Strategy

Our Latest Research on D&I

Why Diversity Matters

This special number of “In-Depth” presents the latest research from HEC professors and Ph.D. students on the impact of Human Resources policies and leadership on diversity and inclusion (D&I). These often throw up stereotypes in factors of discrimination and in shaping workplaces and society. Researchers explain their key findings in D&I and offer concrete insights and recommendations to better face management and career challenges. Hence, they attempt to answer certain crucial societal issues.

June 03rd, 2021

diversity and inclusion - aleutie-AdobeStock

Strategy

June 03rd, 2021

Why Diversity Matters

Matteo Winkler is a law professor at HEC Paris, focusing an important part of his research on international human rights and on teaching Diversity and Inclusion. Professor Winkler also chairs the HEC Paris Diversity Committee. Eloïc Peyrache is a professor of economics. He began his research career with a study of gender diversity in admissions to French Grandes Ecoles. He was nominated Dean of HEC Paris in January 2021. Both professors share their insights on the stakes in Diversity and Inclusion, ways to address discrimination and proposals to include diversity through research. These, they say, are just some of a panoply of initiatives being explored at HEC Paris.

Associate Professor

Tax and Law

Strategy

June 03rd, 2021

Including and Managing Diversity: Interview with Researchers

In this interview with Knowledge@HEC, a dozen of professors and Ph.D. students from HEC Paris share the key findings of their latest research on diversity and inclusion. They also share insights for managing one’s career in challenging contexts and give analysis on how education and the new generations can change the workplace culture.

Ph.D. student

Strategy & Business Policy

Strategy

May 17th, 2021

Unintended Consequences: When Minority Directors Get a “Pass” in Cases of Fraud

Companies are increasingly facing societal pressure to diversify their boards. However, these well-intended measures may have unforeseen consequences, a new study finds. Because of a perceived shortage of minority candidates, fraud-tainted minority directors — unlike their non-minority counterparts — enjoy some immunity from negative reputational consequences.

By Georg Wernicke

Strategy

May 06th, 2021

Can Financial and Social Missions Truly Coexist Within Companies?

A number of business leaders and researchers have promoted the idea that social and financial goals are complementary. The authors of a recent paper say that may be true, but if so, why aren’t all companies pursuing these dual goals? They propose ways to diminish tensions between the two aims.

By Tomasz Obloj

Strategy

May 05th, 2021

3 minutes

Best Buy Case Study: How does Purposeful Leadership Impact Performance?

The case study “Purposeful Leadership at Best Buy” written by Rodolphe Durand, HEC Paris Professor of Strategy and holder of the Joly Family Purposeful Leadership Chair, has just been released on the Case Centre platform. This case study aims to better understand the characteristics of “Purposeful Leadership” and to identify the conditions of success to impact positively the performance of a company.

Professor

Strategy and Business Policy

Strategy

March 26th, 2021

Activist Hedge Funds: Good for Some, Bad for Others?

Recent news cast some doubts about the effects of shareholder activism on firms’ strategic orientation. Hence, the question: Do activist hedge funds help or harm the companies they target? Mark DesJardine of Pennsylvania State University’s Smeal College of Business and Rodolphe Durand of HEC Paris (members of the HEC’s Society & Organizations Institute) investigated the long-term effects of hedge fund activism on companies that get targeted by these activists. In their extensive research, they found the value of targeted companies spikes the first year after targeting but drops in later years relative to similar non-targeted companies. In addition, the authors found that being targeted by activist hedge funds put a halt to the broader investment portfolios and socially responsible efforts of companies.

By Mark Desjardine , Rodolphe Durand

Strategy

March 25th, 2021

Why Activist Hedge Funds Target Socially Responsible Firms, and How Executives and Investors Can Counteract Them

Danone’s CEO had to leave his position under the pressure of increasingly powerful and influential activist hedge funds. With their controversial tactics aimed at maximizing shareholder profit, they undermine sustainability practices, which they consider wasteful. Indeed, not only do they tend to suppress the corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities of the companies they target, they also target companies with stronger CSR records in the first place, as a new study reveals. But its authors Mark DesJardine, Rodolphe Durand, and Emilio Marti also show that these companies can divert the attention of activist hedge funds, and that policymakers and socially minded investors can intervene, too.

By Mark Desjardine , Rodolphe Durand

Strategy

February 25th, 2021

BtoB: How Much Should You Focus on Existing Buyers?

Managers of supplier firms often dedicate substantial resources and attention towards maximizing the level of the business they capture from their existing buyers. But can there be downsides to deepening these BtoB relationships? In related prior research on client-led diversification, John Mawdsley, assistant professor of Strategy at HEC Paris, explained how deeper relationships with existing clients lead to law firms following their clients’ expansion into new lines of business. Now, in a study with Deepak Somaya of the University of Illinois, Professor Mawdsley asks whether the strength of the relationships between a supplier and its existing buyers influences the rate at which the supplier can grow its business. In this interview, Mawdsley reveals an important trade off of deepening existing B2B relationships.

By John Mawdsley

man and women shaking hands - metamorworks

Strategy

January 22nd, 2021

How to Manage Innovators for the Public Good

Today’s major societal challenges – such as climate change, migration and inequality - urgently call for new ideas and approaches that can create both economic growth and social value. Recent years have seen a surge of support programs targeted specifically at nascent social entrepreneurs - new actors on the innovation scene -, widely thought to be invaluable for bringing forth and inspiring such ideas. It is essential, now more than ever, for organizations to understand how they can motivate and manage teams or nascent entrepreneurs to innovate for the public good. An interview with one of the scholars at the forefront of research on innovations for the public good, HEC Paris Professor Marieke Huysentruyt, Academic Director of the Inclusive Economy Center at the Society & Organizations Institute (S&O), on her experimental approaches and results.

By Marieke Huysentruyt