Each year, the EFMD Case Writing Competition celebrates the power of storytelling in management education. The 2024 edition showcased an impressive collection of cases spanning industries, regions, and institutions, all reflecting remarkable innovation, depth, and impact.

We continue this special interview series by spotlighting the voices behind these outstanding cases and celebrating their meaningful contributions to management development.

In this second interview, we are pleased to feature Benoit Leleux from the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), winner in the “Continuous Improvement: The Journey to Excellence” category.

‘Moon Creative Lab: Mitsui’s venture studio”

1. Could you briefly introduce yourself and share your academic and/or professional background?

I have been the Stephan Schmidheiny Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance at IMD in Lausanne (Switzerland) since 1999. I was previously Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship at INSEAD (France) and Associate (Tenured) Professor and Zubillaga Chair in Finance and Entrepreneurship at Babson College (Wellesley, MA, USA). I obtained my Ph.D. at INSEAD, specialising in Corporate and Venture Finance. I specialise in entrepreneurship, venture capital, private equity and corporate venturing. My latest book, “Winning Sustainability Strategies”, was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2019, following on “Private Equity 4.0: Reinventing Value Creation” published by Wiley in 2015 and “Nurturing Science-Based Startups: An International Case Perspective” by Springer Verlag in 2008. Prior to an academic career, I was the head of corporate venturing for a leading agribusiness conglomerate in Southeast Asia. I earned a M.Sc. in Agricultural Engineering and a M.Ed. in Natural Sciences from Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium) and an MBA from Virginia Tech (USA). I have produced over 175+ teaching cases, 30+ of which have earned European and Global case writing awards.

2. What personal or professional experiences inspired you to write this particular case?

I started my career in Asia in corporate venturing, as head of venturing of one of the largest agribusiness firms in Indonesia. Those were some of the most exciting, and at times frustrating, years of my life. Corporate venturing forces to juggle the entrepreneurial drive with the intricacies of corporate politics. How to operate an effective corporate venturing effort has always been one of my favourite research topics, as well as how to thrive as the corporate entrepreneur in charge of driving that effort.  When I was introduced to Kaichi Yokoyama, the leader of Moon Creative at Mitsui by one of my eMBA participants, it immediately brought me back 40 years to my own struggles to make the firm more entrepreneurial. His dedication, and Mitsui’s, to crafting a more entrepreneurial culture, venture by venture, was truly inspiring.

3. What story were you aiming to tell through your case, and why do you believe it resonates today?

Entrepreneurship is always a story of some successes and many failures, where resilience often becomes the most important characteristic. This is even more so when embedded in a huge conglomerate operating across the globe. The sense of urgency is rarely there and very difficult to instil, and yet the benefits of a more entrepreneurial culture are potentially colossal. But how do you balance the shifting corporate priorities with the need for continuity of the corporate ventures and their leaders? The case was meant to illustrate the commitment of a large Japanese conglomerate to the effort, and the hurdles and challenges faced by the leader of the venture studio over the first 5 years of its existence. It was meant to open the readers’ eye to the inherent complexity of the effort on both sides, corporate and entrepreneur, without prejudice.

4. How did working on this case challenge or shift your perspective as an educator or researcher?

All too often, corporate venturing cases will focus on the hugely successful efforts and the miserable failures, of which we have many. Those “extreme” situations strike me all too often as “outliers”, i.e. it is difficult to really extract managerial lessons from them in terms of what ultimately led to the success or the failure and the intermediate decisions that were required. In this instance, the case is positioned at a critical moment for the venture studio leader; while he was able to get a formal corporate commitment initially, he is now asked, 5 years later, to show what has been achieved and what to expect of the next 5 years. Corporate venturing efforts rarely last longer than this because it is either too early to show meaningful contributions to the firm’s bottom line, or simply difficult to evaluate the entrepreneurial mindset changes. The case brings to life these existential questions of most venturing efforts as they slowly pick up speed.

5. If there’s one key insight or message you would like readers or students to take away from your case, what would it be?

Corporate Venturing, and Entrepreneurship in general, suffer from the time unpredictability of the efforts. In a world still dominated by budget-minded executives, justifying the continued existence and support of potentially transformative ventures is becoming more difficult, not easier. You need to reinforce the understanding that ventures take time to mature, and that the parameters are not always in your control. But there is no shortcut to any place worth going to…

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The Sponsor’s Commentary

The category “Continuous Improvement: The Journey to Excellence” is kindly judged by The Case Centre. EFMD deeply appreciates the invaluable expertise and the dedicated efforts of The Case Centre in supporting the Case Writing Competition. Vicky Lester tells us more about the winning case:

1. Could you share a brief overview of your institution?

The Case Centre is the independent home of the case method. As a not-for-profit organisation and registered charity, we are dedicated to advancing the case method worldwide, sharing knowledge, wisdom, and experience to inspire and transform business education across the globe.

Founded in 1973, The Case Centre holds and distributes the world’s largest and most diverse collection of management cases, articles, book chapters, and teaching materials. Our collections include materials from leading business schools across the globe. We also provide a range of services to support the global case community: from access to materials and distribution to recognition programmes, workshops, awards, and knowledge resources.

The case method is a cornerstone of management education, fostering critical thinking, decision-making, and real-world problem-solving skills. By ensuring educators and students have access to high-quality, accessible materials and training, we play a critical role in shaping the next generation of business leaders.

We work globally with over 1,500 academic organisations, educators, and case writers, supporting excellence in management education. Through initiatives like our Impact Index and case awards, we recognise and promote best practice in case writing and teaching, further strengthening the case community worldwide.

Our core values of passion, independence, collaboration, continuity, innovation, and support guide our work in the case community, with partners, and with each other.

2. What inspired your institution to keep supporting the EFMD Case Writing Competition?

Supporting the EFMD Case Writing Competition aligns with our mission and core values. We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to recognise high-quality educational materials that are enriching business education. We hope that our contribution reflects our commitment to advancing the case method, sharing knowledge and innovative ideas, while celebrating best practices.

3. What trends or challenges in the business world make this category especially relevant right now?

Continuous improvement will always be crucial in the world of business. The winner in this year’s category, Moon Creative Lab: Mitsui’s Venture Studio, is a wonderful example of how creativity and an open culture can drive innovation. I have certainly enjoyed reflecting on emerging trends and gaining valuable insights from judging in this competition.

4. What stood out to you most about the winning case in your sponsored category this year?

There were a number of high-quality cases to choose from this year, all well written and with teaching notes that were well-structured.

What stood out to me about the winners in each category was that they reflected what’s currently going on in our wider societal context. Bringing real-world business dilemmas into the classroom is what the case method is all about.

What’s more, the winning cases all had high-stakes dilemmas at their core that, I think, will spark discussion and get students participating.

Add to that, each winner had an opening hook that grabbed my attention straight away. Leading on to an engaging story that I quickly became invested in. If I’m reading a case and I can’t look away because I need to find out what happens next, I’m usually onto a winner.

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About Sponsorship

EFMD Case Writing Competition is proud to have dedicated sponsors who drive management education towards impactful teaching and learning. Sponsoring a category allows you to showcase your institution’s expertise in the specific field of management education in the wide EFMD network. The choice of category, its exact definition and any specific conditions are the privileges of the sponsor. Sponsorships for the following categories are currently available: Bringing Technology to Market, Continuous Improvement: the Journey to Excellence, and Finance and Banking. If you are interested in sponsoring the mentioned categories or launching a new category relevant to case writing and teaching, please contact Petra Grestenbergerova at petra.grestenbergerova@efmdglobal.org.

More information about the 2024 EFMD Case Writing Competition can be found on the EFMD Case Writing Competition page. Please visit The Case Centre’s webpage to access the collection of the winning cases. See other interviews from this series.