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With more than 700 professors, including 186 permanent professor-researchers, IÉSEG offers to its students a high-quality learning experience, based on 4 key elements: an active, interdisciplinary learning process, focused on the acquisition of competencies, offered through customized curricula.

Each month, “Faculty in the spotlight” invites you to meet one of the School’s professors who presents their vision of teaching, their methods for transmitting their expertise and passion to students and shares their best memories and stories at IÉSEG.

This month, let’s meet Emmanuel DAUPHINÉ, professor of Financial Accounting at IÉSEG.

Can you briefly summarize your background?

My background combines academic and professional experience. I first obtained an engineering degree from Centrale Nantes. Then, I worked as a financial controller in the construction industry for six years. Seeking to deepen my knowledge in finance, I decided to pursue an MBA at HEC. Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, I had a latent desire to venture into entrepreneurship myself. In early 2002, I created my furniture company between France and Cameroon before becoming the operator of a “community forest” with a focus on responsible social and ecological management. I learned a lot during this experience, realizing that extensive education does not guarantee entrepreneurial success – there is no substitute for hands-on experience in this field. After about fifteen years as an entrepreneur, I returned to part-time salaried work and took on various roles. I worked as a start-up coach in an incubator, a CFO for an eyewear creator, a consultant in mergers and acquisitions, and a sales representative for financial services for SMEs. These diverse experiences allowed me to build relationships in different sectors and with various profiles, enriching both my professional and personal life. Today, I recognize the value of this range of experiences in the classroom. What was once a tumultuous journey became meaningful when I found my calling in teaching. It had become an “asset,” as they say in financial terms. Even my mistakes… and especially my mistakes! They provide me with valuable insights, allowing me to offer advice to students and entrepreneurs based on personal and often amusing anecdotes.

Why did you decide to become a professor?

I have a very special memory. A day in May 2007 I was invited to speak to Master’s students in an entrepreneurship creativity seminar in Reims. From the first moment, I felt at ease; it was natural, easy, and enjoyable to interact with these students. It was a win-win situation: my experience interested them, and their questions made me reflect and progress. It was only later that I realized I had found my true vocation.

Why did you choose IÉSEG?

In late 2017, I came across a LinkedIn job posting that almost perfectly matched my profile: “professor of practice.” I say “almost” because it was a teaching position for a subject I had never taught before: accounting. However, I believed I could do it because I had the required knowledge and entrepreneurial experience. So, I applied and meticulously prepared for the job interview. The people who interviewed me at the time have become colleagues and friends. I remember concluding our conversation with my immediate impression: “You look very friendly, I’d love to work with you.” That feeling has only grown stronger over the years, and I realize how fortunate I am. At the time, I wasn’t familiar with IÉSEG, but the School has come a long way since then. In my opinion, we have done things in the right order by patiently and calmly establishing academic excellence before building a reputation. I am proud and happy to be part of this School.

Can you summarize your subject?

One of my missions is to demystify accounting, which is sometimes seen as an adversary. I provide students with the keys to make it their ally and overcome their apprehensions. Of course, it requires effort on their part, but that effort pays off quickly. Over the years, my teaching has evolved. My slides are more refined, animated, and include the most up-to-date data based on economic and financial news. I love using examples from well-known companies like Google, Tesla, LVMH, Amazon, etc. I take their latest figures and discuss them with my students, as these names are part of our daily lives. I bridge three fascinating subjects: accounting, financial analysis, and strategy. In a company’s financial statements, you can read its strategy, understand its position in relation to its suppliers and customers, determine if it is growing organically or through acquisitions, assess its profitable growth, vulnerability to competition, the evolution of equity, and more. You can see if management is facing challenges or assess the degree of obsolescence of physical assets. All this information can be clearly read in accounting, which is an ancient discipline of management that has withstood revolutions and wars, with its principles remaining the same since the Renaissance.

What changes have you observed at the School since you joined?

A major milestone was the change in leadership in 2022, which was smoothly and intelligently organized. Our new Dean has infused an entrepreneurial drive that I find very interesting. We are also developing a partnership with RUBIKA School (also accredited EESPIG – Private Institution of General Interest) in Valenciennes. This will allow us to jointly launch the “Bachelor in Management & Tech Design” in September 2024, training managers capable of bridging tech teams and management (marketing, finance, HR, etc.). In today’s digital and algorithmic economy, this fusion of skills becomes crucial, and it is natural to see this niche in higher education gaining importance.

How are you involved in the School beyond your courses?

I am currently working on the curriculum of this new Bachelor program, leveraging our fantastic internal resources to launch the program: pedagogy, professors, and industry relations to build it; the communication team and admissions to promote it… all in collaboration with our partner RUBIKA. It is an exciting intrapreneurial project that I am fortunate to lead!

What do you like most about IÉSEG as a professor?

The first thing that comes to mind is the quality of the relationships we all have here. I have been to other business schools before, and IÉSEG truly has a unique sense of family. Despite the School’s significant growth in recent years, we still maintain a close bond between professors, administrative teams, and students. I believe one of the reasons we are able to maintain a results-driven culture in a warm atmosphere is our status. Being an association makes a considerable difference compared to being owned by an investment fund. We are independent and masters of our strategy, without the financial pressure of shareholders, and this has a very positive impact on IÉSEG’s management style, which values long-term perspectives, meaning, and societal engagement.

Any anecdotes to share?

It’s difficult to choose because after 5 years, I have many wonderful memories here… But here’s the oldest one: in my first accounting class at IÉSEG, a student approached me on the last day to thank me, explaining that before taking my course, he hated accounting, but my teaching had changed his mind. He ended up being the top student in his class and remains one of the best students I have had in that subject to this day. Mentioning it now touches me once again! Seeing young people discover and open themselves to the world, being an actor and spectator of that as a teacher, is noble and exciting, always new – that’s why I love my job.