Leading in turbulent times webinar series: Sustainability

With the current situation constantly evolving, COVID-19’s human, financial and economic consequences are anyone’s guess. But to what extent can the crisis inform us on how to face the greater issue of sustainability?
By already planning for the next stage of the crisis, particularly the potential impact that the virus will have on the issue of sustainability, your organization can minimize negative impact.
This webinar is led by Frédéric Dalsace, Professor of Marketing and Strategy, IMD, who has been working on CSR issues for more than a decade. He delves deep into the issue of whether the coronavirus is likely to delay or to accelerate the way our society is tackling sustainability.
After studying the Great Recession of 2007-08 in detail, Professor Dalsace shares his worries about the aftereffects of the coronavirus crisis. “Is it going to be different this time? I had great hopes about the system becoming more equitable in 2008, but everything soon went back to normal and no progress was made. I was very disappointed.”
But bringing a positive spin to the current opportunity, Dalsace says we as individuals, and as a group, can put our priorities in place now so that sustainability becomes the end goal once again.
The scenario that will unfold may well depend on the collective narrative that is being built as we speak. It will be country specific and will be a function of the extent that we think the COVID-19 crisis is a one of a kind event vs one of many. It will also depend on our evaluation of the response by national institutions.
“YOU will drive this narrative. YOU will drive society. As soon as the negative rebound is over, YOU can demand change,” he insists.
This leads to the ultimate question: What can we learn from the way COVID-19 is being fought to be better able to address overall sustainability challenges? Wrapping up the session, Dalsace answers participants’ questions and investigates the effects on the luxury sector boom during the initial rebound, the reengineering of supply chains to ensure their survival and also explores the buyer-seller relationship in the short and medium term.
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
For more than a decade, ESG-linked funds and corporate sustainability strategies have run on the same quiet assumption: spend more on sustainability, and the market will eventually reward you for it. The problem, however, is that this theory is mo...
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 converte...
For years, executives were sold a compelling idea: doing good would also mean doing well. Surveys suggested that consumers were increasingly willing to pay more for products seen (or marketed) as better for the planet. Consultants reinforced the m...
Corporate sustainability has become a central issue for businesses, driven by environmental, social and governance pressures and stakeholder expectations. The present study aimed to assess how reports and certifications influence motivations, oper...
Investor climate initiatives are facing unprecedented scrutiny at a time when the policy landscape is shifting rapidly, and the effectiveness of current investor actions is being actively questioned. Against this backdrop, this project reexamines ...
This paper investigates why firms facing identical carbon-pricing incentives exhibit heterogeneous decarbonization trajectories. We address this question through a theoretical framework that conceptualizes national institutional quality and innova...
Ask a roomful of executives whether their company takes sustainability seriously, and almost every hand goes up. But ask whether their sustainability investments are generating real commercial returns, and the room may get quieter. The gap between...
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in I by IMD
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management 20 May 2026, ePub before print, https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.70685
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
London School of Economics research project report, May 2026
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in Research Policy May 2026, vol. 55, no. 4, 105432, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2026.105432
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications