Annual Report 2021

Learning

IMD NEXUS

IMD’s holistic and agile membership platform, NEXUS helps partner organizations accelerate their development by activating IMD’s full ecosystem of capabilities, from world-leading Executive and Organizational Development, advisory services and thought leadership to networking, communities, webinars, content and coaching.

Never has the impact of the NEXUS business model been so evident than in 2021, expanding its membership to over 75 global organizations from a broad range of industries. The flexibility of NEXUS, combined with the close proximity that the engagement model enables, helped members benefit from all of IMD’s offering – including online, liVe virtual and face-to-face programs, events, advisory and executive coaching. The launch of IMD’s knowledge hub and quarterly magazine, I by IMD, alongside tailored newsletters and content nudges provided added value for partners across the year, through customized content packages, learning management system (LMS) integration and co-branded knowledge portals.

Programs that resonated well with NEXUS partners included IMD’s signature program Orchestrating Winning Performance, Leading Digital Business Transformation, Future Leaders, High Performance Leadership, Strategies for Leadership (female executives) and the new Digital Transformation Sprint. There was also an uptake in the NEXUS benefit of enrolling executives as teams to existing programs to customize their experience while guaranteeing exchange with other executives.

Members also welcomed the launch of IMD’s new strategic talent advisory tools and services, Voyager, led by Dean of Southeast Asia and Oceania Misiek Piskorski and Professor of Leadership and Organization Ric Roi. This assessment suite supports members in their talent management, progression planning and learning development.

NEXUS partners have also appreciated the newly available opportunity to tap into IMD’s network of executive coaches, arranging stand-alone or post-program coaching sessions customized to their organizational needs.

Highlights

A powerful platform

1,300+ online participants

1
NEXUS partners
1 +
advisory clients

75 members in the Network

75 members in the Network

How did IMD NEXUS partners use their network this year?

How did IMD NEXUS partners use their network this year?

Tailor-made learning

The flexibile, diverse and modular nature of IMD’s online program portfolio enabled NEXUS partners to access relevant learning for individual experiences and customized journeys that could be directly applied to their businesses, with completion rates above 90 percent.

More than 1,300 executives from NEXUS member companies completed online courses in 2021, with Inspirational Leadership, Leadership Essentials and Strategic Thinking proving popular among participants. Members also appreciated the launch of the Winning Sustainability Strategies program, which received strong participation from NEXUS partners.

IMD delivered 10 closed cohort custom programs for NEXUS partners, facilitating tailored executive development journeys for individual companies on themes such as leadership, strategy, sustainability, and diversity and inclusion.

A global executive network

Through NEXUS’s unique Discovery Events and eXchange Labs, members drew on the full range of IMD faculty expertise and shared peer knowledge and exchange to learn about and address business critical topics that focused on putting sustainability into practice.

Under the sustainability umbrella, IMD NEXUS delivered for its members nine virtual and in-person Discovery Events, featuring expert panellists from leading firms such as Volvo, Stora Enso and Telenor, and exploring areas including marketing, strategy, digital ethics and transformation, ESG investing, innovation, and diversity and inclusion.

The success of the annual CXO roundtables and related events has inspired the creation of ongoing platforms for learning – IMD CXO Circles – which create a continuous forum for courageous discussion and exchange through different events, networking and thought leadership to support IMD’s international community of C-level leaders throughout the year.

Expert advisory

IMD advisory services increased its client base in 2021, acting as the trusted partner for more than 20 multinational companies, including Konica, Minolta, Tetra Pak, Swiss Re and the International Olympic Committee.

Integrated solutions tapping into IMD’s full ecosystem were created for advisory projects, ranging from global people strategies, digital transformation, implementation of change strategies, and equity, inclusion and diversity. This included IMD’s new leadership talent assessment and progression planning suite Voyager.

Advisory clients 2021

Advisory clients 2021

Faculty engagement

Several NEXUS members leveraged the opportunity to access IMD faculty for advisory discussions on specific themes, bringing outside-in perspectives and expert insights to inspire and engage larger numbers of leaders in their organizations. For example, IMD facilitated a webinar series on leadership for a humanitarian NGO, as well as webinars on curiosity and digital challenges for other clients.

“Our Connect & Learn webinar series for ICRC leaders and managers across the world was introduced in 2021. In collaboration with the ICRC, IMD’s faculty shared their research and learnings on key topics of interest responding to some of our organizational challenges. Themes covered included building organizational resilience, leading in the ‘new normal’ and strengthening trust / psychological safety. IMD faculty were able to adapt their content to the ICRC’s humanitarian context and help guide meaningful exchanges. IMD was a wonderful partner and each event was smoothly executed.”
Mohini Ghai Kramer, Global Head of Learning and Development, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

A new platform for thought leadership

The IMD communications team launched the I by IMD content hub and quarterly magazine in 2021, showcasing faculty and industry expertise to produce insightful and timely written and audio-visual content for the IMD community and a global audience.

The practice and solution focused hub offers first-person business intelligence from the brightest thinkers in academia, business and society, covering the latest issues in management, strategy, technology, finance, team building and innovation.

Leveraging the wealth of insight on this new knowledge hub, NEXUS members benefitted from customized newsletters and learning content nudges for partners in 2021, from co-branded topical publications for team members to sharing podcasts and relevant articles.

For example, IMD created personalized I by IMD homepages for clients such as ABB and Nestlé, and developed a thought leadership newsletter for Sonova.