IMD business school for management and leadership courses
Impactful research throughout the year
2024 was an academically exceptional year for research and thought leadership, setting a new record in terms of top-tier publications. We reached a new high with the number of articles published in FT50 journals, the list of top-tier journals used by the Financial Times to assess research and compile business school rankings.
IMD continues to be the third most published institution over the last five years (after Harvard Business School and MIT Sloan School of Management) in the two most prestigious practitioner-oriented magazines – Harvard Business Review and MIT Sloan Management Review.
Global sales of our cases continued to be strong with numerous winning awards in international case writing competitions, featuring on The Case Centre’s bestselling cases list 2024, and including five of our faculty in the Top 50 Bestselling Case Authors of 2023/2024.
For the second year in a row, IMD ranked #4 worldwide in The Case Centre Impact Index 2024, a global annual indicator that measures the reach and impact of organizations’ case writing.
In 2024 IMD faculty published a total of 10 books on topics such as leadership, sustainable business, coaching, and governance. Additionally, The first 90 days by Michael D Watkins received the accolade of being included in the Thinkers50 2024 Management Classics Booklist.
In addition to an enhanced print run of more than 6,000 copies of I by IMD magazine each quarter, we have also increased the number of distribution channels which now include airline journals as well as global publishing platforms. The number of active users on the I by IMD knowledge hub continued to grow, reaching 785k by the end of 2024.
Following are just some of the highlights of our year. We invite you to find out more in our full report.
Our research output and recognition in 2024
FT50 articles
Global sales of IMD cases
New original cases
Cases on The Case Centre’s bestselling lists
I by IMD active users
Books published
Recognizing faculty talents
In 2024, globally recognized expert on trade, investment, and geopolitical dynamics Simon J Evenett joined IMD’s faculty as Professor of Geopolitics and Strategy.
Professor of Social Entrepreneurship Sophie Bacq was named on the 2024 Thinkers50 Radar List and received a significant grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation for her research.
Professor of Entrepreneurship and Family Business Alfredo De Massis and IMD Professor of Family Business and Entrepreneurship Peter Vogel were recognized among the world’s Top 25 Family Enterprise Academics by the Family Capital. Alfredo De Massis was also ranked as the no.1 Family Business Scholar worldwide in the Family Business Research Productivity Ranking
Four IMD faculty have been ranked among the world’s top 2% of scientists by Stanford University: Alfredo De Massis, Sophie Bacq, Richard Baldwin and Mohan Subramaniam.
elea Professor of Social Innovation Vanina Farber was selected for the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)’s 2024 Class of Influential Leaders.
Highlights from our 8 Global Research Centers
The 2024 Future Readiness Indicator covered six industries: automotive, consumer packaged goods, fashion, finance, pharmaceutical, and technology. Driving discussions on how organizations from all sectors can deliver today and transform for tomorrow, we organized two major IMD Global Future Readiness Forums in May in Milan, Italy, and in London in November. Media outreach in 2024 was substantial, achieving over 590 online and print media appearances with a potential reach of 2.8 billion.
Academic research and thought leadership covered such areas as circular business models, managing and measuring sustainability success, and business and biodiversity. 2024 saw the publication of Leading the Sustainable Business Transformation: A playbook from IMD, with a total of 34 contributors from across the institute.
The Center produced a record number of seven cases and several academic publications. Sophie Bacq, Professor of Social Entrepreneurship, was appointed to serve as the Coca-Cola Foundation Chair in Sustainable Development which was formally integrated into the Center for Social Innovation, facilitating our growth aspirations and move to a multi-chair center.
On 24 June 2024, the Center celebrated its official inauguration, marking a pivotal moment in our journey toward advancing digital and AI thought leadership. Additionally, we announced the launch of the AI Maturity Index, ranking the 200 largest companies in the world on AI maturity. This global benchmark highlights IMD’s commitment to advancing the understanding of AI’s impact on business and society.
E4S supported 26 research projects and published 31 media articles in 2024. Key areas of focus included the development of a Green GDP, the creation of methodologies to calculate the True Cost of Food and the Green Value of Real Estate, and the exploration of Sustainable Finance and Accounting’s role in driving the economic transition.
The Center’s research output reached over 120 items, including a record 15 FT-50 publications, two cases, 23 conference papers, and the newly released The Family Business Book by Alfredo De Massis and Emanuela Rondi. The Center has received a generous donation from IMD alumnus Bruce Grossman and the Grossman family which will help transform the reach of the Global Family Business Center.
The Center conducted research for governments, businesses, and academia alike, while producing our annual portfolio of global rankings and accompanying reports: the Smart City Index, the World Competitiveness Ranking, the World Talent Ranking, the World Digital Competitiveness Ranking, and the Hinrich-IMD Sustainable Trade Index.
The Center’s research team focused on governance issues with practical implications for corporate boards and investment decision-making, publishing several articles in 2024. It was another record year for the Center as more than 700 participants joined us on 33 custom and open programs for boards.
Highlights from our 6 Initiatives
Professor of Strategy and Organizational Innovation, Stéphane J.G. Girod, who leads the Luxury 2050 Initiative, continued as a regular columnist in Forbes. The Reinventing Luxury Lab ran for the eighth time in 2024 with the title The Human Genius in the Age of AI and brought together 35 participants from across luxury sectors.
The Venturing Ecosystem Initiative continued to support Swiss startups through programs, events, and outreach such as the annual IMD Startup Competition and the third edition of the LeadiNNg to Scale-Up program. At the annual Swiss Top 100 Startup event in September, 29 of the top 100 winners in 2024 had worked with IMD.
In 2024, IMD China entered its first full year of operations since establishing a base in Shenzhen, engaging with over 90 companies, holding meetings with more than 70 organizations, and connecting with over 1,000 executives across China. We organized strategic events, such as the China Management Transformation Forum (CMTF) and released the China Company Transformation Indicator rankings, which asses the future-readiness of leading companies.
The Venture Asset Management Initiative brought to life the Venture Asset Management program (VAM) in 2023. Now named Venture Capital Asset Management (VCAM), the program ran twice in 2024 and was extended to four days to include hands-on simulation sessions. The VAM research initiative was closed on 31 December 2024.
In 2024, our advisory team helped organizations work toward a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable future, we furthered our research and publications and continued our partnerships with The Female Quotient and EqualVoice, to help close the gender gap in the workplace and in the media.
The Workplace Well-being Initiative initiated a new line of research on the effectiveness of microbreaks at work and in collaboration with the Strategic Talent Lab, created development and psychometric validation of a Resilience diagnostic that can used by clients and in programs. We ran two cohorts of the IMD Sprint program – the Resilient Leadership Sprint – which also hosted IMD colleagues during Well-being month.