International campuses and a multidisciplinary approach give students at Audencia Business School a wider view on global business. Dean Sébastien Tran outlines the strategy to Tim Banerjee Dhoul and details the school’s “test-and-learn” approach to AI A broader perspective T he management education landscape is competitive and particularly so in France, where there are more than 30 members of the AMBA & BGA networks. Many of these are members of the prestigious grandes “The key word in our international strategy is ‘agility’,” shares Tran, adding that this translates into a need to “be flexible and adapt the curriculum for each partner.” It’s an approach that has allowed the school to branch out considerably from its Nantes headquarters and the site of its foundation in 1900. Three campuses in China and one in São Paulo,
écoles system of specialised institutions, known for their high selectivity and academic excellence. However, this status isn’t always enough to guarantee a steady stream of the most talented students and high-potential leaders. Candidates can choose from 41 members of the Conférence des Grandes Écoles, a national association that provides a further signal of the quality of programmes on offer. That modern industry standard of identifying and promoting elements in which a school excels and stands out from its competitors is, therefore, essential. Internationalisation: an agile approach At Audencia Business School, internationalisation is a central facet of the strategy in this respect, with overseas “collaborative campuses”, as dean Sébastian Tran describes them, designed to facilitate study abroad requirements and grow the school’s global presence. The result of partnerships with local providers, Audencia’s international locations use a mix of operational models, including shared campus space and jointly established premises, to suit individual circumstances on the ground.
Brazil have been joined by a new location in Sydney, Australia this year. In conjunction with additional domestic locations in Paris and Vendée, this takes Audencia’s total number of campuses to 10. “It is a good way to promote the brand of the school and send our students to different countries as part of the curriculum,” Tran surmises. The collaborative campuses also have much to offer domestic students in these overseas markets. More than 100 students are currently admitted to each of three BSc programmes at Audencia’s campus in Shenzhen, China, for example, where the school has partnered with Shenzhen University since 2016. Alongside these strategic footholds, Audencia has somewhere in the region of 250 agreements with institutions across more than 60 countries, largely for the purposes of student exchanges. “It’s important to keep in mind that while we want to increase the number of our partners, there is always a quality requirement. That’s why, for example, we recently signed an agreement with Stanford University that allows master’s in management
10 Business Impact • ISSUE 5 • 2025
Made with FlippingBook - Share PDF online