INTERVIEW WITH THE DEAN
think about their future in the context of planetary limitations, offering up new models of business and governance, processes and decision-making. “It really highlights the social and environmental challenges of our society. I think this is very original not only in terms of pedagogy, but also in terms of content,” the Emlyon dean declares. In a similar vein, the school recently launched an 18-month MSc in Leading Sustainable Transformations. This offers a focus on change management and corporate sustainability, as well as a four to six-month internship in industry. Another new programme in this academic year is a triple-degree master’s in management with a specialisation in finance and technology, offered in partnership with Polimi Graduate School of
Two areas of expertise are of particular interest to Emlyon right now: healthcare management and the business of cutting carbon emissions. The former is a nod to Lyon’s “dynamic and rich ecosystem in healthcare and pharmaceuticals”, as Huault describes. At the end of last year, for example, the World Health Organisation (WHO) launched a lifelong learning hub just a short distance from Emylon’s new headquarters. Opened in the presence of French president Emmanuel Macron and WHO director- general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Academy has the lofty aim of upskilling three million healthcare workers, 900 senior decision-makers and 13,000 public health managers by 2028, both in Lyon and online. For its part, as Huault explains, Emlyon launched the Healthcare Innovation, Technology &
Management in Italy and Bayes Business
Society Institute last year “to unite all our activities focusing on these topics, in terms of research, education
School in the UK. Over the course of two years, students study management in Lyon, technology in Milan and finance in London. Huault describes it as being “very selective, international and at the crossroads of these different disciplines, highlighting our will to hybridise our programmes”. Indeed, permeating throughout Emlyon’s new offerings is a desire to bring together different disciplines, perspectives and responsibilities in its educational approach, referred to as ‘hybridisation’ in the school’s strategic plan. An undergraduate programme that mixes data science and artificial intelligence with an emphasis on responsible business provides a further example. It launched in 2023 in collaboration with the engineering school Centrale Lyon (formerly École Centrale de Lyon). “These programmes highlight the importance of hybridisation and embody our will to be socially and environmentally responsible, while emphasising academic excellence,” Huault clarifies. By opening up new paths of study and centres of expertise, as well as employing a renewed will to increase diversity among its students and faculty, the school stands ready to reap the dividends of its new vantage point at the heart of southeastern France.
and corporate relationships”.
Moves towards new
areas of specialism are by no means a departure from the school’s holistic approach, however.
Emlyon’s new purpose-built campus in the heart of Lyon, part of its strategy to increase its global profile
“We will remain a very generalist business school, but we think that there is some potential in these areas and directions,” Huault surmises. Even so, the new healthcare institute shows a desire to channel the school’s expertise on a particular topic in a way that boosts external awareness and accessibility. The very same approach can be detected in the launch of a new entrepreneurship centre, the Institute for Impactful Entrepreneurship and Innovation that now co-ordinates all its offerings in an area of central importance to a school founded by entrepreneurs. Uniting disciplines & perspectives In terms of programmes, the desire for more expertise around the pursuit of carbon-free emissions is reflected in a new compulsory course that is now delivered across Emlyon’s MBA, master’s and bachelor’s degrees. Sustainable Futures is based on consultancy projects with partner corporations and is designed to help students and companies
19
Business Impact • ISSUE 2 • 2025
Made with FlippingBook - Share PDF online