HEC Paris press coverage from all over the world
Often praised for boosting performance, diversity falls short when leadership is shaped by outdated models, explains Olivier Sibony, professor of strategy and business policy at HEC Paris Business School, in an op-ed for Forbes.
The Financial Times reports that Friedrich Merz’s coalition deal falls short of bold reform, with CDU and SPD neutralizing each other’s ambitions. While the pact includes tax cuts and minimum wage hikes, economists call it underwhelming. Law professor at HEC Paris Business School Armin Steinbach notes that both parties kept each other in check, with the SPD extracting major concessions despite a weak electoral result.
Bloomberg reports the story of HEC Paris MBA student Nelson Amenya, who exposed a $2 billion airport privatization deal in Kenya involving the Adani Group. After receiving internal documents during protests over government transparency, Amenya published them online, leading to the deal's cancellation. Now living in exile, he continues advocating for governance reform, saying his MBA gave him the tools to challenge corruption and inspire change.
American Banker reports the results of an HEC Paris Business School study led by David Restrepo Amariles showing that employees who secretly use ChatGPT often receive better evaluations than those who disclose it. Professor Restrepo Amariles urges firms to adopt clear AI policies and incentive systems to promote transparency while fairly rewarding human effort
El País reports on France’s efforts to double its defense budget by 2030 despite economic constraints. To fund rearmament without raising taxes or cutting social spending, the government is encouraging citizens to invest in defense firms. Economy professor at HEC Paris Business School Tomasz Michalski notes that the key challenge is scaling up industrial capacity, calling the shift a test of France’s ability to reindustrialize for military production
DW explains how declining U.S. support and heightened geopolitical risks are prompting EU states to boost defense spending and coordination. Germany has even amended its constitution to free up military budgets. Armin Steinbach, law professor at HEC Paris Business School, says this turn could become a catalyst for innovation, with firms in defense tech, intelligence, and pharma among the key beneficiaries.
In an op-ed for Harvard Business Review, professor at HEC Paris Business School John Mawdsley and his co-authors detail the resuls of their research suggesting that hiring superstars often hurts performance, especially when they disrupt existing teams. However, results improve when stars join already high-performing groups. Mawdsley suggests firms focus on nurturing internal talent instead of risky external hires
As conflict gets a bad rap in business, professor and Associate Dean of MBA Programs at HEC Paris Business School Brad Harris shows in an op-ed for Forbes how the right kind of tension can fuel team creativity—if managed with care.
In an article on the politics of wellbeing, The Observer reports that while the U.S. slides down the World Happiness Index amid Trump-led disruptions, the UK Treasury is pioneering the integration of wellbeing into public spending decisions. Some experts argue that declining happiness fuels populism, with data showing links between dissatisfaction and political extremism. HEC Paris professor Yann Algan, co-author of the World Happiness Report, supports the idea that trust and life satisfaction shape whether discontent turns right or left.
The Financial Times highlights Friedrich Merz’s success in passing a sweeping constitutional amendment just before parliament’s term ends. The plan lifts debt limits for defence and creates a €500bn infrastructure fund, securing broad but fragile support from across the political spectrum. While welcomed abroad, the move marks a sharp U-turn for Merz, who had opposed relaxing fiscal rules. HEC Paris professor Armin Steinbach notes that Merz must now claim political “trophies” in upcoming coalition talks to balance the SPD’s major policy win.
