Strategy is Digital

Clean Winners: Sustainability Strategy That Puts Customers First

By Goutam Challagalla and Frédéric Dalsace
Published by Harvard Business Review Press ©2026

Summary

Despite massive investments, sustainable business still isn't very profitable for most companies. Here's a fresh approach for resetting sustainability for customer value—and profitability. Store aisles packed with products labelled "environmentall...

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Sustainability

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Playing for keeps: Why you need a gaming strategy

By Stefan Michel
in I by IMD

Summary

Many of us still equate gaming with dudes playing video games like Grand Theft Auto in a basement. In fact, almost three and a half billion people globally play games today, which is why every organization needs a gaming strategy.

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China innovation system strategy - Speed and scale

By Mark J. Greeven
in I by IMD

Summary

How China’s innovation system strategy is built for speed and scale, the trade-offs it makes, and what executives must know beyond US-China tech rivalry.

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Innovation

Strategy

Technology Management

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Four lessons from BYD overtook Tesla in the global EV race

By Howard H. Yu Jialu Shan and Lawrence Tempel
in I by IMD

Summary

BYD overtook Tesla through battery mastery, vertical integration and sequential capability building, reshaping the global EV market in 2025.

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Innovation

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Flywheel Portfolio Framework: A strategic method for managing core business dynamics

By Michael D. Watkins
Case reference: IMD-2743 ©2026

Summary

This technical note presents the Flywheel Portfolio Framework, a systematic approach for diagnosing and managing the reinforcing cycles that drive organizational performance. Building on Jim Collins's flywheel concept from Good to Great, the framework extends beyond single-flywheel models to address the reality that businesses operate through multiple simultaneous reinforcing cycles – some that create value, some that destroy it and some that remain dormant. The note introduces three flywheel types: positive flywheels that build competitive advantage through compounding momentum, negative flywheels that accelerate organizational decline and latent flywheels that represent untapped strategic opportunities. Using a fashion retailer as an illustrative example throughout, the note demonstrates how these cycles interact and compete, with organizational trajectory determined by their net effect rather than individual flywheel strength. The framework provides a four-stage methodology and presents five strategic principles to guide execution. Designed for strategic leaders and executives, it equips practitioners with the tools to identify high-leverage intervention points, execute counterintuitive moves when system structure demands them and manage flywheel portfolios to generate sustainable competitive advantage.

Reference IMD-2743

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Flywheel Portfolio Framework: A strategic method for managing core business dynamics

By Michael D. Watkins
Case reference: IMD-2743 ©2026

Summary

This technical note presents the Flywheel Portfolio Framework, a systematic approach for diagnosing and managing the reinforcing cycles that drive organizational performance. Building on Jim Collins's flywheel concept from Good to Great, the framework extends beyond single-flywheel models to address the reality that businesses operate through multiple simultaneous reinforcing cycles – some that create value, some that destroy it and some that remain dormant. The note introduces three flywheel types: positive flywheels that build competitive advantage through compounding momentum, negative flywheels that accelerate organizational decline and latent flywheels that represent untapped strategic opportunities. Using a fashion retailer as an illustrative example throughout, the note demonstrates how these cycles interact and compete, with organizational trajectory determined by their net effect rather than individual flywheel strength. The framework provides a four-stage methodology and presents five strategic principles to guide execution. Designed for strategic leaders and executives, it equips practitioners with the tools to identify high-leverage intervention points, execute counterintuitive moves when system structure demands them and manage flywheel portfolios to generate sustainable competitive advantage.

Reference IMD-2743

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Flywheel Portfolio Framework: A strategic method for managing core business dynamics

By Michael D. Watkins
Case reference: IMD-2743 ©2026

Summary

This technical note presents the Flywheel Portfolio Framework, a systematic approach for diagnosing and managing the reinforcing cycles that drive organizational performance. Building on Jim Collins's flywheel concept from Good to Great, the framework extends beyond single-flywheel models to address the reality that businesses operate through multiple simultaneous reinforcing cycles – some that create value, some that destroy it and some that remain dormant. The note introduces three flywheel types: positive flywheels that build competitive advantage through compounding momentum, negative flywheels that accelerate organizational decline and latent flywheels that represent untapped strategic opportunities. Using a fashion retailer as an illustrative example throughout, the note demonstrates how these cycles interact and compete, with organizational trajectory determined by their net effect rather than individual flywheel strength. The framework provides a four-stage methodology and presents five strategic principles to guide execution. Designed for strategic leaders and executives, it equips practitioners with the tools to identify high-leverage intervention points, execute counterintuitive moves when system structure demands them and manage flywheel portfolios to generate sustainable competitive advantage.

Reference IMD-2743

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Flywheel Portfolio Framework: A strategic method for managing core business dynamics

By Michael D. Watkins
Case reference: IMD-2743 ©2026

Summary

This technical note presents the Flywheel Portfolio Framework, a systematic approach for diagnosing and managing the reinforcing cycles that drive organizational performance. Building on Jim Collins's flywheel concept from Good to Great, the framework extends beyond single-flywheel models to address the reality that businesses operate through multiple simultaneous reinforcing cycles – some that create value, some that destroy it and some that remain dormant. The note introduces three flywheel types: positive flywheels that build competitive advantage through compounding momentum, negative flywheels that accelerate organizational decline and latent flywheels that represent untapped strategic opportunities. Using a fashion retailer as an illustrative example throughout, the note demonstrates how these cycles interact and compete, with organizational trajectory determined by their net effect rather than individual flywheel strength. The framework provides a four-stage methodology and presents five strategic principles to guide execution. Designed for strategic leaders and executives, it equips practitioners with the tools to identify high-leverage intervention points, execute counterintuitive moves when system structure demands them and manage flywheel portfolios to generate sustainable competitive advantage.

Reference IMD-2743

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Strategy

Organizational Learning

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Flywheel Portfolio Framework: A strategic method for managing core business dynamics

By Michael D. Watkins
Case reference: IMD-2743 ©2026

Summary

This technical note presents the Flywheel Portfolio Framework, a systematic approach for diagnosing and managing the reinforcing cycles that drive organizational performance. Building on Jim Collins's flywheel concept from Good to Great, the framework extends beyond single-flywheel models to address the reality that businesses operate through multiple simultaneous reinforcing cycles – some that create value, some that destroy it and some that remain dormant. The note introduces three flywheel types: positive flywheels that build competitive advantage through compounding momentum, negative flywheels that accelerate organizational decline and latent flywheels that represent untapped strategic opportunities. Using a fashion retailer as an illustrative example throughout, the note demonstrates how these cycles interact and compete, with organizational trajectory determined by their net effect rather than individual flywheel strength. The framework provides a four-stage methodology and presents five strategic principles to guide execution. Designed for strategic leaders and executives, it equips practitioners with the tools to identify high-leverage intervention points, execute counterintuitive moves when system structure demands them and manage flywheel portfolios to generate sustainable competitive advantage.

Reference IMD-2743

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Available Languages English

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Flywheel Portfolio Framework: A strategic method for managing core business dynamics

By Michael D. Watkins
Case reference: IMD-2743 ©2026

Summary

This technical note presents the Flywheel Portfolio Framework, a systematic approach for diagnosing and managing the reinforcing cycles that drive organizational performance. Building on Jim Collins's flywheel concept from Good to Great, the framework extends beyond single-flywheel models to address the reality that businesses operate through multiple simultaneous reinforcing cycles – some that create value, some that destroy it and some that remain dormant. The note introduces three flywheel types: positive flywheels that build competitive advantage through compounding momentum, negative flywheels that accelerate organizational decline and latent flywheels that represent untapped strategic opportunities. Using a fashion retailer as an illustrative example throughout, the note demonstrates how these cycles interact and compete, with organizational trajectory determined by their net effect rather than individual flywheel strength. The framework provides a four-stage methodology and presents five strategic principles to guide execution. Designed for strategic leaders and executives, it equips practitioners with the tools to identify high-leverage intervention points, execute counterintuitive moves when system structure demands them and manage flywheel portfolios to generate sustainable competitive advantage.

Reference IMD-2743

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Available Languages English

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