The case study explores the second phase of ABB’s 2018 to 2024 transformation journey to restore confidence in the underperforming conglomerate through a simplification of its structure and a focus on accelerating decision making. Under interim CEO Peter Voser and later Björn Rosengren (2020–2024), ABB decentralized operations, optimized headcount, enhanced accountability and empowered divisions to operate as independent businesses. Rosengren formalized the transformation as The ABB Way. On 1 August 2024, Morten Wierod assumed the role of CEO, inheriting a stronger, more agile ABB. To maintain momentum, the company needs to remain committed to operational excellence, relentless innovation and a strong customer focus. Moving forward, Wierod’s key challenges include identifying strategies to build on the transformation’s success.
From complexity to clarity: How ABB transformed its operating model (A)
Summary
The case study explores the first phase of ABB's 2018 to 2024 transformation journey as it tackled longstanding challenges: financial underperforma...
Reference
IMD-2682
Copyright
©2025
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Organization
Asea Brown Boveri
Industry
Manufacturing, Electric and Electronic Equipment
Available Languages
English
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
From complexity to clarity: How ABB transformed its operating model (B)
Summary
The case study explores the second phase of ABB's 2018 to 2024 transformation journey to restore confidence in the underperforming conglomerate thr...
Reference
IMD-2683
Copyright
©2025
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Organization
Asea Brown Boveri
Industry
Manufacturing, Electric and Electronic Equipment
Available Languages
English
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Caroline Schmidt: Invitation to the board of directors
Summary
Caroline Schmidt, 55, chief strategy officer of Edelweiss Corporation, has just led her company through a remarkable turnaround. When Henri Vonlanthen, CEO of Léman Corporation – a company twice Edelweiss's size – invites her to join Léman's board, Caroline sees a genuine opportunity: a bigger stage on which to apply the strategic and financial expertise that turned Edelweiss around, and a chance to help a storied family enterprise chart its next chapter. Léman, built over three generations by the Keller family and taken public in 2010, is a company with real assets and real needs: a strong balance sheet but a flat top line, two fast-growing subsidiaries alongside stagnant ones, and no clear long-term strategy. Its aging patriarch, Samuel Keller, remains chairman, and the board might need refreshment. Could Caroline, working alongside her ally Henri and maybe other board members, build the coalition needed to drive the strategic change Léman requires? Or would she find herself without the influence to move a set board, exposed instead to legacy issues and a possible conflict of interest with her own company? As Caroline's first appointment to a major board, her decision also carries a signaling dimension; the boards that a rising executive chooses to join, and how visibly she vets them, shape how the market will read her judgment for years to come. The case gives students a realistic, decision-forcing vehicle for weighing a directorship's opportunities against its risks: What due diligence a prospective director should conduct, how to assess whether one can genuinely influence and ally with fellow directors, and how a first major board appointment signals character and judgment to the market.
Reference
IMD-2720
Copyright
©2026
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Available Languages
English
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Is your leadership energizing or enervating?
Summary
Is your leadership empowering or draining? A concise guide to humane, effective transformation that sustains performance.
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
BP's transformation strategy under pressure: A pivotal moment for the board's chair
Summary
The case places participants in the role of Helge Lund, chair of BP, on 4 October 2023. Only weeks earlier, BP's chief executive officer Bernard Looney had resigned over undisclosed relationships with colleagues. Looney had been the principal arch...
Reference
IMD-2774
Copyright
©2026
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Organization
BP
Industry
Materials, Oil and Gas
Available Languages
English
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Understanding and influencing stakeholders
Summary
Senior leaders rarely get their most important work done by issuing orders. A CTO cannot compel a partner firm, a dean cannot order a faculty to embrace a curriculum, a ministry cannot be forced to share data. On the questions that matter, outcome...
Reference
IMD-2789
Copyright
©2026
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Available Languages
English
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Zamil Group: Growing a family business into a diversified holding
Summary
Founded in 1920 as a modest trading house in the Arabian Gulf, Zamil Group has grown into one of the Middle East's most diversified business groups, with activities spanning manufacturing, petrochemicals, real estate and investments. As the portfo...
Reference
IMD-2751
Copyright
©2026
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Organization
Zamil Group
Industry
Manufacturing
Available Languages
English
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
How to empower change agents in the workplace
Summary
Valuable social and environmental initiatives can come from anywhere. Elisa Alt, Katrin Heucher, and Sara Soderstrom offer a research-backed roadmap for leaders to activate the ‘change agents’ already on the payroll.
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Workplace Inclusion Metrics: Why Your Data Falls Short
Summary
If your metrics don’t distinguish between the “D” and the “I” in DEI, your efforts to become more inclusive will likely fail. Here’s how to use your existing data to get inclusion right.
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Novo Nordisk and IMD : Building leadership and a community of practice to accelerate strategy
Summary
In 2022, Novo Nordisk was transitioning from its longstanding focus on diabetes treatments to multiple therapeutic areas while navigating other important challenges: • Changing market, competitive and regulatory environments • Dramatic growth due ...
2026 EFMD Excellence in Practice Awards – Gold Award: Professional Development
Copyright
©2026
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Available Languages
English
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Daniela Studer and the board of Flosser (Mini case)
Summary
Daniela Studer, a highly accomplished executive with a background in engineering and global leadership, now serves as the only woman on the board of Flosser, a niche construction materials company recently acquired by a larger public firm. Despite her expertise and a mandate to professionalize the board, Daniela finds herself struggling to influence the top management team. Dysfunctional dynamics that range from a lack of trust in the CTO to an exclusive relationship between the CEO and CFO threaten Flosser's performance and culture. Daniela's attempts to address these issues are met with resistance; her direct style, celebrated in her previous executive roles, is now seen as abrasive, and she is advised to be "gentler" in her board interactions. This case invites readers to reflect on the challenges of transitioning from an executive to a non-executive director role, a situation in which authority is more about influence than direct control. Daniela's dilemma – whether to confront the CEO directly, adapt her approach, or remain silent – raises critical questions: Is her struggle rooted in the inherent limitations of non-executive power, related to the entrenched culture of a family business or is there an element of unconscious gender bias? Does her experience as a minority on the board shape how her contributions are received, or is the resistance she faces more about her methods? Ultimately, the case challenges readers to consider what it truly means to lead from the boardroom, how to navigate complex interpersonal and organizational dynamics, and how gender and role expectations intersect to shape the effectiveness and credibility of board members.
Reference
IMD-2719
Copyright
©2026
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Available Languages
English
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Introducing AI to the C-suite: Three opportunities, three risks
Summary
Senior leaders can leverage AI to boost creativity, guide decisions, and optimize talent, while balancing risks like bias and overreliance.
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications