Making sense of the world has never appeared so demanding and necessary. Yet, clear answers can be elusive. With day-to-day commitments and the pressure of targets and expectations, the world can appear akin to a vast featureless urban sprawl blanketed by the densest of city fogs.

Navigating a way through such confusing and challenging landscapes is one of the roles of IMD’s Orchestrating Winning Performance (OWP) program. Since the mid-1990s, OWP has been helping leaders make sense of their personal and organizational worlds and to sure-footedly negotiate their way into the uncertain future. Every year around 500 participants join the OWP. They are drawn from more than 60 countries - proof if we needed it that the challenges of our times, as well as the solutions, are truly global.

This volume has been assembled to celebrate the vim and vibrancy of the OWP’s participants and the thinking which goes into the program. It provides, we hope, a mind expanding snapshot of the business world circa 2008 and a starting point for shaping your own personal and organizational agendas and priorities for the years to come.

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The book is divided into six parts - for ease of access rather than to suggest that the real world can be so neatly compartmentalized.

In the first part - Big Pictures - we take a helicopter-style view of the trends shaping our world today and in the future. Tom Malnight and Tracey Keys have analyzed a mass of data and have then distilled it down to what global trends, such as climate change, mean for you and your organization. Stéphane Garelli looks further to the future and makes sense of the likely development of the unstoppable force which is globalization. He anticipates that today’s second wave of globalization will quickly be followed by another epoch shaping wave of change. Jean-Pierre Lehmann carries on exploring the theme of change by looking at seismic shocks and systemic shifts and charting the irresistible rise of a new state capitalism.

Of course, trends which are now underway are also critical. Key among these are development in China and India. An emerging issue in both these dynamically expanding economies is that of talent. Bill Fisher and Rebecca Chung examine the issues surrounding the development of talent in China, while Anand Narasimhan and Aparna Mohan Dogra look at the opportunities that a talent shortage in India signifies for women expatriates.

In Part Two - Strategic Directions - we begin to focus on the key strategy questions facing leaders today. Paul Strebel and Anne-Valérie Ohlsson provide a powerful guide to how to make strategic breakthroughs. Bala Chakravarthy argues that profitable growth is a delicate balancing act between exploiting your existing advantages and niches and exploring new approaches, niches and options.

We also explore strategy from a number of other perspectives. Bettina Büchel and Rhoda Davidson argue that a pilot may be the best route to executing big strategic changes. They explain what makes for a great pilot. Finally in this section, Peter May looks at the unique challenges of running a family business.

In Part Three - The Innovation Update - we turn to one of the most discussed and dissected issues of our day. Stuart Read and David Robertson cut through the froth and ferment to provide their take on the next big thing in innovation, Innovation 2.0. On the practical theme of ensuring ideas make the leap from theory to practice, James Henderson and Atul Pahwa look at corporate venture and Georges Haour celebrates the role of the incubator and presents broader lessons from entrepreneurial hot-houses.

Bubbling under the surface of virtually all of the trends and issues discussed in this book is the issue of responsibility – personal and organizational.

In Part Four – Responsibility Inc. - Ralf Boscheck looks at the challenges facing the pharmaceutical industry in shaping a future which balances ethics, responsibility and competitiveness. Michael Yaziji asks the provocative but increasingly essential question: Should your firm be more politically active? The answer is, almost certainly. Corey Billington and Michèle Berg argue that companies have to match good intentions with deeds when it comes to acting - and buying - responsibly. And finally, Stewart Hamilton and Jinxuan (Ann) Zhang examine a Chinese joint venture, to better understand how acting responsibly can help mitigate risks when doing business in emerging markets.

In Part Five - The New Marketing - we re-connect with one of the fundamentals of business. But, things aren’t what they used to be in the marketing world. As Kamran Kashani and Aparna Mohan Dogra powerfully map out, marketing’s influence has been waning. This needs to change, and they provide an agenda for marketing’s needed renaissance. In their contribution - The Battle for Consumers’ Minds - Martin A. Koschat and Willem Smit provide practical insights into the reality of twenty-first century marketing. Dominique Turpin argues that in hyper-competitive times, great branding is timeless.

The final part of the book - Next Generation Leadership - looks at the realities of leading in this turbulent and exciting world. Leadership is the glue which holds much of the rest of the book together. Change demands it. People look for it. And yet, it is in perennially short supply. Jean-François Manzoni and Jean-Louis Barsoux contend that, for better or worse, a new leader forges relationships in the first few days after taking charge. Our understanding of what it is like to lead is enhanced by George Kohlrieser, Robert Hooijberg and Nancy Lane. Preston C. Bottger believes that how leaders get results revolves around mission, processes, structure and culture. And, Jack Denfeld Wood provides a practical guide to ensuring that coaching improves our lives as well as enhancing our performance.

And, the final word comes from Peter Lorange and Jan Kubes, instrumental in the creation and the development of the OWP program. They talk about the logic which lay behind OWP’s creation and how it has informed its success and development ever since.

IMD’s Faculty, Research Associates and Editors – 41 in total - contributed to this book. Also included are some of the reactions and experiences shared by executives participating in OWP 2008. The inspiring artwork was created by the children and grand-children of the IMD community.

Contributors: Shaheen Al-Mansoori Jean-Louis Barsoux Michèle Barnett Berg Fulvia Bergamaschi Corey Billington Ralf Boscheck Preston C. Bottger Tania Braga Bettina Büchel Bala Chakravarthy Rebecca Chung Sophie Coughlan Rhoda Davidson Aparna Mohan Dogra Luis Hernandez Echavez Cathy Echeozo William A. Fischer José édison Barros Franco Stéphane Garelli Asha Gupta Stewart Hamilton Georges Haour James Henderson Svein Henriksen Robert Hooijberg Kamran Kashani Tracey Keys George Kohlrieser Martin A. Koschat Jan Kubes

Nancy Lane Jean-Pierre Lehmann Beverley Lennox Peter Lorange Thomas Malnight Jean-François Manzoni Peter May Lindsay McTeague Anand Narasimhan Anne-Valérie Ohlsson Karin Oppegaard Anouk Lavoie Orlick Atul Pahwa Ralph Peer Stuart Read Annette Rinck David Robertson Suzanne Rosselet Garry Rowley Sonu Shivdasani Willem Smit Ignacio Soneira Paul Strebel Stephan Titze Dominique Turpin Demetris Vryonides Jeanny Wildi Jack Denfeld Wood Michael Yaziji Jinxuan (Ann) Zhang

Illustrators: Morgan Billington Leona Dogra Charlotte Shileyi Dürig Christophe Francis Philippe Henderson Emma Hunter Sidney Léger Clara Lehmann Noam Oppegaard Chloé Pierazzi

Hugo Pierazzi Jack Pulcrano Aline Raub Julian Raub Lyell Read Mason Read Zoie Soukup Anton Vilyaev Aspen Wang

Part one: Big Pictures 

Chapter 1: VUCA Awakening - Global trends and what they mean for you and your organization, by Thomas Malnight and Tracey Keys

Chapter 2: New Waves in Globalization and Competitiveness - Welcome to globalization’s second wave....and another wave is already on the horizon, by Stéphane Garelli

Chapter 3: Seismic Shocks and Systemic Shifts - The irresistible rise of a new state capitalism, by Jean-Pierre Lehmann

Chapter 4: Gemstone Creation - Developing talent in China, by Bill Fischer & Rebecca Chung

Chapter 5: The Indian Talent Challenge - Talent shortages in India may break the mold of expatriate assignments and give opportunities to many more female executives, by Anand Narasimhan & Aparna Mohan Dogra

Part Two: Strategic Directions

Chapter 6: Smart Big Moves - Making strategic breakthroughs requires avoiding common psychological traps and choosing the right strategic approach, by Paul Strebel & Anne-Valérie Ohlsson

Chapter 7: Leading for Profitable Growth - Profitable growth is a delicate balancing act between exploiting your existing advantages and niches and exploring new approaches, niches and options, by Bala Chakravarthy

Chapter 8: The Art of Piloting - Starting with a pilot may be the best route to executing big strategic changes, by Bettina Büchel & Rhoda Davidson

Chapter 9: Leading the Family Business - Why creating an owner strategy must come first for family businesses, by Peter May

Part Three: The Innovation Update

Chapter 10: Innovation 2.0 - What is the next big innovation in innovation? by Stuart Read & David Robertson

Chapter 11: Corporate Adventuring - Making corporate venture capital work, by James Henderson & Atul Pahwa

Chapter 12: Accelerated Development - The entrepreneurial world of incubators offers important lessons for companies in need of speeding up business development, by Georges Haour

Part Four: Responsibility Inc.

Chapter 13: Pharma’s Future Challenge - The pharma industry and regulators should develop efficient rules to settle disputes and manage the competitive impact of off-label substitutes, by Ralf Boscheck

Chapter 14: Should Your Firm Be More Politically Active? - Why those who don’t do politics get done by politics, by Michael Yaziji

Chapter 15: Buying Responsibly - Companies have to match good intentions with deeds when it comes to acting – and buying – responsibly, by Corey Billington & Michele Berg

Chapter 16: Bitter Sweet - Lessons from the Danone and Wahaha Chinese joint venture, by Stewart Hamilton & Jinxuan (Ann) Zhang

Part Five: The New Marketing

Chapter 17: Innovating Marketing - Marketing needs to change. Putting innovation back at its heart may be the answer, by Kamran Kashani & Aparna Mohan Dogra

Chapter 18: The Battle for Consumers’ Minds - The modern branding battle pits retailers against manufacturers in the quest to reach the minds of consumers, by Martin A. Koschat & Willem Smit

Chapter 19: Why You Need a Brand Strategy - In hyper-competitive times, great branding is timeless, by Dominique Turpin

Part Six: Next Generation Leadership

Chapter 20: First Impressions - For better or worse, a new leader forges relationships in the first few days after taking charge, by Jean-François Manzoni & Jean-Louis Barsoux

Chapter 21: Leading at the Edge - Leading at the edge moves people out of their comfort zones to play to win rather than playing not to lose, by George Kohlrieser

Chapter 22: Making Vision Reality - Converting your vision to reality demands transformational, transactional and instrumental leadership, by Robert Hooijberg & Nancy Lane

Chapter 23: The Leadership Focus - How leaders get results revolves around mission, processes, structure and culture, by Preston C. Bottger

Chapter 24: Making Coaching Work - Coaching must focus on improving lives as well as enhancing performance. Jack Denfeld Wood

Final Word - OWP’s special ingredients - What are the secrets of OWP’s success? By Peter Lorange & Jan Kubes