High Performance Boards

Didier Cossin, Lausanne, Switzerland, is the founder and director of the IMD Global Board Center and the originator of the Four Pillars of Board Effectiveness methodology. In his work with boards, Professor Cossin helps them enhance organizational performance through strategy involvement, best-in-class decision making, enhancing board culture and general governance (including board restructurings). Professor Cossin is an advisor and/or executive teacher with the United Nations, the central banks of several countries, ministries as well as sovereign wealth funds and supranational organizations (including the European Central Bank, IFC, IOC), the boards or executive committees of corporations, financial institutions and funds in Europe, Asia, the Americas, Africa and the Middle East. He has worked extensively with the oil and gas industry (Schlumberger, Shell, Sinopec, Saudi Aramco, Qatar Petroleum, and others) and the banking industry (HSBC, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, ICBC and others), but also with many other industries, including media, luxury goods, retail, shipping, and asset management. He also advises some leading non-profit organizations (UNICEF, the Red Cross) on governance issues. Didier is a member of the Risk Who’s Who Society, the American Finance Association, the Eastern Finance Association, and the European Finance Association.

IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland, is an independent university institute with campuses in Lausanne and Singapore. For more than 75 years, IMD has been a pioneering force in developing leaders who transform organizations and contribute to society. IMD has been ranked in the top three of the FT’s Executive Education Rankings (combined ranking for open & custom programs) since 2012. It has also been in the top four for 18 consecutive years. Since 2004, IMD has sustained the premier “triple-crown” of AACSB, European Foundation for Management Development EQUIS, and AMBA accreditations, and, in 2022, IMD earned Swiss institutional accreditation, confirming IMD’s commitment to delivering the highest quality teaching, research and services.