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Case Study

Zenith watches: Ticking to a new beat

By Benoit F. Leleux, Christian Frank, Jussi Heikkola and Radek Horak

20 pages

December 2020

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Reference: IMD-7-2082

The case highlights the dilemma of Zenith watches, a company that got stuck in its own tradition and lost its drive to innovate, relying too long on technical inventions of the past. Julien Tornare was appointed as Zenith CEO in early 2017 by Jean Claude Biver, head of LVMH watch division (Zenith’s parent company) and living legend of the Swiss watch industry (after turning around Blancpain, Omega, Hublot and TAG Heuer).

Julien was tasked with repositioning Zenith and injecting a new startup mindset into it. Tornare inherits a demotivated but talented workforce in a very traditional artisanal company but aims to spark creativity and innovation there. His agenda is loaded: repositioning the brand, bringing new products to market, improving sales, opening new markets, transforming the culture, all of this on a short schedule because LVMH has a short fuse

Learning Objective

Understanding the Key Success Factors of the luxury watch industry
Assess internal resources and capabilities, creating strategic options, changing a craftsmen culture
Develop an entrepreneurial mindset, managing growth, turning around a brand

Keywords

Entrepreneurship, Strategy, Innovation, Start-up, Agility, Positioning, Cultural Change, Brand, Zenith (Brand)

Settings

LVMH, Consumer Goods, Clocks and Watches, Luxury Goods and Jewelry
2017-2018

Type

Field Research

Available Languages

English

Related material

Teaching note, Video

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