Research groups
Discover the MBS research groups
MBS is composed of several research groups
- Management & Organisation of Sustainable Transformations
- Stories from the Field: Ethnography and Beyond
- Global Supply Chain and Procurement
- D-SCOPE — Decision & Sustainability: Cognition, Preferences & Engagement
The Hybrid Mind: Strategic Thinking at the Human–AI Frontier
Presentation
Management and Organization of Sustainable Transformations (MOST) is a group of management and organization scholars with shared interests in understanding, explaining, and envisioning organizational and societal change towards more socio-ecologically sustainable futures. The group congregates a diverse set of research agendas including, but not limited to, the study of business ethics, business and society, critical management, corporate social responsibility, regulation and governance, social entrepreneurship and innovation, inclusive organizations and organizing, health and well-being in organizations, socio-ecological systems, and processes of resilience and transformation. Collectively, we strive to engage and integrate multiple theoretical perspectives in management studies – e.g. theories of organization, strategy, innovation or entrepreneurship – and from multiple other scientific fields (e.g. ethics, economics, psychology, sociology and the natural sciences) to understand sustainable transformations in novel ways.
Activities and values
A core aim of this research group is to provide a platform where members and guests can present their research and receive feedback about it. Early-stage ideas for research projects are equally welcome as more advanced paper projects, journal revisions, or more comprehensive research works (e.g. work on PhD theses, habilitations, or book projects). Members of the group strive to read and immerse themselves in these projects and to give honest, clear, and constructive feedback. The aim is to help authors improve their research projects and move them forward.
However, given the topic at the core of interest, the MOST group does not just ‘do research’; it also promotes collective reflection and experimentation to synergize our research and the impact we strive to have in our education, in our organizations and in our societies. Therefore, along with organizing regular research seminars, we discuss – in collaboration with the Labs, Chairs, and Research Centers at Montpellier Business School and beyond – how our research could innovate and redesign our teaching curricula and engagements with students, companies, public agencies, and the civil society.
We organize our activities with constant reference to our bonding values: a bottom-up approach of reciprocal engagement and decision-making, support of our creativity and out-of-the-box thinking, and priority to solidarity, mutual support, inclusiveness, health, wellbeing and ecological prosperity.
Research questions and recent publications
Some of the broad questions we seek to address include:
- How do organizations create value for their stakeholders, for society, and for natural ecosystems?
- How do organizations such as businesses, public actors, nonprofit organizations, civil society, and social movements dialogue, compete and cooperate with each other to generate a sustainable economy and society?
- How do organizations respond to institutional demands and pressures for more sustainability and responsibility?
- How do organizations engage with and manage socio-political tensions and paradoxes related to ethical sustainability choices?
- How do organizations engage in ethical debates on what constitutes value, and what is valuable, in processes of resilience and transformation?
- How do organizations cope with and adapt to social, ecological, and economic adversities?
- How do organizations support or hamper processes of societal change towards sustainable futures?
- How do individual members of organizations make decisions that are (environmentally, socially and ethically) sustainable for the stakeholders and for the organization?
For example, our group members (in bold) have produced these examples of relevant publications in relation to our themes of interest:
Alves M. F. R., Vastola V., Galina S. & Zollo M. (2023). When reflection hurts: The effect of cognitive processing types on organizational adaptation to discontinuous change. Organization Science. In press.
Bennouri, M., Cozarenco, A. & Nyarko, S. A. (2023). Women on Boards and Performance Trade-offs in Social Enterprises: Insights from Microfinance. Journal of Business Ethics, forthcoming
Börjesson, M., Hamilton, C.J., Näsman, P., & Papaix, C. 2015. Factors driving public support for road congestion reduction policies: Congestion charging, free public transport and more roads in Stockholm, Helsinki and Lyon, Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 452-462.
Boyselle J. & Sánchez C.R. (2018). Qualitative evaluation of the influence of two different cultures, Mexican and French, on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) perceptions in organic and Fairtrade food industry. PP. 949-982. In Molina Sánchez, R. (2018): Las Mipymes y su competitividad sustentable: reto ante un nuevo ordenamiento económico Munidal. Editorial AIREPME. ISBN: 978-607-97904-0-0
Dentoni, D., Pascucci, S., Poldner, K., & Gartner, W. B. (2018). Learning “who we are” by doing: Processes of co-constructing prosocial identities in community-based enterprises. Journal of Business Venturing, 33(5), 603-622.
Dentoni, D., Pinkse, J., & Lubberink, R. (2021). Linking sustainable business models to socio-ecological resilience through cross-sector partnerships: A complex adaptive systems view. Business & Society, 60(5), 1216-1252.
Delmestri, G., Etchanchu, H., Bothello, J., Gutierrez-Huerter O, G., Habersang, S., & Schuessler, E. (2021). OS4Future: An academic advocacy movement for our future, In Kanashrio, P., Starik., M. Faculty Personal Sustainability, London: Edward Elgar. Forthcoming.
Djan, K. O., Nyarko, S. A., Mersland, R., Beisland, L. A., & Nakato, L. (2023). The impact of international ownership on the performance of social enterprises: A global survey of microfinance shareholder firms. Strategic Change, 32(2-3), 53-71.
Etchanchu, H., De Bakker, F.G.A. and Delmestri, G. Forthcoming. Social Movement Agency for Sustainable Organizing, in Teerikangas, S., Onkila, T., Koistinen, K., & Mäkelä, M. Research Handbook of Sustainability Agency. London: Edward Elgar.
Etchanchu, H. and Djelic, M.L. (2019). Old Wine in New Bottles? Parentalism, Power and its Legitimacy in Business-Society Relations. Journal of Business Ethics, 160(4), 893-911.
Hammadou, H., Papaix, C. Policy packages for modal shift and CO2 reduction in Lille, France, Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 38, 105-116.
Gaidos, A., Palpacuer, F. & Balas, N. (2017). Social innovation as practice: exploring the entanglement of political and managerial logics, International Journal of Work Innovation, 2(2/3).
Gaidos, A. Forthcoming. A performative approach to social innovation incubation practices in Olivier, G. Entrepreneurship and Society. Montreal: Sciences de l’Administration Presses de l’Université Laval.
Granata J., Gundolf K. & Marques P. 2021. Managing Paradoxical Tensions in a Coopetitive Context: Horizontal Multiple-Firm Coopetition, Revue de l’Entrepreneuriat, Vol. 20, 113-137.
Granata, J. & Jaouen A (2021). Management Libéré 7 entreprises dévoilent leur méthode : agilité, performance durable et antifragilité. Dunod, Paris.
Kessari M., Joly C., Jaouen A. & Jaeck M. 2020. Alternative food networks: good practices for sustainable performance, Journal of Marketing Management, 36(15/16): 1417-1446.
Lacerda D. S., Meira F. B. & Brulon V. (2021). Spatial ethics beyond the North–South dichotomy: Moral dilemmas in Favelas. Journal of Business Ethics. 171: 695–707.
Lombard, E., Kometer, M., & Preuschoff, K. (2019). Neurofinance. Organizational Research Methods, 22(1): 196-222.
Marais M., Joly C, Meyer M., Jaeck M., Kessari M., Andiappan M. & Dufour L. 2020. Legitimizing a diversity policy in a challenging environment: A case study of a French business school. Management International, 24(1): 56-71.
Marais M., Reynaud E. & Vilanova L. 2020. CSR dynamics in the midst of competing injunctions: the case of Danone. European Management Review, 17(1): 19-39.
Nyarko, S. A. (2022). Gender discrimination and lending to women: The moderating effect of international founder, International Business Review, 31(4), 101973.
Überbacher F. & Scherer A. G. 2020. Indirect compellence and institutional change: U.S. extraterritorial law enforcement and the erosion of Swiss banking secrecy. Administrative Science Quarterly, 65(3): 565‐605.
Vastola, V. & Russo, A.(2021. Exploring the effects of mergers and acquisitions on acquirers’ sustainability orientation: Embedding, adding, or losing sustainability. Business Strategy and the Environment, 30(2), 1094-1104.doi.org/10.1002/bse.2673
Recent theme sessions
Along with lively internal meetings, the MOST group organized open, participatory sessions on themes important to support sustainable transformations in our region and to innovate our scientific field and profession accordingly. Some examples of discussed themes included:
- Bridging Natural and Social Sciences in Management & Organization Studies
- Engaged Scholarship, Action Research and Anything in Between
- Balancing Environmental, Social and Financial Goals in Microfinance
- Organizations and Resistance
Recent invited speakers
The MOST group also regularly invites external speakers from across the globe. With them, we discuss the latest research advancements and we share broader visions on our fields of study and academic lives.
Invited speakers between 2021 and 2023 included:
- Pratima Bansal, Professor of Strategy at the Ivey Business School (Canada)
- Juliane Reinecke, Professor of Management Studies at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford (United Kingdom)
- William B. Gartner, Bertarelli Foundation Distinguished Professor of Family Entrepreneurship, Babson College (USA)
- Frank De Bakker, Full Professor of Corporate Social Responsibility, Department of Management & Society, IESEG School of Management (France)
- Patrick Haack, Full Professor, HEC Lausanne, University of Lausanne (Switzerland)
- Ralph Hamann, Full Professor, University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business (South Africa)
- Fatma Ibrahim, Doctoral scholar, Glasgow Caledonian University (Scotland)
- Cécile Godfroid, Assistant professor, Warocqué School of Business and Economics, Université de Mons (Belgium).
- Corentin Curchod, Senior Lecturer in Strategic Management & Organisation, University of Edinburgh Business School (Scotland)
- Stephanie Giamporcaro, Associate Professor, Department of Accounting & Finance, Nottingham Business School (England)
- Arno Kourula, Associate Professor of Strategy, University of Amsterdam (Netherlands)
- Christof Brandtner, emLyon Business School and Stanford PACS Civic Life of Cities Lab
Internal group members
- Florian ÜBERBACHER
- Hoang HO
- Mélanie JAECK
- Helen ETCHANCHU
- Juliette SENN
- Vincenzo VASTOLA
- Daniel LACERDA
- Rustam ROMANIUC
- Claire PAPAIX
- Denis LESCOP
- Yasaman SADEGHI
- Dante LEYVA
- Cédrine JOLY
- Walid NAKARA
- Ewa LOMBARD
- Matthias STAESSENS
- Carlos Raul SANCHEZ
- Alejandro ALLERA
- Samuel NYARKO
- Alexandra Gaidos
- Magalie MARAIS
- Marija ROGLIC
- Jinia MUKERJEE
- Ruo MO
- Melinda CHEHIMI
- Donoxti BAYLON
- Julien GRANATA
- Marroi LAARAJ
- Issam LAGUIR
- Anastasia COZARENCO
- Jacqueline BOYSSELLE
- Alexandra GAIDOS
- Catherine L’ECUYER
- Maryline MEYER
- Jan WEISS
- Alec WATERWORTH
External group members
Coordinator
Presentation
Stories from the Field: Ethnography and Beyond is a research group at MBS School of Business dedicated to ethnography-based and ethnography-inspired research. The group brings together a diverse community of scholars who are deeply interested in the lived realities of organizational life and who view ethnography both as a rigorous method and as an embodied research journey marked by discovery, uncertainty, reflexivity, and learning.
The group’s primary objective is to support the development, practice, and dissemination of ethnographic research among its members. It provides a dynamic and collegial platform for exchange, collective reflection, and collaborative support at all stages of ethnographic research, from research design and field access to analysis, writing, and publication.
Beyond methodological development, the group seeks to enhance the visibility and legitimacy of ethnographic research within the field of management and organization studies. By foregrounding a grounded, contextualized, and relational understanding of work and organization, this research group promotes alternative and critical perspectives on contemporary organizational phenomena.
While ethnography lies at the core of the group’s identity, researchers working with broader qualitative approaches (e.g., interviews, observations, narrative methods, interpretive research) are warmly encouraged to participate.
Activities
The research group engages in the following activities:
- Research seminars and workshops
Presentation and discussion of ongoing ethnographic and qualitative research projects, providing constructive feedback in a supportive environment. - Methodological training and capacity building
Targeted sessions on ethnographic methods and approaches (e.g., participant observation, fieldnotes, observational practices, reflexivity, ethics, immersive methods), open to faculty members and doctoral students. - Fieldwork reflection sessions
Dedicated spaces for sharing personal field experiences, including dilemmas, emotions, ethical challenges, access issues, and unexpected field encounters. - Community and network building
Development of an internal and external network of engaged scholars to foster peer support, collaboration, and inter-institutional dialogue. - Support for publication and research positioning
Collective reflection on writing ethnographies, positioning ethnographic work within academic journals, and responding to reviewers’ expectations and critiques.
Research Group Keywords
- Ethnography
- Qualitative research methods
- Fieldwork and participant observation
- Reflexivity
- Interpretive and practice-based research
- Emotions, embodiment, and lived experience at work
Members
Faculty members and researchers from within and beyond MBS, including scholars engaged in ethnographic and qualitative research in the fields of management, organization studies, entrepreneurship, and related areas.
Contact
- Jinia Mukerjee – j.mukerjee@mbs-education.com
- Alexandra Gaidos – a.gaidos@mbs-education.com
Presentation
The MBS Global Supply Chain and Procurement research group aims to strengthen the expertise and visibility of MBS School of Business in the fields of global supply chains, purchasing, sourcing, resilience, operations, and sustainability. This initiative builds on strong existing assets, including the MSc in Supply Chain (across the Montpellier and Paris campuses) and the PGE specializations, as well as a community of core and adjunct faculty, international partners, and highly motivated students. Our key partners in these academic programs include Air France and Carrefour.
The research agenda focuses on four priorities aligned with global trends: resilient and risk-aware supply chains; sustainable and responsible purchasing; strategic sourcing and supplier collaboration; and digital transformation. These themes are designed to support both academic outputs and direct engagement with industry.
The group will operate as a collaborative network, organizing annual events, integrating applied company projects into existing PGE and MSc courses, and aligning student theses with its research themes.
Activities
The research group engages in the following activities:
- Research–practice dialogues
Organizing annual events (on campus or online) bringing together MBS faculty, international partners, and industry speakers to discuss topics such as supply chain resilience, sustainable sourcing, and digitalization. - Company-based projects integrated into courses
Building on existing PGE and MSc modules to incorporate real-world business challenges related to sourcing strategies, supplier risk mapping, operational optimization, and sustainability diagnostics. - Theses and capstone projects aligned with the group’s research agenda
Coordinating thesis topics and final-year projects with the group’s research areas, ensuring the continuous production of analyses, case studies, and datasets that enhance both research outputs and teaching quality. - Practice briefs and mini case studies
Publishing short, accessible outputs summarizing applied findings, emerging trends, or industry collaborations.
Research Group Keywords
- Global supply chain
- Procurement
- Sourcing
- Purchasing
- Operations
- Risk management
- Resilience
- Collaboration
- Sustainability
Members
Faculty members and researchers from within and beyond MBS, including Alejandro Allera, Deepa Bhatt, Cyril Foropon, and Rameshwar Dubey.
Contact
- Alejandro ALLERA – a.allera@mbs-education.com
Presentation
D-SCOPE examines how individuals make decisions that affect their economic and financial situation, their health, and their everyday lives. In addition to core financial behaviors—such as consumption, saving, risk-taking, and investment—the group analyzes a broader range of life decisions, including educational pathways, health habits, environmental engagement, social participation, and personal well-being.
D-SCOPE’s central objective is to understand how individual preferences translate into actual behavior, and how improving decision-making processes can enhance well-being and quality of life, both at the individual and societal levels. This objective is aligned with broader sustainability goals, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (e.g., responsible consumption, climate action, and good health and well-being).
D-SCOPE focuses on the micro-foundations of sustainable and well-being–oriented behaviors among individuals and households. It integrates insights from behavioral economics, psychology, marketing, and the broader behavioral sciences to analyze the cognitive, emotional, and social mechanisms underpinning human behavior, including limited attention, perceptions of risk and uncertainty, social and environmental preferences, identity, narratives, social norms, and moral motivations.
From a methodological perspective, the group combines theoretical modeling, laboratory and field experiments, and empirical analyses to identify how information, incentives, and institutional frameworks can foster more responsible and well-being–enhancing decisions. D-SCOPE promotes interdisciplinary collaboration, innovation in data collection, and scientific dissemination through workshops, seminars, and joint research projects, while actively involving students in applied research.
The group builds on a long-standing collaboration between members of MBS School of Business and the University of Montpellier. It extends and develops the MBS–University of Montpellier Green Finance Group, established several years ago, and aims to strengthen exchanges both within MBS and across institutions.
Activities
The research group engages in the following activities:
- International network development
D-SCOPE aims to build strong international collaborations, notably with colleagues from Radboud University, the University of Innsbruck, Maastricht University, Utrecht University, as well as other partner institutions. - Institutional and industry collaborations
Potential partnerships with financial institutions, public agencies, and other research organizations will be explored. - Theoretical, experimental, and empirical research
- Interdisciplinary workshops and seminars with invited speakers
- Applied collaborations with public and private stakeholders
- Active student participation in research projects
Research Group Keywords
- Decision-making
- Finance
- Behavioral sciences
- Psychology
- Marketing
- Economic and life choices
- Consumption
- Investment
- Health and lifestyle behaviors
- Sustainability
Members
MBS School of Business (MBS)
- Moez Bennouri
- Anastasia Cozarenco
- Sébastien Duchêne (Group Leader)
- Wael Rouatbi
- Markus Strucks (Group Leader)
- Other faculty members and affiliated researchers
External members — Université de Montpellier
- Dimitri Dubois
- Amazigh Ferhati
- Brice Magdalou
- Olympe Mahé
- Sara Mustafazade
- Adrien Nguyen-Huu (Group Leader)
- Violette Pinçon
- Patrick Sentis
- Felipe Trillos
- Marc Willinger
Contact
- Sébastien Duchêne — Associate Professor, MBS School of Business – s.duchene@mbs-education.com
- Markus Strucks — Postdoctoral Researcher, MBS School of Business – m.strucks@mbs-education.com
Presentation
The research group examines how artificial intelligence is transforming the nature of strategic thinking. AI systems are increasingly shaping organizations by providing forecasts, supporting informed decision-making, and even fostering innovation. Managers must therefore develop new capabilities—not only technical but also cognitive—to effectively process, interpret, and critically assess AI-generated insights.
As managers collaborate more closely with artificial intelligence, a new form of cognition is emerging, combining human judgment with algorithmic reasoning. Managers no longer rely solely on their own analysis; they now operate in an augmented decision-making environment, where AI-generated information influences how data are processed, interpreted, and used.
This “hybrid thinking” develops at the intersection of human judgment and artificial intelligence. It redefines our understanding of strategic thinking and requires managers to cultivate new competencies, such as the ability to frame complex problems in dynamic environments, interpret uncertain or probabilistic outcomes, and make ethical judgments in contexts increasingly shaped by data and automation.
Drawing on cognitive psychology, strategic management, behavioral sciences, and research on human–AI interaction, the group aims to build a comprehensive understanding of how strategy is formed in AI-rich environments. Its approach combines qualitative research, experimental studies, and quantitative methods to test new tools and training formats.
Activities
The group’s main research questions include:
- What new cognitive capabilities must managers develop to think strategically in AI-augmented environments?
- How do AI systems influence the way managers frame problems, prioritize information, and exercise judgment?
- How can hybrid thinking enhance strategic foresight and decision quality?
- How can managers ensure ethical oversight, explainability, and accountability when delegating part of decision-making to AI systems?
- What are the implications of AI-augmented cognition for team dynamics, collaboration, and trust within groups?
The group seeks to contribute to both academic debates and practical transformations by redefining the cognitive foundations of strategic leadership. At the intersection of human and machine thinking, the hybrid mind is not a futuristic scenario—it is already an emerging condition shaping decision-making today.
Research Group Keywords
- Artificial intelligence (AI)
- Human cognition
- Strategic thinking
- Decision-making
Members
MBS School of Business (MBS)
- Dr Denis Lescop
- Dr Yves Barlette
- Dr Deepa Bhatt
- Dr Donoxti Baylon
- Dr Yiting Chen
- Dr Matthijs Den Besten
- Artyom Prishchepov, DBA
- Denis Avramenko, DBA candidate
Contact
- Dr Denis Lescop – d.lescop@mbs-education.com
