David Bach
David Bach

Professor of Strategy and Political Economy and Dean of Innovation and Programs

David Bach is Professor of Strategy and Political Economy, Rio Tinto Chair in Stakeholder Engagement and Dean of Innovation and Programs. He is a political economy expert with a proven track record of creating impactful learning journeys in a dual role as both Professor and Dean.

Through his award-winning teaching and writing, Bach helps managers and senior executives develop a strategic lens for the nexus of business and politics. This enables them to more effectively navigate the myriad political challenges facing business, from corporate diplomacy and resurgent economic nationalism to stakeholder demands for greater sustainability and shaping policies for a post-COVID-19 world. His course The End of Globalization? – designed in the aftermath of the Brexit vote and the rise of populist leaders across Western democracies – received the 2018 Ideas Worth Teaching Award from the Aspen Institute.

Dean of Innovation and Programs at IMD, he has led efforts to enhance the school’s global reach and impact through both programmatic and pedagogical innovation.

IMD faculty and expert staff already set the bar for real learning with real impact on our campuses in Lausanne and Singapore, and at client sites around the world. In keeping with our mission to ‘challenge what is and inspire what could be,’ my goal for IMD is to similarly become the reference point for digital design and delivery, and to be unrivalled in our ability to craft learning journeys for our clients that combine the best of in-person and online – reaching more leaders in more places, more effectively, and driving greater impact.

Bach is one of the main architects of the Global Network for Advanced Management, an alliance of 32 top global business schools from five continents, of which IMD has been a member since 2012. In his previous position at Yale School of Management, where he served as Deputy Dean, he led the successful expansion of the school’s degree program portfolio and the creation of Yale Center Beijing, which he oversaw until joining IMD.

What drew him to IMD was the institution’s outstanding faculty, its innovative, global character, and a relentless focus on real impact.

“I’m thrilled to be surrounded by such incredible colleagues who share IMD’s commitment to learning and impact,” he said. “The opportunity to engage with leading executives from around the world on a daily basis and to help them solve some of the most pressing problems confronting business and society, is an incredibly exciting opportunity.”

Bach completed his undergraduate studies at Yale and earned a PhD in political science from the University of California at Berkeley.

Academic publications
Zentiva: Growing into a regional pharmaceutical powerhouse
Case Study
Zentiva: Growing into a regional pharmaceutical powerhouse
StrategyMergers and Acquisitions
By 2021, Zentiva relied on an internationally diversified network of manufacturing sites, ensuring the production and supply of medicines to millions of people in Europe and beyond. Employing more ...
15 March 2022
Tesla’s global expansion: Where to go next?
Case Study
Tesla’s global expansion: Where to go next?
Strategy
Tesla set out to build “awesome” electric vehicles with a mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. In so doing, Tesla not only disrupted existing incumbent manufacturers ...
24 August 2021
Ducati: Adding value abroad in a post-pandemic world?
Case Study
Ducati: Adding value abroad in a post-pandemic world?
Strategy
Ducati’s high performance “Made in Italy” motorcycles, spare parts and apparel targeted the high- and premium-end of the market. Described as “the Ferrari of motorcycles”, Ducati produced some of t...
24 August 2021
Kellogg: Localizing foreign entry mode
Case Study
Kellogg: Localizing foreign entry mode
Strategy
For more than 100 years, the Kellogg Company of Battle Creek, Michigan, had sold its breakfast cereals around the globe to consumers. With mounting competition and changing consumer tastes, the com...
24 August 2021
Article
Domestic drivers of transgovernmental regulatory cooperation
Regulation
Transgovernmental cooperation among domestic regulators has generated considerable interest among scholars and policymakers. While previous research has focused on describing such regulatory networ...
1 December 2014
Article
The European Union as hardening agent: Soft law and the diffusion of global financial regulation
AccountingFinance
Soft law promulgated by transnational networks is one of the hallmarks of governance in global finance. Standard accounts alternatively view such governance as a fast and flexible solution to trans...
14 March 2014
Insight for Executives
Article
How Credit Suisse’s demise strengthens Switzerland’s place in global finance
Finance
As Switzerland digested the news of Credit Suisse’s takeover by rival UBS, the headlines were unequivocally bleak. The deal is a “historic scandal,” wrote the daily Tages-Anzeiger. It marks the “en...
23 March 2023
Listen, learn, and engage: The softer face of Rio Tinto
Article
Listen, learn, and engage: The softer face of Rio Tinto
LeadershipSustainabilityDecision MakingStakeholder Management
To improve decision making, every stakeholder – both internal and external –needs to be given a voice, says Isabelle Deschamps, the mining group’s Chief Legal Officer, Governance and Corporate Affa...
23 March 2023
Scenario planning: How to navigate multiple crises
Article
Scenario planning: How to navigate multiple crises
StrategyLeadership
Scenario planning is more valuable than ever – but what is it and how can executives implement it effectively? Peter Schwarz, author of the highly influential book The Art of the Long View, explain...
16 March 2023
Article
The American right has gone to war with ‘woke capitalism’ – here’s what they get wrong
PoliticsFinanceSustainability
Ron DeSantis, Florida’s Republican governor and likely future presidential contender, has opened up a new front in his party’s war on “woke capitalism”. He is proposing to change the rules around h...
24 February 2023
Conflict is not inevitable, but ask yourself: What if?
Article
Conflict is not inevitable, but ask yourself: What if?
LeadershipPoliticsConflict Resolution
Stakeholder capitalism has forced CEOs into taking political positions, even on controversial topics. Tensions over Taiwan make it critical for companies to plan ahead for the next values-driven co...
15 December 2022
Article
Four scenarios for a world in disorder
PoliticsEconomics
Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s recent speech to the Communist Party Congress could be one of the most consequential of the decade. He told the audience – and the world – that his economic growth-crush...
25 October 2022
It’s time for a ‘moonshot mentality’ on climate change
Article
It’s time for a ‘moonshot mentality’ on climate change
SustainabilityLeadershipStrategy
Positive, broad-based leadership will be decisive in determining whether we move towards our best or worst future, says former UN Special Envoy on Climate Change Mary Robinson.
23 September 2022
“Conducting the virtual orchestra” -The future of management education
Article
“Conducting the virtual orchestra” -The future of management education
LeadershipInnovation
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the use of technology in management education. IMD Honorary President Peter Lorange discusses the impact of hybrid learning on leadership training and shares his t...
16 September 2022
Zoe Chance
Article
Zoe Chance
LeadershipCommunication
Yale Professor Zoe Chance discusses her latest book with IMD Professor of Strategy and Political Economy David Bach.
30 June 2022
His royal shyness and how to cultivate charisma
Article
His royal shyness and how to cultivate charisma
LeadershipCommunicationPsychology
Zoe Chance discusses how Prince learnt to become a great communicator, the power of saying no, and honing the superpower that makes good things happen.
16 June 2022
Article
The need for business political acumen
Global BusinessPolitics
Within two weeks of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in an unprecedented exodus, over 300 leading global enterprises shut down their Russia operations or otherwise withdrew from the country. The list ...
1 June 2022
Article
Tripod missions: Five principles for solving society's most pressing challenges
General ManagementConflict ResolutionDecision Making
The COVID crisis has forced policymakers to design new and comprehensive rescue programmes under huge time pressure. This task has required innovative policy thinking and the pursuit of new kinds o...
1 May 2022
Businesses need both carrot and stick to accelerate progress on gender equity
Article
Businesses need both carrot and stick to accelerate progress on gender equity
Diversity and Equity and Inclusion
Companies must be obliged to take action, experts observe at an IMD/SIX Group webinar, as progress is not fast enough in Switzerland.
25 March 2022
It’s time to reinvent capitalism, says World Business Council for Sustainable Development CEO
Article
It’s time to reinvent capitalism, says World Business Council for Sustainable Development CEO
LeadershipSustainabilityGrowth
Peter Bakker says business leaders must shift mindsets to build long-term resilience in the pandemic aftermath and take a regenerative approach to business models.
8 February 2022
Peter Bakker
Article
Peter Bakker
LeadershipSustainability
Peter Bakker, head of WBCSD, talks sustainable businesses, promoting net-zero and building an equitable future.
3 February 2022
In the lonely century, office time gives staff the ‘social glue’ to perform better
Article
In the lonely century, office time gives staff the ‘social glue’ to perform better
TeamWork-life BalanceGeneral Management
An alarming rise in loneliness is damaging our health, our communities and the bottom line. Having convinced themselves of the benefits of remote working, companies must not lose sight of the impor...
15 October 2021
Leadership localization – where effective supply chain management meets smart politics
Article
Leadership localization – where effective supply chain management meets smart politics
LeadershipSupply Chain
With global threats from COVID to trade tensions exposing companies to costly disruptions, leaders should be thinking about supply chain resilience and regionalization
27 September 2021
Zoos play a vital role, don’t let them become extinct
Article
Zoos play a vital role, don’t let them become extinct
LeadershipSustainability
Zurich Zoo director Severin Dressen explains how his organization is being proactive in tackling the loss of biodiversity and helping to shape a sustainable coexistence between humans and nature, z...
16 September 2021
How companies and talent can gain from a shared purpose
Article
How companies and talent can gain from a shared purpose
Leadership Strategy
Organizations can improve performance and engagement by embracing a purpose that resonates with employees, according to Alyson Meister and David Bach.
29 June 2021
Purpose: is the hype justified?
Video
Purpose: is the hype justified?
Leadership
What is purpose and why does it matter? There’s a lot of noise out there about the purpose behind a business. Is “purpose” just a buzzword, or is it something more, something that you should be...
19 May 2021