I by IMD

I by IMD offers first-person business intelligence from the brightest thinkers in academia, business and society. Written by experts for experts, we present a platform for debate on the latest issues in management, strategy, technology, finance, team building and innovation. Our content ecosystem is designed to spark conversation and deliver actionable insights to a broad and engaged global audience. We host conversations – via articles, comment pieces, videos and podcasts – about the latest issues in management. Whether ideas about companies or office politics, we aim to spark debate – you may not agree with everything you read here – and to deliver actionable insights to an engaged global executive audience.

Beyond the hype: tackling AI’s second-order effects

The boomerang buccaneers • How established companies can create a successful spin-off and then bring it back home

Why companies struggle to cultivate high-premium sub-brands in-house

Cisco’s three musketeers: symbiotic accompaniment in action

The Boomerang Innovation Pathway

Eclipsed by Saturn: when portfolios collide

How to throw the boomerang, and catch it

Will prediction markets lead to disaster? It’s a safe bet • While the stock market effectively harnesses the wisdom of crowds, prediction markets are little more than high-stakes casinos with powerful political backing, warns Jerry Davis

When star performers target rivals, a team loses • When contests turn personal, employees can make high-risk choices that hurt the organization. Linus Dahlander, Henning Piezunka, and Arne Thomas suggest ways to identify and reverse the damage

What leaders can do

‘An adventure is a crisis you accept, and a crisis an adventure you refuse’ • Explorer and psychiatrist Bertrand Piccard tells Kartik Ashta in an intergenerational conversation that pushing against resistance rarely works and leaders should learn when to let go of outdated assumptions

The commitment gap Why climate-linked pay incentives can only go so far • Climate-linked pay cannot, on its own, solve Mark Carney’s ‘tragedy of the horizon’. Christos Cabolis and Karl Schmedders explain why the gap between intent and reality is structural, and what action boards need to take

3 implications for corporate boards

Lack of trust drives the ‘just in case’ energy era • Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, explains why long-term policy stability and infrastructure investments are essential for a secure, resilient power supply

10 leading questions Mabel LU • Founder of Eastgate AI and former Global Vice President, Digital Ecosystem and Transformation at Danone

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

Strategic friction beats perfect harmony for better decision-making • Smooth board meetings and quick approvals are misleading indicators of effectiveness. Marianna Zangrillo and Thomas Keil reveal how the best-performing boards harness the power of carefully managed conflict

From concept to practice

The view from the Moon: how to rethink your global strategy • As the distinction between products and services blurs and innovation flows in every direction, Yoshinori Fujikawa explains how companies must ‘shift, melt, and tilt’ to orchestrate capabilities across ecosystems

Five questions for leaders

We’re human beings, not human doings Why always-on culture weakens productivity • When leaders confuse availability with impact, argues Andrew Sharman, they create a culture of permanent activation where everyone looks busy, but genuine value creation and efficiency fall away

Three one-week experiments to improve efficiency

Don’t be caught out: play to the crowd and tap into customer habits

Take a bow, don’t come to blows...