Sebastian Becker, one of the top 40 professors shaping business education
Sebastian Becker, Professor at the Accounting and Management Control department at HEC Paris; has been named by Poets&Quants as one of the "40 Most Outstanding B-School Profs Under 40 in the World". The listing recognizes educators from elite institutions who excel in both the classroom and research. For the survey, Poets & Quants polled business school administration, faculty, students, and alumni for their top picks.
Poets & Quants said these professors are "influencers in their fields while having a meaningful impact on their students' lives. And arguably all of them are just getting started. If their previous successes are any indication, these top profs will be shaping business education and MBA futures for years to come."
Sebastian teaches ‘Management Accounting and Control’, ‘Business Performance Management’ and ‘Business Concepts’ in MBA, EMBA, MSc., and PhD programs. While he gains the admiration of his students by his unique teaching style and techniques, Sebastian is also recognized for the quality of his research which focuses on the diffusion, change, and implementation of accounting and control practices, with a particular focus on budgeting. He holds a Ph.D from WHU-Otto Beisheim School of Management (Germany) and has been a visiting researcher at NHH (Norway) and Bocconi University (Italy).Poets&Quants acknowledges that research activity gave more weight to teaching; even the best researchers must convey their material compellingly to be effective in the classroom.
Read Poets&Quants ’ profile of Sebastian:
Talk about a wild ride! 15 years ago, Sebastian Becker was delivering pizzas. Today, armed with a Ph.D., he delivers lessons on performance management and measurement systems to future CEOs at HEC Paris. And his teaching philosophy is simple: “Have fun”. As a result, his students often dress in costumes or engage in pantomime during final presentations. And it’s all for a good cause, Becker explains. “I believe this is great because whatever point they try to bring across it is not only entertaining but also something they for sure have learned and won’t forget easily.” A renaissance man, Becker speaks five languages and has published in outlets ranging from Contemporary Accounting Research to the Journal of Business Economics .
What professional achievement are you most proud of? The moment I found out how to make topics of ‘Management Accounting and Control’ an appealing subject and making students realize it is very central to their future roles in the organizations they seek to influence! For example, knowing how to measure and manage performance, how to set targets, how to plan and forecast the future or how to steer and design organizations to effectively implement strategies are crucial practices for any manager! Often people do not associate these practices with the course title ‘Management Accounting and Control’. Read more…
Knowledge@HEC article: How to abandon budgets for the good of the company