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Book

Digital Vortex

How today’s market leaders can beat disruptive competitors at their own game

By Michael R. Wade, Jeff Loucks, James Macaulay and Andy Noronha

266 pages

Hardcover

Overview

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Overview

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Digital disruption sounds like another business buzzword – until it happens to your company. Seemingly out of nowhere, startups and other tech-savvy disruptors attack. Your customers bolt for the door and revenues stall. Senior executives ignore the problem, or turn to yesterday’s management playbook. In months instead of years, you’ve gone from market leader to also-ran.

This scenario is beginning to play out in every industry. Everything that can be digitized – from products and services to the entire value chain – is being digitized, to the advantage of companies that can harness disruption. Unfortunately, few companies are building the organizational capabilities and strategic responses to compete in this stark new reality.

In Digital Vortex, you will learn how to use the business models and strategies of startups to your own advantage. Instead of waiting to be disrupted, you can maximize the value of your existing businesses and move into profitable new ones. Most importantly, you will learn how to build the agility to anticipate threats, sense opportunities, and seize them before your rivals do.

In today’s world there are two paths: navigating to a new digital future, or being engulfed by exponential competitive change. With recommendations backed by research with thousands of senior executives from market leaders and startups alike, this book gives you a compass to chart your own course – to compete with disruptors and win.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Hardcover

eBook

You can also buy the book on Barnes & Nobles, Book Depository, Orell Füssli and Routledge.

Publisher

International Institute for Management Development

ISBN

9781945010002

Keep reading

Article

Europe's AI teardown

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in I by IMD

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in I by IMD

Case Study

Holcim: Transitioning toward net zero

Sustainability Change Management Business Transformation Strategy

By Frédéric Dalsace, Goutam N. Challagalla and Nicholas Abery

Article

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Article

Three key steps for CFOs in the AI era

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Finance Leadership Performance Measurement Strategy

By Salvatore Cantale, Konstantinos Trantopoulos and Michael R. Wade

in I by IMD

Video

How the company that ‘sells screws’ nailed the customer experience

Bossard CEO Daniel Bossard explains how a focus on customer value, trust, and strategic partnership created lasting competitive advantage.

Innovation Leadership Strategy

By Stefan Michel

in I by IMD

Article

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Culture Leadership Strategy Talent Management

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Article

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The in-house lawyers at real estate investment firm Alturas Capital Partners used to rely on outside counsel for much of its lease work. Thanks to generative AI, it can now do that work internally, saving the firm hundreds of thousands of dollars ...

Artificial Intelligence Strategy

By José Parra Moyano, Karl Schmedders, Olivier Laplace and Benjamin Torben-Nielsen

in MIT Sloan Management Review Blog

29 September 2026

Europe's AI teardown

By Michael R. Wade
in I by IMD

Summary

Europe's AI teardown reveals strengths, gaps, and a path to strategic autonomy for European firms and policymakers.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Competitiveness

Digital

Innovation

Strategy

Browse all topics

Two toolkits to stay in control of your family business

By Peter Lorange and Peter Vogel
in I by IMD

Summary

Discover two practical toolkits to keep your multigenerational family business aligned: governance agreements, councils, and clear exits.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Corporate Governance

Family Business

Leadership

Strategy

Browse all topics

Why CFOs need to become “keepers of culture”

By I by IMD
in I by IMD

Summary

Discover why the CFO’s role goes beyond investments - shaping culture, storytelling, and energy to drive recruitment tech success.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Finance Leadership

Strategy

Talent Management

Browse all topics

Holcim: Transitioning toward net zero

By Frédéric Dalsace Goutam N. Challagalla and Nicholas Abery
Case reference: IMD-2759 ©2026

Summary

Holcim is a Swiss multinational company that manufactures cement and building materials. Excluding China, it is the top cement producer in the world. Holcim is also a top 50 CO2 emissions emitter. And it decisively put sustainability efforts front and center in its overall strategy. The case describes the integration of different sustainability initiatives into Holcim's overall strategy over more than a decade, a period during which the firm underwent massive transformations, including a merger with Lafarge, a major pivot from cement to construction materials, the sale of assets in key countries and a spin off of its North-American operations. The case pivots the discussion from the traditional question: 'What does Holcim do for sustainability?' to a more interesting one: 'What does sustainability do for Holcim?' It brings clarity to the different ways through which sustainability contributes to the firm's strategy: compliance, resilience and market advantage. Focusing on market advantage, it shows the vast repertoire of sustainability actions that can impact a firm's strategy and how sustainability can be leveraged to create value. It also reveals that not all sustainability actions are designed to have a sustainability impact.

Reference IMD-2759

Organization Holcim Group

Industry Materials, Construction Materials;Materials, Cement

Available Languages English

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Sustainability

Change Management

Business Transformation

Strategy

Browse all topics

True or false? Digital ecosystems

By Michael R. Wade Konstantinos Trantopoulos and Mark J. Greeven
in I by IMD

Summary

True or false? Digital ecosystems — challenge conventional thinking with findings from the IMD-AVEVA report and discover where real value lies.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Innovation

Leadership

Strategy

Technology Management

Browse all topics

Three key steps for CFOs in the AI era

By Salvatore Cantale Konstantinos Trantopoulos and Michael R. Wade
in I by IMD

Summary

Three essential moves for CFOs in the AI era: build an integrated intelligent finance system, redefine productivity, and govern autonomous workflows.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Finance Leadership

Performance Measurement

Strategy

Browse all topics

How the company that ‘sells screws’ nailed the customer experience

By Stefan Michel
in I by IMD

Summary

Bossard CEO Daniel Bossard explains how a focus on customer value, trust, and strategic partnership created lasting competitive advantage.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Innovation

Leadership

Strategy

Browse all topics

GXO: Building a Culture of Stability in Uncertain Times

By I by IMD
in I by IMD

Summary

CHROs must help employees navigate external uncertainties, says GXO Logistics’ Corinna Refsgaard.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Culture

Leadership

Strategy

Talent Management

Browse all topics

How to outcompete your client’s AI

By José Parra Moyano Karl Schmedders Olivier Laplace and Benjamin Torben-Nielsen
in MIT Sloan Management Review Blog 29 September 2026

Summary

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Artificial Intelligence

Strategy

Browse all topics