5 Reasons to be part of the ESSEC Leadership and Diversity Chair with L’Oréal

"Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality"

We live in a world where complexity and change constantly shift our objectives and finalities. Many “modern” companies still rely on teams that are not diverse at all to face those new challenges. Research and experience, together with the opinion of the biggest banks and consulting firms, suggest that this wishful thinking is a huge strategic error. But managing diversity requires a strong leadership and a clear vision of the future. Thus, how can the manager of tomorrow develop those essential skills? The ESSEC Leadership and Diversity Chair in partnership with L’Oréal is the answer to this challenge. Here you will find 5 reasons to be part of this highly selective program:

1. You will learn how to work with people from all over the world and you will learn how important is to build an inclusive culture in modern companies.
2. You will develop essential management skills like negotiation and mediation. In addition to this, you will also learn how to deliver and perform an engaging public speech. And in order to do so, you will benefit directly from the know-how of L’Oréal that, according to many rankings, is one of the most diverse, ethical (and successful) companies in the world.
3. You will learn how to listen, value and summarize the different points of view of a flexible team and you will feel empowered by the freedom to propose and lead new successful projects.
   
   By doing so, you will develop great content and a strategy that will inspire change in people all over the world. You will have to use your brainstorming and problem-solving skills to understand our market and the best strategy to reach our objectives.
4. You will travel with your engaged team in another country for the annual Chair trip and you will learn from diversity’s champions during companies’ visits.
5. You will have an unique opportunity to participate to the One Young World, the most important forum for young leaders in the world.

If you enjoyed reading this periodic issue on ESSEC Business School, write a comment and let us know which Chair/Association/Specialisation you would like to know more about. We will gather information and prepare an article on it.


Written by A. Carletta, Student Ambassador for the MiM program

3 Lessons about Food for the Mind: “Studio ergo edo”

Mental activities burn around 300 calories per day and every day at ESSEC, numerous brilliant young minds spend hours burning calories in the library and in the classrooms. But where do these calories come from? Or more simply put: what and where do ESSEC students eat? Luckily for them, the campus offers a good array of options to maintain a balanced diet.

Lesson no. 1: Go beyond your comfort zone

The first place one discovers when beginning his or her studies in Cergy, is the DeliMarché (aka, the    university canteen), located next to the cafeteria and therefore also the closest and most comfortable option. This is especially convenient during days when the lunch break is squeezed in between two classes. One would think that in 2017 university canteens would have mastered the art of providing tasty meals to students, but unfortunately this is not the case. I will soon be clear that finding a meal that is not soaked in butter, overcooked, or accompanied by some mysterious sauce is a rare event but hey, somethings got to give!

Should you look for something a bit more refined, you might want to try out the canteen upstairs. Be warned though, higher quality means higher price, and the seats are reserved to professors and MBA students by right of seniority.

After getting acquainted with the surroundings, you will find out that in the park behind ESSEC there is the Restaurant Universitaire (or Resto-U). Despite its name, it is a dark and gloomy canteen offering student-ish meal deals: you can purchase a full meal, from appetizer to dessert, for the bargain price of 3.25! After a few meals here, you will understand that being hungry is pretty much like being in love: exterior appearance is not that important after all.

Lesson no. 2: Get creative

In the era of Pinterest and Tasty, being creative in the kitchen has never been so easy. So why not investing a couple of minutes in chopping and mixing some fresh ingredients at home so to have a perfectly instagrammable takeaway lunch for the next day?! The greedy looks of your friends will make your day!

Lesson no. 3: Explore the surroundings

When sitting in the cafeteria, you will also see several people carrying a red or a brown paper bag and you will also notice that those bags smell reeeeeeally good. In fact, right across ESSEC’s main entrance, there is Pomme de Pain (literally the “Apple of Bread”) and a little further you can find Cezam (literally meaning the ‘brown bag’). These two heavenly places are best friends to hungry students. The first one offers a variety of pretty-much-healthy sandwiches and tempting viennoiseries to be packed in a red paper bag to go. The latter one instead is more like a yummy fast food and believe me, you might want to keep it for those afternoons in which you can afford to be sleepy.

When you’ll feel brave enough to go even further and will have a long lunch break, you can explore the little brasseries and cafés located in and around the shopping mall “Les Trois Fontaines”. Thai, French, Italian, and many more types of different cuisines can be discovered in these hidden places, you just need to look for them. The walking distance (a few hundred meters) might discourage the laziest students on campus, but we all know that it is important to include some physical activity in our daily routine, so why not?

Finally, before going back to studying, you should never forget to conclude your meal with a coffee and something sweet from the DeliCafé, the cafeteria: after all this food you wouldn’t want to fall asleep in the middle of a lecture, would you?

Written By : Costanza Poser, 1st year MiM, MsC in Management Grande Ecole student

NGUYEN Thi Bao Ngan shares her experience of 4 years at ESSEC

Interview by Yashas Gilganchi, 2nd year student from India

Life before ESSEC

After finishing my high school in Vietnam, I went on to complete two years of classes prépas in Versailles, determined to get into ESSEC. Although it was tough, it was worth it as I got what I aimed for.

Experience at ESSEC

As required for everyone who joins after classes prépas, I finished one year of Bachelor studies (PI) after which I joined the MSc programme. I studied Finance for the better half of my time completing an internship and apprenticeship with TOTAL. I also spent my time participating in two associations at ESSEC viz. RAID ESSEC and TUONGLAI ESSEC (Treasurer) where I met many interesting people and enjoyed my time at the many parties and events organised by my associations.

Studying at ESSEC in Singapore!

Four students recently back from Singapore shared with us their thoughts on studying at the ESSEC Asia-Pacific campus, living in this vibrant city and learning more about the region and themselves.

1. Why did you choose to do your Pre-MSc courses on the Singapore campus? 

by Tristan, ASTI, Pre-MSc & Core Track Class President 

It was an obvious choice for me! As I studied outside France for my bachelor’s, I wanted to discover a new country to begin my master’s. ESSEC Asia-Pacific was indeed suited for such purpose. While out of France, I still had the opportunity to benefit from ESSEC personalized education.

The Pre-MSc courses in Singapore follow a special schedule: for every five weeks of lecture, students have one week of holidays. Thus, I had the chance to visit neighbouring countries very easily because of Singapore’s central position in Southeast Asia.

I also wanted to be taught by an international faculty. In fact, our professors come from Asian countries, namely the Philippines, India, China, etc.; this enhances a lot class content. 

During my stay, I learned some Mandarin that I now use to break the ice with Chinese students at ESSEC or with locals in Singapore.

Entrepreneurship at ESSEC - Souhayl on the different options available to students

By Souhayl, 1st year MSc in Management student

Entrepreneurship at ESSEC

The Entrepreneurship Track

Students interested in entrepreneurship can take courses in this area choosing the entrepreneurship track. It consists of a group of subjects related to entrepreneurship and students willing to create a start-up in the short or long term are highly encouraged to enroll in the subjects offered by this track. These subjects combine theoretical knowledge with real cases.

The Social Entrepreneurship Chair

The Social Entrepreneurship Chair combines courses with workshops and conferences in order to give the students a deep knowledge about the social entrepreneurship world. This chair organizes a global competition every year, in collaboration with UC Berkeley, called the Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC).

The CPi Program

The CPi Program is a multidisciplinary company project carried out by students from ESSEC, Centale Paris and Strate College. If you want to learn more about this program, you can read this article.

Student-led clubs

ESSEC Initiatives and ESSEC Entrepreneurship Club are the two clubs focused on entrepreneurship, consulting and the start-up industry.

"Create your company at 23 years old" - Jean-François Gallouin

ESSEC Ventures

ESSEC Ventures is a lot of things at the same time: an incubator, a seed fund, a meeting point for entrepreneurs and wannabe entrepreneurs. Its aim is to enhance entrepreneurship at school, and encourage students to give birth to startups. 

You will be pushed and encouraged in order to materialize the startup idea that you have. On top of that, ESSEC Ventures has a great training program and mentorship. Experts will advise you, guide you, and you will have the chance to learn from highly talented people from a wide range of fields.

If you are passionate about entrepreneurship, you should take a look at ESSEC Ventures. It is a great platform to dive into the entrepreneurship world!

Several events such as networking events and conferences are organized by ESSEC Ventures. 

A great point of this structure is that students from all backgrounds and programs can participate: MSc in Management, Global BBA, MSc ESSEC-Centrale Entrepreneurs… This diversity encourage innovation and team work.

Imagination Week 2015 - Dmitry tells us about the different activities surrounding this year's theme 'lifestyles'

Interview by Dmitry, 1st year student, from Russia

Photos by Yashas and Ursula, 1st year students from India and Germany respectively

After wonderful Christmas holidays, which I personally spent with my parents, friends and relatives back in Russia, I came to ESSEC to continue my studies in finance, marketing, strategy and management. However, I faced something so unique and creative which I would never have expected from a traditional top business school. 

A new year 2015 started for us students of the Grande Ecole program with Imagination Week – the event designed specifically to foster our creativity, strategic thinking and, literally our imagination. During five days, we worked together to produce innovative ideas and actions about the future of businesses, societies and humanity. But “working” is not the correct word here – actually, we simply created, imagined and envisaged with no limits or borders. While in 2014 the Week was related to Transhumanism, the topic this year was Lifestyles. This theme covered all the ideas and problems related to the way we live every day, so we had no boundaries while working on it.

So, what exactly is Imagination Week? 

It consisted of three activities, which let us think differently about lifestyles.

Firstly, we were set up in teams of six and asked to prepare a proposal. What was the topic of such a proposal? What issues did we need to address? We were absolutely free to choose one. The only requirement was to keep it in line with the theme of the Week: Lifestyles. And that was the most fascinating experience: while some teams focused on more practical problems, such as infrastructure, financial services etc. (still, we are in the business school), others discussed augmentation, nanotechnologies and even immortality. Of course, while preparing our proposals, we were not taught how to calculate net present value or how to analyze cash-flow statements…but we developed our strategic thinking, our vision of where we will be as humanity in several years, and where we should move as a person and a professional. Here, we moved far beyond the operational and technical responsibilities of managers; we became decision makers who are able to innovate. And I believe that this is what differs a good business school from an excellent one.

Secondly, we were given an opportunity to hear testimonies from representatives of truly alternative lifestyles. Experts from a variety of fields, ranging from neurotechnologies to punk rock, presented their ideas and vision of the future. These conferences and workshops introduced completely new issues and possibilities. Did you know that subway maps can be optimized by simply copying the same way mushrooms build their network? That is called biomimicry and there is no class on that subject (so far), but this is our future and Imagination Week exposed us to such innovations.

Finally, we participated in designing the future ESSEC curriculum. As a part of the Build Your Own Course (BYOC) program, professors from different departments and campuses of ESSEC presented us with 11 courses, which we later discussed. After feedback, where we students told then how we would like these potential courses to be constructed, the professors amended their course syllabi in line with our ideas. As a result, these projects were put to a vote and 5 courses, which had received the most votes, were selected to become a part of ESSEC’s curriculum next year. They will then be co-created by the professor and a small group of student volunteers. Within the framework of the BYOC we were given an amazing opportunity to use our creativity and imagination to change the way we learn at ESSEC and to design courses we are interested in the most.

All in all, I personally find Imagination Week a truly unique event, valuable and enjoyable. As a student of the Grande Ecole program, I designed my curriculum of study and explored subjects far beyond the traditional academic framework. As a future decision maker, I raised my awareness on the subjects of creativity, innovation and imagination, and produced ideas and actions I had never thought of before. Finally, as a part of ESSEC student community, I got to know a lot of new people, who turned out to be some of the most intelligent, open-minded and motivated persons I have met so far.

As a side note, unfortunately the events that happened in Paris last week left a mark on this week. The whole ESSEC community mourns the victims of the Charlie Hebdo attack and sends out their thoughts to the families. A minute of silence was held on Wednesday at noon to collectively show respect to the victims. #JeSuisCharlie

Student Interview #10 - Souhayl on taking part in the CPI Program

By Souhayl Amar, 1st year student, from Morocco

CPi Program : Création d’un Produit Innovant

After joining the MSc in Management, I decided to apply to the CPi Program. I got interested by the program when reading about it in the ESSEC Study Guide. Afterwards, I took a look at the program website and saw the videos of the previous editions. It seemed like a great opportunity to work and learn in an entrepreneurial environment! As of now, I don’t regret it at all. It’s totally worth it!

What is the CPi?

The CPi is a multidisciplinary program where students from three different backgrounds (engineering, management and design) work together on a company project during 6 months. It’s a joint program between ESSEC, Centrale Paris and Strate, three leading schools in business, engineering and design. Every year, several big companies such as Société Générale, Otis, or Thales participate in the CPi. This program, which enhances design thinking and open innovation, runs from from September to April. It concludes with the Trade Show: the final event where teams make presentations to a jury of teachers and senior executives from the companies that participate in the program. The CPi takes place on Tuesdays (all day long) at NUMA, in Paris. NUMA is a start-up incubator and a co-working space. It’s a place where entrepreneurs, designers, engineers, managers, and programmers meet to work and share experiences. 

My experience as a CPi student

I am working on a marketing project about the Oil&Gas industry for a French company called Vallourec. As part of our project, we visited the corporate headquarters in Valenciennes (France), and four of us had the chance to travel to Scotland! They went to Aberdeen to visit an offshore platform. The main goals of these visits are to collect data/information and to make observations about the working environment. In the following months, we will start making strategic recommendations and drafting business plans that suit the company’s needs.

I have found the CPi to be a very challenging and enriching experience so far. You get to learn a lot from other students! Teams are made up of 10-12 people so it’s important to be a team player and to put the interest of the group first. Furthermore, ESSEC students who complete the program get 3 UV and 2 months of professional experience since it is a demanding program. 






* To take part in this program, students need to have a good level of French.