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Case Study

LOGSTOR’s rebirth: Leading through crisis

By Alyson Meister, Lisa Simone Duke, Aurelien Berthier, Mathieu Jabbour, Tobias F. Langer and Bjørn Leth Erichsen

16 pages

February 2022

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Reference: IMD-7-2291

LOGSTOR is a Danish company that is a global supplier of pre-insulated pipe systems. This case focuses on the leadership of Kim Christensen, a former board member who became CEO in 2017. The company was in the throes of a major crisis: it had shifted its focus away from its core business, and bankruptcy loomed. Kim’s mandate was to turn LOGSTOR around, bring it back from the brink and restore performance and growth. As an “inside-outsider” CEO, Kim had to focus on the financial, strategic and operational aspects of the turnaround, implementing an initiative known as “back to black.” The case describes some of the key actions that Kim took during this period and the drivers of the changes he made, particularly with respect to company culture and getting employees and managers involved in the turnaround process. After two years, the company was solvent. Kim was gearing up to move LOGSTOR into a phase of profitable growth when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. The case explores some of Kim’s initial actions. The pandemic-related crisis was very different from the company’s previous crisis. The case closes in June 2020 and asks what type of leadership Kim will need to bring to address this crisis. During the case discussion, students will examine leadership, change management and organizational design issues.

Learning Objective

Analyze leadership characteristics and traits required in times of crisis and the sustainability of a successful leadership style as a company enters different types of crises
Evaluate possible organizational changes required to ensure the survival of a company in crisis
Consider the criteria for selecting a CEO to manage through a crisis

Keywords

Leadership, Crisis Management, Chief Executive Officer, Turnaround

Settings

Europe, Denmark
Logstor, Energy
2017 - 2020

Type

Field Research

Available Languages

English

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