The physics of leadership: Mobilizing, focusing and sustaining leadership in your organization

Many new businesses have emerged in recent years with few employees, no roots in the community, and heavily reliant on Big Tech for survival.

The GreenGro (A) case explores the challenges faced by GreenGro, a mid-sized agricultural technology company, as it navigates a rapidly changing industry landscape. CEO Sarah Chen and her leadership team are confronting issues ranging from technological disruption and shifting customer demographics to climate change impacts and supply chain vulnerabilities. The case provides a rich context for applying the TSUNAMI framework to diagnose multifaceted challenges and the SURF framework to develop critical organizational capabilities. These two frameworks are summarized in a technical note: “Surfing the TSUNAMI: A framework for assessing and adapting in turbulent times” (IMD-7-2629). The case presents students with the opportunity to analyze complex business situations, develop strategic responses and understand the interconnected nature of external challenges and internal adaptive capabilities. A follow-up case, “GreenGro (B): SURFing the TSUNAMI” (IMD-7-2628), is available to showcase how the company applied these frameworks to navigate its challenges. It provides students with insights into the practical application of the TSUNAMI and SURF frameworks in a real-world scenario.

The GreenGro (B) case study is a follow-up to GreenGro (A) and details how the company applied the TSUNAMI and SURF frameworks to address its complex challenges. The case illustrates the practical implementation of these frameworks, introduced in the technical note “Surfing the TSUNAMI: A framework for assessing and adapting in turbulent times” (IMD-7-2629). The case details how GreenGro's leadership team systematically analyzed their external environment using the TSUNAMI framework, identifying key challenges in areas such as technological disruption, socio-economic shifts and climate impacts. It then showcases how the company focused on developing its internal adaptive capabilities using the SURF framework, focusing on strategic thinking, unified ecosystem leadership, resilient organization and flexible tenacity. By presenting GreenGro’s strategic responses and the outcomes of its decisions, this case provides students with a real-world example of how organizations can navigate turbulent business environments. It offers insights into the process of translating framework-based analysis into actionable strategies and the challenges of implementing significant organizational changes.

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In June 2024, at the CocoaCrafters Operating Centre, Elena Fever faced a crucial meeting with the board of directors. The discussion surrounded how to integrate Generative AI (GenAI) into the company’s supply chain strategy to enhance forecasting and simulation while maintaining ethical standards. CocoaCrafters (CC), a global confectionery leader, was renowned for its commitment to sustainable cocoa sourcing. Despite the board’s strong business acumen, they lagged on the digital agenda and for them the only success criterion was a convincing ROI. Elena’s challenges were amplified by the unknowns surrounding GenAI. Since ChatGPT’s debut, she had been urging her team to identify use cases that aligned with CC's strategic priorities and met its ethical commitments. CC’s digital transformation had begun in 2010 and was marked by phases of awareness, strategic adoption, advanced technology integration and a digital-first culture by 2020. CC’s unsuccessful blockchain project underscored the need for careful planning and ethical considerations in adopting new technologies. CC aimed to use GenAI to optimize its supply chain by forecasting cocoa yields, predicting market trends and simulating environmental impacts. However, ethical concerns about labor conditions and data manipulation persisted. Elena considered the HITL-HOTL-HOL framework for human involvement in AI decisions, reflecting on input from FMCG executives and consulting experts. Despite a lack of specific GenAI decision-making frameworks, traditional strategic basic frameworks were emphasized. Elena presented the board with strategic choices: waiting, focused phased use cases, full integration, or strategic partnerships.

The increasing pace of disruption and change means leaders need to cultivate behaviors that support their sustained success. From building strategic flexibility to broadening stakeholder connections, here is our expert guide to leading in an age o...

When the dotcom bubble burst in March 2000, this did not stop the world from going digital, but it did poke holes in the concept of trust, especially in the digital world. David Goldenberg, a Belgian entrepreneur with extensive experience in management consulting, was confronted daily with the hassles of recruiting when information about candidates could not be validated easily. Research showed that 30% to 50% of CVs contained errors, omissions or outright fraudulent claims. Could trust in the recruitment process be re-created for the benefit of all parties? The initial idea in 2010 was to develop a solution for digitally certified diplomas, and it led to the launch of CVTrust. Through a number of iterations based on feedback from early adopters, including some prestigious European business schools, the solution evolved from Smart Diploma to Smart Certificate and a full suite of fully integrated SaaS addressing the digital certification needs of all certificate-granting institutions. By 2024, CVTrust was forced to revisit its business model, competitive advantages and routes to market for a number of reasons. These included the emergence of open standards, legislation on digital certificates and an increase in digital education in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Was it time to pivot again to remain relevant?