HEC in the press

Management Today details professor at HEC Paris Business School Georg Wernicke's latest study, which suggests that communicating about CSR can backfire, as conservative newspapers are somewhat inclined to criticise these efforts, regardless of their intent or outcome.

Armin Steinbach, law professor at HEC Paris Business Schools, comments on CNBC the results of the French legislative elections and particularly criticizes the French President: "Macron's gamble didn’t pay off. What he wanted to achieve was clarity, clarification on support for his government, and in that he failed. Moreover, his bloc lost significantly in votes. We are now with a parliament composed of one-third left, one-third right, one-third in the center — it’s fragmented and there’s a risk of a gridlock. I don’t see this as a success for Emmanuel Macron."

As French legislative elections' second round is taking place with the high possibility of a hung Parliament, the BBC dissects the possible outcomes. Among them, the RN forming a minority government without any majority in Parliament. Law professor at HEC Paris Business School Armin Steinbach comments: "That kind of RN government is unlikely. It would soon face a vote of no confidence and under the constitution, France cannot have another general election for at least another year."

As Hungary's presidency of the Council of the EU just started, Prime Minister Viktor Orban came to Kiev for the first since the Russian invasion in 2022, met with Volodomyr Zelesnky and brought some suggestions for ending the war. EU law professor at HEC Paris Business School Alberto Alemanno's tweet on the topic was quoted in Deutsche Welle: "Despite the appearances, the rotating President of the Council, Viktor Orban, does NOT represent the EU27 on their common foreign and security policy. Any other claim is pure optics at best and abusive at worst."

As the British Labour party just came to power, it is said to be looking for ways to raise the State's revenues. Among the various options is to implement a tax on the super-rich. Silmutaneously, a G20-commissioned report supporting the idea that  levy on the world's 3,000 billionaires could raise between $200bn and $250bn per year has been published. Pascal Saint-Amans, law professor at HEC Paris Business School comments for The Telegraph: “It is very interesting to see that the G20 are saying ‘we should focus on this’. Brazil will be trying to get others on board and it is likely that leaders of several countries will say they want to work on this. For example, will a new Labour chancellor support this? Perhaps.” 

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wonders why French Preisdent Emmanuel Macron's economic policy is so rejected in France and draws a parallel with reforms led by Gerhard Schröder during the 2000s in Germany. Law professor at HEC Paris Business School Armin Steinbach explains: "France has implemented important structural reforms in recent years. But they suffer from the curse of the non-simultaneity of reform and reform effect, which is politically very costly."

As Hungary is about to take over the Council of the EU presidency, law professor at HEC Paris Business School comments in Deutsche Welle: "My major concern about the Hungarian presidency is [that it will] further normalize the idea that a rebellious member state may flout the rules of game while still benefiting from the game."

Interviewed by Town & Country on craftsmanship in the luxury sector, marketing professor at HEC Paris Business School Anne Michaut commented: "A maison cannot be creative without the crafts."

Having a purpose is key for a company. But how to define it? Professor at HEC Paris Business School Rodolphe Durand identified in an op-ed for Forbes three essential levers to determine a firm's raison d'être.

How do business schools adapt their finance training? Evren Örs, academic director of HEC Paris Business School’s Master in International Finance programme, explains to the Financial Times that HEC students are already trained to use generative AI for financial data analysis.