Annual report

HEC Paris was a pioneer in Europe in the use of practical case studies, which were applied to all subjects in 1958. Since then, it has constantly developed its expertise in training students to address real professional situations. The School aims to create its own library of case studies, with the help of companies, which will be used far beyond the School’s four walls. 12 new cases were published in 2022 compared to an average of two in previous years, two of which were recognized in international competitions:

• Rodolphe Durand's (H.93 - D.97) case study encourages students to reflect on conditions for the successful recovery of BB through a purpose-driven approach.
• Denis Gromb's † case study on Antin Infrastructure Partners focuses on infrastructure acquisition strategy in the telecom industry.

Other case studies are being written on the topics of ecological and social transition with Schneider Electric and on sustainability management and the interrelationship between the economy, the environment and social commitment with Nexans led by Sebastian Becker, signed in December 2022 and launched in April 2023.
 

We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge 6 remarkable pledges: Schneider Electric and Vinci for their support of Hi! Paris and CMA CGM, ICADE, Nexans, Rothschild & Co and Schneider Electric for their support for other strategic aspects of HEC Paris.

We would also like to sincerely thank the 12 companies that have renewed their commitment to the Foundation through support for research and teaching at HEC: Accenture, Bank of America, BCG, BRED, CACIB, EY, KPMG, L’Oréal, Mazars, McKinsey, Société Générale and Unibail-Westfield-Rodamco. Thank you to all the organizations that actively support us. In addition to your financial support, your expertise and involvement help us produce research that influences practices, and train students to become the leaders the world needs.

Rothschild & Co and HEC Paris have created a new “Data and impact Investment” chair co-directed by professors Jessica Jeffers and Ferdinand Petra.

The creation of this Chair is part of a global project to produce solid, science-based, independent research on sustainable finance and to share this new knowledge with our learners. Jessica Jeffers will lead the research component and Jessica Jeffers and Ferdinand Petra will work together to implement the teaching component. Although there is much debate over social and environmental responsibility with regard to public procurement, little research is available on the potential of sustainable investment in private markets. The chair therefore aims to produce new knowledge on this issue and develop both a new elective on sustainable investment for M1 students and a three-week “Impact Finance” academy. A huge thank you to all the HEC alumni at Rothschild involved with us.

Learn more about this partnership

Sam Aflaki, a Professor in the Information Systems and Operations Management department at HEC Paris since 2011, has made significant strides in sustainable decision-making, operations management, and energy policy.

He was recognized for his outstanding pedagogical contributions and was awarded the prestigious Pierre Vernimmen - BNP Paribas Prize in 2021. His research has been published in numerous top-tier management and economics journals, garnering academic and industry attention.
Sam's research sheds light on the underlying factors that drive individual and firm-level decision-making processes and provides valuable insights for policymakers and businesses seeking to design targeted interventions for promoting sustainable practices.

Sam Aflaki's research can transform how firms, customers, and policy makers approach sustainability and drive positive change in consumer behavior and environmental policy.

This 3-year funding has been instrumental in advancing my research and allows me to delve deeper into crucial issues related to sustainability, fostering a better understanding of how we can drive positive change in the world. I am truly grateful for the opportunities this support provides.

Sam Aflaki, Professor of HEC Paris, Holder of the CMA CGM Chair 

The start of the academic year 2022–23 was marked by a rise in the number of students joining HEC with a scholarship from CROUS, France’s regional student services organization – this percentage increased from 14.5% to 17.7%.
In total, thanks to you, the percentage of HEC students who benefit from a scholarship based on social criteria now stands at 23%. This considerable increase brings us closer to the aim we set at the start of this campaign: to welcome to HEC 25% of students benefitting from a scholarship based on financial needs. This also binds us to the future, both in regard to these students and to tomorrow’s cohorts. We will need your renewed support to build on this progress!

For over ten years, the HEC Foundation has been supporting pupils benefitting from a scholarship from CROUS, France’s regional student services organization, and who are preparing the HEC entrance exam through preparatory classes. These pupils have obtained their baccalauréat high-school diploma with honors or distinction and have been recommended by their high school. This scheme was extended to the whole country in 2019 and 120 schools take part. In February 2022, 581 pupils received a grant for living expenses (vs 530 in 2021).

Beyond this financial aid that helps them and their family face the competitive examination with peace of mind, the support boosts pupils’ self-confidence and motivates them to do their very best in their tests!

The Prep Etoile program was launched in September 2021. It supports pupils from all over France in the second year of preparatory classes who benefit from a scholarship from CROUS, France’s regional student services organization, and who have the academic potential to enroll at HEC. The program takes place over a year and helps scholarship students familiarize themselves with the tests so they can overcome the psychological barriers that many of them face.

The aim is to also boost their selfconfidence so they can look to a bright future. Half of the pupils in the first year of this scheme enrolled at one of France’s top five business schools (HEC Paris,ESSEC, ESCP, EDHEC, EM Lyon). Three of them joined HEC Paris.

Amandine Ayrem (H.07), Managing Director of Eurazeo and a member of the HEC Foundation’s campaign committee, sponsored the Prep Etoile cohort. “The kindness and mutual assistance in our class helped me a lot at the time. Solidarity is a value I hold dear and it’s fundamental in our world. This is reflected in my support for Prep Etoile and I’m pleased to give back a little of what was given to me.” 

The PACT Afrique program is growing thanks to the generosity of donors! Sixteen new students began their studies in September 2022. They were warmly welcomed by the two previous classes. So far, the program has been implemented in three countries with the help of HEC’s Abidjan office headed by Alexis John Ahyee and through the work of Christian Kamayo (M.00) and Charles Boukinda (E.15).
In the space of three years, 120 young African talents have enjoyed this unique support that helps them get ready for the written and oral admissions examination for the Master in Management program. There have now been 22 such talents at HEC Paris!

A look back on a friendly meeting between the frst PACT Afrique promotions

There was much emotion when the HEC teams finally welcomed the first beneficiaries of the HEC Imagine Fellows program! Behishta, Zarmina, Zaid and Mykyta are from Afghanistan, Syria and Ukraine. They managed to overcome difficult circumstances to study at HEC Paris. We pay tribute to the work that the School’s teams carried out to ensure that these students’ arrival went smoothly, to welcome them, and to help them adapt to a completely new environment. This year was our chance to lay the first foundations of this program that aims to give a new opportunity to brilliant students from countries in conflict so that they become ambassadors of peace.

I was aware of the limited opportunities that were available to me due to my nationality. I refused to let my circumstances dictate my future. Instead,I chose to be resilient, knowing that life rewards those who want something badly enough and never give up. This resilience has paid off in the form of the incredible opportunity that I have been given by Mr. Adrien Naussenbaum and the HEC foundation. HEC has opened the doors to limitless possibilities, allowing me to imagine a future where my once farfetched dreams can become a reality.

Zaid (H.25), syrian student, HEC Imagine Fellows

Learn more about HEC Imagine Fellows Program

The aim of the “Sustainability & Supply Chain Analytics” Chair, created with the support of CMA CGM, is to create high-level academic teaching in sustainable development and supply chains. The Chair is headed by Sam Aflaki, a professor in the Department of Information Systems and Operations Management. It deals with CSR issues in supply chains.

To support companies in becoming more sustainable, Nexans, HEC and the Foundation have jointly launched the “Orchestrating Sustainable Business Transformation” chair led by Sebastian Becker, Associate Professor of Accounting and Management Control at HEC Paris. This 5-year partnership reflects the common ambition to support the transition to a more sustainable world.

In July, we were delighted to bring together the donors of the Joly Family Chair in Purposeful Leadership, created by Hubert Joly (H.81) and HEC in 2018.
It gave such a sense of pride to show the journey this project has taken and the importance it has gained since then!
Today, through the Purpose Center, all students on the Master in Management, MBA and EMBA programs benefit from teaching that helps them put purpose at the heart of their personal and professional projects.

Thank you to our donors for helping breathe life into this distinctive body of research, lectures and concrete actions at HEC and for continuing to help it grow!

This five-year partnership aims to improve firms’ understanding and progress in environmental and social challenges and to help build a fair transition towards an inclusive, decarbonized economy.
Thanks to this donation, the S&O Institute will significantly develop the research work of facultymembers working on the subject of “Purpose & Sustainability” and will strengthen their teaching on the Master in Management and MBA programs. This donation has also helped create the Impact Company Lab, a new laboratory for ESG subjects headed by Professor Marieke Huysentruyt.

Furthermore, the partnership will support the academic innovation program CDL Climate and the PACT Afrique Equal Opportunities program.

Given the urgency of climate change and environmental challenges, HEC Paris is stepping up its action to support the ecological transition. In 2022, the School created the new Climate & Earth Center within the S&O Institute.

This new center is headed by Professor Daniel Halbheer, holder of the "Business Models for the Circular Economy FII Institute" Chair. Its activities are divided into three parts: “Think”, “Teach” and “Act”. It already boasts several achievements, such as the Climate & Business Transition certificate, which immediately drew sixty students (“Teach”), and the first Climate Days event on the campus (“Act”).

The Center was also behind the Business Schools for Climate Leadership Alliance (BS4CL), an alliance of eight European business schools which aim is to help present and future leaders tackle climate change.

Learn more about the Climate and Business initiative

In October, we joined forces with Olivier Wigniolle (H.85), CEO of Icade, to launch the Corporate Initiative “ICADE for Better Urban Living”. This partnership resulted from several years of close collaboration between Icade and the HEC Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center.
It has been particularly focused on creating the Icade Academy for “Innovating for Sustainable Urban Living” for first- and second-year students and on Icade’s support for the Innovation for Good certificate for final year students.

Lear more about this partnership

In 2022, 5 sessions of HEC Stand Up, the HEC program that helps women achieve financial independence through entrepreneurship, were offered in France, the West Indies and Réunion thanks to sponsors including the Bruno Roux de Bézieux Foundation, the Michelin Foundation, BRED, Bank of America, Fondker Foundation, RATP Group Foundation and the generosity of individual donors such as Frédéric Pescatori (H.96) or René de Picciotto (H.64).

At the end of November, Joséphine (H.17) and Louis Bédier (H.17), members of the Bruno Roux de Bézieux Foundation – which is under the aegis of the HEC Foundation – met the participants of the HEC Stand Up session their foundation had funded. This provided the opportunity to practically assess the impact of their support and discover projects led by dynamic and motivated women entrepreneurs during a pitch session at the HEC Records venue in Paris.

Learn more about this meeting

Created 6 years ago, thanks to the generosity of the Cagni family, this exchange allows 3 NYU students to study at HEC for a semester and experience the School’s unique and dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystem. Each student joins an a startup in the HEC Launchpad program and then spends one month with a startup from the incubator to fully experience French entrepreneurship.

This experience-based program lets students develop their entrepreneurial side and the skills they need to start their own business in a global market.

2 questions for Guillaume le Dieu de Ville, Head of the HEC Startup Launchpad Program, a true accelerator aimed at helping students launch their start-up in just 9 weeks!

• What has the bequest from Philippe ForielDestezet accomplish in practical terms?
  
  Each year, a trip to London is organized for the most promising student entrepreneurs to introduce them to city’s technological ecosystem. They pitch their projects to a panel of executives from venture capital companies and business developers. For the first time this year, thanks to this bequest, all the participants were able to take part.

• What is the purpose of this program? 
  
  If we are to reach a new level, we must raise awareness among future entrepreneurs of the issues of the future in order to inspire new types of projects. We want to collaborate with new partners both in France and abroad because intercultural exchange is crucial to grow the program. Finally, we want to capitalize on our fundamentals, creating bridges between entrepreneurship programs at HEC, while continuing to unite the community and invest to inspire an ever-increasing number of companies that will make an impact.

These major transformational donations are used to fund large-scale projects, infrastructure or endowments that create a considerable impact on the development and influence of HEC Paris.

Our centers and institutes are founded on the three pillars of research, teaching, action and each one focuses on a major cross-disciplinary issue through multiple interactions with students and leading academic and economic stakeholders.

Institut Society & Organizations (S&O)

An interdisciplinary center made up of three units: Purpose, Inclusive Economy and Climate & Earth, whose members study and teach on the modern-day challenges facing organizations, thus contributing to a systemic understanding of the key issues of our time.

Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center

This center helps make HEC Paris a leading institution for innovation and entrepreneurship. It encourages innovators and entrepreneurs in their vocation through its 20 support programs.
 

Hi! PARIS

HEC Paris and Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris) created Hi! PARIS, an interdisciplinary and inter-institutional center combining education, research and innovation to address the main challenges linked to digital transformation and its impacts on companies and society (the logos are listed according to the date when the partnership was signed).

The worlds of teaching, research and business come together in our Corporate Initiatives and Research Chairs. For the School, these programs are a means to promote research and student training in previously identified fields.

They are designed to provide companies with resources to respond to their strategic challenges and boost their innovation capacity. Creating a Corporate Initiative or Research Chair in your name is a unique opportunity to stand out from your competitors on major strategic issues and to be a pioneer with a vision!