TDK integrates IMD’s OWP into its leadership program to build global-ready leaders, spark fresh thinking, and drive real impact across the business.
For TDK, the Japanese electronics giant, partnering with IMD’s five-day Orchestrating Winning Performance (OWP) program isn’t just about leadership development; it’s part of a larger strategy to build a globally connected, forward-thinking leadership pipeline.
“We embed OWP into our Global Advanced Management Program as a key module,” says Karine Le Heiget, Deputy Head of Human Growth at TDK, who runs the company’s global leadership programs. “It’s the first face-to-face element of the program, and we treat it like a catalyst. It accelerates development. It’s where perspectives open up.”
Putting strategy into action
TDK’s Global AMP isn’t window dressing. It targets general managers and deputies with global responsibilities, designed to sharpen their capabilities and prepare them for future challenges.
TDK executives have attended OWP every year since 2019 and are bringing 26 of their global leaders this year. Participants choose OWP streams that match both their development needs and the real business challenges they’re addressing through their so-called impact projects – initiatives directly linked to TDK’s mid-term strategic goals.
At the close of each OWP day, TDK participants gather for structured reflection sessions led by IMD Professor of Leadership and Organizational Change Winter Nie, the program director for TDK’s Global Advanced Leadership Program, creating space to consolidate learning and connect insights to their real-world challenges.
As Le Heiget puts it, “They don’t just learn individually. They share what they’ve learned each evening and reflect on what the implications are for TDK. This creates a collective intelligence and accelerates the application of ideas.”
Not just theory. Actionable insight
TDK’s leaders walk away from OWP with more than new ideas. They leave with shifts in how they think and lead. For Fiona Ou, Chief Operating Officer for TDK’s aluminum and film capacitors division, the experience was both “eye-opening” and “thought-provoking.”
One practical takeaway stuck: “Handle conflicts constructively. For complex issues, we need structured solutions, not just one right answer.”
Xiao Chan, Global Head of Product Marketing at the aforementioned division, says OWP helped her confront the messiness of change.
“The program helped me learn how to adapt to change and manage it effectively within an organization,” she says. “One of the biggest takeaways was the importance of agility – being able to move quickly and respond to uncertainty.”
A shared experience that sticks
For Matt Cotton, Managing Director for the EMEA region at TDK-Lambda – a division that makes power supplies for industrial and electronic equipment – OWP delivered tools he could use immediately.
“The realization that customers don’t love our products the way we do – but see them as a way to solve their problems – was revelatory,” says Cotton. “It helped us shift our thinking beyond selling on price and focus on identifying real value in our solutions.”
Frederico Knorr, Executive Vice President and COO for the piezo and protection devices division, came away with similar clarity.
“The class on ‘Get Ready to Leap’ with professor Howard Yu made me realize incrementalism wasn’t enough,” he says. “We had to get disruptive.”
Knorr used those insights to reorganize teams. “We had real issues connecting product development with production,” he says. “The insights from OWP encouraged me to re-shuffle the organization and put people in charge of bridging that gap. That change became the foundation of a new approach for our business group.”
Real-time dialogue
TDK’s Chief Executive, Noboru Saito, doesn’t just support the program – he shows up. Every year. “He spends time with every project team,” says Le Heiget. “It’s a strong signal. He wants to understand their ideas and share his vision face-to-face.”
Andreas Keller, TDK’s Chief Human Resources Officer, agrees: “The interaction at OWP raises energy levels. It gives people confidence. They return with new perspectives and strategies they can act on.”
One participant was so inspired by a sustainability session with IMD Professor of Marketing and Strategy Frédéric Dalsace that they invited him to speak at an internal TDK event.
Learning that evolves with the world
The content isn’t static. Each year brings fresh relevance. Philip Irving, Deputy General Manager of TDK’s production headquarters, joined OWP in 2024. His standout moment? A session with affiliate professor of leadership Katharina Lange and digital strategy professor José Parra Moyano on AI and coaching.
“I had never imagined that AI could be used to improve and augment a manager’s capability to coach and support their employees,” says Irving. “It was a real eye-opener.”
He calls OWP a “mini-MBA” – dense, rigorous, and current: “This has provided me more confidence and trust in my knowledge, to set the agenda for my business, and the conviction to execute.”
Long-term impact. Not one-off learning
Keller puts it simply, saying, “This isn’t a checkbox exercise.” He sees OWP as an “inspired program,” one that gives participants “confidence, new perspectives, and an actionable strategy to drive change and growth.”
Le Heiget agrees. “It’s a candy shop, where they can get all they need, learn and expand their perspectives, and grow themselves as leaders and managers. It’s also a mirror. It shows our leaders where they stand and where they need to go.”
TDK isn’t just sending people to OWP to learn. It’s building something bigger – a leadership culture fit for the future.
