Bettina Büchel

Bettina Büchel is an expert on strategy implementation, new business development, and change management. Her work is focused on leading strategic transformation programs and working closely with CEOs to build capabilities to deliver strategic priorities.

She says that many strategic initiatives fail to generate commitment and deliver value for businesses because leaders do not adequately address underlying barriers to change, such as gaps in the organization’s capacity to execute strategic changes. Her work is therefore devoted to helping companies increase the likelihood of successful implementation of strategic initiatives.

Büchel has published several books on smarter strategy execution and related topics, and her latest book Strategy Execution Playbook: A Trusted Companion for Leading Initiatives is aimed at helping leaders of strategic initiatives increase the likelihood of successful implementation.

She has led custom programs for fast-moving consumer goods groups (Nestlé, Orkla, Barilla), B2B firms (AGC, Tetra Pak, Metso Outotec, Hydro, Nilfisk, TDK, OCP), and specialty chemicals companies (Evonik, Hempel). The custom program she developed for Moroccan state-owned mining and fertilizer firm OCP in partnership with Africa Business School won an EFMD Excellence in Practice Gold Award in 2022.

She also directs IMD’s Strategy Execution and Change Management open programs, as well as teaching on the flagship Orchestrating Winning Performance (OWP) program. 

A key pedagogical innovation in her portfolio of activities is the use of simulation games such as Strategic Feat, which she co-designed with technology company Ososim in 2009, as well as other board-based simulations on change and sustainability that have since been used in various MBA and executive education programs.

Her academic articles have appeared in leading journals such as the Journal of Management Studies, Journal of World Business, and MIT Sloan Management Review, and she has written numerous case studies based on her work with companies all over the world such as Nestlé, Barclays, SGS, Tetra Pak, Ooredoo Mobile Money, and Best Buy.

In addition to her work with multinational companies, she is currently an angel investor, sits on the board of a small private equity investor, and works with venture capital firms to evaluate and invest in startups.

Büchel was the first director of IMD’s hub in Singapore and previously served as Dean of Programs and Innovation. Before joining IMD in 2000, she worked as an Assistant Professor at the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok, where she taught MBA and PhD students from across Asia.

Selected publications

Strategy Execution Playbook: A Trusted Companion for Leading Initiatives (IMD, 2022 forthcoming)

Strategic Agility: The Art of Piloting Initiatives (IMD, 2019)

Smarter Execution: Seven Steps to Getting Results (Financial Times Prentice Hall, 2008)

Facilitating Groups to Drive Change (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007)

International Joint Venture Management: Learning to Cooperate and Cooperating to Learn (John Wiley & Sons, 1998)

Recognition

EFMD Excellence in Practice Gold Award (2022)

Winner of EFMD Case Writing Competition Award (2000)

Education

Bachelor’s degree (Economics and public administration)

University of Konstanz

Master’s degree (Human resources and industrial relations)

Rutgers University, USA

PhD (Business administration and management)

University of Geneva