Benka Babyfood

Evaluate your multicultural leadership skills with this 10-question checklist. Enhance your ability to manage diverse teams and foster inclusivity.

Daniela Studer, a highly accomplished executive with a background in engineering and global leadership, now serves as the only woman on the board of Flosser, a niche construction materials company recently acquired by a larger public firm. Despite her expertise and a mandate to professionalize the board, Daniela finds herself struggling to influence the top management team. Dysfunctional dynamics that range from a lack of trust in the CTO to an exclusive relationship between the CEO and CFO threaten Flosser's performance and culture. Daniela's attempts to address these issues are met with resistance; her direct style, celebrated in her previous executive roles, is now seen as abrasive, and she is advised to be "gentler" in her board interactions. This case invites readers to reflect on the challenges of transitioning from an executive to a non-executive director role, a situation in which authority is more about influence than direct control. Daniela's dilemma – whether to confront the CEO directly, adapt her approach, or remain silent – raises critical questions: Is her struggle rooted in the inherent limitations of non-executive power, related to the entrenched culture of a family business or is there an element of unconscious gender bias? Does her experience as a minority on the board shape how her contributions are received, or is the resistance she faces more about her methods? Ultimately, the case challenges readers to consider what it truly means to lead from the boardroom, how to navigate complex interpersonal and organizational dynamics, and how gender and role expectations intersect to shape the effectiveness and credibility of board members.

Uncover key techniques for managing neurodivergent individuals at work, aligning expectations with diverse cognitive styles for better collaboration.

Pang Dong Lai (PDL) is a regional Chinese supermarket chain that generated an astonishing $3.27 billion in revenue in 2025 with only 14 stores, vastly outperforming national and global giants in per-store efficiency. In a retail landscape defined by fierce competition and razor-thin margins, PDL's success stems from a radical, people-first operating model. By distributing 95% of its profits to employees and management, PDL has engineered an unparalleled service-profit chain, translating extreme employee loyalty into absolute customer trust. This case vividly illustrates the core of strategic positioning: Strategy is about choosing what not to do. To protect its high-trust culture and prevent employee burnout, visionary founder Yu Dong Lai deliberately constrained expansion, mandated weekly store closures, and even shuttered profitable locations. This extreme altruism created a paradox of unintended growth, as overwhelming national demand pushed 2025 sales far beyond the company's self-imposed limits. At the start of 2026, PDL stands at a critical crossroads, profoundly intensified by Yu Dong Lai's retirement announcement and the transition to an 8-person management committee. The new leadership must navigate two distinct growth paths. The first is to 'scale the product' nationally as a direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand via a supply chain partnership with JD.com, risking the commoditization of a brand rooted in local, in-person experiences. The second is to 'scale the experience' by building massive, capital-intensive destination retail complexes. Participants are challenged to step into the shoes of the succeeding management team. They must evaluate the strategic tradeoffs of each expansion path, debate whether an 'unscalable,' founder-driven culture can be successfully institutionalized, and ultimately decide how to scale the business without changing its soul.

Explore Kirsty Coventry’s transformative approach to IOC leadership, balancing fairness, innovation, and strategic focus in the evolving Olympic landscape.

“I am done. I feel like staying in bed until the next holiday” a leader said to me last month, slumping into his chair at the end of a long meeting. “And it pains me, because my example is needed more than ever.” Over the past year, I have heard v...

AI is reshaping leadership and work. Ensuring women help design and govern it will determine whether the technology advances equity or deepens inequality.

Advancing women in leadership requires bold change. Redesign succession slates, executive sponsorship, and feeder roles to accelerate gender equity.

Despite the growing demand for care economy employees (e.g., nurses, teachers, and social workers), men remain underrepresented in these careers. While economically developed countries support more equal rights for women and men, their labor marke...

However, there are concrete ways and means of bringing female talent to the top. We explain how in the white paper published by the IMD Business School, headquartered in Lausanne, which was also the subject of a panel discussion at this year's WEF...