News & Highlights

  • November 2024
  • Cold Call Podcast

How Pernod Ricard Is Integrating AI into Its Workforce

Discover how Pernod Ricard, a global leader in premium spirits, is harnessing data and artificial intelligence to reimagine operations and expand into new markets. In this Cold Call Podcast episode, HBS Professors Iavor Bojinov and Edward McFowland III discuss their case “Pernod Ricard: Uncorking Digital Transformation,” supported by Nikolina Jönsson and Emer Moloney of the Europe Research Center. The case dives into the challenges of aligning digital initiatives with strategic goals, overcoming internal resistance, and fostering adoption across the organization.
  • October 2024
  • Event

Pioneering Europe’s Green Transition: A BiGS & ERC Paris Conference

On October 23-24, 2024, the Institute for Business in Global Society (BiGS) and the Europe Research Center hosted a landmark conference in Paris titled “Europe’s Green Transition: A New World of Risks & Opportunities.” Led by HBS Professor Debora Spar, the event brought together 70 C-suite executives, entrepreneurs, NGO leaders, public officials, and HBS faculty members. Panels, case studies, and breakout sessions explored topics from climate risk and financing strategies to innovative collaborations, creating a dynamic space for idea-sharing and networking.
  • HBS Business & Environment Blog
  • October 2024

Exploring High-Tech Greenhouse Innovations in the Netherlands

Explore how HBS MBA students immersed themselves in cutting-edge sustainable production practices during their January 2024 journey through Denmark and the Netherlands. Led by HBS Professors Willy Shih and Mike Toffel as part of the Decarbonization & Sustainable Production Immersive Field Course (IFC), students visited innovative greenhouses, including Syngenta Tomato Vision, leveraging AI and DNA sequencing for advanced tomato breeding; Van den Ende Rozen, employing sensors and automation for sustainable rose cultivation; and Koppert Cress, pioneering geothermal energy and drone-based pest control for microgreens and edible flowers. Discover what the students learned about the future of agriculture driven by innovation and sustainability.

New Research on the Region

  • February 2025
  • Teaching Material

Moleskine: Daniela Riccardi Turns the Page

Newly appointed CEO Daniela Riccardi needed to develop and present an action plan to the board of the company that owned Moleskine. Riccardi was hired because Moleskine had recently overextended its reach and needed more focus and discipline. Having previously served as the CEO of Diesel, a premium denim company, and Baccarat, a luxury crystal and lifestyle brand, Riccardi was known for successfully leading companies through rebranding efforts. Several issues confronted Moleskine: too many new products and offerings; soiled regions and departments; a lack of accountability among employees; lagging online sales; and, distribution partnerships that had not been reviewed in some time. Riccardi needed to prioritize these and other issues facing the company whose iconic notebooks had been used by the likes of Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, and Ernest Hemingway. The primary teaching objective of the case is to help students formulate an action plan. It also offers insights on strategy execution, stepping into a new leadership role, and what it takes to lead change and transformation. Note: This case can be taught by itself, or it can be used as a follow-up to “Moleskine (A)” HBS No. 716-407 and “Moleskine (B)” HBS No. 716-4064.

  • February 2025
  • Case

Managing Complexity at mymuesli

By: Thomas Graeber and Stacy Straaberg

In April 2009, direct-to-consumer e-commerce muesli brand mymuesli faced a flood of customer questions. The breakfast cereal startup enabled users to order personalized muesli on its website by choosing from 75 organic ingredients for a total of 566 quadrillion potential muesli combinations. mymuesli’s customization process offered a competitive advantage over store-bought brands by allowing consumers to satisfy dietary needs and wants. However, co-founder Hubertus Bessau found customization was a double-edged sword: “People love customization but hate to customize.” While some users knew exactly what they wanted and proceeded through the customization process in minutes, others spent hours, sometimes contacting mymuesli for advice or abandoning the purchase altogether. Bessau wondered if the company could limit customer questions and increase order completion rates and sales by simplifying mymuesli’s customer journey (e.g., through reducing the number of ingredients to choose from and/or by adding pre-packaged muesli options). However, would making changes to mymuesli’s product strategy put the startup’s customization core competency at risk?

  • February 2025
  • Case

Luca de Meo at Renault Group (A)

By: Emily Truelove, Linda A. Hill and Lydia Begag

When Luca de Meo became CEO of Renault Group in 2020, the 122-year-old French automaker faced financial challenges and the double technological disruption of the automotive industry: the shift to electric vehicles (EVs) and the rise of software-defined vehicles (SDVs). Within three years, he had turned the company around through his ambitious “Renaulution” strategy, which stabilized Renault’s finances, modernized its vehicle lineup, and began shifting the traditional automaker into a technology and mobility services company. This case highlights innovative elements of de Meo’s approach to leading change within an incumbent firm, including pulling mid-level managers out of their day jobs to help implement strategy and leveraging different communication tactics to align and inspire employees. de Meo’s unique leadership style—an unusual blend of visionary decisiveness and collaborative engagement—is explored, along with the challenges of building the will and skill of top management teams facing industry and technological disruption. Designed for MBA and executive education audiences, the case facilitates discussions on leading change amidst industry disruption, managing oneself as a leader, and navigating the dynamics of top management teams in times of transformation.

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