Learning

The Financial Times ranked IMD as the world’s top provider of open-enrollment executive education programs for nine consecutive years, before the pandemic forced a pause in the rankings in 2021. This consistent level of performance reflects the institute’s ongoing commitment to investing in excellence through a focus on pedagogical rigor, innovation and personalization in content and delivery, and customer centricity.

In 2021, IMD’s open portfolio comprised 72 programs across themes such as leadership, digital transformation, sustainability, innovation and general management, comparable to portfolios offered by larger peers including Wharton, Colombia and INSEAD. With revenues for the year coming in at 15% above forecasts and 52% above 2020 there are strong and encouraging signs that demand is returning quickly to pre-COVID levels.

In 2021, the executive education team continued to innovate and transform IMD’s open program offering to meet the evolving demands and needs of clients and participants in a COVID-impacted and rapidly changing world.

IMD launched 18 new open programs across the year, including five “native” liVe virtual programs, three online programs, four online programs in partnership with digital education provider 2U, and an intensive learning format called “Sprint”.

Several existing programs were relaunched and transformed into blended learning journeys, mixing in-person, synchronous and asynchronous technology-mediated interactions, and seven programs were retired from the portfolio.

This agile approach, and the breadth and depth of choice, allowed individual participants the freedom to focus on strategic questions or topical deep dives, with the possibility to combine programs into purposeful learning journeys, for example, as part of the Digital Excellence Diploma or Board Director Diploma series.

On an organizational level, groups and teams were able to choose from comprehensive options, in terms of program choice, focus and delivery mode, to fit their circumstances.

After the widespread and rapid adoption of technology-mediated learning experiences during 2020, IMD developed and adapted its approach in 2021 as technology became firmly established as a key part of individual learning journeys and embedded into organizational development strategies.

This included launching new virtual programs, such as Leading Customer Centric Strategies, and enhancing existing offerings with virtual elements, as in the case of the Advanced Management program.

Partnerships are vital in finding solutions to today’s complex challenges, and IMD has long embraced a collaborative approach with its peers and experts in other sectors, including the Driving Strategic Innovation program with MIT Sloan and TransformTECH with EPFL.

In 2021, IMD joined forces with UEFA, the European governing body of football, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to launch the Innovation in Action program. Drawing on decades of insight from the worlds of sport administration, competitions and marketing, this blended learning journey featured an initial six-week stage in an immersive, virtual classroom environment. Participants then spent five days onsite at IMD, UEFA and the IOC to put their learning into practice.

IMD launched two fully virtual leadership programs in 2021 – Transformational Leader and Teams Reimagined. The latter, led by Professor of Leadership and Organizational Change Ina Toegel, broke new ground with the first deployment of virtual reality technology in an IMD open program. Professor Toegel and her team of executive coaches guided participants through a series of VR-enabled, experiential exercises to learn how to build and sustain high-performing teams.

With Transformational Leader, directed by Professor of Leadership and Organization Ben Bryant, IMD demonstrated that high-impact leadership development is possible in fully virtual learning journeys. The program offered two globally diverse classes of participants the opportunity to transform themselves over five months into reflective and inclusive leaders with the ability to drive positive business results. More than 50 participants took part in the first classes, representing countries such as South Korea, South Africa and Brazil and industries such as healthcare, retail and financial services.