A 1999 graduate of the MBS Grande Ecole programme, Muriel Avinens is now Director of the Montpellier site of our Grand Partner Dell EMC. Muriel remains close to her former school: she has agreed to volunteer as President of the MBS Social Council, which studies and decides on scholarships and financial aid granted to students in accordance with the strong policy of equal opportunities set up by the MBS.

What has been your career path since graduating from MBS in 1999?

I have been with Dell for almost 20 years. I had joined the company before my diploma because I had completed my internship at the end of my studies in a sales position. For seventeen years, I had the opportunity to go through many sales positions and I even participated in the creation of the Dell site in Casablanca, Morocco. For 3 years, I have been in charge of the strategy and commercial operations of the Dell EMC Montpellier site. I was also co-director of the site for a year and a half before being appointed director last September.

Can you share some of your memories from your time at MBS?

I was a BTS student when Hugues Davo, one of my professors at the time, recommended Montpellier Business School to me and gave me a recommendation letter. If it wasn’t for him, I would probably never have joined MBS… so I thank him again! I had 3 years of professional experience and I remember being really passionate about classes because I could make a direct link with business practice. The academic level was already very high and I had been marked by the specialisation in negotiation-sales with professors Patrick and Annie Mahé! There was a level of excellence that I had never experienced before and I had been pleasantly surprised. On the student life side, it was mainly the skiing stay that had marked me!

MBS Alumni forever… what does that mean to you?

This mainly reminds me of the MBS graduates network that is now at Dell Montpellier. There are quite a few of us there and I am delighted to see new apprenticeship students who have a lot of potential join us every year. I always see a high quality in the MBS students who join us.

Despite the important responsibilities you have in your profession, you have agreed to become the new president of the MBS Social Council. What can you tell us about it?

When MBS called me, I must admit that I was already very busy with my profession and my role as a mother and wife. I was however explained what it is and it reminded me that I was well advised and helped 20 years ago, especially with the apprenticeship. I considered myself privileged and I will certainly not be where I am today without MBS, so I truly believe it is essential to give everyone the chance they deserve. Dell also upholds the values of equal opportunity and diversity, and it is essential to see young people from different countries and backgrounds integrate this school.

What can you tell us about the role of the MBS Social Council?

The role of the Social Council is to study students’ cases and understand their expectations and needs. It also aims to understand how we can help them in the best possible way. This is a difficult exercise because MBS support is provided throughout their studies and does not stop after a scholarship is awarded. The social spirit is not diverted and I like that!

MBS’ social policy

The social policy of Montpellier Business School and its Foundation for Equal Opportunities represented an investment of 1,834,650 euros for a total of 183 students for the 2017-2018 academic year.  Students directly benefited from grants and financial assistance (loans on trust and monitoring).

In addition to these actions and thanks to the equal opportunities policy implemented by MBS since 1994, including the strong development of the apprenticeship programme (+1300 apprenticeship students in 2018-2019), nearly 50% of students are partially or totally exempt from tuition fees during their courses at MBS.

Released this Wednesday 20th of February, the new Business Schools Ranking 2019 by Le Point ranks Montpellier Business School 13^th out of 38 diplomas with a Master’s grade degree from French Business Schools.

This general ranking was established according to 8 criteria such as Research and Entrepreneurship, on which the Grande Ecole Programme of MBS respectively ranks 8^th and 7^th. This is the recognition of the quality of MBS faculty members – over 70 teachers researchers – and the performance of the different measures put in place to encourage the creation of new businesses, like the Entrepreneurship Center.

Regularly ranked among the World Top 50 and the French Top 15, Montpellier Business School continues therefore to strenghten its position within the sphere of Business Schools, as all the national and international 2018-2019 rankings already confirm:

• 12e – Le Parisien and Challenges
• 13e best post-preparatory Grande Ecole of Management – L’Etudiant
• 13e – Le Figaro
• 13e french school – Financial Times
• 10e french business school – QS

On Friday, February 1^st, the solemn, moving, and festive Executive MBA graduation ceremony rewarded and honoured the Class of 2018.

The MBS Executive MBA is an ACCSB and AMBA accredited programme that also provides the RNCP 1^st Level Certification “Manager of Business Development or Business Unit”. The entire Class of 2018 graduated under the applause of students’ families, friends, professors, professors and programme managers. 

André Deljarry, President of CCI Hérault and 1^st Vice-President of CCI Occitania, attended the event to congratulate the graduates. He directly addressed them: “By choosing Montpellier Business School, you have had access to a methodology that will allow you to better understand complex problems in a moving and changing world. You can be proud of your contribution to the influence of this school and I wish you all to fulfil your ambitions”.

After the speeches by Matthias Bauland, Deputy Director-General in charge of MBS development and Magdalena François-Thurin, Executive Director of Education, Dr David Roubaud, Deputy Director-General in charge of academic affairs and research, said: “Congratulations for the work accomplished and the obtain results. My thanks go to the faculty for its impact and involvement, but also to you, dear 2018 graduates, for all that you have taught us. Success requires commitment, tenacity, but also curiosity, creativity and inspiration. You also have to know how to break certain codes to reach things that seem impossible. Tonight, you are the pride of your loved ones, but also our pride”.

Head of the class in Fast-Track (1 year) and winner of the 2018 Thesis Prize , Laura Lecurieux-Belfond was awarded twice for her work. “Nothing is easy but everything is possible,” Laura said on the stage of the MBS Grand Amphitheatre. “The thesis is not only an academic exercise, because this work also opens up professional opportunities for me today “.

Rémi Trouville, head of the class in the Part-Time program (2 years), delivered an energetic speech. “I decided to challenge myself by resuming my studies at 40 years old (…) since the first day; we promised ourselves, as strangers, to go all the way and graduate together! Tonight is therefore a joint victory because we are leaving with a great collective richness”. 

Congratulations also to Christophe Brice, the winner of the Award of Excellence for his exceptional career within the MBA, but also to all the graduates of this Year Group. See you next year for the graduation of the 25^th class of the MBS Executive MBA program!

Dedicated to entrepreneurship coaching, training and research, the MBS Entrepreneurship Center (EC) aims to contribute to the development of entrepreneurship in all its diversity. Thus, its services are aimed at MBS students and graduates carrying a project, but also at companies, researchers, experts and institutions. Dr. Katherine Gundolf, a professor and researcher specialising in entrepreneurship and Director of the MBS EC, answered our questions!

Among the 3 hubs of the MBS Entrepreneurship Center, the incubator is undoubtedly the best known. How does it work today?

Indeed, the MBS Entrepreneurship Center now consists of 3 hubs and the first is of course the incubator, which is also EC’s legacy hub. The incubator supports students and graduates, whether they are entrepreneurs or future entrepreneurs. We get involved at any stage of the project, starting from the simple idea to the creation. This is done through a pre-incubation stage, which aims at refining ideas to integrate the incubation phase itself. We have more than a hundred projects incubated each year in a wide variety of sectors.

As part of this long-term support, we can count on coaches who advise and support our project leaders through hours of individual coaching. In addition to our coaches, specialists lead specific training sessions whose themes often arise from the needs of incubatees.

The other two hubs, which are less well known, are in full development. What can you tell us about them?

Actually, the 2^nd hub is oriented towards initial and continuous training at MBS with, for example, the Start-Up specialisation in the last year of the Grande Ecole Program. As for the 3^rd hub, it is focused on entrepreneurship research. At MBS, we have excellent teacher-researchers specialszed in this field and high quality partners such as Montpellier Research in Management (MRM) and LabEx Entreprendre. Thanks to MBS EC, we ensure that the field and research are “self-fertilising” to be as close as possible to the current problems of the entrepreneurial world.

These three hubs make it possible to generate a high degree of cross-functionality within MBS itself, in particular by linking the development hubs with companies, initial and executive education and research. Our objective is to put this to the benefit of society, and particularly of the local economy in which MBS operates. Indeed, I think that entrepreneurship is a strength for society and that MBS has a full role to play within the local ecosystem.

What is the overall objective of the MBS EC?

The objective is to make the MBS Entrepreneurship Center an essential partner that will facilitate the entrepreneurial action in the region by providing MBS students and graduates with a network, support and even a physical space on campus. This is already promising because we sense a general trend among students who feel the need to create. This happens every year because we have more and more interested students, which is very encouraging!

You have been the director of the MBS EC for only a few months, but you are not a newcomer to the campus….

Indeed, I have been a teacher-researcher at MBS since 2006. My speciality is entrepreneurship, and more particularly micro-businesses. This experience has notably enabled the restructuring of the training and research hubs of the MBS Entrepreneurship Center. It is therefore no longer just an incubator; it is a global and integrated system. The aim is to adapt the training in real time to always be at the service of entrepreneurship and the needs of future entrepreneurs and companies. To summarise, the most important thing is to be as relevant as possible to the current entrepreneurial world.

To contact the MBS Entrepreneurship Center:

• Mail: ec@montpellier-bs.com
• Twitter: @MBS_ECenter
• LinkedIn Group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8722412/
• MBS EC office at the Montpellier Business School campus – ecampus for students.

The Career Center of Montpellier Business School proposed for the first time a thematic week called “Work Me Up” from the 21^st to the 24^th of January 2019.  The objective was to introduce businesses environment and the wide range of professions to first-year students of the Grande Ecole Programme in order to give them a broad vision of the possible choices in terms of professional orientation.

This 1^st edition of MBS’ Work Me Up Challenges had several highlights that allowed students to better understand the business world, its functioning and the different business sectors: challenges around business exploration, meetings with companies and professionals, round tables, etc.

The first day was thus business-oriented, with the participation of many professionals to share their views and experiences through speeches in front of all students, then during thematic round tables led by professionals from different business sectors (retail, IT, consulting etc.). Numerous companies especially came to meet MBS students like Microsoft, Dell, Ayming, Pierre Fabre, Lidl, Capgemini, Septeo, Accenture and Haribo.

The following day was devoted to the “network” dimension with a presentation of the MBS graduates’ association and a presentation by Marc Vinciguerra, a Business Developer at My Job Glasses, on networking.

Finally, the last phase of this Work Me Up consisted in the creation of a “trades fair” by the students. Divided into 10 areas corresponding to the 8 main functions (HR, marketing, finance, sales, marketing, supply chain logistics, e-business and project management consulting), 48 professions were represented. To conclude the week, a vote by the students rewarded the most creative and educational stands. Congratulations to the “IS Consultant” and “Community Manager” teams, and our thanks go to Sandra Grazioli, an MBS 2013 graduate and co-manager of the Prizoners Montpellier escape game room, who came to make a speech and offer vouchers to the winners. 

In December 2018, an article written by Dr Meena Andiappan and Dr Lucas Dufour from Montpellier Business School has been accepted in the very prestigious Academy of Management Review. This journal belongs to the very selective Financial Times 50 ranking system.

A simplified version of this article for Managers has been developed by the journal. The main results of this research are available from here.

Meena and Lucas are both Associate Professors at Montpellier Business School. Their research deals with Human Ressources Management and Organizational Behaviour. 

As a final year student in the Grande Ecole Programme of Montpellier Business School, Rémi Pfrunner has made international openness one of his leitmotivs, as evidenced by his mission as ambassador for European careers which he has chosen to pursue this year. Rémi wants to help MBS students discover and seize the professional opportunities (internships, jobs, mobility…) offered by a supranational entity as big as the European Union.

Rémi, can you summarize your academic background?

After a scientific High School Diploma and two years of preparatory class, I joined the Grand Ecole program of Montpellier Business School. I then completed my M1 in Chile in a double-diploma configuration. I had the chance to discover a very different culture. After a one-year professionalization break, I am now in my last year of my Entrepreneurship specialization (apprenticeship contract) and I’m an EU Career Ambassador.

Why did you get involved in the European career promotion program “EU Careers”?

I have always loved foreign cultures. In my first year at MBS, I joined the World’Co student association, which allows foreign students to better fit into the school, the city and the host country. My then President, Laura, was also my predecessor as EU Careers Ambassador, so we had the opportunity to discuss the role of Ambassador as such. The European Union is a wonderful opportunity for graduates of the Grande Ecoles of Management and I think that informing students about the careers that can be achieved in the EU is important to help them plan their careers according to their life objectives.

What do you plan to do concretely as an ambassador?

Being on the campus one week a month, I set up 3 monthly information sessions until the end of the year. These three sessions include a general presentation, information on prerequisites and recruitment, as well as explanations about tests and exams. Various interventions will also take place on the campus. I also remain available via the Facebook page “EU Careers – Montpellier Business School” to answer any questions students may have about European careers.

A few days before Christmas, Montpellier Business School’s students and associations showed a great generosity by launching the “Solidarity Week” on their own initiative. They wanted to collect as much money as possible to provide toys for hospitalized children. The initiator of this project, Alexandre Lechat, who studies for a Master of Science in International Business at MBS, discusses this beautiful story!

How did you get the idea for this Solidarity Week at MBS?

This idea came to me quite naturally during various exchanges with MBS students. I was looking to set up an event that would be able to bring the students together but also that involves all of MBS’ actors (teachers, administrators, etc.). Several options were discussed before we decided to go for a charity event. The idea of raising funds for children hospitalized at the Arnaud University Hospital in Villeneuve was close to my heart because I was hospitalized there for two years when I was a child. I very quickly received the green light from the MBS administration to organize this action. The process was very fluid and things worked out pretty quickly.

Who participated in this Solidarity Week and how?

This project was carried out in partnership and on a voluntary basis with the 15 MBS associations and clubs. In less than three days, each president had responded positively and with a great motivation! So during the week of December 10-16^th, each of the student associations organized an activity or an event and took care of everything from communication to fundraising.

What is your evaluation of this event?

I am really happy and the results are very positive. At the beginning, I had set myself the goal of raising 500€ and we finally got 600€. In addition, this week allowed the students to unite around a useful and supportive project with the aim of delivering gifts. It was therefore on Friday, December 21, with several members of the MBS associations, that we offered games and toys to the children through the managers of the hospital’s games library. It was a beautiful moment with a lot of emotion.

On Wednesday 9 January, Samih Khalef, ASICS France Country Leader, and Didier Grino, Secretary General of Montpellier Business School, signed a major partnership agreement bringing the famous sports equipment manufacturer closer to the Grande Ecole of Management, both strongly anchored in the regional territory.

MBS students and graduates’ recruitment at the heart of this rapprochement

Synonymous with a new Major Partner company for Montpellier Business School, this signature with ASICS marks a formalisation of relations between the two entities that have already been working together for many years. This collaboration has been built and strengthened around MBS apprentices and graduates’ recruitment who are currently working for the international sports equipment manufacturer.

Matthias Bauland, Deputy Dean in charge of Development at Montpellier Business School, said: “It is a source of pride to welcome ASICS to the MBS Advisory Board (Partners’ Club)! We know each other well and there is a human reason behind this rapprochement since many MBS graduates are already at ASICS. It is a very beautiful company with a strong culture and an impressive international repute. Not to mention its strong values of diversity and equal opportunity that we hold in common. Let us also not forget that ASICS France has set its headquarters in the metropolis of Montpellier and it is always a joy to be associated with a major company based on the territory”.

Didier Grino, Secretary General of Montpellier Business School, added: “Sharing values is an utmost importance to us and this signature is the output of joint actions we have been undertaking together for several years. So we have already got to know one another quite well and I am confident this partnership will be sustainable”.

An MBS graduate at the head of ASICS France

Founded in 1949 in Kobe (Japan) by Kihachiro Onitsuka, ASICS now has more than 8,500 employees worldwide. In France, its head office is located in Lattes, near Montpellier, and is headed by Samih Khalef, who graduated from Montpellier Business School in 1998. By partnering with MBS, ASICS is also signing its first-ever school partnership.

“Twenty years ago, I was myself in this school as a student,” recalls Samih Khalef. “I am therefore particularly pleased to sign this partnership agreement. We have been recruiting MBS graduates and students on an apprenticeship basis for a long time now and, being based in the region, our ambition is to make a contribution to the construction of the regional economic ecosystem as part of a longer term approach”.

Carole Durif, Southern Europe ASICS HR Manager, confirms: “This is a real achievement because we have more and more employees from Montpellier Business School. I believe this is a great recognition of the quality of both the school and its staffs”.

By signing this major partnership agreement, ASICS is also joining the Advisory Board of Montpellier Business School, a structure that monitors developments in the entrepreneurial ecosystem and advises the Grande Ecole de Management on global strategy and international development.

As part of its renewed emphasis on development and internationalisation, Montpellier Business School is to launch 9 new Masters of Science (MSc) programmes in September 2019.

Like the existing 6 MSc, these new programmes will be offered 100% in English and accessible to French and international students who are holders of a Bachelor’s degree (Baccalaureate + 3 years of higher education) or equivalent. The various MSc courses, which last from 10 to 18 months, allow students to specialise in a particular field of study or to obtain a dual qualification.

“Since 2016, the 6 MScs deployed by MBS have seen significant growth and a 40% increase in staff numbers in 2018,” says Dr Denis Lescop, Director of the Bachelor and MSc programmes. “They also enjoy great international recognition: in the QS ranking of the best Master’s degrees in Management and Finance, the MSc in Finance is ranked 9^th in France and the MSc in Marketing 7^th in France “.

Meeting new expectations

Building on this success, Montpellier Business School has decided to strengthen its international footprint by developing 9 new programmes that meet market expectations. The latter are collectively identified by the Directorate of MSc programmes, MBS faculty members and partner companies.

“The new MScs are structured around themes on which MBS has a strong reputation, both in terms of research (Responsible Finance, Microcredit, Fintech, Cryptocurrencies, Blockchains, Supply Chain, Big Data, Data Sciences) and pedagogy (Design thinking). They highlight France and Occitanie region’s major economic assets (Food and Wine, Tourism and Hospitality, French Excellence)“, says Dr Denis Lescop. “These MSc programmes will also enrich and promote the cultural diversity of our campus by opening up to a wide range of candidates from different horizons and backgrounds”.

3 themes, 15 MSc degrees

MBS will thus propose a complete offer of 15 MSc degrees, structured around 3 main themes:

FINANCE:

• MSc in Finance
• MSc in Energy & Environmental Finance
• Specialised MSc in Responsible Finance : financial inclusion, microfinance & social innovation
• Specialised MSc in Innovative Finance : Fintech, blockchain & cryptocurrencies

MARKETING MANAGEMENT:

• MSc in Marketing
• MSc in Digital Management
• Specialised MSc French Excellence, Luxury & Fashion
• Specialised MSc in Food & Wine Management
• Specialised MSc in Tourism & Hospitality Management

BUSINESS & OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT:

• MSc in Lean Operations Management
• MSc in Supply Chain Management
• MSc in International Business
• MSc in Management Through Design
• MSc in Global Business
• Specialised MSc in Data Sciences, Big Data & Artificial Intelligence