Recognised for a third consecutive year with the top case distinction
INSEAD, the leading international business school, today announced it has won four of the nine categories in the 2009 ecch European Case Awards, and the Overall Award for the third consecutive year. The school has received the Overall Award more than 10 times during the 18-year history of the awards. INSEAD cases received top honours across several categories, including Economics, Politics and Business Environment; Ethics and Social Responsibility; and Finance, Accounting and Control.
‘The Evolution of the Circus Industry,’ an INSEAD business case by W. Chan Kim, Renée Mauborgne, Ben M. Bensaou and Matt Williamson, won the Overall Award. The case examines how Cirque du Soleil was able to enter a crowded industry and create new market space by challenging the conventional assumptions about how to compete.
‘We are extremely honoured that INSEAD has received the Overall Award for a third year in a row,’ said J. Frank Brown, Dean of INSEAD. ‘At INSEAD, we are fully dedicated to producing innovative, globally-relevant case studies that not only resonate with what is happening in today’s business environment, but provide insight into what companies and leaders should be thinking about in the future.’
Other INSEAD faculty members being honoured as part of the European Case Awards include the following:
| Case Award Category | INSEAD Professor(s) | Name of Case |
| Economics, Politics and Business Environment | Jonathan Story and Noshua Watson | MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry |
| Ethics and Social Responsibility | Margaret Hanson and Karen Powell | Procter and Gamble PuR Purifier of Water™ (A): Developing the Product and Taking it to Market |
| Knowledge, Information and Communications Systems Management | Theodoros Evgeniou of INSEAD with George Doukidis and Katerina Pramatari, Athens University of Economics and Business | Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) |
| Finance, Accounting and Control | Igor Vaysman of INSEAD with Stephen Smyth, Esfren Consulting | Infinity Bank (A): Retail Branches and Customer Profitability |
The Overall Award enables INSEAD to reclaim the Sumantra Ghoshal Award for Excellence in Case Writing for a third year in a row. The award, named after the visionary management guru Sumantra Ghoshal, recognises one case each year for its exceptional content and overall impact.
‘This year’s cases revolve strongly around the retail sector, banking and the entertainment industry,’ said Richard McCracken, Director of ecch. ‘These areas are feeling the immediate impact of the current global economic downturn and will require expertise in the business leaders of today and tomorrow. Our winning cases will help provide this.’
The European Case Awards have been presented annually since 1991 by ecch, an independent, non-profit, membership-based organisation dedicated to promoting the case method of learning. The Awards recognise the authors and institutions of cases that have achieved the highest growth in popularity worldwide. The organisation measures ‘popularity’ by reference to the number of institutions that have ordered a case in which to teach.
INSEAD will receive its awards in September 2009 at a ceremony taking place in London.
