Paul Strebel

Industry Breakpoints (described in 1992) are characterized by "A new offering to the market that is so much superior that it changes the rules of the competitive game, accompanied by a sharp shift ...

Outpacing strategy, first described by IMD professors Xavier Gilbert and Paul Strebel, is based on the ability to shift strategic innovation between perceived product value (the quality of the valu...

Should companies exercise their ability to “extract” value from external or internal stakeholders? What is value extraction? Is it in the long-term interest of the shareholders? We define value ext...

The management team introduced a “cultural revolution” to support the new innovation process, followed by an innovation workflow involving project portfolio planning and road mapping, as well as in...

The new innovation process has been accepted and begun to produce results, but is not yet entirely satisfactory.

The bottom-up “Spaghetti Organization” for pioneering innovation at Oticon was successful growing the top line for almost two decades, but gradually became too fragmented and costly as the company ...

The A-case begins with Tony Hayward’s appointment as CEO of BP. Hayward was immediately faced with the challenge of convincing the board that he could streamline BP’s cost structure, while at the s...

The B-case highlights some of the changes Hayward had implemented since becoming CEO in 2007. After Hayward announced that BP’s top strategic priorities for 2010 were ongoing cost cutting, producti...

The C-case begins with BP announcing that Hayward is stepping down as CEO of BP to be succeeded by Bob Dudley. Shortly thereafter, Dudley announced that he would evaluate each business’s progress i...

When top executives undertake big moves – dramatic shifts in strategic direction – their decisions can make or break a company. This paper aims to offer a methodology for cutting the risks of makin...

This case series traces Ryanair’s history from its modest beginning in 1985 up to its leading market position in 2007. The company’s turning point came when Michael O’Leary became CEO in 1991 and w...

After Jürgen Dorman took over the role of chairman and later CEO of crisis-shaken ABB, he put various corporate governance reforms into action. Among them, a strategy committee and an executive com...

This case relates the events following the controversial September 2005 publication of 12 cartoons illustrating Islam and the prophet Muhammad by Denmark’s largest-selling daily newspaper. It raise...

AxialPar is an innovative investment company with a single investor (Pierre Landolt) interested in focusing on agribusiness that is sustainable from an environmental and social standpoint. In spite...

Pierre Landolt is a farmer with a difference. He not only manages a ‘model’ organic farm in the toughest and most arid zone of Brazil, but he sits on the boards of several companies. He has experie...

The Head of public Affairs, and the Head of Strategy at Syngenta, the world’s second largest agrochemical company are having a discussion. Both men are asking themselves about Syngenta’s next steps...

The A case chronicles the radical change management program put in place at Oticon during the early 1990s by Lars Kolind, who was managing director at the time. Because of increasing competition, p...

The B case begins in 1992 with the arrival of Niels Jacobsen at Oticon. Jacobsen, who was appointed executive vice-president, provided equilibrium to Lars Kolind's outgoing management style, and wa...

The C case begins in 1997, with the departure of managing director Lars Kolind and the appointment of Niels Jacobsen as CEO. Having opted for a full line supplier strategy, Oticon's results continu...

The D case begins in 2003 with Oticon's decision to change its organizational structure once again to reflect changes in the market and to increase its flexibility. The case ends in 2005 with Otico...

During the industrial era, companies were the primary forces behind wealth creation, generating value for shareholders, creating employment, and benefiting consumers and communities. Consequently, ...

Are executives supposed to manage the tradeoffs between conflicting stakeholder interests? For example, between the interests of shareholders and supporting society to help manage a pandemic? Execu...

Carlos Ghosn’s dramatic fall from grace at Nissan highlights the problem many boards have with a dominant leader. They emerge, like Ghosn, with political skill and their ability to create value, or...

Large firms have been treating their shareholders as their most critical stakeholders. In the short run this might make sense, but not in the long term. The author argues that in order to safeguard...

Although greenwashing is far too common, recently there have been two powerful “green shots,” which show that business is finally taking sustainability a lot more seriously. These are, in our opini...

What decision makers can learn from Blair’s failures” (Andrew Hill, July 12): finding lessons for business decision makers in the political domain is a hazardous exercise, as is using a chief execu...

Having spent the past five years working with the boards of some of the world's leading organizations, the authors reached a conclusion: boards need to become much more diverse -- not just demograp...

“Tenemos la mejor oportunidad de avanzar hacia la dirección corporativa”, comentó Joe Dear, director de Calpers, un fondo de pensiones en California, en medio de la crisis financiera. Dos años desp...

We have the best opportunity ever to advance corporate governance," said Joe Dear, the head of Calpers, the Californian pension fund, in the middle of the financial crisis. Two years later the cris...

We have the best opportunity ever to advance corporate governance, said Joe Dear, the head of the Californian pension fund, Calpers, in the middle of the financial crisis. Two years later, the cris...

Almost exactly two years ago, the "perfect storm" of a decade of excess credit, excessive leverage, and uncontrolled expansion by financial institutions precipitated the financial crisis. A common ...