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Latest Case Studies
Slow Forest Coffee: Can a regenerative model scale?
The case tracks the development of Slow Forest Coffee, a company launched in 2017 on the belief that when producing food in a regenerative way, everyone benefits. Farmers flourish, nature thrives and the economy prospers. By 2025 Slow had converted almost 600 hectares of degraded monoculture coffee plantations in Laos into booming agroforestry f…
By
Benoit F. Leleux, Julia K. Binder and
Rina Raikamo
Case reference: IMD-2736, ©
2026
Slow Forest Coffee: Can a regenerative model scale?
Summary
The case tracks the development of Slow Forest Coffee, a company launched in 2017 on the belief that when producing food in a regenerative way, everyone benefits. Farmers flourish, nature thrives and the economy prospers. By 2025 Slow had converted almost 600 hectares of degraded monoculture coffee plantations in Laos into booming agroforestry farms, ensuring the preservation of an additional 1,000+ hectares by working with local smallholders. The coffee was roasted, packed and delivered by Slow to offices, hotels and coffee chains across Northern Europe. Thanks to vertical integration and investing in soil health and the whole ecosystem, unlike its competitors, Slow was not impacted by volatile and rapidly increasing coffee prices. The Slow model seemed to be working, both in environmental and financial terms, regenerating nature while yielding healthy, stable returns. A host of ongoing initiatives and matters needed to be discussed at the forthcoming board meeting, including which new customer segments the company should enter, how to adapt and scale marketing communications to support growth, the integration of the newly acquired coffee roaster in Kenya and the expansion of the supply base in the region, not to mention evolving resource needs as the company prepared to enter a bigger league. Slow was indeed buzzing with positive energy.
Reference
IMD-2736
Copyright
©2026
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Organization
Slow Forest
Industry
Food Production, Agriculture;Consumer Goods, Coffee
Available Languages
English
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
“Disrupting the perfect” – A leader’s quest to future-proof Novo Nordisk
In the years before its dramatic rise on the back of GLP-1 therapies, Novo Nordisk was best known for disciplined execution, a strong focus on diabetes and a long record of home-grown innovation. It met its targets with near predictable consistency, supported by stable structures and deeply embedded ways of working. Yet technological change, sci…
By
Zhike Lei, Salvatore Cantale and
Shih-Han Huang
Case reference: IMD-2766, ©
2026
“Disrupting the perfect” – A leader’s quest to future-proof Novo Nordisk
Summary
In the years before its dramatic rise on the back of GLP-1 therapies, Novo Nordisk was best known for disciplined execution, a strong focus on diabetes and a long record of home-grown innovation. It met its targets with near predictable consistency, supported by stable structures and deeply embedded ways of working. Yet technological change, scientific uncertainty and increasing market pressures challenged whether a model built on reliability and internal self-sufficiency could keep pace. This case examines how Marcus Schindler, an externally hired leader who would later become the company’s Chief Scientific Officer, attempted to future-proof Novo Nordisk’s research and development organization. Rather than relying on incremental improvements, he introduced ambitious aspirations, pushed teams to experiment beyond their comfort zones, normalized failure as a source of learning and tested new organizational structures alongside the existing core. As students follow these choices, the case exposes a set of concrete leadership dilemmas: How fast should a leader push change in a stable, successful organization? How do you gain credibility as an outsider without full consensus? How do you balance accountability and psychological safety? And how do you allocate attention between short-term execution and long-term renewal? The dilemma becomes sharper as Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1 therapies deliver extraordinary commercial success, shifting focus toward operational execution and raising questions about whether exploration risks being crowded out by exploitation. A deeper leadership question also emerges: How does a leader stay true to a long-term vision when runaway success pulls attention toward the here and now? This case challenges readers to think critically about leading change in high-performing organizations, driving transformational innovation, managing competing time horizons, and making leadership choices when success itself becomes the biggest constraint.
Reference
IMD-2766
Copyright
©2026
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Organization
Novo Nordisk
Industry
Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals
Available Languages
English
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Daniela Studer and the board of Flosser (Mini case)
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 influ…
By
Jennifer Jordan and
Ruth V. Aguilera
Case reference: IMD-2719, ©
2026
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
The promotion dilemma (Mini case)
Promotion decisions are among the most powerful cultural signals that leaders send. They reveal what an organization truly values, in terms of results but also in how those results are achieved. The Promotion Dilemma explores the tension that managers face when a high-performing employee delivers exceptional commercial outcomes while simultaneou…
By
Heather Cairns-Lee and
Robert Hooijberg
Case reference: IMD-2742, ©
2026
The promotion dilemma (Mini case)
Summary
Promotion decisions are among the most powerful cultural signals that leaders send. They reveal what an organization truly values, in terms of results but also in how those results are achieved. The Promotion Dilemma explores the tension that managers face when a high-performing employee delivers exceptional commercial outcomes while simultaneously undermining collaboration, trust and shared accountability. Set in Spectra, a global manufacturer of precision industrial components undergoing a strategic transformation, the case follows Chief Commercial Officer Chris Steele as (s)he considers whether to promote Alex Forge, a charismatic regional commercial manager widely regarded as a “rainmaker.” Alex has secured major contracts, built strong customer relationships, demonstrated remarkable commercial instinct and fostered credibility with clients. Yet inside Spectra, Alex’s behavior is often blunt, impatient and dismissive. The regional manager tends to bypass processes, dominate discussions and challenge colleagues publicly; the result is strained relationships across functions and lower engagement within Alex’s own team. The timing of the decision raises the stakes. Spectra is implementing it’s One Spectra transformation, an initiative aiming to strengthen cross-functional collaboration, shared accountability and psychological safety in response to rising competitive pressure. Though promoting Alex would retain a critical commercial talent and emphasize the importance of results, the move risks undermining the cultural shift leadership is trying to build. Not promoting Alex could reinforce the organization’s commitment to collaborative leadership but may risk losing a star performer to competitors. The Promotion Dilemma invites discussion about the implicit messages embedded in promotion decisions and the challenges and trade-offs that leaders face when balancing performance and evaluating leadership potential while shaping culture and building long-term organizational health.
Reference
IMD-2742
Copyright
©2026
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Available Languages
English
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications