Discovery Events 2013
Corporate Learning Network Members have exclusive access to IMD’s Discovery Events. These events
take place both on IMD’s Campus and in regional hubs-Brazil, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan.
Discovery Events bring together executives from across the network for intensive working sessions
with our world class faculty. They represent an unparalleled opportunity to discover, discuss and
debate the very latest in management thinking and to come away with a renewed mind set and fresh
ideas to implement in your business. Many of our members position these events as an incentive
program for their high potential executives.
Corporate Learning Network Members also have seats at IMD’s Global Business Fora. These learning
and networking events take place in a wide range of cities across the globe and provide an excellent
platform to expand your professional and personal network.
(updated on March 1, 2013)
Switzerland – IMD, Lausanne
The European Crisis
January 31-February 1
Negotiation & Dispute Resolution
February 7-8
To Risk and To Win: Developing First Rate Decision Making
February 26-27
Strategizing Practices from the Outliers: Enabling “Big Bang” innovations”
March 21-23
You’re too Complex!: How to Build a Competitive Advantage on Process and
System Simplicity by invitation only
April 25
From Product to Service
April 25-26
Emerging Market Perspectives
May 16-17
Winning the War for Talent: Creating a Superior Employee Value Proposition
May 30-31
Leadership and Character
June 4-5
Discovery Event with Prof. John Weeks (title to be confirmed)
September 19-20
Why Theory matters
October 10-11
Frugal Innovation
November 28-29
Brazil
Becoming an Enterprise Leader - the Seven Seismic Shifts
Feb 21
Frugal Innovation
April 8
Finding Valuable Ideas
June 10
Leading for the Future
September 3
Japan
Finding Valuable Ideas
January 29
Winning the War for Talent: Creating a Superior Employee Value Proposition
March 11
Frugal Innovation
September 11
Leading for the Future
December 11
Singapore
Finding Valuable Ideas
February 1
Frugal Innovation
September 12
IMD Lausanne, Switzerland
January 31-February 1
T H E E U R O P E AN C R I S I S
Professor Carlos Braga
Professor Arturo Bris
Professor Theo Peridis
Professor Nuno Fernandes
With no signs of the European crisis abating, and most economists predicting a further deterioration before any improvement, how should
business respond? As we start 2013, what coping strategies should business be employing and what opportunities can be created and
developed during these turbulent times? Join a line-up of IMD faculty and guest speakers representing different parts of the European
community for lively debate and insight on the road ahead for Europe and the business implications.
Discover:
•
An overview of the macroeconomic European realities and political outlook
•
Deep dive into individual European countries -profiles, situations and implications
•
Contrasting viewpoints from speakers representing the southern countries of Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece and the northern
countries of Finland, Holland, and Germany.
•
Implications, challenges, opportunities and business responses from corporations operating within the EU
Target audience:
Managers with European business responsibilities
•
February 7-8
N E G O T I AT I O N & D I S P U T E R E S O L U T I O N
Professor Suzanne C. de Janasz
Professor Michael D. Watkins
This session will explore what it takes for leaders to negotiate effectively, both with external and internal stakeholders.
Key themes include:
•
Why negotiation is a fundamental skill for leaders at all levels
•
What types of negotiations leaders conduct, internally and externally
•
How leaders need to conceptualize the negotiation “game” and learn to shape the rules
•
What effective negotiators do to prepare for and conduct complex negotiations
•
Why conflict is an inherent part of negotiation and how it can be managed
•
Which skills are most important, including effective communication, conflict management, and persuasion
•
knowing yourself and how that impacts negotiation
Discover:
•
How to think strategically about negotiations
•
How to prepare for negotiations
•
Understanding and managing conflict
•
Communicating effectively during negotiations
•
Persuading and influencing
Target audience:
•
Middle to senior managers involved in internal negotiation (budgets, projects), external negotiations (customers, suppliers, acquisitions
and alliances), or working in complex organizational environments such as matrix structures.
February 26-27
T O R I S K AN D T O W I N : D E V E L O P I N G F I R S T R AT E D E C I S I O N M AK I N G .
Professor Phil Rosenzweig
Professor Stuart Read
Professor Cyril Bouquet
Research about decision making has made important advances, drawing largely on findings from cognitive psychology and behavioral
economics. By now, it is widely recognized that people make a variety of common errors and are prone to bias. Yet for all its strengths, this
research has not captured how managers actually make strategic decisions. Managerial decisions in competitive situations differ from the
decisions that have been studied in experimental settings in fundamental and important ways.
It is along these lines that Professors Read and Rosenzweig are building new insights into the way that executives make decisions and
manage risk. This Discovery Event will present many of those insights in a participative and engaging manner. Far from an exercise in
theory, the emphasis is on self-awareness and practical applications.
During this Event, we will provide a way for participants to assess their approach to decision making, and will provide numerous examples from
research and from field work. We will close with a discussion of implications for individuals and organizations.
Discover:
•
How decisions are made in real world settings.
•
The three most important elements to remember in decision making.
•
How to improve chances of success by managing risk and gaining expertise.
Target audience:
•
Executives with financial and resource decision making authority
•
Leaders of complex and uncertain projects
March 21-23
S T R AT E G I Z I N G P R AC T I C E S F R O M T H E O U T L I E R S :
E N AB L I N G “ B I G B AN G ” I N N O V AT I O N S
Professor William A. Fischer
Professor Pasha Mahmood
Professor Howard Yu
Guest Speakers:
Julian Birkinshaw, London Business School
Robert Burgelman, Stanford Graduate School
Henry Chesbrough, Haas School of Business, Berkeley University
Clayton Christensen, Harvard Business School
Costas Markides, London Business School
Liisa Välikangas, Aalto University, School of Economics
Sydney Winter, Wharton University
The aim of this event is to enable conversations about radical change and strategic innovation. Many organizations are struggling to reinvent
themselves to cope with the uncertain and fast-changing business world. Many of these organizations have simply become too big, or too
slow, to manage effectively. A great deal is known about the process of continuous improvement, and there are plenty of examples of fastfollowers who have mastered such techniques as benchmarking and reverse engineering. However, truly transformational change – the form
of change that is needed more than ever — is hard to achieve and is poorly understood.
For this special Discovery Event, IMD is partnering with CERN and the Strategic Management Society to bring strategy, management,
business scholars and practitioners together. The program also includes a visit to CERN and exclusive access to the ATLAS underground
facilities.
Discover
•
How radical innovation takes place
•
Experience of outliers-‘deviant’ organizations that are deliberately taking a different path, or working from a different set of
assumptions.
•
Strategies that enable large-scale, transformative innovation.
Target audience:
•
Any manager required to drive innovation in her/his team, department, project.
April 25
Y O U ’ R E TO O C O M P L E X !:
H O W T O B U I L D A C O M P E T I T I V E AD V AN T AG E O N P R O C E S S AN D S Y S T E M S I M P L I C I T Y
Professor Bettina Büchel
Professor Michael Wade
by invitation only
Which of these two situations best characterizes your situation?:
“We state that we are a global company with operations in
multiple countries, so, from the outside, it looks like a true
multinational; but the view from the inside is less clear: We
have 4 email systems, 13 billing systems, each of our plants
works in a different way, and we are miles away from having a
simple view of the customer.”
OR
“We have just gone through 7 years of process
standardization and we’ve implemented an ERP
system to gain efficiencies, but now it feels like we
have gone too far – we are too complex. Sure, we
have a better view of the business and we have
gained efficiencies through developing common
processes, but we seem to have lost some of our
competitive edge. We’re just not as agile or
customer-oriented as we used to be.”
Discover:
•
How to balance efficiency and flexibility to achieve high performance in dynamic environments,
•
The importance of favoring simplicity and less structure as environmental dynamism increases
•
How to devote significant attention to managing processes and systems inherent in the tensions described above
Target audience:
•
Middle Management
•
Project Managers
•
Operational Managers
•
Supply Chain Managers
April 25-26
F ROM PRODUC T TO SE RV I CE
Professor Wolfgang Ulaga
Today, many firms seek to grow beyond their traditional core and venture into value-added services and customer solutions. Yet, companies
often experience mixed results in implementing service growth strategies and wrestle with strong internal resistance to change from a “box
pushing” mind-set to a truly service-centric approach
In this discovery event, we explore the success factors that B2B companies need to master when moving from products to service(s). To this
end, we draw on lessons learned from our study of large industry leaders in diverse B2B markets about how to escape the commodity trap and
grow successfully in value-added services and customer solutions. Our emphasis is on industrial/B2B marketing contexts, but the lessons
learned apply also to a broader audience, such as distributors or consumer marketing contexts willing to shift from a “box pushing” to a
service-centric logic.
Discover:
•
an opportunity to benchmark your own practices against those of firms in other markets facing the same or very similar challenges
•
analyse your company’s strengths and weaknesses in this arena
•
define trajectories for how to grow your firms’ service portfolios over time.
Target audience:
•
Managers in charge of supervising, designing and executing service-growth strategies in traditional goods-centric firms
•
Managers in a general management position initiating and supervising such a strategy
•
Heads of a Strategic Business Unit
•
Executives and senior managers in charge of business development or strategic growth
•
VP Sales, Director of Marketing, or Head of Service Operations.
May 16-17
E M E R G I N G M AR K E T P E R S P E C T I V E S
Professor Howard Yu
Professor Carlos Braga
In this discovery event, we’ll examine how different business systems and approaches occur in various emerging markets. Professor Carlos
Braga will walk us through some of the key business trends fast becoming the hall mark of many emerging economies. Professor Howard Yu
will examine the key advantages of emerging market firms when they go global. What has been the critical patterns of success among these
emerging contenders? What have been major responses among traditional multinationals?
Discover:
•
Understand the various business approaches required in the increasingly complex and shifting environment of emerging markets.
•
Understand how multinationals can fundamentally reintegrate their activities to deliver compelling value propositions to their target
audience.
Target audience:
•
Managers with responsibilities in emerging markets
•
Leaders who want to think more globally
•
Executives aiming to get a better grasp on how emerging markets impact the global business environment
May 30-31
W I N N I N G T H E W AR F O R T AL E N T :
C R E AT I N G A S U P E R I O R E M P L O Y E E V AL U E P R O P O S I T I O N
Professor Stewart Black
Despite the recent economic downturn, the war for talent is still looming, especially in countries like China and India. Even if demand takes
some time to heat back up, there are underlying and fundamental factors that will make a return to the war for talent inevitable. As a
consequence, creating a superior employee value proposition that allows you to win this war is critical.
Discover:
•
A deeper understanding of the drivers of the impending war for talent.
•
An empirically-based framework for assessing the strength or weakness of your current employee value proposition.
•
Concrete ideas of what actions may be needed to improve your employee value proposition.
Target audience:
•
Top executives for whom attracting, retaining, and leveraging talent is key to their business results
•
Senior HR executives
•
Senior talent management executives
June 4-5
L E AD E R S H I P AN D C H AR AC T E R
Professor Daina D. Mazutis
Recent years have seen a plethora of new “positive forms of leadership” emerge on the best sellers list including: Authentic, Spiritual, Servant,
Moral, Values-Based, Responsible, Prosocial, Primal and Level 5 Leadership amongst others. Although many of these leadership types focus
on key personality traits and behavioral styles necessary to lead in today’s dynamic and complex environment, at the core of these seemingly
different (but logically similar) leadership theories is character.
Discover:
•
Your own character strengths
•
How character is different from personality.
•
How character strengths can help one navigate through tough leadership challenges
Target audience:
•
High potential executives in leadership positions
October 10-11
W H Y T H E O R Y M AT T E R S ?
Professor Albrecht Enders
Professor Howard Yu
Why does theory matter?
In the real word of practicing managers, the word “theory” often has the negative connotation of being far removed from the real-world
challenges of a practicing manager. In fact, theory is often considered to be the opposite of practice.
In this event we want to discuss whether there is perhaps nothing more practical than a good theory and why theory and real world managing
are far from incompatible. In doing so, we will address the following questions:
•
What is theory? And what makes a good theory?
•
Why does theory matter to me in my executive position?
•
What kind of theories do we use in our jobs to make decisions?
•
How can we leverage theory to enhance our job impact?
•
What are the key pitfalls that we need to avoid in our theorizing?
•
How can we systematically develop theory and what are the benefits of doing so?
Target audience:
•
Project Managers
•
Team Leaders
•
Other executives with important decision making responsibilities
November 28-29
F R U G AL I N N O V AT I O N
Professor Pasha Mahmood
From $2500 cars to $35 laptops, frugal innovations that characterize the art of improvising effective solutions using limited resources have
been the hallmark of many emerging economies. As many developed economies face economic downturn, MNCs from these economies need
to look to emerging economies for ways to do more for less, while serving broader markets. During this event we will examine a wide range of
successful and less successful frugal innovations and discover what are the challenges for frugal innovations and how they can be overcome.
Discover:
•
What are the key building blocks of frugal innovations
•
How you can detect and develop frugal innovations in your company.
Target audience:
•
Project Managers with the mandate of achieving more with less
•
Managers facing increasingly stiff challenges from low cost competitors
Brazil
February 21
B E C O M I N G AN E N T E R P R I S E L E A D E R : T H E S E V E N S E I S M I C S H I F T S
Professor Michael D. Watkins
In the corporate world, becoming a General Manager can be both an honor and a curse. Suddenly you are a generalist, with smart specialists
expecting you to lead. From one day to the next you move from being a tactician to being a strategist. Yesterday you were a warrior, and this
morning you woke up as a diplomat. Are you ready for this? Based on extensive research, Dr. Watkins has identified the seven seismic shifts
that managers must make to become effective, mature General Managers. In this Discovery Event he will speak about each of the seven
shifts, as well as the career transition process that a manager needs to navigate.
Discover:
How to move:
•
From Specialist to Generalist
•
From Analyst to Integrator
•
From Tactician to Strategist
•
From Bricklayer to Architect
•
From Problem-solver to Agenda-setter
•
From Warrior to Diplomat
•
From Supporting cast to lead roleWhat are the key building blocks of frugal innovations
•
How you can detect and develop frugal innovations in your company.
Target audience:
•
Middle managers transitioning to General Management roles
April 8
F R U G AL I N N O V AT I O N
Professor Pasha Mahmood
From $2500 cars to $35 laptops, frugal innovations that characterize the art of improvising effective solutions using limited resources have
been the hallmark of many emerging economies. As many developed economies face economic downturn, MNCs from these economies need
to look to emerging economies for ways to do more for less, while serving broader markets. During this event we will examine a wide range of
successful and less successful frugal innovations and discover what are the challenges for frugal innovations and how they can be overcome.
Discover:
•
What are the key building blocks of frugal innovations
•
How you can detect and develop frugal innovations in your company.
Target audience:
•
Project Managers with the mandate of achieving more with less
•
Managers facing increasingly stiff challenges from low cost competitors
June 10
F I N D I N G V A L U A B L E I D E AS
Professor William A. Fischer
Ideas are arguably the most valuable asset in an information-based economy. But how do you find the best ideas-the kind that can boost
careers, change organizations, and ramp up the value of projects. Professor Bill Fischer, co-author of 'The Idea Hunter' will reveal that great
business ideas do not spring from innate creativity, or necessarily from the minds of brilliant people. High value ideas come to those people
who are in the habit of looking for them.
During this Discovery Event, participants will engage in exercises and discussions designed to sharpen their ability to hunt for good new ideas.
Discover:
•
Why ideas are a critical asset for every manager and professional, not just those who do “creative”
•
How to expand your capacity to find and develop winning business ideas
Target Audience:
•
All executives wanting to boost their creativity and enhance their idea generation capacity
September 3
L E AD I N G F O R T H E F U T U R E
Professor Allen J. Morrison
In an increasingly global world where uncertainty, volatility and stiff competition are a constant challenge, tomorrow’s leaders need to be
equipped not only to deal with shifting terrain, but also to keep their teams on track and at peak performance to maintain a winning edge.
During this Discovery Event, Professor Allen Morrison will focus on key issues confronting leaders today and tomorrow and will examine
strategies for successful leadership for the road ahead.
Discover:
•
How to lead in an uncertain world
•
Strategies for successful leadership of high performance teams
•
The future leader’s mind set to deal with tomorrow’s challenges
Target audience:
•
Senior Managers responsible for Business Units, Senior/Middle Managers responsible for leading global teams
Japan
January 29
F I N D I N G V A L U A B L E I D E AS
Professor William A. Fischer
Ideas are arguably the most valuable asset in an information-based economy. But how do you find the best ideas-the kind that can boost
careers, change organizations, and ramp up the value of projects. Professor Bill Fischer, co-author of 'The Idea Hunter' will reveal that great
business ideas do not spring from innate creativity, or necessarily from the minds of brilliant people. High value ideas come to those people
who are in the habit of looking for them.
During this Discovery Event, participants will engage in exercises and discussions designed to sharpen their ability to hunt for good new ideas.
Discover:
•
Why ideas are a critical asset for every manager and professional, not just those who do “creative”
•
How to expand your capacity to find and develop winning business ideas
Target Audience:
•
All executives wanting to boost their creativity and enhance their idea generation capacity
March 11
W I N N I N G T H E W AR F O R T AL E N T :
C R E AT I N G A S U P E R I O R E M P L O Y E E V AL U E P R O P O S I T I O N
Professor Stewart Black
Despite the recent economic downturn, the war for talent is still looming, especially in countries like China and India. Even if demand takes
some time to heat back up, there are underlying and fundamental factors that will make a return to the war for talent inevitable. As a
consequence, creating a superior employee value proposition that allows you to win this war is critical.
Discover:
•
A deeper understanding of the drivers of the impending war for talent.
•
An empirically-based framework for assessing the strength or weakness of your current employee value proposition.
•
Concrete ideas of what actions may be needed to improve your employee value proposition.
Target audience:
•
Top executives for whom attracting, retaining, and leveraging talent is key to their business results
•
Senior HR executives
•
Senior talent management executives
September 11
F R U G AL I N N O V AT I O N
Professor Pasha Mahmood
From $2500 cars to $35 laptops, frugal innovations that characterize the art of improvising effective solutions using limited resources have
been the hallmark of many emerging economies. As many developed economies face economic downturn, MNCs from these economies need
to look to emerging economies for ways to do more for less, while serving broader markets. During this event we will examine a wide range of
successful and less successful frugal innovations and discover what are the challenges for frugal innovations and how they can be overcome.
Discover:
•
What are the key building blocks of frugal innovations
•
How you can detect and develop frugal innovations in your company.
Target audience:
•
Project Managers with the mandate of achieving more with less
•
Managers facing increasingly stiff challenges from low cost competitors
December 11
L E AD I N G F O R T H E F U T U R E
Professor Allen J. Morrison
In an increasingly global world where uncertainty, volatility and stiff competition are a constant challenge, tomorrow’s leaders need to be
equipped not only to deal with shifting terrain, but also to keep their teams on track and at peak performance to maintain a winning edge.
During this Discovery Event, Professor Allen Morrison will focus on key issues confronting leaders today and tomorrow and will examine
strategies for successful leadership for the road ahead.
Discover:
•
How to lead in an uncertain world
•
Strategies for successful leadership of high performance teams
•
The future leader’s mind set to deal with tomorrow’s challenges
Target audience:
•
Senior Managers responsible for Business Units, Senior/Middle Managers responsible for leading global teams
Singapore
February 1
F I N D I N G V A L U A B L E I D E AS
Professor William A. Fischer
Ideas are arguably the most valuable asset in an information-based economy. But how do you find the best ideas-the kind that can boost
careers, change organizations, and ramp up the value of projects. Professor Bill Fischer, co-author of 'The Idea Hunter' will reveal that great
business ideas do not spring from innate creativity, or necessarily from the minds of brilliant people. High value ideas come to those people
who are in the habit of looking for them.
During this Discovery Event, participants will engage in exercises and discussions designed to sharpen their ability to hunt for good new ideas.
Discover:
•
Why ideas are a critical asset for every manager and professional, not just those who do “creative”
•
How to expand your capacity to find and develop winning business ideas
Target Audience:
•
All executives wanting to boost their creativity and enhance their idea generation capacity
September 12
F R U G AL I N N O V AT I O N
Professor Pasha Mahmood
From $2500 cars to $35 laptops, frugal innovations that characterize the art of improvising effective solutions using limited resources have
been the hallmark of many emerging economies. As many developed economies face economic downturn, MNCs from these economies need
to look to emerging economies for ways to do more for less, while serving broader markets. During this event we will examine a wide range of
successful and less successful frugal innovations and discover what are the challenges for frugal innovations and how they can be overcome.
Discover:
•
What are the key building blocks of frugal innovations
•
How you can detect and develop frugal innovations in your company.
Target audience:
•
Project Managers with the mandate of achieving more with less
•
Managers facing increasingly stiff challenges from low cost competitors