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Case Study

Unilever Food Solutions journey (A1): The must-win battle event – starting the journey

By Thomas W. Malnight and Tracey S. Keys

5 pages

March 2007

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Reference: IMD-3-1776

This case series follows the journey of Unilever Foodsolutions and its President Diego Bevilacqua over a 4 year journey to build a “formidable force in foodservice.” The A1 case supplements the video, offering more details of the event at which the Foodservice team determined its must-win battles, the core of its strategy.

Learning Objective

The case series is designed to introduce the concepts of strategy as a journey, and the need to engage a team/organization emotionally as well as intellectually in order to build commitment to a shared strategy. This underpins the must-win battle approach. It also highlights the need for leadership if the hurdles in the journey to transforming an organization are to be overcome.

Keywords

Top Team-building, Must-win Battles, Merger, Acquisition, Change, Food Services

Settings

2001-2005

Type

Field Research

Available Languages

English

Related material

Video

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This case study is part of a series

Unilever Food Solutions journey (A): Taking on a new challenge
Unilever Food Solutions journey (A1): The must-win battle event – starting the journey
Unilever Food Solutions journey (B): Reality sets in
Unilever Food Solutions journey (C): Rebuilding the team
Unilever Food Solutions journey (D): Progress and lessons learned

This case study is part of a series

Unilever Food Solutions journey (A): Taking on a new challenge
Unilever Food Solutions journey (A1): The must-win battle event – starting the journey
Unilever Food Solutions journey (B): Reality sets in
Unilever Food Solutions journey (C): Rebuilding the team
Unilever Food Solutions journey (D): Progress and lessons learned

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Oculis: Transforming opthalmology a drop at a time

By Benoit F. Leleux Abdulaziz A. AlSayyari Barbara Müller and Vladimir Novotny
Case reference: IMD-2692 ©2025

Summary

For the team at Oculis, the announcement of the new USD 100 million fundraising could not have come at a more opportune moment. The biopharmaceutical startup was founded in 2017 to transform ophthalmology by developing not only original delivery mechanisms but also groundbreaking treatments for eye diseases like Diabetic Macular Edema (DME). Established by seasoned industry experts, Oculis aimed to replace invasive eye treatments with more accessible, patient-friendly solutions such as topical eye drops. The initial research conducted in a laboratory in Iceland led to a pipeline of drug candidates, now at various stages of clinical testing. The firm continued to ramp up thanks to successive rounds of financing from top investors and partners, totaling more than USD 500 million at the end of 2024. However, it also faced some dramatic events, including the sudden death in early 2024 of its CTO. The company continued to scale, strategically balancing clinical advancements with regulatory milestones. The recent secondary offering on Nasdaq would accelerate the clinical development pipeline, in particular its novel neuroprotective candidate Prisosegtor (OCS-05), OCS-01, a topical eye drop for DME, and OCS-02, a topical biologic eye drop candidate for dry eye disease. Oculis now grappled with a number of strategic decisions, with two questions in particular concerning the team. Should it rely mostly on outsourcing production to a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) or develop its own in-house manufacturing capabilities? There were strong benefits and drawbacks to both approaches. It faced a related dilemma with its product pipeline. Should it continue to rely on its own R&D, as in the past, or should it consider acquiring technologies outside, through M&A activities?

Reference IMD-2692

Organization Oculis

Industry Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals

Available Languages English

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