Broader Impact – Our Ecosystem
In 2022, we continued to build and intensify our collaborations with leading peers, a number of organizations in Switzerland, regional initiatives and with innovative startups, scale-ups and entrepreneurial enterprises in the region.
MBAs and EMBAs collaborate with startups
“Working with some of Switzerland’s best entrepreneurs is always a rewarding experience for IMD’s MBAs and EMBAs. Seeing these ventures being recognized for their success is especially gratifying.”
Jim Pulcrano, Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship and Management
Building stronger scale-ups
IMD and INNOVAUD partnered on a new scale-up program for fast-growing startups. Fourteen companies joined the first round of the LeadiNNg to Scale-Up program. The overall goal of this program is to build stronger scale-ups that create jobs and boost the local economy.
For startups, the benefits are numerous: they receive coaching from leading entrepreneurship professors at IMD, gain access to a network of successful scale-ups and entrepreneurs and become part of a community of ambitious founders facing similar challenges.
“CEOs are often left alone to make all the decisions when their company starts to gain traction. With this new program, IMD and Innovaud are aiming to propel startups to scale with even better support.”
Patrick Barbey, Director of Innovaud
Ambassadors for our region
MD was honored to be named one of the inaugural VAUD+ ambassadors.
VAUD+ is a label, created by the Vaud Promotion (Canton of Vaud, Switzerland), to increase the notoriety, competitiveness, and attractiveness of the region. The label recognizes IMD for its alignment with the VAUD+ values, among them innovation and sustainability.
Strengthening our links with academic partners
We have strengthened our existing links with the University of Lausanne (UNIL), EPFL, E4S, and ECAL (the University of Art and Design Lausanne). We also formed a new strategic partnership with the Geneva Graduate Institute which will leverage both institutions’ expertise. The collaboration will develop synergies and join IMD’s expertise in leadership development with the Graduate Institute’s expertise in international relations.
The partnership aims to provide a new form of training for decision-makers from both the public and private sectors that will nurture the critical thinking and engagement required to prepare a generation of responsible leaders for a radically uncertain environment.
![graduate-institute_z090805-2[1]](/annual-reports/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/graduate-institute_z090805-21-1125x750.jpg)
Main academic partners
Host and partner at regional events
In 2022, IMD hosted and co-sponsored prominent events in collaboration with Le Temps, the Forum Économique Romand (FOROM), The Forum des Fondations (SwissFoundations), the Journée du Conseil d’administration (Swiss Board Institute), and the Vaud International Business Award (PVEI) organized by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in its largest auditorium. On average, each event was attended by 300 influential decision-makers.
IMD also acted as an academic partner at many events such as the annual Swiss Economic Forum (SEF) at Interlaken. IMD inspired discussions at the SEF through keynotes and faculty presence around hot topics: How do we safeguard prosperity and economic growth in a changing world order? How can we expand on the opportunities to unite, cooperate and accept our responsibilities as leaders?
Vaud International Business Award (PVEI) winners at IMD with State Counsellor Isabelle Moret