January 2012, after a particularly bad year in the global container shipping industry, Soren Skou was newly appointed CEO of the Maersk Liner Business (MLB), the container business of Danish shipping conglomerate, A.P. Moeller-Maersk (APMM). From the start, it was clear to him that there was an urgent need for change in order to remain competitive. With the results of an internal analysis in hand, he decided to take the top team offsite, to get some perspective and consider what the first moves should be, and how best to work together.
Coordination, sensemaking, and idea work: How founding teams pivot their venture ideas
Summary
This study offers novel insights into how team structure and flexibility affect pivoting. It details how founding team coordination practices shape individual and collective sensemaking of feedback and efforts to improve a venture idea. Following ...
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Reap the rewards - Rest and Recovery - Leadership
Summary
Great leaders prioritize rest and recovery by fostering strong team relationships and respecting out-of-work boundaries, ensuring employees can recharge and thrive.
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Surviving the cut: What do you do when your coworkers get laid off?
Summary
Business traditionally emphasizes the consequences of downsizing on the leavers, but what happens to those who stay? In the aftermath of corporate restructures, 'survivors’ find themselves navigating a complex mix of emotions and uncertainty. Alys...
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Nestlé Health Science: Building a healthy future towards 2030
Summary
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 celebrate. The pressure was on her to make timely strategic decisions to navigate some operating challenges while future-proofing the business for years to come. As Anna sat at her desk and looked out the large window, she began reflecting on how NHSc had grown under her predecessor, Greg Behar, who was instrumental in expanding it into new markets and establishing it as a well-known player in nutritional health solutions. Anna’s dilemmas boiled down to four main questions: Should the company choose organic or inorganic growth? What about market expansion and exploring potential outside North America? How to ensure continued product innovation via research and development (R&D) and potential acquisitions? Finally, how best to align sustainability goals with financial performance? And, of course, expectations were high and a lot was at stake. Anna was aware that the journey ahead would not be easy, but she was ready to tackle the challenges head-on, steering the company towards long-term success.
Reference
IMD-7-2636
Copyright
©2025
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Organization
Nestlé Health Science
Industry
Healthcare, Health and Medical Services;Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals
Available Languages
English
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ABN AMRO (A): When culture drives transformation
Summary
The case describes two transformation journeys for ABN AMRO bank. The first transformation is cultural and the second is digital. It explores the interplay between these two journeys from the perspective of the head of the Personal Banking. The case goes into detail regarding how the bank rebuilt its internal operating model. The hierarchy was de-layered and replaced with agile ways of working, employee empowerment and a new performance management approach. At first, there was a lot of chaos, but, after some time for adjustment, benefits started to appear, such as higher NPS scores and improved financial results. The new approach also helped the bank cope with the Covid-19 pandemic as many of the changes were linked to remote working for employees and technology-mediated service provision for customers. The case also explores new challenges that appeared. While some teams embraced the new ways of working, others had trouble letting go of legacy approaches. There were inconsistencies and confusion around performance measurement. Despite improving performance in some areas, multifunctional teams were not necessarily delivering the best customer experiences. Sick leave was increasing, and there were signs that employee engagement was falling. The reader is placed in the shoes of the head of Personal Banking who must come up with solutions to these challenges.
Reference
IMD-7-2192
Copyright
©2025
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Organization
ABN AMRO
Industry
Finance and Insurance, Banking
Available Languages
English
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ABN AMRO (B): The challenge of scaling self-organization
Summary
The B case picks up at the end of Case A. It’s now autumn 2022. Klaas Ariaans and Eric Jones, leaders within ABN AMRO’s Personal and Business Banking Division had been reflecting on the success of self-organization in their divisions. This new working method gave branches and banking teams more autonomy over how, when and where they worked, as well as how they could best serve their local customers. It had also improved employee attraction and retention. Video banking and self-organization enabled the division to find a balance between digital self-service and personal contact for complex products such as mortgages. The result was a 57% increase in the division’s transactional NPS score. Yet, although Ariaans and Jones had achieved considerable success, their ambition to expand self-organization to other parts of ABN AMRO had not yet been realized. The case explores the different strategies and initiatives they attempted and what happened. Their resolve was unchanged, however, and the case ends with a question: How could they set a path for the rest of the bank to enjoy similar success?
Reference
IMD-7-2439
Copyright
©2025
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Organization
ABN AMRO
Industry
Finance and Insurance, Banking
Available Languages
English
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CFO’s role - Driving Sustainability
Summary
Chanel Global CFO and IMD Executive in Residence Philippe Blondiaux explains how finance leaders can sustain a long-term focus on sustainability while addressing short-term challenges.
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3 Questions to ask yourself - The Unexpected - CHRO
Summary
An increasingly complex business environment demands CHROs to be outward-looking, future-focused, and highly collaborative. Check your readiness using this three-point questionnaire and refer to the tips for guidance if in doubt.
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From Boomers to Gen Z - Lessons Every Generation Can Learn
Summary
Understanding generational differences is crucial to unlocking potential, retaining talent, and becoming a more effective leader.
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Large Behavior Models - AI-Conditioned Robots
Summary
Large behavior models (LBMs) promise to be even more impactful than large language models, says IMD’s Tomoko Yokoi.
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