HomeResearch & Knowledgeback to HomeStrategyback to Research & KnowledgeDigital Vortexback to Strategy

Book

Digital Vortex

How today’s market leaders can beat disruptive competitors at their own game

By Michael R. Wade, Jeff Loucks, James Macaulay and Andy Noronha

266 pages

Hardcover

Overview

Keep reading

Overview

Keep reading

Digital disruption sounds like another business buzzword – until it happens to your company. Seemingly out of nowhere, startups and other tech-savvy disruptors attack. Your customers bolt for the door and revenues stall. Senior executives ignore the problem, or turn to yesterday’s management playbook. In months instead of years, you’ve gone from market leader to also-ran.

This scenario is beginning to play out in every industry. Everything that can be digitized – from products and services to the entire value chain – is being digitized, to the advantage of companies that can harness disruption. Unfortunately, few companies are building the organizational capabilities and strategic responses to compete in this stark new reality.

In Digital Vortex, you will learn how to use the business models and strategies of startups to your own advantage. Instead of waiting to be disrupted, you can maximize the value of your existing businesses and move into profitable new ones. Most importantly, you will learn how to build the agility to anticipate threats, sense opportunities, and seize them before your rivals do.

In today’s world there are two paths: navigating to a new digital future, or being engulfed by exponential competitive change. With recommendations backed by research with thousands of senior executives from market leaders and startups alike, this book gives you a compass to chart your own course – to compete with disruptors and win.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Hardcover

eBook

You can also buy the book on Barnes & Nobles, Book Depository, Orell Füssli and Routledge.

Publisher

International Institute for Management Development

ISBN

9781945010002

Keep reading

Article

Stop running so many AI pilots

In late 2023, when the management team at the consumer packaged goods company Reckitt considered adopting gen AI, potential use cases spanned the business—from drafting presentations to delivering customer support to optimizing procurement contrac...

Artificial Intelligence Strategy

By Goutam Challagalla, Mahwesh Khan and Fabrice Beaulieu

in Harvard Business Review

November-December 2025

Video

From resilience to realignment: How global trade is re-wiring without the US

Global trade is re-wiring without the US leading to the rise of new trade coalitions according to trade experts from IMD and the Hinrich Foundation.

Competitiveness Sustainability

By Christos Cabolis

in I by IMD

Article

Energy efficiency equals smart strategy, so why the inertia?

Energy efficiency is the fastest and cheapest way to cut emissions. Business leaders must do more to translate words into action.

Change Management Strategy Sustainability

By Clara Camarasa

in I by IMD

Article

How to Fight High US Tariffs - Strategy

With US tariffs on Swiss goods at 39%, Carlos Cordon outlines eight strategic ways to reduce costs and turn protectionism into advantage.

From Wuhan to the boardroom: Dan Luo’s journey to impact

IMD Professor Omar Toulan speaks with Dan Luo at OWP Singapore about driving growth, profitability, and leadership across global brands like Heinz and Lego.

Growth Leadership Performance Measurement Strategy

By Omar Toulan

in I by IMD

Article

Europe should be proud of its world-beating innovation

European innovation can be a force for resilience, transformation and global leadership. And yet it is often overlooked due to the geographical bloc’s fragmented markets, risk-averse culture, regulatory complexity and limited access to growth capi...

Innovation Strategy

By Arturo Bris

in Management Today

17 October 2025

Case Study

DNB Bank: Embracing startups as a growth strategy

Strategy Customer Centricity Business to Business

By Goutam Challagalla, Francis D. Kim and Philip Charles Zerrillo

Article

Hacking Digital 4: How to work across silos

Working in silos is one of the biggest obstacles to digital success. The key to real digital transformation is to align the various business units in the organization. Here’s how to avoid the pitfalls.

Artificial Intelligence Digital

By Michael R. Wade, Didier Bonnet, Tomoko Yokoi and Nikolaus Obwegeser

in I by IMD Brain Circuits

14 October 2025

Article

Hacking Digital 4: How to work across silos

Digital

By Michael R. Wade, Didier Bonnet, Tomoko Yokoi and Nikolaus Obwegeser

in I by IMD

Case Study

Kontor: When VR faces reality. An internal innovator’s dilemma

The case looks at the fundamental challenges, tensions and opportunities associated with an internally run venture as opposed to an externally funded startup or spin-off company. It discusses the genesis and context of Kontor, an internal venture ...

Innovation Strategy

By Jim Pulcrano, Greg Knight, Liming Chen and Michael Pinczuk

Stop running so many AI pilots

By Goutam Challagalla Mahwesh Khan and Fabrice Beaulieu
in Harvard Business Review November-December 2025

Summary

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Artificial Intelligence

Strategy

Browse all topics

Energy efficiency equals smart strategy, so why the inertia?

By Clara Camarasa
in I by IMD

Summary

Energy efficiency is the fastest and cheapest way to cut emissions. Business leaders must do more to translate words into action.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Change Management

Strategy

Sustainability

Browse all topics

From Wuhan to the boardroom: Dan Luo’s journey to impact

By Omar Toulan
in I by IMD

Summary

IMD Professor Omar Toulan speaks with Dan Luo at OWP Singapore about driving growth, profitability, and leadership across global brands like Heinz and Lego.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Growth

Leadership

Performance Measurement

Strategy

Browse all topics

Europe should be proud of its world-beating innovation

By Arturo Bris
in Management Today 17 October 2025

Summary

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Innovation

Strategy

Browse all topics

DNB Bank: Embracing startups as a growth strategy

By Goutam Challagalla Francis D. Kim and Philip Charles Zerrillo
Case reference: IMD-2706 ©2025

Summary

The case examines how DNB Bank, Norway's largest financial services company, reshaped its growth strategy by focusing on startups and SMEs, a segment traditionally considered unprofitable. In 2013, DNB launched a bold SME strategy, deliberately choosing a gross approach to win new startups early in their life cycle rather than a net approach focused on the profitability of existing accounts. This strategy, enabled by a significant investment in digitalization and a cultural shift toward customer lifecycle engagement, generated exceptional results and by 2025, the SME segment delivered the highest return on allocated capital. The journey, however, was not linear. A European regulatory crackdown in 2019, following the Danske Bank money laundering scandal, forced DNB to shift its focus from growth to compliance. The bank reallocated 1,000 employees to KYC units, dismantling its startup-friendly onboarding process and causing customer acquisition to stall. As competitors advanced, DNB had to orchestrate a strategic Restart effort to rebuild its SME leadership. This involved launching superior digital tools, providing automated lending decisions within a minute, and renewing its customer-centric focus. By 2025, the recovery was well underway, with one in three Norwegian SMEs banking with DNB. The case challenges students to evaluate DNB's past choices, the critical balance between growth and compliance, and the future of SME banking as AI and digital agents transform customer interactions.

Reference IMD-2706

Organization DNB Bank

Industry Finance and Insurance, Banking

Available Languages English

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Strategy

Customer Centricity

Business to Business

Browse all topics