- IMD Business School
 - IMD Business School
Preston Bottger

Professor Emeritus of Leadership and General Management

Preston Bottger is Professor Emeritus of Leadership and General Management. He has combined teaching, research, and consulting in leadership development and strategy execution for over 25 years.

He was director of IMD’s Mobilizing People, a two-week leadership program, for eight years. His consulting work in Europe includes a global asset management firm, and several companies in manufacturing and pharmaceutical industries.

Before joining IMD, Bottger was Professor of the Practice of Management at The Fuqua School of Business Duke University (1990 -1998), holding the positions of Executive Director of the North Carolina Family Business Forum and Executive Director of the Hartman Center for Mid-Sized Companies. At Duke, he was extensively involved in executive education with duties both in teaching and program direction. Previously, he was on faculty at the Australian Graduate School of Management, University of New South Wales, Sydney (1980-1989), and was Founding Director of the Graduate Management Qualification, a distance learning MBA-level program for engineers and scientists around Australia.

His work in the USA, either as a consultant or as a program director in executive education, included projects for AT&T, ABB, Lafarge, Wachovia Bank, Wolseley, Organon Teknika, Eli Lilly, and Johnson & Johnson. In Australia, his consulting in leadership development included work with QANTAS, Westpac, Ampol, EXXON, Australian Telecom, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the Department of Industry, Technology and Commerce, and the Australian Treasury. For many years, he lectured on leadership and decision making at the Joint Services Staff College and at the Royal Australian Navy Staff College.

Bottger holds a PhD in management from the Australian Graduate School of Management, and a Master of Engineering Science and a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) from the University of New South Wales. He has won the Outstanding Teacher Award presented by Duke University’s Weekend Executive MBA class, and the Outstanding Paper Award in Management Development presented by the US Academy of Management. He is the author of numerous research articles in international journals on the topics of problem solving in groups, leadership, and motivation, and is the lead author of Managing People (CMRD, Sydney).

He has served as editor (OB/Operations) of the Australian Journal of Management and is on the editorial board of the Asia-Pacific Journal of Human Resources Management. He also edited the book Leading in the Top Team, which provides practical advice based on the actions and decisions of real leaders in a range of roles and situations. His current research interests are focused on how individuals develop various capacities for leadership in the context of their organization’s strategy.

Academic publications
Insight for Executives
Article
Cinco maiores desafios e obstáculos dos novos líderes

Além de engajar as equipes com um objetivo comum, os líderes precisam estar aptos a motivar os colaboradores, bem como devem ficar abertos a ensinar e aprender o tempo todo¦

Leadership
16 December 2014
Article
Is there a certain profile that makes for a good leader

Machiavel a identifié, il y a cinq cents ans, trois types de personnes : celles qui comprennent les choses par elles-mêmes, celles qui ont besoin qu’on les leur explique et celles qui ne les compre...

Leadership
1 February 2012
Article
The keys to coaching, developing, retaining and sustaining talent

Executives around the globe have responded to the economic crisis by reviewing their systems for managing human capital. The smartest of them are not simply asking questions about their current inv...

Organizational Behavior Economics
5 August 2009
Article
Le pari réussi du Groupe Swatch dans le luxe

Après avoir créé ses fameuses montres design et bon marché, le numéro 1 mondial de l'horlogerie est devenu un acteur majeur de l'industrie du luxe.

Luxury
1 March 2007
Article
Führungsprinzipien am Beispiel von Nicolas G. Hayek

Der Erfolg der Swatch Group basiert auf den Führungsgrundsätzen des Gründers. Eine Studie zeigt, wie Nicolas G. Hayek neue Geschäftschancen wittert und umsetzt.

1 January 2007
Article
Sunrise points the way to successful integration

Experienced executives often say of M&As: “The dealmakers have it easy. It’s the poor guy who has to manage the post-transaction execution that has it hard.” The job of managing post-transaction in...

Strategy Organizational Behavior Mergers and Acquisitions
20 October 2006
Article
Finding your way to a successful integration

For any merger or acquisition, the hardest part is post-transaction integration. The authors of this article find useful lessons in the experience of a Swiss telecoms company.

Mergers and Acquisitions
20 October 2006
Article
Sunrise, le succès grâce à la mobilisation du personnel

Organizational Behavior Organizational Change
1 October 2005
Article
A shining example

Kim Frimer skilfully combined opposites to turn Sunrise - a struggling Swiss telecoms company - into a market leader in less than three years. The authors of this article examine his methods.

Leadership Mergers and Acquisitions Organizational Behavior
1 June 2005
Article
Führungsstärke dank einer handfesten Methodik

Leadership Strategy
1 January 2005