Annual Report 2021

Cases

IMD’s unique position at the intersection of business, practice and academia and close interactions with top executives across a range of sectors continued to provide fertile ground for impactful and in-demand case writing.

The consistently high quality and global reputation of IMD's case output led to a record volume of sales of its cases around the world, with demand increasing by more than 25% compared to previous years.

Top business schools, universities and companies from more than 120 countries bought 200,338 cases across the year, while IMD faculty produced a further 53 cases and a wealth of support material such as videos and presentations.

The value and quality of IMD’s case work was again recognized globally as, for the first time in 2021, six faculty members featured in The Case Centre’s Top 50 Bestselling Case Authors of 2020/21. Eight IMD cases also made the centre’s 2021 best seller list, with “ECOALF: Because There Is No Planet B” by Stephan Schmidheiny Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance Benoît Leleux and Thomas Brochier featuring as the best-selling case of the year.

Dentsu Chaired Professor of Marketing Dominique Turpin won the Bringing Technology to Market category in the 2020 EFMD Case Writing Competition for his co-authored case “SAM 100: Will Construction Robotics Disrupt the US Bricklaying Industry?”

My co-authors and I are delighted to have been recognized for our collective work on the SAM100. Our winning case illustrates how new technology can revolutionize markets even in so-called ‘conservative’ industries such as construction, and reinforces the idea that no industry is immune from disruption.

Dentsu Chaired Professor of Marketing Dominique Turpin

The Case Centre’s Top 50 Bestselling Case Authors of 2020/2021

Kamran Kashani

Professor Emeritus of Marketing and Global Strategy

Carlos Cordon

Professor of Strategy and Supply Chain Management

Benoît Leleux

Stephan Schmidheiny Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance

Seán Meehan

Dean of Faculty and Martin Hilti Professor of Marketing and Change Management

Peter Killing

Professor Emeritus of Strategy

Stefan Michel

Professor of Marketing and Service Management

Case studies are valuable teaching tools. When faculty and researchers are working on a case, they are in direct, in-depth contact with the relevant companies. This gives them insights about business and particular companies that is not available from public sources.

Dean of Research and Shell Professor of Global Leadership Anand Narasimhan

Best-selling cases by IMD faculty
(The Case Centre)

ECOALF: Because There Is No Planet B

Benoît Leleux and Thomas Brochier

Value Selling at SKF Service (A): Tough Buyer Confronts Strategy

Kamran Kashani and Aimée DuBrule

Reinventing Nespresso? The Challenges of a Market Leader Under Attack

Kamran Kashani, Dominique Turpin and Fang Liu

Unilever Tea (A): Revitalizing Lipton’s Supply Chain

Ralf Seifert, Heidi Strebel, Aileen Ionescu-Somers and Tania Braga

adidas: How to Keep Running Fast in a Post-COVID-19 World?

Niccolò Pisani and Ornella Lupoi

Colgate-Palmolive: Cleopatra

Sandra Vandermerwe and J. Carter Powis

Michelin Fleet Solutions: From Selling Tires to Selling Kilometers

Chloe Renault, Frédéric Dalsace and Wolfgang Ulaga

Patagonia’s Sustainability Strategy: Don’t Buy Our Products

Francisco Szekely and Zahir Dossa

How adidas keeps running fast in a post-COVID world

The Case Centre classic cases by IMD faculty

Innovation and Renovation: The Nespresso Story

Kamran Kashani and Joyce Miller

Value Selling at SKF Service (A): Tough Buyer Confronts Strategy

Kamran Kashani and Aimée DuBrule

Xiameter: The Past and Future of a 'Disruptive Innovation'

Kamran Kashani and Inna Francis

LEGO: Consolidating Distribution (A)

Carlos Cordon, Ralf Seifert and Edwin Wellian

Nestlé's GLOBE Program (A): The Early Months

Peter Killing

The Enron Collapse

Stewart Hamilton and Inna Francis

Michelin Fleet Solutions: From Selling Tires to Selling Kilometers

Chloe Renault, Frédéric Dalsace and Wolfgang Ulaga

Cases