IMD Sustainability Report 2024 by IbyIMD

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Founded by business for business, we are a forward-thinking university institute with Swiss roots and global reach. Challenging what is and inspiring what could be, we develop leaders and organizations for a more prosperous, sustainable and inclusive world. To become, and be recognized as, the world’s most impactful business school.

Message From the President 01

David Bach

IMD President and Nestlé Professor of Strategy and Political Economy

Dear friends of IMD,

Business leaders today are facing a fork in the road. Climate change, social upheavals, technological transformation, regulatory shifts, and geopolitical uncertainty are reshaping industries at an unprecedented pace. The challenge – and opportunity – lies in ensuring that economic growth and prosperity go hand in hand with environmental and social responsibility.

At IMD, we’re spearheading a bold vision for how business can drive sustainability. We empower leaders with cutting-edge tools, insights, and strategies to turn sustainability into a catalyst for innovation and long-term success. As a dynamic hub for global business leaders, we are shifting the focus from ‘why’ sustainability matters to ‘how’ it can be embedded into strategy, operations, and leadership. At the same time, we remain deeply committed to advancing sustainability within our own institution.

Our 2024 Sustainability Report reflects the concrete progress we have made in integrating sustainability into our education, research, partnerships, and operations.

Integrating sustainability into executive education

We are pushing the boundaries of sustainabilityfocused executive education. In 2024, we launched four new Sustainability Accelerator programs, introduced an Executive Certificate in Sustainable Business, and are set to launch an Executive Master’s degree. We expanded our global reach with Sustainability for Business: ESG Fundamentals, our first Coursera course, which makes our professors’ expertise freely available to managers around the world. Meanwhile, our MBA program climbed in the Corporate Knights sustainability ranking, underscoring our commitment to embedding sustainability into core business education. Our innovative pedagogy earned top honors at the QS Reimagine Education Conference, where our SpheriCO2 XR 360 Leadership Game won Gold for Immersive Experiential Learning.

Advancing sustainability through research

Rigorous research and actionable thought leadership are at the heart of IMD’s impact. In 2024, more than 45 faculty and experts collaborated on Leading the Sustainable Business Revolution, an essential playbook to help leaders navigate the complexities of sustainability leadership and seize emerging opportunities.

We also strengthened our research contributions with The Circular Business Revolution: A Practical Framework for Sustainable Business Models by Julia Binder and Manuel Braun, and Nature’s ROI: 5 Key Enablers to Building a Nature-Positive Business Strategy, a groundbreaking collaboration with the WWF. Additionally, our joint white paper with Capgemini Invent, Lead the Change, presents new frameworks for sustainable business leadership.

Extending our impact through partnerships

Collaboration is central to our approach. In 2024, we co-hosted an alumni conference for the Business Schools for Climate Leadership (BS4CL) alliance, bringing together high-profile practitioners from eight leading European business schools. We also engaged our sustainability alumni community in a forum on tackling climate finance and convened senior sustainability leaders to share insights and challenges through our Sustainability Leaders Circle. We shared our expertise at key global forums, including the World Economic Forum, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development Summit, the Building Bridges Summit, and the Inner Development Goals Summit.

Enhancing diversity and access to education

Leadership must be inclusive to achieve sustainable impact. Our MBA program continues to attract top talent from 44 nationalities, with 37% female participants, reinforcing our commitment to diversity. We launched a Women on Boards program to support women seeking corporate board positions and celebrated the 20th anniversary of Strategies for Leadership, Europe’s longest-running women-only leadership development program. In addition, we proudly launched a Women’s Leadership Program in collaboration with MIM Kyiv and supported by the Lundin Chair, designed to empower Ukrainian female leaders in times of crisis.

Managing our environmental impact

Beyond education, we lead by example. In 2024, we expanded our solar energy infrastructure, connected our Lausanne campus to district heating for greater efficiency, and introduced a new supplier code of conduct to strengthen responsible procurement practices. Our employees actively engaged in Climate Week learning initiatives, reinforcing our culture of sustainability.

Recognizing our leadership in sustainability

IMD has held an EcoVadis Gold Sustainability Rating since 2022, affirming our position as a global leader in sustainable business. In 2024, we were selected as part of the 2024-2025 cohort of Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) Champions – a distinguished collective of business schools shaping the future of sustainability in management education.

Looking ahead

This report is a testament to our commitment as signatories to the PRME and our ongoing pursuit of excellence in sustainable business education. As we reflect on the milestones of 2024, we remain steadfast in our mission to challenge the status quo, inspire change, and drive meaningful impact that will shape a better future for generations to come.

David Bach

IMD President and Nestlé Professor of Strategy and Political Economy

Our Sustainability Journey 02

Discover more about this report and our highlights of the year.

About this report

Welcome to the IMD 2024 Sustainability Report. It details our journey over the last year as we deepen our commitment to sustainability through our learning, research, outreach, and campus operations. The data covers our performance against our key material focus areas.

We view sustainability around the value we create (our handprint) and the impact we have (our footprint). You will see that this report is structured with this in mind. Sections 3-5 look at our handprint, and sections 6-7 look our footprint. Sustainability reporting enables us to determine and communicate our material sustainability impacts and provides important information to all our stakeholders on the progress we are making in line with our commitments.

Scope and boundary

This report covers the social and environmental issues that we impact and that impact our organization; however, the report only tells part of our story. For a comprehensive overview of our financial and operational performance for the period, this report should be read in conjunction with our 2024 Annual Report, which can be found on the IMD website: www.imd.org.

About IMD

Sustainability is embedded in IMD’s purpose and is a key element of our vision for the future: challenging what is and inspiring what could be, we develop leaders and organizations that contribute to a more prosperous, sustainable, and inclusive world.

The Institute for Management Development (IMD) is an independent university institute with close ties to business and a strong focus on impact. Through our Executive Education, MBA, and Executive MBA we help leaders and policymakers navigate complexity and change.

We support the transition to a new economic model that balances prosperity and growth with ecological sustainability and social inclusion. Sustainability, diversity, and inclusion are core pillars of our institute.

We deliver impactful learning experiences for individuals and teams across the globe and combine a deep understanding of human dynamics with a pioneering approach to technology and artificial intelligence.

We have campuses in Lausanne and Singapore and a Management Development Hub in Shenzhen. Our innovation hub is based in Cape Town.

Highlights of the year in review

In 2024, we achieved several important milestones, reaffirming our position as a global leader in business education that drives impact. Our efforts were recognized by IMD achieving an Ecovadis Gold Sustainability Rating.

How we create value

Enabling sustainable and inclusive business

Through our research

The circular business revolution: A practical framework for sustainable business models by Julia Binder and Manuel Braun published

Leading the Sustainable Business Revolution by Julia Binder and Knut Haanaes released

Nature’s ROI: 5 Key Enablers to Building a Nature Positive Business Strategy a white paper by Julia Binder, Adrian Dellecker, and the WWF issued

Georgios Polychronopoulos appointed as a research fellow in sustainable development

Lead the Change

Sight unseen: The visibility paradox of entrepreneurship in an informal

Sophie Bacq’s paper won the Journal of Business Venturing Best Paper Award of 2024

Lead the Change a sustainability-focused white paper launched by IMD and Cap Gemini Invent

Sara Ratti joined as a research fellow specializing in sustainability measurement, management, and reporting

Through our programs and teaching

Sustainability Accelerator programs launched

975

People completed the Coursera course Sustainability for Business: ESG Fundamentals

Executive Certificate in Sustainable Business launched New Partnership

with Copenhagen Business School to offer joint executive certificate

Through our outreach and partnerships

IMD selected

for the 2024-2025 cohort of PRME Champions

IMD recognized by Poets&Quants as one of the world’s best business schools

100

participants in an alumni conference hosted by Business Schools for Climate Leadership Inner Development Goals summit

IMD a business track participant

Sustainability Leaders

circle held by IMD

IMD participated in the World Business Council for Sustainable Development summit

24th

place: MBA improves Corporate Knights sustainability ranking from 53 in 2023

IMD reaccredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business noting the robust integration of sustainability and DE&I themes in our programs

IMD hosted the TOGETHER Alumni Community reunion focusing on financing the climate transition

IMD contributed to the Building Bridges Summit in Geneva

Impact-driven education

Two FT Responsible Education Awards

the Best School Award and the Teaching Award (highly commended)

2024 Learning in Practice Gold Award

in the Excellence in Executive Education category for our transformative collaboration with Bayer

We@IMD earned Gold for Best Advance in Education Delivered Through Technology at the Brandon Hall Group Excellence in Technology Awards

Gold Award

for XR 360 Leadership Game SpheriCO2 for Immersive Experiential Learning at the QS Reimagine Education Conference

Access and representation in our programs

37%

women in our MBA program, the highest number of female MBAs to date

IMD and MIM Kyiv

44 nationalities in our MBA program

offered a Women’s Leadership Program sponsored by the Lundin Chair to support Ukrainian female leaders

MBA enrolment from Africa and the Middle East, up from 3% in 2019

How

Our people 55

manage our footprint

nationalities represented in our workforce 57% of all employees and 33% of our leadership team are women We supported several initiatives in 2024 focused on healthcare, humanitarian aid, and children

IdeaHub launched to enhance employee engagement

Observed international awareness days including Pride Month, Black History Month, the International Day of Disability, Climate Week, and International Women’s Day

Our environmental impact 70% of campus buildings have automated lighting systems installed 2/3 of Lausanne campus buildings have solar panels installed Mærsk McKinney Møller Center our newest campus building, is heated and cooled geothermally using water from Lake Geneva District heating installed to improve energy efficiency

New Supplier Code of Conduct

approved for responsible procurement

Climate Week in Lausanne employees engage in learning events

Our approach to sustainability

Our approach to sustainability is firmly anchored in our purpose:

Challenging what is and inspiring what could be, we develop leaders who transform organizations for a more prosperous, sustainable, and inclusive world.

As a leading business school with Swiss roots and global reach, we share responsibility for contributing to a more prosperous, inclusive, and sustainable world. We envision our role in two ways:

D Influencing business to be more sustainable through facilitating learning, developing, and disseminating research, and driving partnerships and outreach

D Demonstrating our commitment to sustainable behaviors through our campus operations and responsible and inclusive employment practices

Our key frameworks

Our strategy is based on our commitments to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), which are outlined in an institutional policy.

The SDGs where IMD has the greatest impact are:

The 7 Principles for Responsible Management Education also guide our work:

Research

We study people, organizations, institutions, and the state of the world to inspire responsible management and education practice.

Teach

We transform our learning environments by integrating responsible management concepts and practices into our curriculum and pedagogy.

Partner

We engage people from business, government, civil society, and academia to advance responsible and accountable management education and practice.

We share our successes and failures with each other to enable our collective learning and best live our common values and purpose.

Values

We place organizational responsibility and accountability to society and the planet at the core of what we do.

Purpose

We advance responsible management education to foster inclusive prosperity in a world of thriving ecosystems.

Practice

We adopt responsible and accountable management principles in our governance and operations.

Our impact has a ripple effect around the globe as we develop responsible leaders and organizations through innovative pedagogy, rigorous and relevant research, and strong partnerships. We call that our handprint. We also take care to manage our environmental footprint and ensure sustainable operations.

Natalia Olynec Chief Sustainability Officer, IMD

Our commitment to the SDGs and PRME principles

In 2024, IMD was selected for the 2024-2025 cohort of PRME Champions, a global collective of business and management schools that are dedicated to raising the bar for sustainable business.

Our sustainability journey 2023

About IMD

What does sustainability mean for IMD?

How sustainability is governed

How we engage our stakeholders

Our focus areas

Enabling sustainable and inclusive business

Through executive learning

Through our research

Through our outreach and partnerships

Impact-driven education

Measuring the impact of our programs

Measuring our programs’ impact on society

Technology-enriched sustainability learning at OWP

Access and representation in our programs

Diversity in our programs

Advances in geographical diversity

Use of technology to enable greater access

Our scholarships

Our non-profit offering

SDGs

PRME principles

Our people

Keeping our community healthy and safe

Working towards gender equity

Fostering inclusion at IMD

Supporting a learning culture

Engaging our communities

Commitment to ethics and transparency

Managing our environmental impact

Carbon strategy

Our carbon footprint

Reducing waste and increasing recycling

Sustainable travel

Cutting our energy consumption

Sustainable catering

Sustainable procurement

Promoting biodiversity

How sustainability is governed at IMD

We embed sustainability throughout our work through cross-functional collaboration and strong governance.

The Executive Director of the Center for Sustainable and Inclusive Business sets the direction for research on sustainable business and its contribution to innovative pedagogy and partnerships.

Our Green Council, comprised of heads of key functions, oversees the implementation of actions identified to reduce our campus’ carbon footprint.

Our Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer, who reports to the President and is accountable to the leadership team composed of heads of key functions, engages with internal stakeholders and external partners on DE&I activities and collaborates with the Head of HR to ensure a caring and inclusive workplace.

Our DE&I strategy focuses on influencing leaders and organizations, driving innovation and nurturing a caring and inclusive culture. It is based on our DE&I house model, successfully used by several Fortune 500 companies. More detail on our DE&I house model can be found on page 88.

Our approach to diversity embraces the core five diversity elements including gender, nationality, sexual orientation, age, and disability. This is supported by a strong focus on inclusion and inclusive leadership. We aspire to seamlessly embed the latter into our programs, research, and working environment.

We drive and monitor our impact through regular employee engagement surveys to ensure we are making continuous progress. Our DE&I Council, consisting of employees across functions and seniority, as well as MBA and EMBA representatives, plays an important role in ensuring all voices are represented. The Council guides DE&I initiatives on campus and meets quarterly. Pedagogy is managed by the faculty Dean.

How we engage our stakeholders

We communicate our progress in sustainability regularly and engage our stakeholders to ensure their feedback is reflected in our approach. Scan here for more information on how we engage our stakeholders.

Leadership team, Foundation and Supervisory boards

Key issues How we engage

D Impact-driven education

D Enabling sustainable and inclusive business

D Long-term strategy

D Risk management

D Ethical business

Program participants and corporate clients

D Quarterly Supervisory Board

D meetings

D Biannual Foundation Board

D meetings

D Bimonthly leadership team

D meetings

Key issues How we engage

D Programs meet learning objectives

D Innovative pedagogy

D Data privacy

D Access to applicable research and thought leadership

D Regular meetings with client relationship managers

D Program co-creation

D Roundtables, communities, and webinars

D Digital newsletters Alumni

D Networking opportunities

D Access to thought leadership

D Information on programs

D International Alumni Association

D Alumni reunions

D Club events

D Online platform

D Webinars

D Digital newsletters Accreditation bodies Key

D Research

D Program development and quality

D Diversity and inclusion

D Sustainable campus operations

D Accreditation reports

D Sustainable campus operations

D Accreditation visits and review

Employees

Key issues

D Working conditions

D Diversity and inclusion

D Health, Safety, and Well-being

D Employee development opportunities

D Employee engagement and feedback

Suppliers and service providers

Key issues

D Ethical business practices

D Timely payments

Local communities

Key issues

D Support to local economy and social cohesion

How we engage

D Employee intranet

D Community meetings

D Annual performance reviews

D Development plans

D Annual employee engagement surveys

D Monthly sustainability newsletter

D Community service events

How we engage

D Transparency and fairness in procurement

D Code of Conduct

D Supplier policy

How we engage

D Employee volunteering

D Regular meetings with local government authorities

How we track our progress and aim to extend our impact

We ensure that our progress is tracked through regular communication with our stakeholders, such as presentations to the supervisory board and the leadership team, a monthly newsletter to our employees, and reporting for the PRME and Ecovadis. The Green Council tracks and oversees progress on our carbon reduction ambitions. Further, we aim to extend our impact by making steady

progress on our key material issues. We will continue to improve our impact measurement processes and leverage technology to extend the reach of our influence. Our impact will be magnified by deepening our partnerships with organizations such as Business Schools for Climate Leadership, the PRME, Inner Development Goals, and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

Our core focus areas

Transformative priorities:

Material topics that, when activated, have a high potential for value creation. They belong to the IMD’s strategy.

Sustainability enablers:

Material topics that represent IMD’s sustainability baseline. When unmet, they hinder IMD’s sustainability potential.

Sustainability fundamentals:

Material topics that should be actively monitored to meet compliance standards and other stakeholders’ expectations.

Double materiality:

Outside-in: The risks and opportunities for IMD. Inside-out: The impact of IMD’s activities on society and the environment.

What is material to IMD

Sustainability comprises a broad range of environmental, social, and governance issues. To create real impact, we focus on those areas where we have the most influence. We defined our approach through a materiality exercise in 2023. This process refreshed our initial materiality exercise undertaken in 2019, which engaged a wide range of stakeholders, including employees, clients, participants, suppliers, and partners.

Our approach considered the latest guidelines, including the Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), which call for incorporating double materiality. We also engaged with a wide range of stakeholders in interviews and workshops to assess key sustainability issues from two perspectives:

D Outside-in (financial) – the risks and opportunities for IMD

D Inside-out (social/environmental) – the impact of IMD’s activities on society and the environment

The process identified 12 material focus areas as transformational in terms of offering the greatest opportunities and magnifying our influence on society:

D Impact-driven education, ensuring the continuous growth and impact of IMD’s work

D Enabling inclusive and sustainable business to inspire sustainable business models and the development of responsible leaders

D Access and representation in programs, focusing on increasing diversity

An additional nine areas focus on IMD’s own behaviors and are fundamental enablers to responsible business practices. These are addressed in the last two sections of the report.

D Diversity and inclusion in our workforce

D Employee attraction and development

D Emissions and pollution reduction

D Resource use and waste management

D Sustainable procurement

D Business ethics

D Health, safety, and well-being

D Data protection and information security

D Human rights and labor standards

Enabling Sustainable and Inclusive Business 03

We enable sustainable and inclusive business through executive learning, research, outreach, and partnerships.

Learning

We believe the responsibility of business extends to a full range of stakeholders throughout the value chain. Sustainable business transformation has become a key responsibility for a wide range of roles in an organization.

This requires cross-functional leadership, tapping into skills with a ‘heads, hearts, and hands’ approach. Our Degree and Executive Education programs integrate sustainability themes and capabilities.

Our MBA program

We are the trusted learning partner of choice for ambitious individuals and organizations worldwide and offer a hands-on, experiential learning approach to learning.

Recognizing the changing demands on our graduates to be future-ready, we integrate sustainability throughout the MBA degree curriculum. The program, designed in collaboration with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), is based on a skills mapping that identifies MBA graduates’ capabilities to tackle corporate sustainability challenges upon graduation. The 2024 MBA cohort included 101 participants from 44 nationalities, with 38 women and 99 international students. This diverse group brought a wide range of experiences and perspectives, creating a vibrant and collaborative learning environment. In 2024, IMD soared 31 places in the Corporate Knights ranking of the most sustainable MBA programs, climbing from position 53 in 2023 to 31 in 2024.

MBA sustainability electives

We offer 24 electives as part of our MBA, with four focused on sustainability. An additional three electives have sustainability elements.

Electives focused on sustainability:

Creating a transformative green culture: a personal journey is centered on sustainability and ESG leadership. It integrates hard and soft skills necessary for leading sustainability transformations within organizations. It also emphasizes leadership and collaboration skills essential for driving sustainable change.

Creating value in the circular economy focuses entirely on the principles of the circular economy, aiming to transition businesses from linear to circular models. It provides a deep dive into sustainability through innovation and ecosystem thinking.

The dynamic world of impact investing explicitly deals with aligning financial strategies with environmental and social impact, exploring tools like blended finance, gender-lens investing, and humanitarian bonds to achieve SDGs.

AI strategies for a prosperous, sustainable, and inclusive economy while focused on AI, this elective prioritizes sustainability and inclusivity in the context of adopting technology responsibly.

Electives with sustainability elements:

D Applying and benchmarking GenAI to future-proof supply chains , although the primary focus is on GenAI and supply chains, it incorporates sustainability as a key component of future-proof supply chain management alongside resilience and digitization.

D Fundamentals of luxury management addresses sustainability within the context of luxury management, discussing how luxury brands can integrate purpose and environmental considerations into their strategies.

D Advanced financial strategies: macro-finance and global trends incorporates sustainability by addressing systemic risks, global megatrends, and transformative shifts, some of which align with sustainability-focused strategies in finance and investment.

MBA sustainability curriculum themes

Our MBA program includes the following sustainability-related themes:

Sustainability skills

D Stakeholder mapping and engagement

D Impact measurement and reporting

D Sustainable finance and risk management

D Sustainable operations and sourcing

D New business models

D SDG comprehension and embodiment

D Building resilient and adaptive organizations

D Analytics and technology for sustainability

Sustainability debates

D Responsible consumption and sustainable growth debate

D Environmental and societal debate

The MBA Business and Society course

In 2024, the MBA Business and Society course was led by Sophie Bacq, who brought several updates to the program. The course took a broad approach to sustainability and societal impact, introducing a focus on systemic poverty alongside climate change. New sessions were added on topics such as impact measurement, greenhouse gas emissions, and human rights in business. Practical elements included new case studies, a visit to the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva to learn about social innovation, and a hands-on workshop with B Lab Switzerland.

Immersive learning experience

In 2024, our students participated in practical sustainability workshops, exploring topics such as climate change, biosphere integrity, and ESG versus sustainability. During this time, they were encouraged to reflect on their personal and professional roles in addressing climate change and social responsibility. Spending time outdoors in the mountains, they were able to observe the tangible effects of climate change. They also visited Nestlé’s Research Centre, which provided an invaluable peek into the future of sustainability and innovation at Nestlé.

Watch our immersive learning journey

The program enables me to explore meaningful contributions through sustainability or responsible leadership. The mountain experience brought us face-to-face with the alarming impact of climate change on the snow in the Alps, and the workshops around social and sustainability issues helped me become more aware of the urgency of the situation and to think about actions we could take as future leaders.

Chenlu Li (MBA 2024)

Mentoring startups

Each year, MBA participants are allocated a startup to mentor, providing practical applications of the lessons they learn during their MBA. In 2024, the MBA cohort partnered with 18 startups, including eight with a strong emphasis on sustainability and three integrating sustainability into their operations. These companies are advancing sustainability through various innovations in clean energy, ecofriendly consumer products, circular economy solutions, sustainable aquafeed, and technologies that enhance efficiency and reduce environmental impact across various sectors. After three months, the participants presented the work they had been doing with the startup to a panel of venture capitalists.

International consulting projects

For the 2024 International Consulting Projects, the cohort worked full-time on 20 projects for client companies to solve the most pressing and challenging issues they face, including advancements in sustainable construction materials, efforts to promote financial inclusion, and the integration of sustainability into global sporting events. Some of the highlights were smart city initiatives fostering urban resilience, innovations in eco-efficient industrial equipment, and community development through sustainable architectural design. Of these projects, six were focused on sustainability.

Discovery Expedition to Dubai

The MBA class of 2024 embarked on a Discovery Expedition to Dubai, which showcased how businesses are leading the way in sustainability, diversification, and technology. They visited some of the region’s most innovative companies including Noor Energy, which has one of the largest solar projects in the world; it offered a glimpse into the future of energy, not just for Dubai, but for the world. The leaders of ACWA Power, a leader in the renewable energy space, emphasized a future where energy is not just about profits, but also about protecting the environment and providing sustainable solutions for generations to come.

Sustainability-focused extracurricular activities

The 2024 MBA cohort embraced a range of extracurricular activities that combined learning, community engagement, and personal growth. These activities not only enriched the MBA experience but also reinforced the cohort’s commitment to sustainability and collaboration. For example, the Sustainability Club became a hub for students passionate about integrating sustainability into their careers. Through peer knowledge exchanges, faculty-led sessions, and industry guest speakers, participants explored the intersection of their professional aspirations and sustainability. Further, some of the MBA students joined the IMD Sustainability Committee, which focuses on bringing sustainability into everyday life at IMD. Another initiative was the month-long Stride for Sustainability Challenge, which encourages participants to walk more by tracking their steps.

Ensuring a rich learning experience

Our MBA cohort’s learning journey goes beyond our core curriculum; we host debates on a wide range of topics, such as dealing with dilemmas and making difficult decisions as leaders. Innovation Week further provides participants with the opportunity to learn from guest speakers about the core challenges they may face in their innovative transformation journey. In addition, as part of the MBA finance core module, our participants attend a Principles for Responsible Investing course for which they can receive an Applied Responsible Investment certification once completed. They also learn about non-financial impact measurement in their core accounting course.

“One of the most profound realizations during my MBA journey came from understanding the role of sustainability in business. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and other regulatory forces have highlighted the importance of viewing sustainability not just as a corporate responsibility but as a technical and accounting challenge. This revelation resonated with my background in engineering and finance, guiding me toward a career that integrates these disciplines to drive sustainable business practices.”

—

Jakob Johansson, (MBA 2024)

Our EMBA program

The IMD Executive MBA (EMBA) program consists of a foundation stage and a mastery stage. Sustainability is integrated into the curriculum’s core courses, electives, and the discovery expeditions to emerging markets.

EMBA participants are exposed to sustainability-related themes throughout the program. In Advanced Management Concepts (AMC) they explore ESG fundamentals from the dual lens of multinational corporations and financial institutions. Key basic concepts and frameworks of corporate sustainability and sustainable finance are addressed to understand the current discussion of integrating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues into decisionmaking.

Foundation stage

Foundation for Business Leadership (FBL)

20 days

Step 1

At IMD

Global Management Foundations (GMF)

10 weeks online + 8 days on campus

Future Leaders (FL)

8 weeks online + 10 days on campus

Online + on campus At IMD +

Advanced Management Concepts (AMC)

5 weeks online

Distance learning

Step 2 Exams

Mastery stage

Individual company assignments

D Customer/marketing

D Strategy

D Cultural transformation

D Competitive strategy in a digital world

D Finance

Step 3

Group assignments

D 3 x discovery expeditions

D Crisis management simulation

D Career management

D Business case writing

1 year / 6 modules of one week each

3 core modules at IMD + 3 global discovery expeditions with distance learning in between (a sample journey below)

Business challenges in emerging economies

Global immersions

In the mastery stage of their EMBA, participants learn about sustainability-related themes through experiential learning. They gain firsthand experience in areas such as social innovation, sustainable development, and bottom-of-the-pyramid business models through global immersions to emerging markets, including Dubai, Kenya, and Peru, where participants conducted due diligence on a chosen social venture. In 2024, a new global immersion to Japan was introduced which is focused on corporate resilience.

To help deepen their understanding of the context the ventures operate in, participants are exposed to the current political, social, and economic context primarily through interactions with government representatives, social entrepreneurs, and executives from large firms in sectors representative of the country’s economy and social reality. The week culminated with the teams presenting their findings to a panel of impact investors.

In Kenya, EMBA participants worked with local entrepreneurs at the bottom-of-the-pyramid to strengthen the business models of their for-profit entities. Even though many social and ethical dimensions are present, the purpose of the expedition is about doing business for profit. The underlying philosophy of the expedition is the best way to develop emerging economies is to create employment opportunities by supporting small and medium-sized enterprises and free markets, not by subsidies or charity.

In Japan, EMBA participants critically examined the strategy, organization, and management of their assigned company to demonstrate resilience and make specific recommendations. The recommendations include social and environmental aspects of corporate resilience. The global immersion also features Japanese culture, and participants learned from a Zen Buddhist priest who shared insights into leadership, resilience, and wellbeing through the lens of Zen Buddhism.

Case Studies

All EMBA participants write a case study as part of the program. The central learning objective of the case assignment is for participants to analyze and diagnose a real business issue from different perspectives and then create a narrative that encapsulates relevant learning for other leaders. Increasingly these case studies have featured organizations focused on driving sustainability.

In 2024, the cases focused on the energy transition from fossil fuels to zero-carbon energy at Swissbased Friderici Spécial, regenerative agriculture at Brazil’s Grupo Scheffer, and integrating business performance and sustainability at Indian Hotels Company Limited. In addition, 2024 saw the publication of EMBA-written sustainability-focused case studies. Rede Mulher Empreendedora: Navigating Mission Integrity and Financial Sustainability was written as a case assignment in 2022 and published in 2024. Not so black and white: Grupo Inca’s black alpaca dilemma was written as a case assignment in 2023 and published as a case study in 2024.

Find out more about our Discovery expedition to Japan

“Experiencing Japanese culture firsthand was life-changing. Despite some referring to past decades as the ‘lost years,’ I believe Japan’s long-term vision, employee care, incremental innovation, and societal focus provide invaluable lessons.”

— Luis Salcedo-Kosma, (EMBA 2024)

Open programs

We have developed a broad portfolio of open-enrolment programs.

We offer several sustainability-focused open programs, including our blended flagship sustainability program Leading Sustainable Business Transformation, our online Winning Sustainability Strategies program, and Driving Sustainability from the Boardroom.

We have also incorporated sustainability-themed modules in our portfolio of general management programs, such as our Advanced Management program and the Breakthrough Program for Senior Executives and Future Leaders.

Our Inclusive Leadership program recognizes that impactful leadership goes beyond achieving targets and delivering results. It’s about creating an environment where everyone feels seen, valued, and heard and where people of diverse backgrounds and talents come together to drive innovation and success. Participants are taken on a journey to uncover what it means to adopt an inclusive mindset. They learn the skills to overcome barriers to inclusion, communicate effectively, and implement diversity management strategies for organizational success.

The Driving Innovative Finance for Impact program supports multistakeholder solutions that integrate private capital into the humanitarian sector. Developed in partnership with the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Lombard Odier Foundation, and the World Economic Forum, it serves as a catalyst for innovative financial instruments that support development and humanitarian projects.

Our Orchestrating Winning Performance program, held twice yearly in Lausanne and Singapore, offers a unique perspective on how to lead through uncertainty, positively overcome adversity, and navigate change so that organizations are futureready. The 2024 OWP agenda included several sustainability-focused sessions and covered a broad range of pertinent topics, including, Climate Readiness and Solutions for Growth, Collective Action for ESG, and Unleashing the Power of Circular Business Models.

The Reinventing Luxury Lab program is an annual strategy program that enables luxury industry professionals to prototype and field-proof the key elements needed to make their brands resilient and enduring. Its thought-provoking agenda provides participants with an opportunity to explore important subjects when navigating the dynamic world of luxury brands, such as sustainability and circularity. In 2024, the 8th edition of the program featured a diverse panel of industry experts and explored what it takes to stay relevant and agile in an ever-evolving, technological world.

Participants attended the Winning Sustainability Strategies online program in 2024

Executives in 3 cohorts enrolled in the Driving Sustainability from the Boardroom program in 2024

462

Participants attended Orchestrating Winning Performance in Lausanne in 2024

People attended the Leading Sustainable Business Transformation program in 2024

Participants from leading organizations attended the Driving Innovative Finance for Impact program in 2024

Extending our open program offering

In 2024, in addition to our current program offering, we introduced several new open programs to meet the changing needs of executives seeking to drive sustainable and inclusive business transformation.

The Women on Boards Program, designed to provide female senior executives with personalized support and the tools to jumpstart their board career or take it to the next level, was also launched in 2024. More than 40 senior executives attended the two programs held during the year. When executives complete the program, they are paired up with a mentor. The mentors are all seasoned board members, selected for their expertise in their area of interest or region. Further, participants’ profiles are shared with a leading executive search firm for board positions at the end of the program.

“I had the privilege of attending the first Women in Boards cohort. We explored board governance and learned essential strategies for how to position ourselves as compelling board candidates. The mentorship and networking aspects were invaluable.”

— Tatiana Peres, Global Head of Regulatory Affairs, dsm-firmenich

“The Creating Value in a Circular Economy program was a game-changer for me. It goes beyond theory and provides tangible, actionable steps to turn your circular vision into reality.”

— Camille Equios Mercier, Director and Head of PWS New Marketing Initiatives, Logitech

Learn more about the Women in Boards Program

Sustainability Accelerators

Also in 2024, we launched our Sustainability Accelerators, a suite of executive programs designed to expand capabilities in critical facets of sustainable transformation, with 93 participants from 28 different nationalities taking part. To ensure the broadest access and reach, the programs are delivered across all modalities: face-toface, blended, and online. The programs include Managing and Measuring Sustainability Impact, Creating Value in the Circular Economy, Integrating Sustainability Strategy, and Leadership Skills for Sustainable Change.

In 2024, our Executive Certificate in Sustainable Business course was launched. Twenty people are currently enrolled in this program. This is an accredited Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS), which awards 10 ECTS credits to participants who complete the course. The credential enables participants to deepen their sustainability expertise and earn a globally recognized academic qualification. To obtain the certificate, participants complete our foundational Leading Sustainable Business Transformation program, along with three Sustainability Accelerator programs of their choice.

Sustainability Accelerators

Custom programs

IMD’s custom Executive Education programs are designed in collaboration with organizations to address their unique challenges and objectives.

We design learning journeys on sustainability with our corporate clients, meeting the learning objectives in their sustainable business transformations.

In 2024, we worked with companies across a wide range of industries, including banking, healthcare, and industrial manufacturing.

I am truly proud of what our Merck teams across the globe have already achieved. Our time with IMD enabled us as leaders to envision our organization ten years from now and to reflect on what tangible steps we must take to fully integrate sustainability into our value chains and continue to advance human progress through sustainable science and technology.

Peter Guenter Member of the Executive Board and CEO of Healthcare at Merck

Case study: Merck Healthcare

Embedding sustainability into strategic decision-making

To drive meaningful sustainability transformation, Merck Healthcare’s Executive Committee partnered with IMD for a deep dive learning program that equipped its top leaders with the insights and frameworks needed to lead in a rapidly evolving landscape.

This highly interactive program was co-designed with IMD professors Knut Haanaes and Julia Binder, who guided participants through critical themes such as the urgency of sustainability amid competing priorities, future-back thinking for longterm transformation, and the balance between risks, responsibilities, and opportunities in ESG and sustainability.

Haanaes led a thought-provoking future-back exercise that encouraged Merck Healthcare’s leaders to envision their organization 10 years from now.

“We shifted the perspective from being caught in debates around ‘is it doable?’ toward imagining, ‘how did we get there?’. The future-back mindset unlocked the bold, forward-looking actions needed to drive real change. The exercise helped participants identify tangible steps to bridge today’s realities with a sustainable, long-term vision,” he said.

Binder brought a fresh perspective on sustainability as a strategic enabler rather than just a risk to mitigate. “Sustainability is often treated as a compliance burden, but it holds immense potential for innovation, market differentiation, and longterm business resilience,” she said. “Companies that embrace it can uncover new opportunities and strengthen their competitive edge.”

A central focus of the program was the concept of materiality. Discussions went beyond viewing materiality as a reporting exercise; instead, participants explored how it can serve as a strategic framework for decision-making. By prioritizing the most significant environmental, social, and governance topics for the business and stakeholders, leaders clarified where to focus their efforts to maximize impact.

A key highlight of the program was the guest session with Magdi Batato, former COO of Nestlé and now a board member and senior advisor. Sharing real-world examples, Magdi provided valuable insights into the complexities of driving sustainability in a global organization. His candid reflections sparked open, peer-to-peer discussions, prompting Merck Healthcare’s leaders to reflect on their challenges, opportunities, and strategic priorities.

“I am truly proud of what our Merck teams across the globe have already achieved. Looking to our future, our time with IMD enabled us as leaders to envision our organization 10 years from now and reflect on what tangible steps we must take to fully integrate sustainability into our value chains and continue to advance human progress through sustainable science and technology.” said Peter Guenter, member of the Executive Board and CEO Healthcare at Merck.

Throughout the program, Haanaes and Binder connected emerging global sustainability challenges to Merck Healthcare’s leadership context. By combining strategic frameworks with interactive exercises, the sessions enabled the Executive Committee to align on priorities, shift their mindsets, and clarify their roles as leaders in driving sustainability.

Merck Healthcare’s leadership team emerged from the program with greater clarity, a shared vision, and practical tools to embed sustainability into strategic decision-making and day-to-day leadership. This program marked a significant step in Merck Healthcare’s sustainability journey by combining future-oriented thinking, materiality as a guiding framework, and insights from expert perspectives.

A platform where we can exchange knowledge is an important and practical step in bringing the UAE’s sustainability ambitions to reality.

Hana Al Rostamani Group CEO, First Abu Dhabi Bank

Case study: First Abu Dhabi Bank

A pacesetter in addressing climate change

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) is the largest bank in the United Arab Emirates. Its international network spans five continents and provides global relationships, expertise, and financial strength to support local, regional, and international business.

FAB recognizes the significant challenges that climate change poses, as a leading regional bank, its ambition is to be the pacesetter for the region’s banking industry in addressing climate change and helping to drive forward the UAE’s ambitious 2030 green agenda. FAB also aims to help its clients and business leaders address climate change by helping them plan for the risks that climate change poses, and by highlighting the opportunities that climate action presents for economic diversification, sustainable prosperity, and social development.

It was with this in mind that FAB partnered with IMD to develop the Frontiers in Sustainability Executive Education Program. The program is aimed at helping corporate leaders better understand sustainability as part of overall business transformation in line with supporting the UAE 2050 net-zero ambition. It aims to equip senior leaders across a range of organizations and sectors with a well-rounded understanding of the sustainability agenda to drive tangible actions and drive momentum for change.

“Achieving progress towards a netzero economy will demand a clear understanding and decisive leadership from the private sector, in partnership with the public sector. FAB is working with its partners to create a deeper understanding of the issues surrounding sustainability, with the purpose of supporting effective action among UAE C-suites. Environmental impacts are already emerging as a vital part of the guidance the financial sector is expected to offer businesses, so bringing a platform to the UAE where we can exchange this knowledge at the highest

levels of our corporate community is an important and practical step forward in bringing the UAE’s sustainability ambitions to reality.”

— Hana Al Rostamani, Group CEO at FAB

The program aims to promote a deeper understanding of sustainability issues among the UAE’s senior business leaders across sectors and industries. Ninety leaders from across three cohorts have attended the program, which combines a mix of learning methods: multi-modular, face-to-face, project work, and expert intervention.

We structured the program around three pillars:

D Understand the global context, covering topics such as sustainability signals, megatrends, and their impact on sustainability, to equip participants with the tools and frameworks for future-back thinking and scenario planning.

D Understand the strategic implications for regions and companies, focusing on the economics of climate change, reasons for inertia in action, transition risks, managing sustainability risks, ESG financial business case and scenario development.

D Learn about the business and leadership implications, including the translation of scenarios into strategy, organizational readiness, systems leadership, and the skills of the leader to drive the sustainability agenda.

A COP simulation experiential learning event for more than 100 participants also formed part of the program. The simulation drew on the learnings and knowledge that IMD has from facilitating previous COP simulation events through its collaboration with the Secretariat and the Business Schools for Climate Leadership.

The overall aim of the program is to not only to impart knowledge on key issues, but also to bring senior executives together to discuss common challenges despite their different industries, exchange ideas and knowledge, and potentially work in partnership. Bringing a platform to the UAE where this knowledge can be shared at the highest levels of the business community is an important and practical step forward in achieving the UAE’s sustainability ambitions.

Research

At IMD, our research on the evolution of sustainable and inclusive business is rigorous, relevant, and actionable. This reflects our close links with firms and their leaders. We aim to share best practices and inspire new business models with societal impact. We produce research relevant to practitioners who are leading sustainable business transformation to create future-ready firms. We frequently interact with senior executives to engage them in our research and ensure that our insights are applied and fit for purpose.

Accelerating our impact

Many of IMD’s eight Centers and five Initiatives produce cutting-edge research and actionable insights on key sustainability matters, to enable sustainable business transformation. In this report, we have detailed some of the work the Centers produced in 2024 that is accelerating our impact.

Center for Sustainable and Inclusive Business

The Center for Sustainable and Inclusive Business combines

research, innovation,

and learning to drive sustainable business transformation.

The Center’s research has a unified purpose: sharing insights that support business leaders in managing sustainability successfully. Through our academic papers, case studies, conference papers, and frameworks we share actionable insights on sustainable business transformation to support business leaders in managing change.

In 2024, we accelerated our commitment to academic research and thought leadership, particularly in areas such as circular business models, managing and measuring sustainability success, business and biodiversity, sustainability strategy, and stakeholder engagement.

In April 2024, How to market sustainable products by IMD’s Frédéric Dalsace and Goutam Challagalla, was published by Harvard Business Review. Drawing on an extensive three-year research initiative, the article serves as a guide for sustainability marketing that builds on a more nuanced understanding of how consumers weigh the relative value of traditional and social and environmental benefits.

Together with Capgemini Invent, the center also launched an extensive research initiative to delve into the complexities of how businesses are transforming in the name of sustainability. The white paper zeroes in on the insights drawn from leading European businesses as they navigate their sustainability journey. The Center also published a report entitled Nature’s ROI, designed to help companies approach biodiversity strategically, with clear steps to implement credible, impactful solutions that align with overall business goals. Five key enablers are identified that offer a practical roadmap, helping businesses focus on the most pressing issues and drive meaningful change across operations.

IMD’s Sustainability Circle, which provides a space for sustainability-focused business leaders to collectively unpack sustainable business transformation, deepened

its work in 2024 with several virtual meetings and a face-to-face event.

Professor of Sustainable Innovation and Business Transformation and Director of the Center for Sustainable and Inclusive Business Julia Binder, together with Manuel Braun, published The Circular Business Revolution: A practical framework for sustainable business models in 2024. The book provides a comprehensive and practical toolkit to understand how organizations work now, the opportunities they have within the circular economy, and how to implement effective transformation pathways.

Lead the Change

Lead the Change white paper: Pushing past roadblocks to drive sustainable business transformation in Europe by IMD & Capgemini

Circular Business Revolution: A practical framework for sustainable business models by Julia Binder

Global Research

Center for Social Innovation

The Center for Social Innovation develops and shares research and pedagogical content that helps business and civil society leaders navigate the challenges of initiating and implementing social innovation.

Researchers in the Center produced FT-50 journal articles and a report on Humanitarian Impact Finance in 2024. Vanina Farber, elea Professor of Social Innovation and Dean of the IMD EMBA program, was one of 22 faculty inducted into AACSB’s 2024 Influential Leader Class, which recognizes individuals who pursue knowledge creation with an impact on business and society. Farber was also appointed to the Innosuisse Innovation Council.

During the year, Sophie Bacq (Professor of Social Entrepreneurship and Coca-Cola Foundation Chair in Sustainable Development) joined the center. Sophie Bacq was added to the 2024 Thinkers50 Radar List for her research on how to strengthen communities through collective action and entrepreneurship. A project, entitled Unleashing Civic Wealth Creation Through Community Entrepreneurship, spearheaded by Sophie Bacq and Christina Hertel from the Geneva School of Economics and Management, University of Geneva, has been selected as a recipient of a significant research grant by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).

Together with a network of partners including the ICRC, Lombard Odier, and the World Economic Forum, Vanina Farber launched the third cohort of the open program Driving Innovative Finance for Impact, attracting more than 60 participants from leading humanitarian and development finance organizations. The Center also hosted the 20th Annual Social Entrepreneurship Conference, which focused on the most exciting and emerging research in social entrepreneurship, social enterprise, innovation, sustainability, and impact, attracting more than 150 scholars and practitioners from 23 countries.

Cohorts launched for the Driving Innovative Finance for Impact program

60+

Participants joined the 2024 cohort from leading humanitarian and finance organizations

150+

Scholars and practitioners attended from 23 countries.

World Competitiveness Center

For more than 30 years, The IMD World Competitiveness Center has pioneered research on how nations and enterprises compete to lay the foundations for future prosperity.

It publishes several indexes, including the Hinrich-IMD Sustainable Trade Index and IMD Smart City Index.

The Hinrich-IMD Sustainable Trade Index aims to stimulate meaningful conversations among policymakers, business executives, and civil society stakeholders striving to advance sustainable and mutually beneficial global trade. Covering 30 economies that collectively represent approximately 67% of global GDP and 63% of the world’s population, the index evaluates each country’s readiness and capacity to participate in the international trading system in a manner that supports the long-term goals of economic growth, environmental stewardship, protection, and societal development. Published yearly, the results of the 2024 edition highlight the critical ‘race for resilience’, emphasizing the need for economic adaptability, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability in building resilient trade systems. The IMD Smart City Index highlights how cities are leveraging technology and citizen-focused policies to promote sustainability, inclusiveness, and an enhanced quality of life. Published in collaboration with the Seoul-based World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization (WeGO), the fifth edition of the Index highlights how cities are navigating uncertainty towards future readiness.

In 2024, IMD was honored with a CHF 5m donation from alumnus Douglas Geertz to support research on enhancing economic prosperity in developing countries and maximizing the impact of international development aid. The gift will be used to endow the Douglas Geertz IMEDE 1988 Chair in Geopolitics and Business. The inaugural holder of the Chair is Professor of Finance and Director of IMD’s World Competitiveness Center Arturo Bris.

Sustainable Trade Index 2024

The Global Family Business Center is

a

trusted source of research and education for family businesses around the world.

In 2024, the Center published numerous books, book chapters, academic publications, practitioner articles, and a case study relating to sustainability and philanthropy in family business. The Center also received recognition for conference papers it developed that link to these topics. In 2024, The Family Business Center received a generous donation from Bruce Grossman, an IMD alumnus and fourth-generation member of the family that coowns Arca Continental, the second-largest bottler in Latin America. The endowment will fund the center’s research, outreach, and educational activities.

The Debiopharm Chair of Family Philanthropy exists to increase the social and financial impact of family giving as well as to develop best practices in family philanthropy by offering tools to strengthen analysis, decision-making processes, performance indicators and governance. The current holder is Peter Vogel, Professor of Family Business and Entrepreneurship and Director of the Global Family Business Center. Vogel’s 2024 research and activities not only demonstrated the value of philanthropy as a source of social impact and family cohesion but continued the advancement of family business research and understanding and the promotion of responsible and inclusive philanthropy among family businesses.

The annual IMD Global Family Business Award, organized by the Global Family Business Center, celebrates excellence in family, business, ownership, and society. Careful consideration is given to the values of the people who run the business, including how they unite their family and business interests, combine tradition and innovation, and show clear commitment to their communities.

José de Mello Group, one of Portugal’s oldest and most successful family-run firms, was selected as the 2024 winner. The José de Mello Group has proven its resilience and adaptability in the face of uncertainty and has established an exceptional system both in terms of family governance and ownership governance – a key to ensuring the family’s long-term vision and building resilience. It has also developed dedicated initiatives to foster entrepreneurship and innovation, as it continues to shape the business landscape and create prosperity and sustainable development in Portugal and beyond.

Case study

Global Family Business Center

Global Board Center

The Global Board Center mission is to help boards make the best decisions. It is increasingly important for boards to integrate sustainability concerns into the different dimensions of their work.

The Center’s research, programs, and outreach activities all included sustainability as one of the key areas of focus in 2024. Corporate boards often give insufficient thought to geopolitical risks, social change, and the long-term instability of the world. The Board Center’s research agenda focuses on what makes a board capable of having a forward-looking view of the world to anticipate and adapt to change.

In 2024, the Center welcomed Simon Tièche as a research fellow. Tièche is driving a research project around decision-making in the boardroom in collaboration with Harvard, to understand how different competitive pressures and market conditions influence board decisions when it comes to sustainability. The Center also published the second edition of Didier Cossin’s book High Performance Boards: A Practical Guide to Improving and Energizing Your Governance. Several new chapters focus on sustainability, including the board’s oversight of ESG, as well as human capital evolution and drivers of board performance. Board programs in 2024 featured multiple learning activities centered on enhancing board program participants’ integration of sustainability into their decision-making.

The theme of the November 2024 Board Diploma Graduation and Board Community in Lausanne was “Sustainability, Growth, and Profit,” and was attended by over 120 community members and guests.

High Performance Boards: A Practical Guide to Improving and Energizing Your Governance by Didier Cossin

TONOMUS Global Cener for Digital and AI Transformation

The TONOMUS Global Center for Digital and AI Transformation provides academic research and thought leadership insights on the potential of digital transformation and AI to inspire a more prosperous, sustainable, and inclusive world.

During the year, the Center produced I by IMD articles on digital sustainability and the need for AI to clean up its environmental act.

At the Web Summit in Lisbon, TONOMUS Professor of Strategy and Digital and Director of the TONOMUS Global Center for Digital and AI Transformation Michael Wade explored how to harness the power of digital tools and technologies while minimizing their environmental footprint during a Digital Sustainability masterclass. The session showcased how digital technologies can enable organizations to increase transparency, improve sustainable practices, and make tangible positive impacts on the environment. It provided participants with a clear understanding of how to align digital innovation with sustainability goals, ensuring that the digital transformation is not only efficient but also ethical and sustainable.

Further, in July 2024, Wade was invited to speak with the Japanese Prime Minister and key Japanese government ministers to provide input and advice on Japan’s sustainable digital transformation policy.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

The Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Initiative helps organizations translate good intentions into real and sustainable behavioral change through its research and thought leadership.

The initiative’s research was published in FT50 and other peer-reviewed journals and presented at conferences and workshops. In addition, in a cooperative project with an industry partner, we explored equity as the ‘silent e’ in DE&I research and practice. Together with practitioner-oriented white papers and numerous I by IMD articles, the initiative provided practitioners with cutting-edge knowledge on how to foster social sustainability by driving Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

Workplace Well-being

The Workplace Well-being Initiative sits at the frontier of research into employee mental health and well-being, creating new insights, frameworks, and actionable ideas.

The initiative aims to support individuals and organizations by equipping them with the emotional and cognitive resilience needed to thrive and prosper over time. Its research focuses on stress and overwhelm (including digital well-being, workaholism, and burnout) and mental health stigma (focusing on leadership disclosure for building employee psychological safety). In 2024, the Workplace Well-being Initiative started a new line of research on the effectiveness of microbreaks at work for empowering employee well-being and performance.

Publications and thought leadership

Our academic publications and thought leadership articles offer actionable insights on sustainable business, social innovation, and philanthropy. We track our impact on SDGs by tagging our publications with the relevant goals addressed.

Our overall research output on the topic of sustainability flourished in 2024.

As part of our DE&I initiative, we published one FT50 article and one peer-reviewed article, 13 I by IMD articles, two white papers, one conference paper, and one practitioner article.

In 2024, we published:

04 FT50 articles

05 “Other” (non-FT50) academic articles

07 Conference papers

97 I by IMD outputs

16 Practitioner articles (including 8 original media articles)

19 Original cases

New IMD sustainability playbook

Leading the Sustainable Business Transformation: A Playbook from IMD Edited by Julia Binder and Knut Haanaes

With contributions from across IMD, Leading the Sustainable Business Transformation: A Playbook from IMD, edited by Julia Binder and Knut Haanaes, explains why sustainability matters, what it involves, how it fits with corporate strategy, and how to implement it according to the specifics of individual companies. The playbook emphasizes both strategic and organizational work, delivering a framework to generate solid financial returns without depleting the world’s natural and social wealth.

Thought leadership

We regularly feature thought leadership articles on sustainability and inclusion themes on our digital I by IMD knowledge platform and quarterly magazine.

The Responsible Leadership issue of I by IMD

In Issue 16 of I by IMD, we explore the vital role and realm of responsible leadership, offering ways for decision-makers and organizations to deliver a positive impact for all.

Recognition for the work we produce

In 2024, we achieved significant recognition for the academic research and cases we produced.

Case study awards

D The Case Centre Impact Index for 2023/2024 recognized IMD as among the top five case study producers for the second consecutive year

D Julia Binder and Heather Cairns-Lee won the Outstanding Case Writer: Hot Topic award at the Case Centre Awards and Competitions 2024 for their case “Carbon is the new calorie”: Logitech’s carbon impact label to drive transparency in sustainability.

D Heather Cairns-Lee, Benoit Leleux, Stefan Michel, and several EMBA 2023 participants were named among the prize winners of the John Molson MBA International Case Writing Competition . The case SIBIUS: Battling Cognitive Disorders, prepared by Benoit Leleux, Giorgia Riba, Renee Pazdan, Manu Mathew, and Arvind Hurboseea (EMBA 2023), was awarded third prize

D The Case Centre Bestselling Cases in 2024 (Ethics and Social Responsibility category) highlighted that Financing change, changing finance: Should Triodos invest in Tesla? by Vanina Farber and María Helena Jaén and Patagonia’s sustainability strategy: Don’t buy our products by Francisco Szekely and Zahir Dossa were top selling cases in 2024

D Future-proofing HEINEKEN: The EverGreen strategy by Niccolò Pisani and Inès Augier won the EFMD Case Writing Competition Award in the Continuous Improvement: The Journey to Excellence category

Recognition for the articles, research, and papers we produce

D Ivan Miroshnychenko and Alfredo De Massis’s conference paper Sustainable development goals and family firms: The impact of ownership, management and national context was nominated for the Best Paper on Conference Theme Award at the International Family Enterprise Research Academy Conference 2024

D Sophie Bacq’s paper Sight unseen: The visibility paradox of entrepreneurship in an informal economy won the Best Paper Award of 2024 in the Journal of Business Venturing

D A FamilyBusiness.org article by Josh Wei-Jun Hsueh, Alfredo De Massis, and Luis R. GomezMejia, A family’s non-financial values shape its sustainability strategy, won the Schulze Publication Award 2023/2024

D A journal article by Josh Wei-Jun Hsueh, Alfredo De Massis, and Luis R Gomez-Mejia, Examining heterogeneous configurations of socioemotional wealth in family firms through the formalization of corporate social responsibility strategy, published in Family Business Review, received an honorable mention in the journal’s 2024 Best Article competition

D A journal article by Jonathan Bauweraerts, Emanuela Rondi, Paola Rovelli, Alfredo De Massis, and Salvatore Sciascia, Are family female directors catalysts of innovation in family small and medium enterprises?, published in Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, was amongst their topcited papers (January 2022-December 2023)

Other awards

D The Unleashing Civic Wealth Creation Through Community Entrepreneurship research project, led by Sophie Bacq and Christina Hertel, received the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) grant in 2024

D In 2024, E4S awarded nine research grants, of which five were awarded to IMD staff and faculty. The recipients were Julia Binder, Karl Schmedders, Öykü Isik, Sophie Bacq, José Parra Moyano, and Adrian Dellecker

D Sophie Bacq and fellow researcher Christina Hertel were the recipients of a grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) for research on unleashing civic wealth creation through community entrepreneurship

D Amanda Williams received two awards from the Academy of Management’s Organizations and Natural Environment (ONE) Division: Emerging Scholar Award and Best Reviewer Award

D Amanda Williams, Sustainability Research Fellow, received the Emerging Scholar Award and the Best Reviewer Award for 2024 by Organizations and the Natural Environment (ONE), a division of the Academy of Management (AOM).

Outreach and partnerships

We partner with academic institutions, organizations, and notfor-profits to advance sustainable transformation. We recognize that cross-sector outreach and partnerships help maximize our impact on society. Our commitment to strengthening collaboration is evident in several new partnerships and the deepening of existing relationships.

In 2024, we launched various new partnerships and outreach initiatives and continued to strengthen our existing partnerships.

Our partnerships

IMD is a co-founding partner of the Inner Development Goals (IDGs) Foundation. The initiative believes that external goals must be coupled with inner leadership capability development to help translate SDGs from visions into actions. IDG brings together researchers and leaders from government, business, and civil society to evolve this framework and craft initiatives for leadership development that are consistent with it.

IMD is a partner to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), a global, CEOled organization of over 230 leading businesses working together to accelerate the transition to a sustainable world. The strategic partnership aims to equip business leaders with the skills to accelerate the pace of sustainable business transformation. WBCSD CEO Peter Bakker met with MBA students at the start of their Mountain Experience. In addition, WBCSD experts contribute to our Sustainability on Boards program and, in turn, IMD delivers a module on the WBCSD Leadership Program.

IMD is an academic partner of The Female Quotient The Female Quotient has established the world’s largest community of women in business and offers curated experiences through leadership and solutions to achieve gender equality. We participated in the Female Quotient’s panel discussion Equality in harmony: Uniting Women Through the Power of Music at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

IMD is an academic partner of the Boardroom, a panEuropean club for women executives who aspire to be board members. They offer tailor-made programs to accelerate the advancement of women in leadership positions and corporate boards. In 2024, IMD and the Boardroom hosted a session focused on the organizational actions needed to break the glass ceiling at The World Economic Forum in Davos.

Deepening engagement with our partners

We hosted an event alongside our partner B Lab at the 2024 World Economic Forum in Davos for Swiss Boards for Agenda 2030 (SBA2030). SBA2030 is an alliance of Swiss CEOs and board members who are committing their companies to a high level of board accountability to drive sustainability and business resilience. The sessions focused on the practical steps boards can take to support a positive impact strategy.

IMD is a partner to EqualVoice, an academic network committed to producing scientific analyses on topics relating to equality and diversity. EqualVoice strives to produce informed and challenging white papers that provide analytical depth and serve as a valuable resource for policy development and social change.

IMD is a founding partner of Business Schools for Climate Leadership (BS4CL), a research and thought leadership partnership between eight leading European business schools that collaborate to generate and disseminate actionable insights and recommendations for climate leadership. BS4CL hosted a Climate Leadership Forum in June 2024, bringing together business leaders and academics from all eight participating schools to showcase new research insights on business and climate change and facilitate meaningful discussions across alumni communities. The initiative also currently supports two online PhD courses: Financial Economics of Climate and Sustainability, launched in 2023, and Organizing the Climate Transition, launched in 2024. These learning initiatives allow BS4CL institutions to foster academic collaboration and to engage with a global community of early career climate researchers, mobilizing cohorts of 100+ students worldwide around the topic.

TOGETHER, an initiative formed by IMD alumni, is dedicated to fostering a strong network of leaders committed to creating a sustainable future. In 2024, TOGETHER hosted 10 online events, attracting over 1,000 participants worldwide, and organized the second edition of their in-person event at IMD, with 80 participants in attendance. Our TOGETHER Community Leaders Charlotte Van Hautekerke (EMBA 2018) and Pavel Sanin (EMBA 2016) also represented the initiative at the second edition of the Business Schools for Climate Leadership (BS4CL) Forum. Further, Jasper Schakel (MBA 2023) and his business partner Erik Kraaijeveld were awarded the prestigious Financial Times Responsible Business Education Award for the groundbreaking industrial water treatment innovation delivered by Chemical Innovations in Water Industries, which they cofounded.

Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) is a UN-supported initiative that aims to raise the profile of sustainability in business schools to ensure that future leaders have the skills to balance economic, environmental, and social goals. IMD is a member of the Champions Group of the PRME, a select group of schools working together to integrate the UN SDGs into teaching, research, and outreach.

The Enterprise for Society Center (E4S) is a joint venture of the University of Lausanne (through HEC Lausanne), IMD, and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). Its mission is to spearhead the transition towards a resilient, sustainable, and inclusive economy. In 2024, the fourth cohort of the E4S Master of Science in Sustainable Management and Technology began their studies while 34 students successfully graduated, maintaining a high employment rate (95%). The Masters program builds competencies along three equally balanced dimensions: technology and innovation, economics and management, and sustainability. E4S supported 26 research projects and published 31 media articles, reinforcing its contribution to sustainability-focused research. E4S hosted 18 events in 2024, attracting over 1,500 participants from academia, industry, civil society, government, and international organizations. Its flagship event, Showcase 2030, engaged over 700 participants and highlighted circular solutions, expert insights, and actionable discussions on sufficiency and innovation – including IMD’s Florian Hoos and Julia Binder.

Impact-Driven Education 04

We ensure the continuous growth and impact of IMD’s work by measuring the impact of our programs and through learning innovation. In 2024, we received recognition for our work.

Measuring the impact of our programs

Our unique positioning allows us to define organizational impact and return on investment (ROI) for learning interventions facilitated by IMD and the methodologies employed for measuring them. Our comprehensive impact assessment process serves the dual purpose of showcasing the impact and business ROI to our clients and evaluating and enhancing our performance.

Measuring the impact of our programs

We use the ROI Methodology® which is worldwide, most-used and credible method to measure the business impact of our learning programs. The method generates six types of measures and a technique to isolate the effects of the program.

In 2024, our Impact Office used the industry standard ROI Methodology® to measure impact and ROI in our programs. The Impact Office executed a number of immediate impact assessments, postprogram assessments, and approximately 12 customized program business impact and ROI assessments. In our ROI studies, the results varied from 66% ROI in online sprint programs to an impressive ROI of 1,150% in longer learning journeys with enterprise projects. Further, to gauge our programs’ societal and environmental impact on participants, we conduct a follow-up assessment after 12 months. We inquire whether participants have applied what they learned to make a difference in society and the environment and ask for specific examples of their use of what they learned and the observed impact. In 2024, over 50% of open and custom program participant survey respondents ‘agreeing’ or ‘strongly agreeing’ that they have applied their learnings to make a difference in society.

As part of our rigorous Impact and ROI methodology, we continue measuring business impact and ROI, but we also measure intangible benefits, such as the societal and environmental impact of the programs. Our approach to impact measurement and ROI has recently been published as a white paper, How to Measure the Business Impact of Executive Development , which offers a practical guide for HR and L&D professionals to start considering and measuring impact in their programs.

665

Immediate impact assessments conducted in 2024

471

Post-program assessments completed

1,150%

ROI in our longer learning journey programs that include enterprise projects

546

Responses collected on societal and environmental impact

53%

Of before participants reported applying their learnings to make a difference in society

Pedagogical innovation

Real learning and real impact are at the core of our pedagogical approach, and our investments in innovation are delivering impact beyond the classroom.

Innovations in learning

When it comes to learning innovation, IMD continues to be at the cutting edge. We have always led on pedagogy and crafting highly impactful learning journeys, but technology now gives us amazing new opportunities.

Since the pandemic, we have mastered how to teach virtually and how to blend different learning modes. We are now pioneering the use of artificial intelligence (AI), specifically generative AI (GenAI), to deepen learning and impact. We also continue our incorporation of virtual reality, the metaverse, and even hologram projections into our programs. Our investments in AI are evidenced at our Orchestrating Winning Performance (OWP) program, where participants are given access to OWP+GPT, an innovation developed by IMD that makes sense of hours of classroom sessions and adds further depth to the classroom topics through additional research, articles, podcasts, and webinars.

Further, our investments in technology and innovation give us the ability to extend our reach and to meet the growing need for leadership and business learning. To meet this need, we launched the award-winning online Sprint training program in 2023, which offers accelerated learning opportunities through fast-paced faculty-led sessions on pertinent topics. In 2024, IMD was named the 2024 Learning in Practice winner for our transformative custom Sprint program. Our collaboration with pharmaceutical and biotech multinational Bayer won Gold in the Excellence in Executive Education category.

Innovative immersive learning experiences

We are committed to the development and implementation of novel teaching methods and strategies to enhance the educational outcomes of our programs.

Our pedagogical innovation can be seen, for example, in our 360-degree learning experience SpheriCO2. SpheriCO2 is our latest immersive learning experience where participants must step into an augmented reality and fully engage with leadership and teamwork principles. The game combines augmented reality technology with game mechanics to deliver a highly engaging, realistic, and impactful learning experience for participants to deepen learning about leadership and sustainability. During the game, participants assume the role of scientists and are invited to a simulation onboard a state-of-theart deep-sea carbon-capture vessel. The scientists soon learn that an impending environmental disaster looms, and they are tasked with averting it. To do this, they must apply their minds to the issue, use their critical thinking skills, lean on situational judgment, and leverage the other team members to help solve a series of challenges. The game mechanics create a highly realistic experience. The simulation’s outcome is that participants learn a lot about themselves as leaders and how they navigate decision-making and crises.

The Center for Sustainable and Inclusive Business is also developing a number of innovative pedagogical games to facilitate learning around key trends in sustainability. Earth System Navigator: Unravelling interconnections between human activities and nature is aimed at teaching participants the science behind earth systems and planetary boundaries, while Planet Act: Lead your company to thrive in an unpredictable world is a role-play game in which players take the reins of a hypothetical company in a world shaken by the effects of overshooting planetary boundaries. The executive team must manage the company to seek healthy profitability, build resilience, and help reduce environmental pressures.

Watch this video to experience SpheriCO2 in action

Recognition for our work

In 2024, we received various accolades for our programs, innovations, and collaborations.

IMD ranked 22 overall (2023: 53) and is ranked as the top Swiss business school. We also ranked as one of the top 10 large schools (schools that have an average of at least 80 MBA graduates over the past two years)

Gold award (Immersive Experiential Learning) for IMD’s XR 360 Leadership Game, SpheriCO2

Gold award (Diversity, equity, and inclusion: Best leadership development for women) for the HEINEKEN-IMD Women Interactive Network

Gold award (Best Advance in Education Delivered Through Technology) for We@ IMD program

Four of the top 10 startups and nine of the top 25 scale-ups collaborated with IMD

IMD was named the 2024 Learning in Practice winner for our transformative custom Sprint program. The Gold Award was achieved in the Excellence in Executive Education category for our collaboration with pharmaceutical and biotech multinational Bayer.

Rigorous. Relevant. Insightful. Actionable.

Access and Representation in Our Programs

Increasing diversity across our programs is imperative on our shared journey to a prosperous, sustainable, and inclusive future. IMD is committed to improving gender diversity in our programs and to enabling geographical diversity. We achieve this by engaging our broader IMD alumni and donor community and through scholarships.

Improving gender diversity

As part of our mission, we recognize the need to support and raise the profile of women in business.

We are steadily improving gender diversity in our degree programs, aiming towards gender parity. The overall improvement in gender diversity has been driven by a concerted effort to increase female enrolment in our programs. It is further supported by the community’s contribution to scholarship opportunities.

We have seen progress in the percentage of women enrolled in the MBA program. The percentage of female MBAs has reached 37% in 2024 – the highest percentage of female MBAs to date and a significant improvement when compared to female participation of 24% 10 years ago. Further, in the class of 2024, 33 female MBAs received a scholarship. The number of women graduating from the EMBA program in 2024 was 30.4%, compared to 26.3% in 2023.

IMD introduced partial scholarships for participants in 1997 to attract more women to our MBA program and continued to seek sponsors for these scholarships in 2024. In the class of 2024, 33 females MBAs received a scholarship.

Increasing the percentages of female MBA and EMBA participants will remain a key priority of the programs’ recruitment strategy. Partnering with our donors and alumni, as well as continuing with DE&I initiatives, will remain central to ensuring that these are program destinations of choice for female candidates as well as candidates from other underrepresented groups.

Further, in line with our DE&I commitments, we try to feature a more diverse and representative faculty in these programs. We are applying the same approach to our case studies and guest speaker selection and encourage our faculty to use more representative business cases.

37%

Of the 2024 MBA cohort are female (up from 24% a decade ago)

Female MBA students in 2024 received scholarships

30.4%

Women graduates in the 2024 EMBA class, up from 26.3% in 2023

Enabling geographical diversity

IMD’s success is rooted in the international diversity of our faculty, staff, and participants.

Diversity results in rich classroom conversations and transformative experiences, and we celebrate the varied cultural, educational, and life experience backgrounds as a distinguishing feature of our programs.

We continue to focus on broadening the diversity of nationalities in our MBA and EMBA programs. Between 2019 and 2024, MBA enrolment from the US increased from 4% to 11%. We have 44 nationalities attending our MBA program currently, compared to 36 in 2023. Further, in the Master of Science in Sustainable Management and Technology program, offered in partnership with E4S, almost half of the participants hail from abroad.

Where our MBA participants come from

Asia (excl. India)

Our substantial investments in technology have enabled companies to choose whether online learning better suits their needs versus an on-campus pedagogical learning experience. We offer in-person learning, online learning, and hybrid programs. These investments in technology have also allowed us to reach learners in new geographic regions and to penetrate deeper into organizations. Our award-winning Sprint program has enabled us to extend the reach of our programs, in 2024 we launched the Business Creativity and Innovation Sprint program, which was attended by 77 people.

Oceania (1%)

Engaging our IMD community

The greater IMD community, comprised of alumni, donors, and partners, sustains our recruitment efforts.

They volunteer, fund scholarships, promote lifelong learning, and carry the institute’s name with pride. Together, they help us to develop talented and altruistic leaders who can have a lasting, positive impact on the world. Volunteers also make a positive impact on IMD. In 2024, more than 200 volunteers led workshops, assisted with student job searches, advised on projects, and more.

Our network of alumni clubs and communities of interest supports accessibility and diversity and bolsters our global recruitment efforts. In 2024, the Development and Alumni Relations Office worked with 49 registered alumni clubs and four communities of interest.

The Alumni Club of the Netherlands

Equipping women with leadership skills during wartime

In a demonstration of resilience, 40 Ukrainian women took part in a Women Leadership Program by MIM Kyiv and IMD, supported by the Lundin Foundation. The program, designed to equip women with leadership skills during wartime, received 270 applications from diverse sectors including business, public administration, and civil society. With many Ukrainian men engaged in conflict, women are stepping into senior roles. The program, featuring online modules in general management, leadership essentials, and strategic thinking, culminated with a virtual group project presentation in January 2025. Buoyed by its success, further plans are underway to offer the program in June 2025.

Read more about why Yana Romanenko’s motivation for attending the program

Using the knowledge and materials from the course, I’m trying to popularize the idea of women being in leadership in business, I want to nurture Ukrainian women to become more powerful and to become leaders in business, in government, and in society.

— Yana Romanenko - HR Director and board member, NIBULON

Giving Day campaign drives our philanthropic culture

IMD hosted another successful Giving Day campaign in May 2024 as part of our multi-year efforts to promote a philanthropic culture.

A total of 654 individuals from our alumni and broader community have donated to the Scholarship Foundation over the past three years. The generosity of the IMD community’s Giving Day donations, together with the support of Fondation Saint Michel, provided an opportunity to enable talented leaders from all corners of the globe to embark on an IMD learning journey. It has also further showcased the community’s shared commitment to ensuring that talent can continue to meet opportunity regardless of financial circumstances.

Support tomorrow’s leaders today by donating online

Providing scholarships

Not everyone who has the talent and tenacity to succeed at IMD has the financial means to attend. With this in mind, we offer a variety of scholarships via the IMD Scholarship Foundation, the institute’s tax-exempt entity for tuition assistance. Scholarships support exceptional candidates and ensure that financial barriers do not prevent them from reaching their leadership potential.

Scholarships are available for candidates who wish to pursue an MBA or EMBA. These scholarships are awarded to candidates who truly stand out as exceptional managers and leaders but don’t necessarily have the financial means to apply. Part of our scholarship strategy is to ensure geographical representation amongst our degree cohorts and, in 2024, 32% of our MBA participants have received a geographically based scholarship. In 2024, the IMD/IMEDE MBA Class of 1976 signed a $5m donation agreement for MBA scholarships, a significant philanthropic gesture that underscores the enduring impact of their education and the strong bonds formed during their time with us.

In line with our commitment to increasing diversity in our programs, many of our scholarship opportunities require an equal split of male/female recipients, and some are only available to women. The following scholarships are available to women only:

D The Nestlé Scholarship for Women

D The Forté MBA Fellowship

D The BackPack-Excellence Scholarship for Women

D The IMD MBA Women Leaders Assessment Challenge

In addition, the following scholarships are also offered:

D The Jebsen Family Global South MBA & EMBA Scholars Program

D The Jebsen Family Scholars Program for Non-Profit Executives

D The Hilti MBA Scholars Program fund, which aims to support 60 Hilti MBA scholars over a 10-year period

D The Hilti STEM Scholars program

D The IMD MBA Merit Scholarship

The BackPack-Excellence Scholarship for Women

“At IMD my MBA class has 44 nationalities. This creates an atmosphere akin to a ‘mini-UN’ and the differences spark lively debate and create fun dynamics.”

— Nadia Osman, BackPack-Excellence Scholarship for Women 2024 recipient

The BackPack-Excellence Scholarship for Women provides a transformational experience to talented and driven women for whom an MBA program may have been out of reach due to limitations and disruptions in their professional paths due to family obligations, forced migration, and financial constraints.

Supporting NPO leaders

The Jebsen Family Scholars Program for Non-profit Executives was established in 2023. The program aims to strengthen the social impact of NPOs by providing scholarship funding for their leaders to study at IMD. In 2025, a new scholarship recipient will be selected for the class of 2026.

The Driving Innovative Finance for Impact program, focused on blended finance and organizational readiness, was launched jointly with the International Committee of the Red Cross, the World Economic Forum, and the Lombard Odier Foundation and attracted 66 not-for-profit leaders who received subsidies to attend.

Moreover, we also offer NPOs and public-sector organizations subsidized access to our executive programs. In 2024, 29 NGO participants attended online and open enrolment programs on board governance, digital transformation, leadership, sustainability, and general management.

“Diversity isn’t an initiative; it is core business.”

— Manojkumar Selvaraj, Jebsen Family Global South Scholar (EMBA 2025)

I saved everything that I needed for the MBA. But in late 2001, Argentina defaulted on its public debt, local currency devaluation soared, and half of my savings were wiped out overnight. I just don’t know how I could have done it without a scholarship. I could go to IMD because s omeone gave me the resources, and that has inspired me to give back to others.

Marcelo Miniati

First Staton Scholarship recipient (MBA 2003)

Our People 06

We aim to build an inclusive, caring, highperformance work environment that attracts talented and engaged colleagues. We are committed to fostering inclusion, to supporting a learning culture, to keeping our people healthy and safe, and to engaging our communities.

Fostering inclusion at IMD

We regularly adapt our practices to ensure we are a relevant, attractive, and competitive employer.

Our inclusive culture is underpinned by our diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) efforts. At IMD, we use the DE&I house model for reference and change. This model provides a framework for key areas to address. This house model led to the development of our DE&I strategy, which has been implemented since 2019.

Our diverse employees reflect the international profiles of our participants, representing a wide range of experiences and identities. Among our faculty and staff populations, 55 nationalities are represented, up from 50 in 2022. We foster a welcoming culture that encourages open conversations based on compassion and respect. Our internal practices exemplify the world of work we are shaping, one that is diverse, inclusive, and fair.

In 2024, IMD was reaccredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), affirming the institution’s place among the world’s top business schools. As part of this reaccreditation, we were recognized for the robust integration of sustainability and DE&I themes in our programs.

In 2024, we engaged in numerous DE&I activities, which continue to emphasize our commitment to a campus culture change. The DE&I council met quarterly and, through rigorous and constructive conversations, ensured DE&I stayed top of mind. Further, our MBA and EMBA representatives collaborated to ensure that each class addressed DE&I as needed. The deans of both degree programs and their administrative staff encouraged and supported DE&I activities and conversations throughout the year, which resulted in additional psychological safety and engagement. We remain committed to ensuring our DE&I efforts remain consistent and impactful.

Our DE&I story and position

Communication, Education

DE&I success measures

Recruitment & retention

Supportive environment Upskilling & embedding

Creating a supportive on-campus environment

We strive to ensure that IMD is free from discrimination and recognize that reaching this goal requires concerted and continued efforts. Our employees are required to complete mandatory unconscious bias training, focused on inclusive language and behaviors and awareness of unconscious bias during the hiring process, to promote inclusivity on campus. Our faculty, managers, and HR staff members also participate in additional training during the year.

We host a series of events throughout the year to promote inclusion and a supportive environment on campus. Monthly meetings are held to share important updates with all employees, providing them with a platform to raise questions, either directly or anonymously, with the Executive Committee and IMD’s President.

Our DE&I campus activities demonstrate our commitment and convey symbolic messages that help to create an inclusive campus environment for all. In 2024, we hosted a series of lunches to give employees the opportunity to provide feedback on our DE&I progress. The feedback indicated appreciation, but it also showed us that more remains to be done.

Championing important causes

We

mark select international awareness days and use these as an opportunity to highlight important issues.

01 Pride Month

For Pride Month (October) the rainbow flag was on display for the fourth year in a row and our ‘I am an ally’ cow statue was positioned visibly on campus. We also provided rainbow-colored foods throughout June to keep Pride Month top of mind. We collectively painted a rainbow tree, which is now hanging in one of our main buildings and showcases our inclusion of anyone, regardless of whom they love.

02 Black History Month

In October, our DE&I efforts focused on Black History Month, an opportunity to highlight how it relates to Switzerland and more specifically to IMD. To bring Black History Month into focus, we hosted a photo exhibition, which featured 20 influential Black leaders throughout history and led to thought-provoking conversations about race and who writes history.

03 International Day of Disability

International Day of Disability was celebrated with a photo exhibition facilitated by Corps à cœur. It featured a young woman suffering from a chronic illness and used powerful images to showcase her year-long journey. The exhibition was opened with a special event, where stories were shared about invisible disabilities and their impact on the lives of those living with them.

04 Climate Week 2024

Climate Week 2024 provided a platform to engage in hands-on learning and dialogue about environmental stewardship. Key discussions focused on circular economy principles, showcasing steps toward a sustainable future. One highlight was our collaborative Repair Café with EPFL Robotics, offering a hands-on learning experience that challenged the culture of disposability. Participants brought their household appliances to campus to identify faults and understand repair possibilities. By simplifying the repair process, we aimed to empower our community to rethink the lifecycle of their belongings and reduce waste from discarding functional items. Other activities included a second-hand clothing sale and a showcase of local suppliers and their products. Climate Week also offered opportunities for intellectual engagement through Lunch & Learn sessions, where faculty shared insights on sustainability topics such as the circular economy and climate economics. These sessions fostered critical thinking and sparked dialogue on the challenges and opportunities of sustainable development.

05 International Women’s Day

In support of International Women’s Day, cookies were offered on campus to raise money for a women’s shelter. Staff and faculty were asked to nominate DE&I leaders in our community, and we celebrated their achievements. In addition, we hosted an event for women on our Supervisory Board and those who are at a level to take on a board position.

Younger employees driving change

The Youth@IMD Team (YMD) contributes to our caring, inclusive, and high-performance culture by sharing innovative ideas with the leadership team and rolling them out into the wider community. YMD has identified five key focus areas for their work: work pace intensity, workplace well-being, flexible workplace, digital proficiency, and career development.

YMD introduced Collaboration Guidelines in 2022 to enhance teamwork across IMD and was involved in the development of an onboarding process for employees. Further, they support the All Ears team in facilitating cultural workshops to strengthen our commitment to a positive, open, and collaborative work environment.

In 2024, the YMD Team launched the IdeaHub, a centralized idea portal for all our employees to submit and share their innovative ideas. The portal encourages open collaboration across departments, ensuring that novel ideas are not only captured but also given the visibility they deserve. With a structured framework for idea submission, review, and implementation, employees are empowered to contribute toward our ongoing transformation. In 2025, YMD intends to launch IMD Communities, a new digital platform for the IMD community, which will offer a safe space where like-minded colleagues can connect and form sub-communities to explore their passions and engage beyond their departments.

Motivating for more sustainable operations

The Sustainable Operations Project team was formed in 2024 to spearhead the shift towards more sustainable operations on campus. The team is dedicated to identifying opportunities to reduce waste, reuse materials, and enhance recycling efforts, creating a measurable impact that lowers costs and increases efficiency. Their work aims to inspire a broader movement toward program delivery and campus practices that operate within planetary boundaries. Their two overarching approaches are innovation and change management.

Working towards gender equity

Striving for an equitable gender balance remains a key focus area and we aim to progress this year-on-year. Of our total workforce of 447 employees, 57% of employees are female. Further, 25% of our faculty are female, yet while we have progressed in this regard, advancing the gender diversity balance remains a major priority. As such, our Recruitment Committee continues to strongly prioritize the recruitment of female faculty members. We have also made positive strides towards increasing the number of women in our leadership team, the Supervisory Board, and the non-faculty senior staff group of which 65% are women. The new leadership team comprises 33% women.

Supporting a learning culture

All our employees can access a wide range of professional internal and external development opportunities.

The We@IMD training program provides our employees with invaluable insights into leadership, high-performing teams, and self-awareness. Further, new internal opportunities and open job positions are transparently displayed on an internal platform.

IMD open programs provided to employees

Employees receiving executive and internal coaching training

132

Employees completed the We@IMD program

281 Employees participated in LinkedIn learning courses

33 Promotions were awarded in 2024

415

Employees completed mandatory training on corruption and bribery We@IMD 2024

Keeping our people healthy and safe

At IMD, ensuring the health and safety of our community is more than a legal requirement, it is a moral and ethical obligation deeply rooted in our values.

We strive to take proactive measures to ensure our community’s health and safety. Our campus is kept secure by our 24/7 campus security guards all year round. Our employees receive first aid and emergency fire training annually, in 2024, 36 people were certified in fire training and 66 people were certified in first aid emergency training. Further, our campus buildings are equipped with alarm boxes, including defibrillators for cardiac emergencies, and we have two infirmaries on campus.

Our Human Resources department has a health and safety system to track, report, and follow up on employee accidents. We also ensure that hygiene masks, hand sanitizer, and COVID selftests are freely available on campus. Further, we offer flu vaccinations, with the option to receive a homeopathic dose, for all employees. In 2024, 90 employees received the flu vaccine, and 53 employees received the homeopathic dose.

36 Employees certified in fire training

66 Employees certified in first aid emergency training

90 Flu vaccines administrated

53 Homeopathic flu vaccines administrated

140 Employees participated in mental well-being sessions

04 Accidents on campus

“This course taught me that I don’t need permission to prioritize my wellbeing; I should embrace it for myself and foster it in those I work with.”

— Mahwesh Khan, IMD Learning Management Senior Advisor and Resilient Leadership Sprint participant

Supporting mental well-being

Caring for our employees’ mental well-being is a priority.

We continued our Teleworking Policy in 2024 to allow employees to divide their time between campus and home offices, enabling work-life balance. We also celebrated Well-being Month, an initiative that promotes physical and mental wellness in our community through a series of activities held on campus. Throughout the month, we shared communications about mental health to provide support and inspiration for all employees. We hosted several seminars featuring a variety of speakers on different well-being topics and colleagues had the opportunity to join the newly initiated running and swimming groups. Additionally, the Resilient Leadership Sprint course was offered to all employees, culminating in an IMD diploma upon completion. Well-being Month aligns with our core values and contributes to Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being.

Safeguarding our people

We have several initiatives and procedures in place to ensure the security and safety of all our people.

Ethics and transparency

IMD has a strong commitment to ethics and transparency. We encourage reporting unethical, illegal, corrupt, fraudulent, or undesirable conduct. Whistleblower, Anti-Bribery, and Anti-Corruption policies were implemented in 2022, ensuring that any concerns regarding misconduct are dealt with effectively, securely, and in accordance with the applicable laws. Further, our Report-It tool enables the confidential reporting of any concerns about potential misconduct or violations. We promote our policies and procedures via targeted communications campaigns.

Protecting labor and human rights

We are committed to ensuring adherence to its core values, compliance, and promoting an ethical and safe culture by observing the highest standards of fair dealing, honesty, and integrity in all its activities. As a Swiss academic institution, we are committed to respecting all internationally recognized human rights, the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO) as well as to treating all people with dignity.

We do not tolerate or engage in any Human Rights violations, including slavery, forced labor, child labor, exploitative labor, or human trafficking in any form at any stage of our activities or our supply chain. We ensure good labor practices and the protection of human rights with a wide range of policies. These include policies on our code of conduct, guiding principles for conflict, harassment and discrimination prevention and management, leave of absence, teleworking, overtime management, recruitment and incentives, on-call work rules, multiactivity, disciplinary matters, and maternity and paternity.

Ensuring digital security and data privacy

Digital security and data privacy are of paramount importance. IMD holds ISO 27701 certification for data privacy and ISO 27001 certification for information security, which are globally recognized and externally audited standards. The certifications attest to our high level of maturity and robust data security posture.

To ensure seamless operations and embed data security in our governance structure, we have implemented guidelines, practices, and policies such as the Information Security Policy, the Data Privacy Policy, and the Information Classification Policy. In 2024, we continued to make significant strides in enhancing our security posture.

We have a fully implemented Security Operations Center (SOC) provider and identity management system in place, which enhances security and access control and simplifies the user experience. Further, as phishing remains increasingly prevalent, we have taken comprehensive measures to safeguard our digital security and privacy.

We share a monthly security bulletin on our Intranet to keep our employees informed on cybersecurity threats and data privacy issues. This bulletin reports on IMD-specific data, such as email traffic, spam, and phishing emails, and provides general threat intelligence. Our employees also undertake mandatory training on security and data privacy issues. In 2024, 78 new employees completed security training, and over 580 individuals attended additional training.

Of our new employees completed security training

583 Employees received complementary security training

558

Users received internal phishing campaign emails, including additional training for those who got caught

2,643

Security alerts or suspicious activity handled, filtered, and classified by MSSP (security management system)

45 Security incidents escalated by MSSP to IMD internal Security Team for further investigations and remediations

Engaging our communities

Our commitment to sustainability extends beyond the classroom, embedding itself in our community through impactful initiatives. Our people actively seek opportunities to contribute, give back, and support our local communities.

In 2024, we supported several initiatives focused on healthcare, humanitarian aid, and children. The following initiatives were supported:

D We collectively took 46,107,106 million steps as part of Steps for Cancer’s fundraising challenge.

D Our colleagues participated in the Movember movement, which helps raise awareness of men’s health issues raising CHF 1,385.

D An annual blood drive donation day was held, enabling employees to donate blood on campus.

D Twice a year, a group of our employees collected hygiene and food products for Samedi du Partage, helping underprivileged families in Lausanne.

D We renewed our partnership with Fondation Mère Sofia and participated in the annual Toy Drive to support over 300 families with children.

D Our community donated non-perishable food, clothing, hygiene products, suitcases, and household items to help Ukrainian refugees displaced by the ongoing Russian invasion.

D We promoted Earth Overshoot Day and encouraged employees to take action to protect our planet and strive for a more sustainable future.

Managing Our Environmental Impact 07

We manage our impact on the environment by monitoring our emissions, reducing waste and energy consumption, and committing to sustainable travel, catering, and procurement.

Our carbon strategy and footprint

We developed a carbon strategy to reduce emissions and enforce our commitment to the SDGs in 2023. Our strategy consists of several steps informed by key standard-setting frameworks, including the GHG Protocol Corporate Standards, Science-Based Targets (SBTi), and the Net Zero Initiative. As part of our commitment, we report on our progress towards reducing our emissions. This section of the report outlines the progress we have made.

IMD Carbon Strategy

01 Measurement

Accurately measuring and monitoring greenhouse gas emissions to gain a complete understanding of operational impacts.

03 Reduction

Implementing effective strategies to reduce emissions, such as energy efficiency measures, renewable energy sources and promoting sustainable behaviors.

02

Model actions and set targets

Analyzing each proposed action to assess impact. Developing targets and key actions based on the Net Zero Initiative framework.

Continuous improvement

Regularly reviewing and improving the organization’s approach.

Communication:

Transparently reporting and communicating emissions reduction efforts and progress.

Monitoring our emissions

Understanding our carbon footprint is critical to informing our strategy; as such, we proactively measure and monitor our greenhouse gas emissions to fully comprehend our operational impact. We are committed to reducing our emissions and are implementing effective strategies to achieve this. These include our investments in energy efficiency measures, utilizing renewable energy sources, and promoting sustainable behavior to reduce our environmental impact. We regularly review and ameliorate our approach as part of our commitment to continuous improvement.

After completing a comprehensive audit of our carbon emissions based on the GHG Protocol in 2022, we set SBTi-informed reduction targets for 2030. The GHG Protocol is an internationally accepted method for companies to measure, manage, and report their greenhouse gas emissions. The audit, which measured our first carbon footprint based on our 2021 emissions, encompassed Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions.

The Green Council oversees our impact reduction targets and ensures that high-impact and signaling actions are facilitated and implemented. The Green Council members consist of cross-functional senior representatives to ensure that all parts of the organization take responsibility for sustainability efforts.

-57%

Scope 1 & 2: Absolute reduction from the 2021 baseline

-9%

Scope 3: Economic intensity reduction from the 2021 baseline

Our carbon footprint

We have undertaken an annual carbon footprint assessment to analyze all aspects of our operations since 2022. By involving a diverse group of key stakeholders in this process, we ensure that our measurements are thorough and accurate.

The current annual footprint includes Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions for 2024. The methodology conforms with the World Resource Institute’s Greenhouse Gas Protocol, the global standard for companies and organizations to measure and manage their GHG emissions It also complies with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and ISO 14064 standards.

In 2024, the emissions relating to IMD activities totaled 3,790 metric tons of CO2 , of which 89% were derived from Scope 3 emissions.

12.4

Scope 1: tCO2 eq

411.6

Scope 2: tCO2 eq

3,365

Scope 3: tCO2 eq

3,790

Total: tCO2 eq

Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions

In 2024, our Scope 1 and Scope 2 CO2 emissions totaled 424 tons, down from 426 tons in 2023. According to the GHG protocol, the reporting company should report location and market-based values for Scope 2. For IMD, the 2024 values are 574 tCO2 eq (2023: 602t) and 178 tCO2 eq (2023: 140t), respectively. Nevertheless, we use a tailored impact factor (hybrid) to better reflect energy production and consumption at our Lausanne campus, as Switzerland is our main campus.

Scope 1 contributions in 2024 did not differ significantly from 2023, resulting in a minimal decrease of 1.5 tons of CO2 emissions.

Scope 3 emissions

Our Scope 3 emissions include purchased goods and services, capital goods, waste generated on-site, employee commuting, business travel, and emissions related to fuels and energy purchased and consumed by IMD. Scope 3 also includes emissions from our Singapore campus, which are considered emissions from upstream leased assets. In 2024, Scope 3 equaled 3,365 tons of CO2 compared with 2,799 tons of CO2 in 2023, resulting in an increase of 566 tons of CO2 . The rise in Scope 3 emissions is primarily attributed to the construction of new solar panels in 2024, which significantly impacted the capital goods category.

For calculating our business travel-related emissions, we included staff travel and mandatory travel that takes place during executive education and degree programs, such as our MBA and EMBA discovery expeditions.

The GHG Protocol considers participant travel to and from program locations to be an optional category, similar to customer travel to and from a store. We track an estimate of these emissions for 2024 but kept it separate from overall Scope 3 emissions as the mitigation efforts for this category differ from staff travel, over which we have more control.

Working towards our 2030 impact reduction target

In 2024, we achieved a 19% absolute reduction in Scope 1 and 2 compared to our baseline year measurement. Transitioning from gas to district heating enabled us to significantly reduce the amount of gas needed for heating. Combined with other energy reduction measures, such as the automated lighting system, the contribution of electricity to our total Scope 2 emissions decreased 10% compared to 2023.

Scope 1 and 2, the direct emissions from our operations, are where our efforts to reduce CO2 emissions are most impactful, showing our commitment to meet our impact reduction target for 2030.

Reducing waste and increasing recycling

As an academic institution, we provide educational services. The materials used to develop our activities are mostly renewable and non-hazardous manufactured goods. Our general activities do not generate toxic substances or hazardous waste. Our Campus Services team seeks to continually improve processes to inform decision-making on sustainability and reduce our impact on the environment. We are committed to reducing waste and increasing recycling where we can.

We have an internal waste management system in place, which includes general waste segregation and recycling processes, and the waste generated in our offices is segregated into general waste and paper. We have installed bins in strategic places on campus, reducing the number of individual waste bins next to office desks. A third-party provider collects and transports waste from campus.

At our campus restaurant, we separate organic household and vegetable waste from incinerable waste. This separation allows the local waste recycling company to recover, reprocess, and recycle the useful components to produce biogas and compost. The biogas produced is then added to the natural gas network, providing fuel solutions to the local community.

54.26t

Municipal waste

69.2t Organic waste

4.12t Recyclable waste

Cutting our energy consumption

Our Campus Services team monitors electricity consumption on campus and has implemented several measures to improve our campus facilities’ carbon footprint. More renewable energy is being used to provide power on campus.

In 2024, we successfully installed solar panels on two-thirds of our Lausanne campus buildings’ roofs. We aim to install further solar panels, pending the outcome of an upcoming audit for the remaining buildings on campus. Further, 70% of our campus buildings have an automated lighting system installed, which includes motion detectors that automatically turn off lights in unused rooms. We intend to roll this out further in 2025. We have also have lowconsumption LED lights in all campus buildings to further reduce our carbon footprint.

The standard heating temperature has been lowered across our facilities, enabling us to reduce our carbon footprint. Our investment in more energy-efficient IT equipment ensures that we can reduce the operation hours of the heating and ventilation system around this equipment.

In 2024, we completed the transition from gas to district heating for two of our campus buildings, providing 100% renewable and recovered heating. Adding additional campus buildings to the district heating system remains a priority.

Our newest campus building, The Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center, is heated and cooled geothermally using water from Lake Geneva. This design sets an environmental standard for future facility projects.

Sustainable travel, catering, and procurement

Our commitment to sustainable travel, catering, and procurement enhances our ability to reduce our environmental impact.

Sustainable travel

Our Green Mobility promotes environmentally friendly transportation options for all our Lausanne employees. It incentivizes the use of public transportation, cycling, and walking rather than driving to campus. Further, Phaze Bike SA has sponsored five electric bikes, which are available for employees, affiliates, and MBA students to use. We established a hologram studio in 2024, which provides employees with the option to attend meetings virtually instead of traveling by plane. In addition, we offset carbon emissions from flights taken on commercial airlines.

Virtual collaboration

IMD has enabled seamless virtual collaboration for all our employees through our investments in technology, such as Zoom and Teams. Meeting online rather than in person has many benefits, including environmental ones, as it reduces the need to travel to meetings and as such reduces our impact on the environment.

2,678

Total number of flights (2,720 in 2023)

4.8

Distance travelled (Mio. miles) (5.1 in 2023)

2,300

CO2 emissions (Metric tons) (3,500 in 2023)

Total number of served meals

72.5%

Percentage of vegetarian meals in daily menus (including 62.5% vegan)

55%

Percentage of products that come from local and regional sources

87%

Percentage of Swiss pork, veal, and beef

39%

Percentage of Swiss poultry

100+

Sustainable catering

The IMD restaurant, located on our Lausanne campus, caters to program participants and employees and offers a variety of healthy meals. The menu revolves around ingredients sourced from local and regional areas from Bio-Swisscertified suppliers. It includes plant-based meat alternatives; by serving more plant-based meals, the restaurant actively contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions at source.

The restaurant uses 100% recycled packaging for takeaway lunch options, which minimizes our environmental impact. Furthermore, the restaurant tries to reduce food waste as much as possible and uses leftover ingredients for new dishes. The automated food waste management system, which was installed recently, is key to ensuring the process is optimal. In 2025, a new campus restaurant, the Hub, will open and its menu offering will ensure we continue to reduce food waste. 176k+

Origin of MSC-labelled fish

Sustainable procurement

We intend to integrate sustainability throughout our supply chain. Our guidelines for sustainable procurement require contracts with suppliers that are environmental leaders in their respective markets and comply with fair, ethical, and socially responsible practices.

We procure most of our office supplies from Lyreco’s green products line, which complies with ISO 14020, the highest level of ISO Environment Claims standards.

Engaging suppliers

In 2024, we implemented the Supplier Code of Conduct across our operations. The Code mandates that all suppliers engage in environmental, social, and ethical business practices and values in all products and services they provide. We stipulate that all suppliers be familiar with and respect the laws, regulations, and guidelines relevant to their operations. We emphasize supporting and respecting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and having zero tolerance for child labor, compulsory labor, and discriminatory practices. Further, a new procurement policy is currently under development. It will provide a framework within which all procurement activity across IMD will result in enhanced sustainability outcomes. The finalization and implementation of the procurement policy is planned for 2025.

Promoting biodiversity

Promoting and safeguarding biodiversity on our campus remains a priority. Several initiatives on our Lausanne campus are essential for integrating nature into the lives of our community members and signal our commitment to Sustainable Development Goal 15: Life on Land. These initiatives create a vibrant and dynamic campus landscape and play a vital role in supporting the local ecosystems. Several key measures have been implemented to enhance biodiversity on campus:

D Green roofs have been installed, which provide habitat for various plant species and insects

D Flowering meadows and natural grass areas stay untouched during Spring and Summer, creating a biodiverse habitat for insects and other wildlife

D Perennial flowerbeds are put together with a specific selection of local plants to attract different pollinating insects

D By preserving old trees, we maintain essential habitats for birds, insects, and other wildlife. These trees also contribute to carbon sequestration

D Insect hotels, purpose-built structures that provide shelter and nesting sites for beneficial insects, have been installed, which are essential for maintaining a healthy ecosystem.

D A ‘living fence’ on campus serves as a habitat for various organisms, providing food, nesting sites, and overwintering spots.

IMD has joined the Biodiversity Credit Alliance (BCA) as a forum member. This voluntary international alliance brings together diverse stakeholders to support private-sector investments in biodiversity. As part of the BCA, we engage in global research on voluntary biodiversity credits, exploring their relevance to business practices and their impact on nature-positive strategies.

Looking Ahead 08

We will continue to deepen the integration of sustainability into our activities to contribute to a more prosperous, sustainable, and inclusive world.

Enabling sustainable and inclusive business

Our programs

In the year ahead we aim to:

D Strengthen IMD’s MBA position as a destination of choice for diverse talent through new program features

D Ensure that the newly revamped AI-rich curriculum will equip MBAs with the skills and tools to thrive in a data-driven world

D Afford our MBAs with the opportunity to expand global networking through Global Network for Advanced Management electives

D Enhance our EMBA program by introducing two new formats – the Modular Flex and Elective Flex –with each featuring sustainability-related themes

D Extend our sustainability offering through an Executive Master’s in Sustainable Business program

Our research

In the year ahead we aim to:

D Carry forward many of our ongoing research projects, including those on circular business models, biodiversity, and sustainability strategies

D Leverage our expertise across disciplines to drive impactful sustainable change. Three interdisciplinary research topics will be explored – sustainability leadership (examining the skills, mindsets, and strategies that leaders need to navigate the complexities of sustainability today), digital sustainability (exploring how digital technologies can accelerate sustainability efforts), and energy transition (investigating how business leaders should approach the energy transition)

D Continue to explore key research themes such as social entrepreneurship, additionality in impact finance, financial additionality, impact additionality, humanitarian finance as a special case, and developing a practical framework for investors and policymakers. This research contributes to academia, investors, policymakers, and humanitarian actors, offering actionable insights into how innovative finance can be leveraged to maximize social innovation and impact.

Our partnerships

In the year ahead we aim to:

D Co-organize a research conference with our partners at Business Schools for Climate Leadership

D Participate in the Change Now Conference in Paris with BS4CL

Impact-driven education

We will continue to ensure that our work is impactful by:

D Continuing to measure business impact, ROI, and intangible benefits, such as the societal and environmental impact of our programs

D Ensuring we continue to use AI to analyze participant feedback to better utilize the insights for further improvements

D Evolving our AI-enabled chatbot further to allow participants to set learning objectives, get feedback, allow reflections, and finally collect the impact data

Access and representation in our programs

We will promote greater access and representation in our programs by:

D Advancing gender diversity in our MBA and EMBA programs by ensuring the Admissions Committee focuses on targeted outreach for female candidates and that female applicants are supported with scholarships

D Expanding financial aid for MBA and EMBA participants by increasing institutional support and external funding from alumni and corporate sponsors

D Continuing to promote our Sprints and other online programs to broaden access to executive education across the globe

D Striving to achieve gender balance among faculty members across various facets of our MBA program

Our people

We will continue to focus on nurturing a diverse, inclusive, fair, and high-performance environment by:

D Continuing to increase the size, quality, and diversity of our faculty and strengthening our organizational culture

D Advancing pay equity certification and salary benchmarking efforts to achieve international certification for fair and equitable pay

D Promoting sustainable work practices to ensure a responsible and supportive work environment

D Deepening our commitment to DE&I and social and environmental responsibility through expanding research, training, and awareness programs

D Enhancing learning and development by launching new leadership programs and expanding learning opportunities for all employees

D Developing a human rights policy and establishing clear guidelines to embed respect for human rights across our operations

D Nurturing and increasing our alumni networks and relationships

Managing our environmental impact

We will work to manage our environmental impact by:

D Finalizing our new procurement policy, providing a framework for all procurement activity to enhance sustainability outcomes

D Completing our supplier risk management and rollout of our code of conduct

D Measuring our carbon footprint annually, encompassing Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions

D Continuing to track and communicate progress towards our impact reduction targets

D Minimizing food waste and reducing waste at our restaurants

D Continuing with the installation of solar panels and the installation of the fully automated and energyefficient lighting system on our Lausanne campus

D Extending the district heating system installation in more Lausanne campus buildings

D Promoting biodiversity on our Lausanne campus with the integration of more green spots and natural habitats

Driving positive change

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