News & Highlights

  • March 2025
  • Cold Call Podcast

Inside Porsche’s Push to Evolve: New HBS Case Featured on Cold Call

What does it take for a legendary brand like Porsche to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving auto industry? In this Cold Call episode, Harvard Business School Professor Stefan Thomke dives into the strategy and innovation behind the iconic automaker—drawing from the case study he co-authored with Daniela Beyersdorfer, Director of Research & Administration at the Europe Research Center (ERC). From electric sports cars to digital customer experiences like “Track Your Dream,” the case—based on deep field research in Germany—reveals how Porsche is reimagining what performance and luxury mean in a changing world.
  • December 2024
  • Harvard Gazette

Learning from Notre-Dame: A Case on Leadership and Preventable Failure

What can one of the world’s most iconic landmarks teach us about leadership and operational discipline? In a new Harvard Business School case study, Professor Amy Edmondson examines the 2019 Notre-Dame Cathedral fire as a powerful example of complex failure. The case explores how a cascade of small oversights led to catastrophe—and what leaders must do to build cultures of vigilance and accountability.
  • October 2024
  • HBS Institute for Business in Global Society

Europe’s Green Transition

In October 2024, Harvard Business School’s Institute for Business in Global Society (BiGS), in partnership with the Europe Research Center (ERC), brought together corporate leaders, sustainability officers, entrepreneurs, and policymakers in Paris for a high-level roundtable on Europe’s role in the global green transition. Against the backdrop of mounting climate urgency, the event sparked rich dialogue on how European businesses are turning environmental challenges into strategic advantage.

New Research on the Region

  • April 2025
  • Teaching Material

ZEISS: Commercializing Science

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 725-359.

  • April 2025
  • Case

#FutureFresenius: Implementing a New Strategy to Transform the Company and Advance Patient Care

By: David J. Collis, Benjamin C. Esty and Haisley Wert

In February 2024, Fresenius CEO Michael Sen reflected on the company’s transformation journey from his office in Bad Homburg, Germany. With revenues of 22 billion and a mission to advance patient care, Fresenius had built a strong reputation through decades of acquisitions and dividend growth. However, between 2017 and 2022, the company’s share price dropped over 70% as financial and operational performance sharply declined. When Sen became CEO in October 2022, he recognized the need for a fundamental reset. In response, Sen and the leadership team launched #FutureFresenius, a bold transformation plan that began with changes to the company’s structure, portfolio, and financial framework. By early 2024, key structural changes were in motion, and momentum was building. Looking ahead, the turnaround required deeper cultural shifts and further development of the company’s target operating models. Sen believed in the progress made but faced a critical question: Was Fresenius executing the transformation in the right sequence, at the right speed, and with the right priorities to ensure long-term success? This case study examines the challenges of corporate transformation, the role of leadership in driving change, and the importance of aligning stakeholders in a high-stakes turnaround.

  • April 2025
  • Teaching Material

#FutureFresenius: 'Committed to Life' in 2024 and Beyond (B)

By: David J. Collis, Benjamin C. Esty and Haisley Wert

From February 2024 onward, Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA continued to make progress on the #FutureFresenius transformation that CEO Michael Sen had initiated in October 2022. The company had completed the initial "reset" phase and moved into the "revitalize" portion of the transformation, which the company would continue to implement through the end of 2024.

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Paris Staff

Vincent Dessain
Executive Director
Filomena Berreby
Office Coordinator
Daniela Beyersdorfer
Director, Research and Administration
Emilie Billaud
Associate Director
Elena Corsi
Associate Director
Lena Duchene
Research Associate
Hugo Etchegoyhen
Research Assistant
Nikolina Jonsson
Research Associate
Tonia Labruyere
Senior Researcher
Emer Moloney
Senior Researcher
Carlota Moniz
Research Associate
Jan Pianca
Director, Educational Programs