Joerg Niessing, an INSEAD marketing professor and digital strategy and transformation expert, has been named the winner of The Case Centre’s Outstanding Case Teacher Competition 2025. This global honour recognises his ability to bring business challenges to life using interactive technology and an innovative and creative teaching approach.
For over 12 years, Niessing has transformed INSEAD classrooms into spaces where students confront real-world challenges and are empowered to think critically, embrace ambiguity and lead with confidence. He teaches around 100 case sessions annually to executives and MBA students, while adapting cases to suit different cultural contexts and learning needs.
This award follows Niessing’s previous accolades in the marketing category in 2018 and 2022. He was the Case Centre’s number 6 bestselling case author in 2020/21, and the highest new entry in 2019/2020 at number 16.
“Winning this award is a tremendous honour and a deeply meaningful recognition of my passion and commitment to case teaching over the past decade,” said Niessing. “What I love most is the energy in the classroom - the exchange of ideas, the diversity of thought and the moments when students and executives connect the dots or find a breakthrough. Case teaching transforms learning into a shared journey of discovery and growth. It’s not about finding the “right” answer - it’s about learning how to ask the right questions and how to apply the learnings to one’s own challenges.”
Niessing continually pushes the boundaries of immersive learning. In 2024 he published his first virtual reality case, placing students in authentic, real-world scenarios so that they can experience the complexities of decision-making firsthand.
In his case-teaching kit Niessing is also leveraging AI-aided strategy platforms that provide students with live insights in the classroom. By combining strategic frameworks with AI, the tools enable students to quickly generate ideas on concepts like segmentation, customer personas and customer experiences in real time.
Pierre Chandon, the L'Oréal Chaired Professor of Marketing at INSEAD and the winner of the same award in 2018, said:
“Joerg Niessing’s dedication to teaching cases is truly exceptional. He skillfully engages a diverse range of students in the case method, from bachelor students to C-level executives. His ability to adapt his teaching methods to suit different audiences and his deep understanding of the material have made him a standout educator at INSEAD.
“He demonstrates a remarkable commitment to case teaching, teaching an impressive 1-2 cases per week, 75% of which are his own cases. Moreover, his contributions to case teaching extend beyond the classroom. He has authored over 25 cases and has taught cases in over 40 countries, while breaking new ground with his virtual reality case.”
Niessing expressed his gratitude to the community that made this achievement possible: “This recognition is not an individual achievement. It is only possible because of the incredible support system around me: the great colleagues at INSEAD who continuously inspire me, the fantastic companies who collaborate with us in writing cases, the guest lecturers by case protagonists who bring their stories to life, and, most importantly, the students and executive leaders. Their energy, curiosity and engagement in pushing the boundaries of discussion truly elevate the learning experience. This award is as much theirs as it is mine, and I am deeply grateful for their contributions to this journey.”
In addition to his classroom teaching, Niessing champions case-based learning in INSEAD’s executive programmes by mentoring educators, leading faculty workshops and sharing best practices.
Niessing’s award is INSEAD’s 102nd accolade at the Case Centre Awards and Competitions since they began in 1991 and its second win in the Outstanding Case Teacher Competition, following Pierre Chandon’s recognition in 2018.
The Case Centre annual awards and competitions celebrate excellence and impact in case writing and teaching. While the awards are judged based on anonymised data recording the uptake of cases for teaching at schools worldwide, the competitions are judged by bespoke panels of international experts.