Neste & IMD: Partnering for renewal

When Matti Lievonen became the CEO of Neste in 2009, the Finnish oil refining company was facing strong headwinds – a sharp fall in oil prices, market overcapacity, falling margins and new carbon emissions legislation in the EU. The company’s market value dropped 50% between 2008 and 2011. Lievonen had to implement a radical strategic shift into renewable fuels. The case describes a seven-year collaboration between IMD business school and Neste to deal with the internal organizational challenges facing the company – strategy implementation, leadership development and culture change. Multiple interventions over four programs resulted in deeper and wider impact at every stage and at all levels of the organization. By 2017 Neste had successfully transformed itself from a traditional oil refining company to the world’s largest producer of renewable diesel from waste and residues. Its market value had grown nearly six-fold to €15 billion and it ranked second in the Global 100 list of the world’s most sustainable companies in 2018.