James Henderson
Most strategy decisions now have to be made before the facts are in. Boards are asked to commit capital, talent and partnerships under conditions where the basis of competitive advantage is shifting underneath them. The hard question is no longer what the strategy is. It is how to commit, how to stage investment, and how to keep the organisation moving while the answer is still forming.
James Henderson is an IMD professor of strategic management who helps senior teams commit to strategy under uncertainty without waiting for clarity that will not arrive.
Full Profile
Why organisations work with James Henderson
- He treats strategy as a sequence of staged commitments, not a single plan, which is what boards facing capital decisions in volatile sectors actually need.
- His teaching draws on more than 50 published case studies built with named companies, so the room is working with operating examples, not abstractions.
- He has run IMD’s Strategic Partnerships and Leading Sustainable Business Transformation programs, giving him a working view of how ecosystems and sustainability commitments are reshaping competitive strategy.
- As a former Dean of Programs and Innovation at IMD, he has built and led large executive programs himself, which translates into sessions designed for senior decision-makers rather than classroom delivery.
Biography highlights
- Professor of Strategic Management, IMD Lausanne, since 2006.
- Program Director of IMD’s Strategic Partnerships course; Co-Director of Leading Sustainable Business Transformation.
- Former Dean of Programs and Innovation at IMD (2012 to 2016); launched the Global Leadership in the Cloud online portfolio.
- Co-edited Restructuring Strategy (Strategic Management Society, 2005); editorial board, Strategic Management Journal.
- EFMD Excellence in Practice Gold Award (2018); Academy of Management Carolyn Dexter Award (2009); ECCH Best Selling Case in Europe.
- PhD, INSEAD; MBA, Ivey School of Business; BA Economics, University of Western Ontario.
Biography
Strategy textbooks describe choices that have already been made. The harder work is the period before, when leaders must commit capital, build partnerships and reshape portfolios while the underlying competitive logic is still moving. That is the territory Henderson has spent twenty years teaching at IMD.
He treats strategy as a discipline of staged commitment. Where many frameworks assume a stable view of advantage, his work focuses on options-based investment, corporate venturing, and the timing of moves into new positions. The argument is that senior teams overestimate the cost of acting early and underestimate the cost of waiting for clarity that does not arrive.
That work is grounded in operating cases. Henderson has developed more than 50 published case studies, including the Heineken Buckler Beer case that became ECCH’s best-selling case in Europe. He co-edited the Strategic Management Society’s Restructuring Strategy and sits on the editorial board of the Strategic Management Journal, the field’s flagship journal.
Inside IMD he has carried operating responsibility as well as faculty responsibility. As Dean of Programs and Innovation he launched the school’s Global Leadership in the Cloud online portfolio. He directs the Strategic Partnerships course and co-directs Leading Sustainable Business Transformation, two of IMD’s anchor programs on how ecosystems and sustainability are reshaping commercial strategy.
Key speaking topics
- Strategy under uncertainty
- Strategic agility and options-based investment
- Corporate strategy and portfolio decisions
- Strategic partnerships and ecosystems
- Strategy execution
- Sustainable business transformation
- Corporate entrepreneurship and new growth platforms
Ideal for
- Boards and executive committees facing capital allocation decisions in volatile or transitioning markets.
- CSOs, heads of corporate development and strategy teams running portfolio and partnership reviews.
- CEOs and senior leadership teams working through sustainable business transformation.
- Senior leadership programs and offsite agendas focused on commitment and execution under uncertainty.
Audience outcomes
- A working vocabulary for staging strategic commitments rather than treating strategy as a single decision.
- A sharper read of when to invest early, when to hold optionality, and when waiting becomes the costlier choice.
- Operating examples from named companies that map onto the audience’s own portfolio and partnership questions.
- A view of how ecosystem and sustainability pressures are restructuring competitive advantage in capital-intensive industries.