Tomorrow is Our Business

La finance verte, la mesure d’impact, l’ESG ou la performance des entreprises sont des sujets qui vous intéressent ou qui vous questionnent ? Laissez Hélène Löning vous guider à travers ces enjeux, avec tout son engagement à construire le monde de demain, brique par brique. Bienvenue dans cet épisode spécial, en français, de la saison 1 de Tomorrow Is Our Business . Hélène Löning est Professeur en Management à HEC Paris et en tant que telle, a la responsabilité chevillée au corps. La responsabilité de transmettre et de guider ses étudiants pour qu’ils trouvent leur chemin. La responsabilité de participer à la transformation des entreprises et des pratiques managériales. Au sein du MSc in Accounting & Financial Management qu’elle dirige et à travers ses recherches, elle nous explique comment la comptabilité et la gestion financière sont des outils clés pour conduire le changement vers plus de responsabilité, d’humanité, de durabilité. Elle explique pourquoi l’on ne peut plus enseigner la finance sans aborder la finance verte et durable et pourquoi l’on ne peut plus mesurer la performance et diriger une entreprise sans se préoccuper des questions sociales et environnementales. Nous entendrons sur ce sujet, Anne Frish, une ancienne directrice financière de grandes sociétés internationales, qui enseigne aujourd’hui dans le Master d’Hélène Löning la finance d’entreprise, avec un accent sur les critères environnementaux, sociaux et de gouvernance (ESG)  Dans cet entretien, Hélène Löning, nous livre sa conception du métier de professeur, autour du triptyque Teach, Think, Act. Professeur ou chercheur, elle se refuse à choisir. Son action prend du sens à la fois auprès de ses étudiants, à travers ses recherches et sur le terrain au sein des entreprises. C’est ainsi qu’elle définit son impact. Nous interrogerons enfin, avec elle, le système éducatif français et plus particulièrement celui des grandes écoles, autour des questions de l’ouverture sociale et de la quête de sens.  Vous entendrez à ce propos, le témoignage de Bastian Kourim, un ancien étudiant d’Hélène, diplômé de la Grande école, Majeure Accounting & Financial Management, et comment il a su trouver sa voie depuis une prépa à Versailles à une startup à Berlin.

How can society be more inclusive? Why does promoting diversity matter for individuals and businesses? Matteo is committed to bringing answers to those questions through his research, his teaching, and his everyday life.   Since his coming out, he decided to give his academic career a new turn and to advocate for LGBTQ rights before expanding his field of expertise to human rights and further specializing in diversity and inclusion (D&I).   Matteo Winkler is Professor of Law and Chair of the Diversity Committee at HEC Paris. He believes that the law gives a person power and is a tool for change. He produces research with impact because he feels for the topics he chooses, as he will explain about the writing of a paper on the South African athlete Caster Semenya, a case which leads us to reflect on the perception of women’s body in society. He teaches D&I in order to help students make business and society more inclusive.   We also discussed with Matteo on gender issues and how populist discourse hinders diversity.   In this podcast, you will also hear Louis Doumier, an HEC Paris MBA graduate and founder of the LGBTQ+ Business Club in 2016, on his actions in normalizing LGBTQ topics. We also met Anna Lyamina, an MBA student from Russia who will explain to us why she was committed to being a part of this club. 

As a researcher who studies human behavior, Anne Laure Sellier’s purpose is to have her work go beyond the realm of scientific journals to fuel any conversation over coffee: The ultimate dream of the kind of science that is within everyone’s reach, useful to all. And that allows us to improve ourselves as individuals, part and parcel of creating a better society.    As a professor in a business school who teaches marketing and creativity, her purpose is to guide her students toward the path of critical thinking that will help them to be more conscious about the world and understand how to act.    On both fronts, Anne Laure is committed to bringing down the wall. The wall that limits research to the academic sphere and keeps it away from the general public. The wall that limits our spirit and prevents us from subjecting ourselves, and the world around us, to a critical examination. Her weapon for doing this: social and cognitive psychology!   Anne Laure Sellier is a researcher and Associate Professor at HEC Paris. She is our fourth guest on Tomorrow Is Our Business podcast, Stories of people who choose to have an impact on others’ lives.  In this episode, you will also hear Cyrille Vigneron, the CEO of Maison Cartier, on his involvement in the Cartier, ESCP Business School and HEC Paris research Chair: “Turning Points - Aspiration to Inspiration” - co-directed by Professors Ben Voyer (ESCP Business School) and Anne Laure Sellier (HEC Paris).  Two of Anne Laure’s former students share their experience in her classroom : Liz Miller (2020 HEC Paris MBA graduate) and Mathieu Lamotte (2013 Masters Degree in Entrepreneurship graduate) 

“What is my role in society? What can I do except publish papers with the intention of having an impact?” These are the questions on Tom’s mind since he decided to give a new direction to his academic career.   In this episode, you will hear him talk about his involvement in an educational project in Ecuador. This scientific-based project is really meant to change the lives of young people by showing them new opportunities. This project is on its way to becoming a groundbreaking one, as it has already sparked the interest of other Latin American countries and could one day be conducted globally.  You will also hear Tom’s commitment to fight climate change through the support of science tech-based startups and through his lectures.   His engagement comes in many different forms and illustrates how scientific research can, not only have concrete results but also benefit individuals as well as society as a whole. techA perfect example is the new training schemes he designed to help the unemployed start their own business. Although he considers that, in the end, his impact will not be a big one… it is still very real and inspiring.   Thomas Astebro is a professor and researcher in entrepreneurship at HEC Paris. Starting in Ecuador, to the Silicon Valley, to now the French public employment agency, he takes us on his path from imparting knowledge and research to creating a worldwide impact.    Also in this episode: Francisco Flores,  researcher at the International Center for Higher Education Research Kassel (INCHER) and PhD candidate at the University of Kassel in Germany. He is one of the initiators of the “Showing Life Opportunities” project in Ecuador.  You will also hear from the Ecuadorian high school students who benefited from the program (Source: video produced by the Ministry of Education in Ecuador)

In this episode, you will be slipping into the shoes of a detective on a hunt for answers to feel the exhilaration that Kristine experiences as a researcher exploring new realms of knowledge. You will be slipping into the shoes of a PhD student whose journey is akin to a quest of oneself. These are the forms of engagement that Kristine de Valck carries: helping students grow and develop their potential towards academic excellence; sharing knowledge and insights that offer people different viewpoints to better understand the phenomena that surround them. And above all, just spreading some enthusiasm! This is how Kristine intends to have impact. After this episode, you may have to reconsider, in a simpler way, what truly motivates us in life. Because, as Kristine tells us – passion and fulfillment drive engagement.  You will also feel this by hearing the dedication of people around her like Britta and Françoise from the HEC Paris PhD Team, and the impact it has had on Fei, former PhD student who is today Assistant Professor at Bentley University in the US.  Kristine de Valck is Professor of Marketing and Associate Dean and Director of the PhD Program at HEC Paris. After this podcast was recorded, she was named Dean of Degree Programs. 

“Is the world losing its consistency? Its meaning? Our model of the world no longer seems to coincide with sustainable reality”. This observation is at the root of Rodolphe Durand’s commitment as an academic: enabling the quest for purpose and elaborating solutions to societal and business issues. Whether you are a citizen or a business leader, his vision of today’s challenges will open new perspectives. In this first episode of Tomorrow Is Our Business, Season 1 on Engagement, we met with Rodolphe Durand, HEC Paris Professor of Strategy, Founder and Academic Director of the Society and Organizations Institute and Holder of the Joly Family Purposeful Leadership Chair. He talks about the genesis of his engagement, which followed the shock from the 2007 global financial crisis. He shares with us his sense of responsibility as an academic, on a personal scale, and the necessity for a more sustainable capitalism. In his ambition to offer individuals and organizations the keys to act and to be vectors of change, Rodolphe conceptualized a new management discipline that bridges the frontiers of sociology and economy: Orgology, the science of organizations.  You will also hear in this episode Hubert Joly, former Best Buy CEO and Betina de Reachers, HEC Alumna (MSc Sustainability and Social Innovation).

At the root of their engagement, there is conviction, an encounter, an aspiration, or an awareness. Through the different paths they have taken, they seek to pave the way toward change. They choose to have an impact. On others. On the future. If you care about tomorrow, as a citizen, a business leader, or as a young change maker. If you are committed to bringing solutions to societal and business challenges. Be inspired by stories of people who choose to leverage the knowledge in their hands to open new perspectives. Tomorrow Is Our Business podcast, Season 1 on Engagement. Brought to you by HEC Paris Business School. More about Tomorrow Is Our Business podcast.Also available on: Apple PodcastsSpotifyDeezerGoogle PodcastsSubscribe now