- IMD Business School
Unseen barriers in the modern workplace

Prudence in a maze of metaphors

Prudence in a maze of metaphors follows a fictional woman navigating workplace barriers like the Sticky Floor, Glass Ceiling, and Motherhood Penalty. Though rooted in gender dynamics, the case expands to explore systemic challenges tied to race, class, disability, and privilege. It offers a flexible framework for instructors to spark meaningful dialogue on inclusion, bias, and structural inequality. By encouraging peer learning and self-reflection, it equips leaders to handle difficult conversations and foster inclusive cultures. The case also opens space to explore how different groups, including men, experience career stagnation. What invisible barriers are shaping your path?

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  • The power of brand-led differentiation: What Vanzetti Engineering learned from luxury brands (B) (Video case)
    By Stéphane J. G. Girod and Martin Králik
    Case reference: IMD-2696 ©2025
    Summary
    This case series explores what companies can learn from luxury brands without becoming luxury brands themselves. The video B case features interviews with three Vanzetti Engineering executives: the marketing director, the CEO and owner and the chief commercial officer. With the shrinking of the automobile industry, the company has had to reposition itself in other industrial sectors where it is significantly smaller than the customers. Vanzetti Engineering embraced some of the codes of luxury branding according to what suited it and ignored others. The company discovered that although it was focused mostly on creating functional value, it had to dwell much more on emotional and societal value creation. The process of brand elevation required a complete cultural transformation, and one of the lessons from the case is that a brand is not a slogan but a way of being and of delivering value.
    Reference IMD-2696
    Copyright ©2025
    Copyright owner IMD Copyright
    Organization Vanzetti Engineering
    Industry Construction and Engineering;Manufacturing
    Available Languages English
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