Patrick Reinmoeller

Professor of Strategy and Innovation

Patrick Reinmoeller is Professor of Strategy and Innovation. His teaching, research, and consulting focus on strategic thinking for senior executives, with a particular emphasis on customer-centric innovation. He has particular expertise in the Japanese business sector, having lived and worked in the country for several years.

Reinmoeller helps companies with the difficult decisions they have to make when developing and executing a strategy. He says strategic decisions often involve dilemmas, paradoxes, and alternatives that all have pros and cons, and the approaches to solutions can range from a rational decision-making method to adjustments in top management team dynamics.

The strategic creation of knowledge fosters innovation but many companies fail to exploit opportunities to use external sources of insight to create knowledge. They miss out on a lot.

He also works with companies on the strategic creation of knowledge for commercial benefit. Knowledge development fosters innovation and can lead to future commercial success, but he says many companies do not exploit opportunities to create and leverage knowledge and therefore miss out on potential gains, finding that this is particularly true of larger organizations which tend to become self-absorbed.

His recent research has focused on crisis-driven innovation, including how companies have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and other unexpected developments. His second stream of work focuses on post-merger integration, which can be immensely difficult, with only 30% of mergers succeeding. He has been able to identify some patterns that can be used to help firms navigate the process.

He has led custom programs on developing strategic priorities, implementing strategic initiatives, and managing change for a wide range of companies including Bank Mandiri, Coca-Cola İçecek, DENSO, DNB, and Norlys, and he has written numerous case studies inspired by this work including ones on IKEA, Grammarly, Turkcell, Geely, GoJek, Sea, Stellapps, Urban Company, CCI, and NTT. He also teaches on IMD’s MBA and EMBA programs.

Reinmoeller has published two books on strategy development and strategic management, including his 2018 title Mapping a Winning Strategy: Developing and Executing a Successful Strategy in Turbulent Markets, and his 2011 work Strategic Management: Competitiveness and Globalization.

His academic articles have appeared in leading journals such as the Academy of Management Journal, Asia Pacific Journal of Management, the British Journal of Management, European Management Journal, MIT Sloan Management Review, Organization Studies, R&D Management, and Strategic Organization.

In addition, he is a member of the editorial boards of the Academy of Management Discoveries, European Management Journal, and Strategic Organization, and a regular reviewer for Academy of Management Review, Organization Science, Organization Studies, MIT Sloan Management Review, and the Journal of Management Studies.

Beyond his academic work, he is also an angel investor and non-executive director of a startup.

Reinmoeller has taught executives around the world; his working languages are Dutch, English, German, Italian, and Japanese. He joined IMD in 2020 after 11 years as a professor at Cranfield University in the UK and spells as an associate professor at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, and as an assistant professor at the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. He carried out post-doctoral research at the Institute of Innovation Research at Hitotsubashi University in Japan after completing his academic studies in Germany and Italy.

Selected publications
Article
Crisis-driven innovation of products new to firms: The sensitization response to COVID-19
How firms address pressing societal needs during crises is not well understood. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted societies worldwide, and many firms quickly developed new product innovations in pers...
Published 1 March 2022
Conference Paper
Staying in a dying organisation: Stigmatisation and organisational identification
The literature suggests that employees tend to leave stigmatised organisations whose operations are then threatened by the challenge of hiring and retaining employees (Pozner, 2008). This qualitati...
Published 26 July 2021
Article
Open-system orchestration as a relational source of sensing capabilities: Evidence from a venture association
Research on innovation networks has highlighted the pivotal role that actors with more prominence and power, such as hub firms, may play in orchestrating the activities of other network members alo...
Published 1 August 2018
Article
How to win a price war
There are usually no winners in price wars. But it’s possible for a company to win a price war by leveraging a specific set of strategic capabilities.
Published 18 March 2014
Academic publications
Article
Crisis-driven innovation of products new to firms: The sensitization response to COVID-19
How firms address pressing societal needs during crises is not well understood. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted societies worldwide, and many firms quickly developed new product innovations in pers...
Published 1 March 2022
Article
Peer effects and intentional entrepreneurial behaviour: A systematic literature review and research agenda
What role peers play in individuals’ decisions to become entrepreneurs and to what extent peer effects play a role in influencing behaviours at the various stages of business venturing are importan...
Published 8 December 2022
Article
Dynamic capabilities in the dock: A case of reification?
In his award-winning SO!APBOX essay, Donald Hambrick observed that the strategic management field “is rapidly being pulled apart by centrifugal forces. Like a supernova that once packed a wallop, o...
Published 9 November 2012
Article
Do you have a survival instinct?: Leveraging genetic codes to achieve fit in hostile business environments
It is too easy to blame market turbulence or unexpected events for a company's poor performance; yet, this is frequently the response of managers to circumstances and activities beyond their immedi...
Published 1 January 2012
Article
Following fashion: Visible progressiveness and the social construction of firm value
A central tenet underlying studies on management fashions is that the diffusion of novel forms, models and techniques is driven by an institutional norm of progress, which is the societal expectati...
Published 31 December 2015
Article
The influence of firm, industry and network on the corporate social performance of Japanese firms
We develop and test the thesis that corporate social performance (CSP) constitutes a socially constructed and shared strategic asset, which is not only influenced by factors specific to a firm, but...
Published 1 September 2007
Article
Relational capital and individual exploration: Unravelling the influence of goal alignment and knowledge acquisition
We investigate how the relational capital of a person within an organization affects the extent to which she or he conducts exploration activities. Our theory separates out a negative effect that ...
Published 22 April 2015
Article
The persistence of a stigmatized practice: A study of competitive intelligence
Studies on the diffusion of practices provide valuable insights into how organizations adopt, adapt, sustain and abandon practices over time. However, few studies focus on how stigmatized practices...
Published 1 January 2016
Article
Open-system orchestration as a relational source of sensing capabilities: Evidence from a venture association
Research on innovation networks has highlighted the pivotal role that actors with more prominence and power, such as hub firms, may play in orchestrating the activities of other network members alo...
Published 1 August 2018
Insight for Executives
Align strategy and culture for a competitive edge
Article
Align strategy and culture for a competitive edge
Leaders can harness their attention, motivation, capabilities and capacity to link strategy with culture, and reap benefits for every stakeholder.
Published 2 December 2022
Musk’s Twitter deal risks becoming a costly distraction for Tesla
Article
Musk’s Twitter deal risks becoming a costly distraction for Tesla
The billionaire will have his hands full managing a sprawling portfolio with few investment synergies .
Published 30 April 2022
Report
Exploratory podcast: When you have something to teach, but even more to learn
The UNICON Research Committee is pleased to offer this paper by Jim Pulcrano and Patrick Reinmoeller for discussion. It differs from most UNICON research, which involves collection of quantitative ...
Published 22 April 2022
How to stay profitable in an age of sustainability
Article
How to stay profitable in an age of sustainability
It often feels like there is a conflict between delivering profits, securing your organization’s financial interests, and achieving sustainability goals. However, it is possible to balance people, ...
Published 11 March 2022
Design thinking: Combine technology and people for design thinking on steroids
Article
Design thinking: Combine technology and people for design thinking on steroids
The human-centered approach to problem-solving holds the key to unlocking both high-value opportunities for customers, and driving strategic change within organizations.
Published 4 March 2022
Article
Why the NFT market will collapse
Prices of non-fungible tokens remain high for now and may continue to increase for some time, but a crash will come. With central banks set to tighten monetary policy in an effort to rein in inflat...
Published 28 January 2022
Article
Stock market: Many companies are choosing not to be listed – here’s why
Stock markets reached all-time highs in 2021, bringing huge value to the companies riding the wave, even when you allow for the dip in recent weeks. We are also in the midst of a boom year for flot...
Published 7 October 2021
Why German business shouldn’t fear a greener government
Article
Why German business shouldn’t fear a greener government
Should Germany’s Green party score a big enough share of the vote in a federal election on 26 September to enter the next coalition government, business should embrace the opportunity to accelerate...
Published 21 September 2021
The key factors to compete in Asia
Article
The key factors to compete in Asia
Asia can be both an engine of growth as well as the source of numerous challenges – from unfamiliar customers and competitors to hard-to-navigate regulations. In this webinar, we’ll provide you wit...
Published 24 August 2021
Channel Success: Why vending machines continue to thrive in Asia
Article
Channel Success: Why vending machines continue to thrive in Asia
Enhanced with AI and other new digital technologies, vending machines will play an important role in Asia’s retail future.
Published 23 August 2021
Article
Chinese fashion giant Shein has taken over the world. It has just met its match
f you’re a regular on TikTok, you might be familiar with the cult of Shein, the online fashion retailer. Under the hashtags #shein and #sheinhaul, users post short clips of themselves flaunting the...
Published 15 July 2021
Article
With Tokopedia merger, Gojek will take Indonesia by storm
In May 2021, Gojek and Tokopedia, Indonesia’s leading ride-hailing and ecommerce companies, respectively, announced their decision to merge and create the biggest technology group in the world’s fo...
Published 1 July 2021
Is fast fashion going out of fashion fast? Look east for answers
Article
Is fast fashion going out of fashion fast? Look east for answers
Shein’s super-charged rise has lessons for fashion retailers around the world.
Published 16 June 2021
The lost generation?
Article
The lost generation?
Family businesses traditionally pull together to survive a crisis, but the dramatic impact of the pandemic has brought even the strongest to their knees. They will have to develop new skills to ada...
Published 10 March 2021
Nine digital design tricks that can differentiate your products or services and send your bottom line soaring
Video
Nine digital design tricks that can differentiate your products or services and send your bottom line soaring
‘Be one of the firms that has a true dialogue with its consumers so you can offer them exactly what they want,’ says Patrick Reinmoeller, IMD Professor of Strategy and Innovation.
Published 12 February 2021
Article
Takeovers: A tidal wave of buyouts is coming in 2021 – here’s what it means
Luxury goods giant LVMH has completed its US$15.8 billion (£11.6 billion) mega-deal to buy famous American jeweller Tiffany & Co. LVMH, which owns Louis Vuitton, originally agreed to pay US$16.2 bi...
Published 8 January 2021
Article
Politics used to create the stability needed for business growth. That has now changed
While 2020 is the year of COVID-19, it may also coincide with that period in economic history when politics became the greatest risk for global business. Three crucial steps provide a framework for...
Published 30 October 2020
Article
Are the best days of Big Tech over?
Even though ByteDance is closing in on its TikTok deal with Oracle and Walmart, the global technology industry is getting more confusing than ever. The forced sale of TikTok and America’s threat to...
Published 27 September 2020
An uncontrolled experiment that will force rapid, massive innovation
Article
An uncontrolled experiment that will force rapid, massive innovation
The pandemic has now lasted long enough to change behaviors - and societies. It will trigger a wave of accelerated innovation with a power that we have not seen since the Industrial Revolution.
Published 15 July 2020
Feeding the flames: the revolution of corporate strategy
Video
Feeding the flames: the revolution of corporate strategy
In what ways should companies question their pre-COVID assumptions, and find new ways to strategize?
Published 18 May 2020
Leading in turbulent times webinar series: Rapid resilience
Video
Leading in turbulent times webinar series: Rapid resilience
Leading in turbulent times webinar series - Rapid resilience: What strategies lead to success?
Published 24 April 2020
Meeting the spread of coronavirus with a contagious resilience
Article
Meeting the spread of coronavirus with a contagious resilience
Spreading resilience is the key to withstanding crises and emerging more resourceful when they are over.
Published 20 April 2020
Article
The eye-watering costs of postponing the Tokyo Olympics
The cancellation is a double whammy for Japan. The economic and psychological toll on the nation is huge.
Published 29 March 2020
Article
Coronavirus: Hybrid response of speed and resilience works in virus fight
Are countries that deal well just faster? Or do they have a cultural make-up that accepts sweeping measures?
Published 26 March 2020
Article
Pautas para saber cuándo adoptar las nuevas prácticas empresariales
Innovation is essential for success. It is more important for the competitiveness of a company than new technologies or new management practices, such as tight manufacturing, agile development or s...
Published 1 November 2018
Article
How to win a price war
There are usually no winners in price wars. But it’s possible for a company to win a price war by leveraging a specific set of strategic capabilities.
Published 18 March 2014
Article
"Due diligence": El lado oscuro de un mensaje de éxito
In rapidly changing environments, better decision making helps develop a competitive advantage. Strategic decisions, in particular, explain the rise and fall of companies. Strategic decisions such ...
Published 1 November 2013