Management and Society

Teaching

In line with the vision of the School to ‘Empower Changemakers for a better society’ and reflecting its commitment to the United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Management Education (UN PRME) and sustainability-driven strategic agenda, courses, pedagogical initiatives and learning activities designed and carried on by the Management & Society department build on the acknowledgement that contemporary organizations and the communities in which they operate face multi-dimensional, society-oriented, systemic challenges.  

Grande Ecole Program

Members of the department are all part of the ‘Strategy and Sustainability’ track that feeds the Grande Ecole Program as well as the Bachelor in International Business with core and elective strategy, ethics and sustainability courses a. Core courses include ‘Strategy and Innovation’, ‘Understanding Business Cycles’, ‘Business Ethics’, ‘Sustainability and Business’, and ‘Change Management for Sustainability Strategies’. Professors in the department also design and coordinate innovative learning activities, such as the ‘Business Exploration’ and ‘People Planet Profit’ (PPP) interdisciplinary projects, mandatory for all bachelor students. Through the PPP project, IÉSEG students work together with companies on real-life cases to tackle sustainability-related challenges.

Members of the department coordinate the ‘General Management & Strategy Consulting’ (GMSC) major and Management and Commercial Engineering apprenticeship training program in the ‘Grande Ecole’ program. The GMSC major aims at the development of deepened understandings of key management areas and of outstanding analytical and people skills. Innovative electives offered in this major include for example the ‘Climate Lab’, which is co-constructed by students. In the highly multidisciplinary ‘Management and Commercial Engineering’ apprenticeship program, designed for students who wish to develop an expertise in the fields of management, business development and human resources, students alternate « on-the-job » experience and courses taught at IÉSEG, in collaboration with corporate partners. The ‘Strategic Analysis’ and ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ courses are examples of courses taught by M&S members in this program.

Specialized Master Programs

The department also hosts the coordination of the Master in Management for Sustainability, a program completely taught in English designed for problem-solvers and purpose-driven students who want to implement solutions addressing the world’s toughest sustainability challenges. This interdisciplinary specialized master, in collaboration with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), equips participants with the fundamental science, technology and policy know-how combined with a good command of management and strategy insights and tools, to lead the change towards a more sustainable future. M&S professors teach a variety of courses in this program, including ‘Leading and Governing a Sustainable Business’, ‘Systems Thinking and Large System Change’, ‘Activism: Strategy and Tactics’, or ‘Partnerships for Grand Challenges’. 

Professors of the department are also teaching strategy, ethics and/or sustainability courses in the various Specialized Masters offered by the school, including the Master in International Business, Master in Fashion Management, Master in Business analysis and Consulting, or the Master in Entrepreneurship and Innovation.  

Executive Programs

At the executive level, professors of the department actively contribute to the development of the MBA program offered by the school and further share their expertise with managers via specifically designed, tailored ethics-related and sustainability-oriented executive programs for corporate partners. 

In this era of rapid changes and rising societal expectations, the Department of Management & Society thus plays a central role in preparing our undergraduate and postgraduate students – through curricular and extracurricular initiatives – for the deeper environmental understanding, renewed strategic thinking, and organizational capabilities development needed by organizational actors to design strategically sound policies, enact ethical and responsible working environments and develop inspiring managerial and organizational perspectives that resonate with society aspirations. 

RESEARCH, expertise & corporate world

The School and the department provide ample resources to support a variety of research interests and activities and has comparative advantage in promoting cross-disciplinary research efforts needed to address the challenges faced by for-profit and non-profit organizations and their stakeholders. In their research projects, current faculty members and research teams from the Management & Society department develop research efforts at the crossroads of strategy, organization studies, ethics and business and society considerations. The department hosts the coordination of the IÉSEG Center for Organizational Responsibility, a cross-departmental academic center that coordinates research (and pedagogical) activities and initiatives regarding social responsibility, sustainability, and business ethics. The recently launched ‘Sustainability of Business in Society Chair’, focused on the development of organizational capabilities for sustainability, is also attached to the department. Organizational Partners of the Chair include Colombus Consulting and B Lab France.

M&S researchers use a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods and often rely on multidisciplinary approaches in their scholarly work. They maintain excellent networks with corporate partners as well as with colleagues at overseas institutions for collaborative work. Current faculty members from the Management & Society department are, among other domains of expertise, particularly renowned for their work on business-NGO interaction, CSR and sustainability development and implementation processes, alternative forms of organizations, stakeholder theory, institutional complexity, and organizational stigma.  

Researchers in the department are active members of their respective research communities and have been successful in publishing articles in top-tier refereed international journals such as (amongst others) the Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Annals, Academy of Management Discoveries, Academy of Management Perspectives, Organization Science, Organization Studies, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Management Studies, Journal of Management Inquiry, Industrial and Corporate Change, Business Ethics Quarterly, Business & Society, Journal of Business Ethics and Organization & Environment. 

ACADEMIC STAFF OF THE DEPARTMENT

Research Seminars of the Department

We believe that collaboration, discussion and exchange are essential to fostering a positive environment for academic research. With this spirit, the School actively encourages and promotes the organization of research seminars, workshops and conferences.

See the Research Seminars