising and development, supporting future leaders through the newly established Hilti MBA Scholars Program and the MBA Venture Award for Entrepreneurship. In addition, we inaugurated the Rio Tinto Chair in Stakeholder Engagement and received significant funding for exciting new research initiatives in Sustainable Business Transformation and Venture Asset Management.

The IMD MBA program reached its 50th year in 2022, giving us an opportunity to applaud the journeys of all those thousands of leaders who have gone on to build outstanding careers in so many walks of life, in every corner of the world. The program has endured and evolved over half a century to remain at the heart of this academic institution.

IMD’s research and thought leadership accelerated in 2022 – both in terms of output and the awards garnered by cases, publications, and faculty. This reputation for world-leading research is the academic muscle that helps us to attract clients, participants and faculty – the institution welcomed five new faculty members in 2022 in the areas of leadership, digital transformation, innovation, and sustainability.

IMD has also grown in stature as an agent of positive change. Much progress has been made in the realm of sustainability. It has been embedded in the MBA and entered the core of other programs, a new Center for Sustainable and Inclusive Business has been launched, and we have progressed in measuring and reducing the carbon footprint of our own operations.

All of this would not have happened without the steadfast commitment of IMD’s President and Executive Committee, staff, and faculty – they have rapidly embedded technology in their programs to reach globally located participants and won ground in the increasingly globalized competitive environment of management education. The Board is pleased with their achievements and commends the whole team for their creativity and dedication.

We want to express our deepest gratitude to the community that continues to support and have confidence in IMD’s mission of challenging what is and inspiring what could be, to develop leaders who transform organizations and contribute to society.