Niccolò Pisani is Professor of Strategy and International Business. His areas of expertise include strategic management and international business with an emphasis on globalization, sustainability, and digitization.
His teaching on strategy formulation and execution translates complex research into practitioner-oriented lessons. In particular, participants learn to appreciate the nuances of doing business across borders and formulate strategies to compete in today’s increasingly multifaceted international landscape.
Today, more than ever, companies need to be aware of the critical role they play in our society, and actively contribute to resolving some of the enduring global issues of our times – not only because consumers are increasingly attracted to ‘good’ companies, but because society at large needs more socially responsible businesses that create economic prosperity in a sustainable manner.
His empirical research work has been published in top-tier academic journals such as Strategic Management Journal, the Journal of International Business Studies, the Journal of Management, and the Journal of Management Studies. His article on international corporate social responsibility research in the Journal of World Business won the 2017 International Association for Business and Society (IABS) Best Published Paper Award.
Meanwhile, his practitioner-oriented work has been featured in both Harvard Business Review and MIT Sloan Management Review. He has also produced several popular case studies, and won The Case Centre’s Overall Award in 2022 for “adidas: How to keep running fast in a post-COVID-19 world?”, which was the best-selling case out of the over 60,000 held by The Case Centre, one of the world’s leading case distributors.
He is also a member of the editorial review boards of the Journal of International Business Studies and the Journal of International Business Policy.
At IMD, Pisani is Co-Director of the International Growth Strategies program and has partnered with a variety of companies – including ArcelorMittal, Heineken, Mondelez, Jerónimo Martins, Ipsen, and Audemars Piguet – to ensure a real-world learning environment in his sessions or to generate and deliver applied research.
He has more than 10 years of teaching experience at different program levels, including master’s degrees, executive education, and custom programs, and was a tenured Associate Professor at the University of Amsterdam before joining IMD in 2020.
In addition to his experience in academia, Pisani brings four years of industry experience gained at Sanlorenzo, a global leader in high-end luxury yachting, where he was responsible for international sales of tailor-made motor yachts up to 36 meters.
Early in his career, he worked as a researcher in finance and investments for Merrill Lynch in its San Francisco office. He speaks five languages – Italian, English, French, Spanish and German.
