IMD business school for management and leadership courses
From innovative programs to ground-breaking research, explore what IMD did to accelerate our impact in 2025
Annual Report 2025
From innovative programs to ground-breaking research, explore what IMD did to accelerate our impact in 2025
Message from the Chair
“IMD’s ability to innovate and co‑create solutions with business for outsized impact continued to strengthen and earned well‑deserved recognition, including being ranked #1 in the world for custom executive education by the Financial Times. The institute launched new degree and open programs, expanded its digital footprint, and produced research and thought leadership of exceptional academic rigor and practical relevance – something that was recognized by a licensing partnership with The New York Times for I by IMD content, as well as numerous case awards and publications in leading academic journals. We also strengthened our alumni community with the launch of the IMD Alumni Association.”
Michel Demaré
President’s strategic review
“2025 was an intense year around the world and at IMD. Geopolitics, AI, new social and environmental pressures, and generational shifts created multiple disruptions at once. Yet amid this complexity, we remained focused on our purpose: developing leaders who transform organizations for a more prosperous, sustainable, and inclusive world. A major milestone was the launch of Real Impact, our strategy to broaden and deepen our impact as we pursue our vision of becoming the world’s most impactful business school. Rooted in a simple yet powerful idea – we are relentlessly focused on your learning, grounded in your reality, so you can shape the future with outsized impact – the strategy is organized around six overarching priorities. In this report, I outline each priority and the progress we made in 2025.”
David Bach
Learning, research, and thought leadership
Our programs
We advanced our pedagogical approaches and learning technologies in 2025 to ensure that our programs deliver measurable, real‑world impact.
#1
For custom programs by the Financial Times
#2
MBA in Europe, according to the Bloomberg BusinessWeek ranking, our 5th consecutive year in the top 3
98%
Of participants would recommend IMD to a friend or colleague
Our research
2025 was an outstanding year for our researchers who produced focused, cutting-edge research on the pertinent topics shaping the world today.
8
Centers led our research agenda, releasing 13 rankings around competitiveness and future readiness
12
Books published on a variety of topics including AI, globalization, and leadership
24
FT50 articles published by our faculty and researchers
Recognition
Our faculty and researchers received global recognition for their academic leadership and award-winning case studies.
4th
On the Case Center Impact Index
20+
Awards received by our faculty
4
Awards from the Case Center and 2 from EFMD
Our people and our community
Our people
We are committed to diversity and inclusivity and to maximizing the potential of our people. In 2025 we continued to invest in programs that develop both professional skills and personal awareness and implemented initiatives to put inclusion at the heart of the IMD experience. We also conducted an important culture values assessment.
Our alumni
In 2025, we welcomed 2,500 new members to the IMD Alumni Association, which we launched in 2024. Our 48 alumni clubs organized more than 200 events this year, more than 5,000 alumni attended these events. A total of 52 scholarships were awarded in 2025, 26 to women and over 100 Ukranian women graduated from the Women Leadership Program.
Partnerships and outreach
We partner with academic institutions, organizations, and not-for-profits as we recognize that cross-sector outreach and partnerships help maximize our impact. In 2025, we also supported outreach initiatives focused on healthcare and the environment and released the IMD Impact Report.
Our environmental impact
We are committed to managing our impact on the environment by monitoring our emissions, managing our energy consumption, and reducing waste.
37%
Absolute reduction in Scope 1&2
emmissions compared to our baseline year measurement
22%
Reduction in kWh consumption
enabled by solar panels installed on two-thirds of our buildings
74%
Of our office supplies
are from Lyreco’s green product line
4.5t
Reduction in food waste
through more accurate ordering, resource planning, and waste management tracking
Download our annual report
For an in-depth review of 2025 at IMD, read our full report, which includes details of all of our activities and highlights important milestones achieved as well as new initiatives implemented during the year. If you have a specific interest in one aspect, more focused PDF sections can also be downloaded here.
