Royal DSM (C): Taking marketing & sales excellence to the next level
This three-part case series examines the change management challenge of putting corporate marketing at the top of the corporate executive suite (C-suite) agenda in a business-to-business (B2B) multinational. It follows the four-year journey, from 2010 to 2014, of Mauricio Adade, the newly appointed chief marketing officer (CMO) of Royal DSM – a global leader in life sciences and material sciences headquartered in the Netherlands. The case series, together with the video supplement, delves into the issues faced by the company’s top leadership, including Adade, in its effort to transform a diversified industrial company into an organization with best-in-class marketing and sales capabilities. Case C provides an update on the replacement of Adade (announced in December 2014) and allows for a discussion on the challenges that lie ahead for the new CMO and the organization as a whole.
- What triggers the need in a B2B company to build best-in-class marketing capabilities at the corporate (headquarters) level?
- How can a CMO successfully drive change and overcome the legacy of a product-focused and highly decentralized organization?
- What are the different roles and responsibilities of the corporate marketing function in an industrial B2B company?
Dutch State Mines, Materials, Manufacturing, Chemicals
2010-2014
Cranfield University
Wharley End Beds MK43 0JR, UK
Tel +44 (0)1234 750903
Email [email protected]
Harvard Business School Publishing
60 Harvard Way, Boston MA 02163, USA
Tel (800) 545-7685 Tel (617)-783-7600
Fax (617) 783-7666
Email [email protected]
NUCB Business School
1-3-1 Nishiki Naka
Nagoya Aichi, Japan 460-0003
Tel +81 52 20 38 111
Email [email protected]
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in European Journal of Operational Research August 2025, vol. 324, no. 3, pp. 799-813, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2025.01.035
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Case reference: IMD-2681 ©2025
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