Christine Lagarde (C): Managing the IMF

Julie  Battilana; Carin-Isabel  Knoop

Case | HBS Case Collection | August 2018

Christine Lagarde (C): Managing the IMF

by Julie Battilana and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Abstract

This case covers the career of Christine Lagarde from 2011 to 2018 as she takes the helm of a troubled multilateral organization during a time of deepening economic turmoil. As the first female leader of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and as a non-economist, she overcomes early challenges to gain her footing with the multiple constituencies she must serve. She also focuses the IMF on “macro-critical” issues including gender, socioeconomic inequality, and climate change. In 2016, she is reelected to serve another term as Managing Director and considers how to ensure that the IMF remains relevant. For coverage of her childhood to 2005, see “Christine Lagarde (A): A French Prime Minister Calls” (HBS No. 419-017). For coverage of her career from 2005 to 2011, see “Christine Lagarde (B): Being a Public Servant” (HBS No. 419-018). For comprehensive coverage of her evolution and career, see “Christine Lagarde” (HBS No. 419-016).

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Power and Influence; Change Management; Global Range; Gender; Equality and Inequality; Weather and Climate Change;

Language: English

Format: Print

27 pages

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Citation:

Battilana, Julie, and Carin-Isabel Knoop. "Christine Lagarde (C): Managing the IMF." Harvard Business School Case 419-019, August 2018.

In October 2018, Chef Carme Ruscalleda, the most-starred woman chef in the world at the time, closed the doors of her Restaurant Sant Pau (Sant Pau), as she had on almost every night for the past 30 years—this time for the last time. Ruscalleda had opened the restaurant in 1988 with her husband and partner. Sant Pau had a rating of three Michelin stars, the highest rating available to a restaurant through the well-known MICHELIN Guide to fine dining. Her other two restaurants—Sant Pau Tokyo, a sister restaurant in Japan, and Moments, in Barcelona’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel—had two Michelin stars each. Many people—from the village and around the world—were sad to see the iconic restaurant close after so many decades. The case describes her approach to cooking, managing teams, dealing with stress, running a family business and constantly reinventing herself.

Chapter | Handbook of Inclusive Innovation | 2019

Problem, Person, and Pathway: A Framework for Social Innovators

Julie Battilana, Brittany Butler, Marissa Kimsey, Johanna Mair, Christopher Marquis and Christian Seelos

As the appetite for learning about social innovation intensifies, how can we better prepare practitioners for the work of addressing the world’s pressing social problems at the relevant scale? This chapter presents the “3P” framework that we developed to help address this challenge, grounded in our experience researching, teaching, and advising social innovators around the world. In this framework, we propose three key lenses to help social innovators contribute to social change, unpacking the nature of: the problem at hand, the person pursuing change, and the pathway to change. Considering the alignment of these 3Ps provides an organizing template for social innovators to think about how they can effectively contribute to solving social problems. We illustrate how we engage new and experienced social innovators in this learning journey by discussing our pedagogical approach as educators. In conclusion, we discuss future research directions to help address unanswered questions.

Keywords: social innovation; Social Entrepreneurship; Social Issues; Change; Problems and Challenges;

Citation:

Battilana, Julie, Brittany Butler, Marissa Kimsey, Johanna Mair, Christopher Marquis, and Christian Seelos. "Problem, Person, and Pathway: A Framework for Social Innovators." In Handbook of Inclusive Innovation: The Role of Organizations, Markets and Communities in Social Innovation, edited by Gerard George, Ted Baker, Paul Tracey, and Havovi Joshi, 61–74. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019. View Details

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This case is set in mid-2019, when Qualcomm was struggling with unwanted takeover battles, fights with Apple and the Chinese government, and internal dissension on the board of directors. Ten years earlier Qualcomm was hailed as a monopoly on CDMA technologies and its derivatives—it appeared to be positioned to become the next dominant technology company in the tradition of Microsoft and Intel. But as the industry changed, Qualcomm’s competitive position seriously weakened. The purpose of the case is to explore central questions in strategy formulation: 1. how to build a long-term sustainable position based on technology, 2. how to design an IP strategy to lock in customers for the long run, 3. how to build a global standard and appropriate returns on that standard, and 4. how to respond when your historical business model starts to crumble.

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Christine Lagarde (C): Managing the IMF

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