IÉSEG redesigns its Grande Ecole Program based on an interdisciplinary and intercultural approach to train tomorrow’s changemakers!
08/27/2020
IÉSEG is pleased to announce the redesign of its Grande Ecole Program, starting at the beginning of this academic year* (2020/2021). The new Grande Ecole Program uses an interdisciplinary and intercultural approach, combining knowledge, the acquisition of expertise and the development of behavioral and managerial skills to train responsible and innovative leaders of change.
“In order to carry out our 2025 Vision, and to respond to societal and current issues, we have decided to redesign our Grande Ecole program in line with our pedagogical strategy and values: Accomplishment, Responsibility, Integrity, Solidarity, and Engagement,” Jean-Philippe Ammeux, IÉSEG Dean, explains. “We are convinced that, to train responsible and engaged managers, interdisciplinarity, practical application, as well as personal development and behavioral skills are just as important as specific technical knowledge. This program contributes to training accomplished leaders who will be capable of giving meaning to their strategies and of leading their intercultural teams in a shared, collective vision.”
Lille Campus (Photo – 2019)
Bachelor Cycle: six semesters built on a skills-based approach and transversal, interdisciplinary learning
From now on, the three years of the Bachelor Cycle will take place during six semesters, each with its own identity: learning and working with a professional mindset; exploring diversity; developing creativity and innovation; applying learning to the reality of the corporate world; deploying a spirit of entrepreneurship in a digitalized world, and acquiring a holistic international experience.
Each semester is based on an interdisciplinary skills approach. The implementation of this skills approach occurs with transversal projects, mixing the different disciplines taught during the semester. There are two of these interdisciplinary projects in each semester. The student’s engagement in their learning is even stronger, as they work on meaningful projects that allow them to immediately put into practice the teaching that they have received during the semester. These projects have the following themes: exploration of the business world, social responsibility and solidarity, development of operations abroad, the integration of social and climate-based impact in a company’s performance, entrepreneurship and digital innovation, etc.
During the first semester, for example, the objective is to allow new students arriving at the School to become more professional, optimize their communication, discover the corporate world and its economic and legal environment, all the while becoming familiar with the fundamentals of economics, quantitative methods and teamwork. Divided into groups, they will also study a real company throughout the semester, integrating specific teaching.
The School has also decided to reinforce the development of students’ creative and innovative capacities, and the place given to new ways of working and current challenges such as artificial intelligence and digitalisation.
For example, since September 2019, all of the Grande Ecole Program students follow mandatory online courses in web development, UX (User Experience) and UI Design (User Interface or Design Interface) and Data Science, designed and taught by Le Wagon, an internationally recognized coding school.
Web development is part of the “Communication” pole, contributing to the solidarity project in the second semester. The UX/UI pole contributes to the project design and implementation of a new offering in a foreign country, which takes place in the third semester.
Finally, the Introduction to Data Science module is part of the Data Analysis pole in the fifth semester, contributing to the business creation project that takes place in this same period.
Master Cycle: 12 majors with courses specific to the chosen major
With 12 new majors offered (as opposed to the previous 9), entirely in English, the Master Cycle of the Grande Ecole Program allows students to learn more about a domain related to their professional project. A large part of the program is dedicated to core courses, which cover current and future corporate challenges: Change Management for Sustainability Strategies / Leadership for a Better Organization & Society / Data Sciences / Understanding Business Cycles for Strategic Decisions, etc. In this cycle, transversality is required to enable students to understand and, above all, to analyse economic, societal, environmental and organizational challenges in a comprehensive way. The core courses focus on topics such as social responsibility, leadership and ethics, as well as data science and digitalization.
Majors offered: Marketing Management; Digital Marketing; International Negotiation and Business Development; Information Systems; Business Economics; Entrepreneurship; Managing People and Organizations; Operations & Supply Chain Management; Asset and Risk Management; Financial Transactions and Corporate Strategy; Financial Management & Control; Audit and Advisory.
A number of electives from different disciplines are also offered, allowing students to have personalized learning paths according to their professional project.
In addition, the Master Cycle offers an original and unique course that allows students to acquire managerial skills through experience, before they graduate. This is the Managing Diversity in Vivo course, where each Master Cycle student, who has already received management and group communication training becomes the “manager”, responsible for supporting and managing a group of Bachelor Cycle students. The “manager” student is confronted with issues “in vivo”, such as group dynamics, collective communication, motivation, and management of cultural diversity. This is reflexive work, allowing students to evolve in a manager position and to learn how to accompany a group of students. Similarly, this is very beneficial for Bachelor students, facilitating their integration into higher education with this regular contact with a “manager”.
Finally, during the Master Cycle, students will still be required to work on an end-of-the-year thesis or a consulting project in business, entrepreneurship, or innovation. The semester dedicated to the thesis or the consulting project will take place after the second semester of courses, and will be followed alongside mandatory courses, providing students with the necessary skills.
Career Program: personalized support and guidance for all students during the Grande Ecole Program
The Career Program helps students formulate and implement their professional project, in line with their aspirations, skills, and the socio-economic reality of the labor market.
The objective is to facilitate their integration into a company, within an environment that fosters their personal and professional growth. The program mixes learning methods (digital modules, interactive courses, blended learning, coaching, etc.).
*The redesigned program will be implemented gradually from the 2020-2021 academic year