IMD business school for management and leadership courses
Global Board Center
Since 2010, the IMD Global Board Center has supported boards and senior leaders by providing unique resources and world-class research on current governance issues and the latest governance trends.
Our vision is to be a prominent and innovative thought leader in the field of governance, as well as acting globally as a promoter of good governance practices. We seek to support some of the most respected organizations in the world, helping them transform their governance practices for the better through board education.
Multiple editions of Flagship Open and Custom programs
This year was another record year for the Center, as more than 554 participants joined us on campus for open board programs, compared with 357 in 2022. We ran 19 board programs, including our flagship High Performance Boards: more than 240 board members joined the program over its five editions in 2023, and we welcomed several leading Chairpersons and board members as speakers.
Custom board programs were also designed and delivered for many influential organizations across different sectors, ranging from SOEs and public corporations to international organizations and renowned global banks.
Online growth continues
Our online Mastering Board Governance (MBG) program continued to grow in numbers, with 167 participants completing it in 2023, compared with 75 in 2022. As part of this program, we held two final pitch presentations as the final assessment for this program, including prominent board members on the jury panel and IMD faculty.
The program, directed by Didier Cossin, received a gold 2023 Brandon Hall Tech Award for Best Advance in Education Delivered Through Technology. Weekly immersive board simulations help participants gain hands-on knowledge of the principles and best practices for effective board governance.
“Mastering Board Governance has been a confluence of in-depth academic rigor, real-world board scenarios, and unparalleled expertise from globally recognized thought leaders in governance. … This experience has profoundly enhanced my comprehension of board responsibilities, the interplay of stakeholders, and the strategic alignment necessary for organizational success.”
We continued to strengthen the IMD Directors’ Diploma (for current non-executive board members), including the Grand Oral exam, to which we invited five candidates and three prominent board members to serve on our evaluation panel together with Didier Cossin, the Center’s Founder and Director. The Director’s Diploma event celebrated 51 graduates in 2023.
During 2023, the Center’s team worked on designing and launching two new open board programs: the Role of the Chair and Women on Boards. These two programs will be available in 2024.
To address the growing need to equip executives aspiring for non-executive roles, we are launching a new board-readiness diploma, including program and assessment requirements, in 2024.
In 2023, we continued to produce a variety of materials for publication based on our research into the diverse dimensions of governance challenges, including three FT50 articles and three thought leadership articles. We also worked on the second edition of the book High Performance Boards, which is expected to be published in Q1 2024.
The new edition will include new elements such as board oversight of ESG, Human Capital, the use of strategic KPIs, and Geopolitics, as well as key factors for success for new board chairs.
Our expanding Board Community
Launched at the end of 2022, the IMD Board Community continued to develop and now comprises over 400 active members. Three events were held in 2023, including one virtual event on Geopolitics and Board Work in March and a face-to-face event in Zurich on Getting Ready for the Board of the Future. We closed the year with a face-to-face event in December to coincide with the diploma graduation.
The Community governance was also strengthened with the nomination of an inaugural board composed of five Community members (two women and three men) plus two IMD representatives from the Global Board Center.
