To maintain its position as the category leader in process mining and execution management, Celonis needed to be able to facilitate – or even automate – corrective measures on these processes to edge closer to process mining nirvana, i.e. a fully automated, intelligent and real-time execution management system (EMS). But how to determine the right balance between features that were best developed in-house and those that could rely on its growing ecosystem of partners? Would the team be able to manage the explosive growth following the onboarding of so many partners? Celonis had created tools to bring the Lean philosophy into the digital age, but would the new ecosystem be enough to launch it into orbit?
Celonis: Building a lean digital ecosystem
Summary
To maintain its position as the category leader in process mining and execution management, Celonis needed to be able to facilitate – or even autom...
2023 John Molson MBA International Case Writing Competition - 3rd Prize
Reference
IMD-7-2286
Copyright
©2022
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Organization
Celonis
Industry
Business Management Services, Consultancy
Available Languages
English
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Celonis: The process mining unicorn
Summary
MUNICH, GERMANY, JANUARY 2019. Bastian Nominacher pondered how much Celonis had changed from its start in 2011, when he and his two co-founders wer...
Reference
IMD-7-2161
Copyright
©2021
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Organization
Celonis
Industry
Business Management Services, Consultancy
Available Languages
English
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Surviving the cut: What do you do when your coworkers get laid off?
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...
By
Alyson Meister and
Victoria Kemanian
21 February 2025
TBC Group: Future proofing a history of success
Summary
The case explores TBC Bank Group’s remarkable journey from a small Georgian bank to a regional leader in digital financial services across Central Asia. Founded in 1992 with just US$500 in initial capital, TBC evolved into Georgia’s largest financial institution and pioneered into digital banking. The case highlights TBC’s strategic expansion into Uzbekistan, where it rapidly built a leading digital banking ecosystem. Students will analyze TBC’s international growth approach as it transformed customer experience, leveraged technology and built a sustainable competitive advantage through product diversification, strong organizational culture and operational agility. The case explores international market entry, digital transformation and aligning strategies with local market needs, highlighting how TBC’s focus on innovation drives its regional expansion.
Reference
IMD-2651
Copyright
©2025
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Organization
TBC Bank Group
Industry
Finance and Insurance, Banking
Available Languages
English
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Boosting and sustaining operational excellence
Summary
The case explores the principles and challenges of operational excellence through the experience of Magdi Batato, former EVP of Operations at Nestlé. It examines how he implemented Mission-Directed Work Teams (MDWTs) to empower front-line workers,...
Reference
IMD-2653
Copyright
©2025
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Organization
Nestlé
Industry
Consumer Goods, Food and Beverage;Consumer Goods
Available Languages
English
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
DSS+: Carving out a sustainability consulting leader
Summary
The case examines the entrepreneur-led carve out and buyout of dss+, DuPont’s safety and sustainability consulting division, by Gyrus Capital and dss+ management team. dss+ (formerly “DuPont Sustainable Solutions”) played a pivotal role in high-risk industries such as oil, gas, and chemicals, providing critical consulting services at a time when global regulatory pressure on operational safety and sustainability was intensifying. Gyrus Capital, a mid-market private equity specialist, came together with the management team to engineer the buyout, based on the firm’s strong and predictable revenue streams, long-term client relationships and specialized expertise in safety and sustainability consulting. What emerged out of the 2019 transaction was an independent sustainability consulting powerhouse with over 1,500 consultants around the world. By 2024, dss+ was still expanding rapidly in terms of staff and domains of expertise, not to mention geography, and had to respond to quickly evolving external and internal demands, with clients increasingly expected to be served globally on a full range of sustainability-related services. With a strong sense of purpose (saving lives and creating a sustainable future), a potent pitch line (Protect. Transform. Sustain), over 750 clients on 1,800 projects across 41 countries, a global team of 1,500 people and plenty of organic growth across 7 core industries, the company was clearly heading for the stars. Yet, new questions loomed: Was it time to start managing that wild growth, deepening competitive advantages and building functional moats? How would dss+ remain competitive? Was it time to put a few new initiatives on high octane fuel: Leadership? Digital transformation? Global growth? Some totally new ideas?
Reference
IMD-7-2639
Copyright
©2025
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Organization
dss+, Gyrus Capital, Inflexion
Industry
Services, Environmental Services;Healthcare, Health and Medical Services;Services, Public Safety;Business Management Services, Consultancy
Available Languages
English
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
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
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
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 wor...
Reference
IMD-7-2439
Copyright
©2025
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Organization
ABN AMRO
Industry
Finance and Insurance, Banking
Available Languages
English
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
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...
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Beyond foresight; Imagining distant futures
Summary
As uncertainty grows, organizations must rethink how they navigate a volatile world. Rather than relying solely on scenario planning based on historical data, organizations could take a more proactive approach—imagining and shaping distant futures...
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research: How AI helped executives improve communication
Summary
A great way for executives to hone their communication skills is by having a coach listen in on their conversations and provide feedback. But given the increasing capability of AI-based tools to have meaningful conversations with people, research...
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Female entrepreneurs’ thirst for knowledge and the dark side of customer learning actions
Summary
This study investigates whether male and female entrepreneurs exhibit systematic differences in the customer learning actions they pursue, and how those actions convert to venture performance. Drawing from a dyadic sample of founders and startup a...
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
When your coworkers got laid off — but you didn’t
Summary
The colossal wave of downsizing in the last few years is dividing the workplace in two, between the leavers and the survivors. Business has traditionally emphasized the consequences of downsizing on the leavers, sometimes putting in place severanc...
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications