IMD is pleased to announce that Julia Binder, Professor of Sustainable Innovation and Business Transformation, and Heather Cairns-Lee, Affiliate Professor of Leadership and Communication, have won the Outstanding Case Writer Hot Topic – Taking Action on the Environment – at The Case Centre Awards and Competitions 2024 for their case on Logitech’s carbon impact.
Carbon is the new calorie: Logitech’s carbon impact label to drive transparency in sustainability, written by Binder, who is director of IMD’s Center for Sustainable and Inclusive Business, and Cairns-Lee, explores how the multinational tech company is driving change across the industry and beyond for more transparent and responsible business practices.
The case covers the period from 2019 to 2022 when head of global operations and sustainability Prakash Arunkundrum carried out an ambitious carbon-labeling initiative, that is, a plan to have the carbon lifecycle of Logitech’s products displayed on the packaging just like calorie counts for food items. The major hurdle faced by the initiative? To achieve an industry-wide adoption of carbon labeling.
“Winning the Outstanding Case Writer competition in the ‘hot topic’ category is doubly meaningful. On a personal level, it is a gratifying acknowledgment and a testament to our exceptional teamwork. More importantly, this award will help to further publicize our Logitech case, which we believe will contribute to our collective understanding of leading impactful change within an organization and beyond,” said Binder and Cairns-Lee.
“We hope that our case inspires even more responsible leadership in organizations to drive sustainability for positive environmental change and highlights the need for different perspectives on this complex subject. We really enjoyed collaborating to bring different lenses in addressing this multifaceted case.”
The Case Centre Awards and Competitions recognizes and celebrates outstanding case writers and teachers across the globe.
It is the fourth time that IMD faculty have won in this category since it was introduced in 2011, with previous wins in 2011, 2016, and 2017.
The case also won the Responsible Leadership category in the 2022 EFMD Case Writing Competition.
Case studies, which describe real-life business challenges, are popular tools in management education to hone learners’ ability to understand the minutiae and to analyze and strategize effectively. IMD’s faculty has been producing case studies for more than 50 years.
