Case Study

Royal DSM (C): Taking marketing & sales excellence to the next level

2 pages
April 2015
Reference: IMD-7-1648

This three-part case series examines the change management challenge of putting corporate marketing at the top of the corporate executive suite (C-suite) agenda in a business-to-business (B2B) multinational. It follows the four-year journey, from 2010 to 2014, of Mauricio Adade, the newly appointed chief marketing officer (CMO) of Royal DSM – a global leader in life sciences and material sciences headquartered in the Netherlands. The case series, together with the video supplement, delves into the issues faced by the company’s top leadership, including Adade, in its effort to transform a diversified industrial company into an organization with best-in-class marketing and sales capabilities. Case C provides an update on the replacement of Adade (announced in December 2014) and allows for a discussion on the challenges that lie ahead for the new CMO and the organization as a whole.

Learning Objective
  • What triggers the need in a B2B company to build best-in-class marketing capabilities at the corporate (headquarters) level?
  • How can a CMO successfully drive change and overcome the legacy of a product-focused and highly decentralized organization?
  • What are the different roles and responsibilities of the corporate marketing function in an industrial B2B company?
Keywords
Marketing, Chief Marketing Officer, Corporate Marketing, Business to Business, Capability, Change Management, Materials Science, Life Science, Engineered Material
Settings
World/global, Netherlands
Dutch State Mines, Materials, Manufacturing, Chemicals
2010-2014
Type
Field Research
Copyright
© 2015
Available Languages
English
Related material
Teaching note, Video
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This case study is part of a series
  • Royal DSM (A): Creating a chief marketing officer (CMO) position in a B2B firm
  • Royal DSM (B): The challenge of establishing the corporate marketing function
  • Royal DSM (C): Taking marketing & sales excellence to the next level
This case study is part of a series
  • Royal DSM (A): Creating a chief marketing officer (CMO) position in a B2B firm
  • Royal DSM (B): The challenge of establishing the corporate marketing function
  • Royal DSM (C): Taking marketing & sales excellence to the next level
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Royal DSM (A): Creating a chief marketing officer (CMO) position in a B2B firm
By Wolfgang Ulaga and Athanasios Kondis
Case reference: IMD-7-1646 ©2015
Summary
This three-part case series examines the change management challenge of putting corporate marketing at the top of the corporate executive suite (C-...
Reference IMD-7-1646
Copyright ©2015
Copyright owner IMD Copyright
Organization Dutch State Mines
Industry Materials;Manufacturing, Chemicals
Available Languages English
Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Royal DSM (B): The challenge of establishing the corporate marketing function
By Wolfgang Ulaga and Athanasios Kondis
Case reference: IMD-7-1647 ©2015
Summary
This three-part case series examines the change management challenge of putting corporate marketing at the top of the corporate executive suite (C-...
Reference IMD-7-1647
Copyright ©2015
Copyright owner IMD Copyright
Organization Dutch State Mines
Industry Materials;Manufacturing, Chemicals
Available Languages English
Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Royal DSM (C): Taking marketing & sales excellence to the next level
By Wolfgang Ulaga and Athanasios Kondis
Case reference: IMD-7-1648 ©2015
Summary
This three-part case series examines the change management challenge of putting corporate marketing at the top of the corporate executive suite (C-...
Reference IMD-7-1648
Copyright ©2015
Copyright owner IMD Copyright
Organization Dutch State Mines
Industry Materials;Manufacturing, Chemicals
Available Languages English
Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications