AXA way: The pursuit of excellence through quality of service
By 2005, AXA had become one of the world’s largest and most successful insurance companies, but Claude Brunet, Member of the Management Board, in charge of Transversal Operations, Communication, Marketing and Human Resources, believed that to achieve its ambitions the company was going to have to become much more customer focused. AXA Way, a culture change program that included many elements of Six Sigma philosophy and methodology, was the spearhead of this change. The case describes the AXA Way program, the challenges of its implementation, and how AXA overcame those challenges.
Understand how to manage the culture change necessary to improve customer service using Six Sigma. Six Sigma is sometimes seen as a technical change, as just a methodology, but change in attitude and mindset–in culture–are required for Six Sigma to succeed. Understand how Six Sigma can be successfully adopted in a service industry.
2005
Cranfield University
Wharley End Beds MK43 0JR, UK
Tel +44 (0)1234 750903
Email [email protected]
Harvard Business School Publishing
60 Harvard Way, Boston MA 02163, USA
Tel (800) 545-7685 Tel (617)-783-7600
Fax (617) 783-7666
Email [email protected]
NUCB Business School
1-3-1 Nishiki Naka
Nagoya Aichi, Japan 460-0003
Tel +81 52 20 38 111
Email [email protected]
IMD retains all proprietary interests in its case studies and notes. Without prior written permission, IMD cases and notes may not be reproduced, used, translated, included in books or other publications, distributed in any form or by any means, stored in a database or in other retrieval systems. For additional copyright information related to case studies, please contact Case Services.
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
When Tony Banet took up his new post as CEO of the North America division of Especia Hispania (the names were changed), he took over a team characterized by mistrust. There had been no CEO at for the previous six months. This management vacuum had...
Conversations matter. They are how people connect, share ideas, stimulate progress, and make sense of the world. They are essential to being human and to humankind. In business, leaders need to manage conversations daily; indeed, talking is talkin...
“It's as if the whole world had suddenly not only suspended all the rules, but also switched on the turbo”, remarked one of my clients recently. Since the profound political and cultural change in mood, which the British-American historian Niall F...
Tackling conflicts head-on is basic to avoid being taken hostage. When we do not address a problem and take action to solve it, due to passivity or the inability to make a clear choice, we are acting like a hostage. When we have a hostage mind-set...

When Amazon announced in September 2024 that it was requiring people to come into the office five days a week rather than three, the reaction was swift and negative: A poll of 2,585 Amazon professionals found that 91% were dissatisfied with the ne...
We may understand the importance of managing emotions in our personal lives, but what about the applicability in business life? After all, business is about business and rational, logical information, right? Wrong! Many studies show that companies...
Conflict in the workplace is not only inevitable – it’s essential. Disagreements, when handled well, are opportunities to strengthen relationships, unleash innovation, and build more resilient teams. Yet for many professionals, conflict still feel...
Salient future research opportunities emerge when we rethink how to define and theorize necessity entrepreneurship (NE). In terms of defining NE, we outline its complex and contextualized nature, emphasizing the need for more nuanced conceptualiza...

Decades of stability can unravel overnight, but sustaining both family harmony and corporate success is a perpetual challenge. Succession is among the buzzwords as all eyes are on City Developments Limited (CDL), where a bitter leadership feud has...
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in Developing Leaders June 2025, issue 47, pp. 151-175
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in HBR.org 6 May 2025
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in Smolka, Katrin M. (Ed.); Heugens, Pursey (Ed.); Bacq, Sophie (Ed.); Slade Shantz, Angelique (Ed.) / Necessity entrepreneurship: Getting beyond the binary (Research in the sociology of organizations, vol. 92), pp: 13-35 / Leeds: Emerald, 2025
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications