International Institute for Management Development

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IMD

IMD campus in Lausanne
Motto in English	Real Learning Real Impact
Type	Academic Institute
Established	1990; 35 years ago (1990)
Chairman	Michel Demaré
President	David Bach [1]
Academic staff	60
Administrative staff	450
Students	250 degree students
Other students	23,000 executive education participants
Location	Lausanne , Vaud , Switzerland 46°31′N 6°37′E / 46.51°N 6.62°E / 46.51; 6.62
Website	www.imd.org

International Institute for Management Development (IMD) is an independent academic institute^[2] with campuses in Lausanne, Switzerland and Singapore. IMD is known for its executive education and its proximity to business.^[3] In 2024, it named David Bach as its new president.^[4]

IMD was formed in January 1990 through the merger of independent management education centers International Management Institute (Geneva) (IMI), established in 1946 by Alcan, and Institut pour l'Etude des Methodes de Direction de l'Entreprise (IMEDE) Lausanne established in 1957 by Nestlé.^[5] The new organization, the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), settled in Lausanne. The history of IMEDE and its merger with IMI is documented in Jean-Pierre Jeannet and Hein Schreuder (2015, chapters 2 and 4).^[6] Its industrial heritage is unusual for business schools, which are usually university-affiliated.^[7]

IMD business school solely provides executive education; it is a Swiss university institute^[8] accredited by the Swiss Accreditation Council^[9] and it consists of one integrated multidisciplinary faculty. The faculty consists of more than 50 full-time members, made up of 21 different nationalities. The current president is David Bach, who follows Jean-Francois Manzoni, Dominique Turpin, John R. Wells, Peter Lorange, and Juan Rada.^[7]

IMD focuses on training and developing general management and leadership skills.^[10]

IMD is a global leader in custom executive education, delivering over 370 programs in 2024 to nearly 200 organizations. These programs are co-designed with clients and delivered in flexible formats—face-to-face, virtual, and asynchronous.^[11] Some partnerships include:

- Securitas: A five-year transformation journey recognized with a gold EFMD award.^[12]

- Bayer: A Sprint program that reached over 12,000 leaders also recognized with a gold EFMD award.^[13]

IMD was recognized #1 globally for custom programs by the Financial Times in 2025.^[14]

IMD offers over 75 open enrollment programs and 23 online programs. In 2024, more than 5,000 participants joined open programs and 2,260 joined online offerings. The school emphasizes personalization, interactivity, and cutting-edge content, with 98–99% of participants reporting practical, applicable outcomes.^[15]

IMD was recognized #9 globally for custom programs in the 2025 Financial Times Executive Education Rankings.^[16]  

IMD offers a range of degree programs designed for experienced professionals and promising leaders:

• MBA: A one-year, AI-rich program ranked #1 in Europe by Bloomberg Businessweek and named 2024 MBA Program of the Year by Poets&Quants.^[17]

• Executive MBA (EMBA): A flexible, modular program with global immersions in China, Japan, and Singapore. In 2024, IMD announced a revamp of their EMBA offering to address the evolving needs of executives.^[18]

• Master of Science in Sustainable Management and Technology: Delivered in partnership with EPFL and UNIL, this program prepares future leaders in sustainability, innovation, and technology.

In April 2025, IMD launched its first new degrees in 25 years^[19]:  

• Executive Master in AI & Digital Business Transformation

• Executive Master in Sustainable Business Transformation

These offer flexible, modular programs for experienced professionals, combining online and on-campus learning, and addressing contemporary challenges such as digital transformation and sustainability.  

IMD's full-time MBA has been ranked by Bloomberg^[20] and Forbes^[21] as one of the best one-year programs in Europe and internationally.

In 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 IMD was ranked first in open programs worldwide by the Financial Times.^[22] The FT also places IMD at second in Custom Programs, with the school jumping up two places from fourth in 2016. IMD remained in second place in the combined custom and open program rankings, maintaining its spot from last year.^[23]

IMD counts 125’000+ alumnis across 140 countries and 80+ industries.

• Howard Yu
• Misiek Piskorski
• Michael D. Watkins
• Jean-Francois Manzoni
• Richard Baldwin (economist)

IMD has partnerships with^[25]

• MIT Sloan School of Management
• Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
• University of Lausanne
• Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne
• EHL Hospitality Business School
• Inner Development Goals^[26]
• The Female Quotient
• Graduate Institute of International Development Studies
• World Business Council for Sustainable Development

• https://www.imd.org/