A Social Strategy

Today’s workforce often includes a mix of permanent employees, freelancers, and outside contractors – but even organizations with mostly external workforces or highly autonomous workforces need proximity to succeed over the long term. Here are fou...

Set in 2024, the case describes the trajectory of Nike's success and how it had recently lost its way. The company was experiencing its worst slump in more than 10 years. Since 2020, CEO Donahoe oversaw a significant shift away from wholesale, with a focus on direct channels and a suite of apps. However, direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales failed to make up for the losses from previous wholesale partners. At the same time, competition from a new breed of smaller players increased. Critics claimed that the sportswear giant's product innovations had lagged, allowing nimble competitors to chisel away at its market share. Sales were flat or down in all geographies. In response, Donahoe announced a three-year, $2 billion cost cutting plan that involved laying off 2% of workers, which in turn created a sense of crisis at Nike. Investors also suffered as the stock performed worse than the broader market in the last three years. To make matters worse, a class action suit was filed against Donahoe and CFO Matthew Friend for misleading the market about the company's underperformance. How could Nike's top management team execute a strategic turnaround by building upon the company's core strengths of brand equity, product innovation and sports marketing? They had to reevaluate past strategies, rethink their assumptions and chart a comeback to restore the company to its former growth trajectory and market dominance.

Corporate leaders must stop being passive spectators and actively shape geopolitical outcomes to drive global competitiveness and collaboration.

This brief case exercise presents an increasingly common business scenario: An established player acquires a small, agile start-up to re-energize its value proposition. In this case, established global beauty giant UrbanLuxe acquires beauty start-up KYX. UrbanLuxe represents an old-school company selling a classic portfolio mainly via traditional distribution channels of luxury and travel retail, whereas KYX is exclusively an e-commerce brand. UrbanLuxe has a stable – perhaps stale – product line while KYX is in constant experimental churn, with an influencer-based media strategy that brings inherent demand volatility. The supply chain director is tasked with identifying the supply chain risks and opportunities associated with the acquisition. The two companies are different from both an operations perspective and a marketing perspective. UrbanLuxe has five factories servicing a global demand. KYX relies on one co-manufacturer focused on the US market. UrbanLuxe distributes to classic retailers from its own warehouses, KYX uses a third-party logistics provider for its exclusively e-commerce business. Further complicating matters, UrbanLuxe’s CEO has ambitious growth plans to make KYX a global brand. The supply chain director must not only consider integrating the acquisition but also supporting the growth strategy, for which they are asked to find cost savings to provide funding. The case provides a vehicle for students to consider the supply chain challenges a company might face in successfully integrating a starkly different acquisition. This case anchored in the real world will elicit universal challenges in companies today.

Trump’s unconventional negotiation strategy reveals how game theory in negotiations can shape power, commitment, and outcomes before talks begin.

Natalia Wallenberg of Ahold Delhaize describes how one of the largest retailers in Europe is tackling the upskilling dilemma.

In an age that prizes agility, breaking up is a strategy rather than a surrender, argues IMD’s Salvatore Cantale, as CFOs step forward as architects of value in the de-conglomeration era.

Digital transformation introduces a new set of parameters for firm innovation. Existing literature has found that family firms vary on their willingness to innovate. However, explanations of the factors that lead to a family firm’s (un)willingness...

What does it take to move from CFO to CEO? Four top executives share candid lessons on leadership, risk, growth, and redefining the finance role.

In an interview with IMD’s Didier Bonnet, aerospace veteran Mike Ambrose shared his insights on pulling off a successful digital transformation in one of the world’s most complex industries.