INSEAD faculty win ‘Oscars’ in annual case writing competition

INSEAD, the international business school, has received top honours in The Case Centre Awards 2016, an annual contest recognising outstanding case writers and teachers around the globe. 

Professor of Marketing Pierre Chandon received dual honours for his Outstanding Contribution to the Case Method Award and the Overall Case Award for ‘L'Oréal in China: Marketing Strategies for Turning Around Chinese Luxury Cosmetic Brand Yue Sai’, a case study co-authored with Haiyang Yang. Professor Chandon is now a three-time winner of the coveted Overall Award for the most popular case across all nine management categories. 

 

“Receiving two awards this year is an honour and a testament to INSEAD’s unparalleled commitment to research and teaching excellence,” he commented, adding: “The Outstanding Contribution to the Case Method award recognises INSEAD’s longstanding leadership in case writing. We are particularly proud of our new dedicated case websites which provide up-to-date information complementing the paper copy of the case, such as video interviews of case protagonists and consumers. Registered instructors can also access slide decks, additional videos on what happened next, and watch the case author teaching the case at INSEAD.” 

The winning case tackles the complex cultural challenges that even successful multinational firms face when doing business in China. It illustrates the fundamental dilemma between functional and lifestyle positioning and the surprising way it was resolved by L'Oréal’s then-struggling Chinese cosmetics brand, Yue Sai. 

Associate Professors of Organisational Behaviour William Maddux and Roderick Swaab won the Human Resource Management/Organisational Behaviour category award for their case ‘Ricardo Semler: A Revolutionary Model of Leadership’, co-authored with Elin Williams and Betania Tanure. The case tells the story of a Brazilian business leader who led his family marine pump business to multi-national, multi-sector success through a radical process of workplace democratisation.

“With the rising popularity of leadership courses around the world, our case on Ricardo Semler offers stimulating insights on change management,” commented Professor Maddux. “It shows the effects of different leadership styles in different situations, and how business leaders can use the change process to transform an organisation's culture,” added Professor Swaab. 

INSEAD has consistently performed well in The Case Centre Awards since their inception in 1991. Pierre Chandon’s achievement this year brings INSEAD’s total to 14 Overall Case Awards, more than for any other business school. 

Ilian Mihov, Dean of INSEAD, commented: “I would like to congratulate our award recipients, and to thank all faculty members who have worked determinedly to realise INSEAD’s vision.” He added: “Teaching and research excellence lie deep within INSEAD’s DNA and case studies are an essential part of a holistic learning journey. They help the school develop responsible and thoughtful global leaders for social and economic transformation around the world.”

The Case Centre is the largest single source of management case studies in the world. Its annual awards, presented since 1991, are considered the ‘Oscars’ of the case method. They are presented to cases used by the largest number of organisations across the globe in the past year in nine management categories, with the Overall Winner Award for the most used case across all categories.

For further information about INSEAD’s winning cases and case publishing, see: 

• L'Oréal in China: Marketing Strategies for Turning Around Chinese Luxury Cosmetic Brand Yue Sai – Pierre Chandon – INSEAD 
• Professor Pierre Chandon discusses the case method
• Ricardo Semler: A Revolutionary Model of Leadership – William Maddux & Roderick I. Swaab and Elin Williams – INSEAD 
• INSEAD dedicated case websites 
• INSEAD’s longstanding leadership in case writing
• Register at INSEAD case publishing
• INSEAD case publishing