École supérieure des sciences économiques et commerciales
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The École Supérieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales (more commonly ESSEC Business School or ESSEC) is a major French business and
management school A business school is a university-level institution that confers degrees in business administration or management. A business school may also be referred to as school of management, management school, school of business administration, or ...
, with non-profit association status (French association law of 1901) founded in 1907 and whose principal campus is located in
Cergy Cergy () is a Communes of France, commune in the French Departments of France, department of Val-d'Oise, in northwestern suburbs of Paris. It is located from the Kilometre Zero#France, centre of Paris, in the "new town#France, new town" of Cerg ...
. It also has locations in La Défense, Rabat and
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
, which are used in particular for the ESSEC Global BBA and ESSEC Executive MBA programs. Founded by
Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...
in response to the creation of HEC Paris, it remained independent of any
chamber of commerce and industry A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...
for a long time before passing in 1981 under the control of that of Versailles, which became the CCI of Paris Île-de-France in 2013. She is a member of the CY Alliance, formerly Université Paris-Seine. The ESSEC group delivers numerous training courses in
administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...
and
management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a Government agency, government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includ ...
, in particular through its post- preparatory class course called the “Grande École Program” conferring the master’s degree. It also delivers a "BBA" ( Bachelor in Business Administration), specialized masters (SM), a
master's degree in business administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as account ...
(MBA) and
doctorates A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...
. Historical rival of HEC Paris and to a lesser extent of ESCP Business School, it forms with the latter the group of “three Parisians”, which designates the three most prestigious
business schools A business school is a university-level institution that confers degrees in business administration or management. A business school may also be referred to as school of management, management school, school of business administration, o ...
in France. ESSEC is also regularly cited among the best business schools in
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
and in
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
.


History


Foundation (1907–1913)

The École Supérieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales (ESSEC) was founded in 1907 under the name of ''Economic Institute'' by
Ferdinand Le Pelletier Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...
in Paris. Its creation followed the movement of other private business schools created under Catholic guardianship in the early twentieth century such as HEC Nord (which later became
EDHEC EDHEC Business School (french: Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales du Nord) is a French grandes écoles business school with campus locations in: Lille, France; Nice, France; Paris, France; London, UK; and Singapore. EDHEC offers its flagship Mas ...
) by the Catholic Institute of Lille or ESSCA by the Institute Catholic of Angers. The establishment of Falloux Laws in 1854 allowed the development of religious secondary education. In a complex circumstances, marked by the
Dreyfus affair The Dreyfus affair (french: affaire Dreyfus, ) was a political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francop ...
(1895) and the law of
separation of Church and State The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...
(1905), the
Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...
sought to regain influence, in particular by disseminating its moral values in the economic world and by training a new generation of business leaders. ESSEC became the Catholic Church response to the creation of HEC in the context of struggle of
religious congregations A religious congregation is a type of religious institute in the Catholic Church. They are legally distinguished from religious orders – the other major type of religious institute – in that members take simple vows, whereas members of religio ...
, especially between
Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...
against the
secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...
and
republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
ideology of the state.. The goal of the new institution was to "train leaders for a commercial and economic career, which requires competent men, imbued with Christian and human values". The school was located at the
École Sainte Geneviève École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Sav ...
(created by Jesuits in 1854) in the Latin Quarter. The first class had seven students and studies lasted two years. In 1909, an optional third year was introduced. The course did not stand out for its originality as it was structured around general subjects including law, accounting, languages and techniques. It was through the introduction of Christian moral values that ESSEC could stand out: students attended the
apologetics Apologetics (from Greek , "speaking in defense") is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics an ...
conference every week in the chapel of the École Sainte Geneviève. Technical education ( calligraphy, shorthand, drafting of commercial documents) was complemented with scientific education (physics, chemistry, factory visits).


1913–1940

With the application of the law of separation of State and Church of 1905, the school premises were confiscated in 1913, obliging ESSEC to be absorbed by
Catholic Institute of Paris The Institut Catholique de Paris (ICP), known in English as the Catholic University of Paris (and in Latin as ''Universitas catholica Parisiensis''), is a private university located in Paris, France. History: 1875–present The Institut Catholiq ...
or ICP. As a consequence, the school resources were significantly reduced. For instance, it only had one amphitheater borrowed from ICP and the elementary section was abolished. During this time, the disciplines taught, which remained almost the same until 1960, include: languages, history of trade, commercial geography, political economy, law and accounting. An emphasize was given to language teaching, with 10 hours per week length (4 hours of English and German, 1 hour of Italian and Spanish). The school experienced difficulty surviving during the First World War. In 1914, it had only four students in the first year and two in the second year. It temporarily closed doors and only reopened in 1915. The third optional year was dropped and the school did not regain financial stability until 1920 when it welcomed more than 50 students in the first year. In 1923 the students' association was created with a solidarity fund for war widows and orphans. In 1926, the first directory of graduates was published and three years later, the first courses in business ethics were given. By 1930, the number of students increased to 150 people. Against the crisis of the 1930s, ESSEC had to reduce its tuition fees to attract students who have more preference toward
public service A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...
or regular
law studies Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...
. Due to gap year of 1914-1918 and the economic crisis, the situation became even more difficult. The school was forced to accept high school graduates, uncertified examiners, and even freelance auditors who took uncertified courses. In 1932, the Student Office was created and in 1937 the first scholarships were distributed, marking the start of a social assistance policy


1940–1960

The reform was done under the effort of Camille Donjon from 1939 with the introduction of selection at the school entrance. A preparatory class for the exam was set up in 1941. During this time, ESSEC refused to join the unified system of '' écoles de commerce'' established by the decree of 3 December 1947 which mentioned that the State now supports the implementation of preparatory classes on the territory. As HEC and ESCP joined this system, ESSEC positioned itself as a challenger and kept its own preparatory classes. To level its competition, ESSEC altered its school tenure from two to three years starting from 1947. This situation lasted until 1951, when ESSEC closed its own preparatory classes and opened to candidates of the public preparatory classes. In 1950, the first compulsory internship was set up which last for a period of three months and took place at the end of studies.


1960–1970

In 1960, Gilbert Olivier replaced Father Donjon as the dean of ESSEC. His arrival, coupled with developments linked to competition, would sway the Christian identity of the school. He began the transformation by launching a survey for students on the content of courses and the pedagogy. The result showed that only minority of students were satisfied with the teaching. Teaching was judged “Scholarly, serious and lacking in openness”. Given the results of this survey, a gradual reform was put in place. Technical subjects such as chemistry and physics were abandoned, teaching content adapted to the company demand and the human factor was taken into account with the introduction of courses in sociology and
human resources Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include ...
. In 1965, marketing classes was introduced. Method of teaching such as conferences were set up, similar to what HEC Paris and Sciences Po offered. During this time, the school adopted the teaching style of the United States schools. Furthermore, the recruitment was diversified with the introduction of the ''Admis on Title'' in 1966 which also marked the opening of the school to women. However, preparatory classes not yet being open to them. Associative life also began in the early 1960s with the creation of the ''ESSEC Mardis'' in 1961 and the ''Junior Enterprise'' in 1967. The former is student forum of ESSEC which occasionally invite speakers from French art, sport, politics and economic space every year. It also hosts the debates which led by two students from the association. The entrance exam was reformatted in 1969 with the elimination of the chemistry and physics test and remodeling of the oral exam which now aimed to test the logical reasoning of the candidates and not only their general knowledge.
Psychometric Psychometrics is a field of study within psychology concerned with the theory and technique of measurement. Psychometrics generally refers to specialized fields within psychology and education devoted to testing, measurement, assessment, and ...
tests and personality interviews were also introduced. Gilbert Olivier also tried to reform the program of preparatory classes to bring them closer to commercial education but gave up due to opposition from HEC and other business schools.


1970–1990

With the reform in place, the number of students grew and the school was starting to run out of space. The school occupied three amphitheaters at the ICP and later, in 1971, administrative services would be moved to Boulevard Raspail. In 1965 a commission was set up to consider on the possibilities of moving the school location. Projects were planned in Bagneux or Gentilly, which ultimately abandoned. On July 5, 1967, a decision was taken by ESSEC to move to a new site in the town of
Cergy-Pontoise Cergy-Pontoise () is a new town and an agglomeration community in France, in the Val-d'Oise and Yvelines departments, northwest of Paris on the river Oise. It owes its name to two of the communes that it covers, Cergy and Pontoise. Its populatio ...
where the current campus is located.. During this time, ESSEC was able to breaking free from the ICP. In 1968, the latter recognized the financial and administrative independence of the school. In 1969, the ESSEC group was founded, consisting of the school, CERESSEC, a Research Center and ISSEC, an institute for executives. ICP, however, retained one third of the seats of the Board of Directors and the appointment of the director of the school must still be approved by the rector of the ICP. The acceptance of the move to Cergy-Pontoise by the community was polarized. It was less well received by student due to lack of public transportation to the area. Some teachers fueled the controversy, aware that such a move necessarily entails a potential of replacement of faculty members. The new school extended over and included a large amphitheater of 300 seats, eight small amphitheatres with 80 seats equipped with closed circuit television, a computer center, a large language laboratory, a library, a sports hall, a restaurant university and 48 classrooms. Its reception areas (foyers, cafeterias, chapel) were to be available to the public in
Cergy Cergy () is a Communes of France, commune in the French Departments of France, department of Val-d'Oise, in northwestern suburbs of Paris. It is located from the Kilometre Zero#France, centre of Paris, in the "new town#France, new town" of Cerg ...
. In exchange, the students could lived in housing around the city. Before 1971, ESSEC relied mainly on executives working in companies as its teaching staff. However, the school started to setting up its permanent faculty. The grants awarded by FNEGE to finance studies of young professors or executives in the United States, who wished to return to teaching to fill the French "management gap", allowed ESSEC to build a pool of qualified teachers. In 1972, out of 20 professors, there were 9 former ESSECs having completed their training in the United States. The arrival of FNEGE Fellows, who had come back from the United States, would stimulate the reform of the curriculum. A common core curriculum was set up in the first year based on fundamentals while a course ''à la carte'' was introduced from the second year. This format is still in effect today. A minimum duration of 12 months of internship was also introduced. Furthermore. the ESSEC selectivity increased significantly with application numbers grew from 700 candidates in 1960 to 2,800 in 1973. The decision to move to
Cergy Cergy () is a Communes of France, commune in the French Departments of France, department of Val-d'Oise, in northwestern suburbs of Paris. It is located from the Kilometre Zero#France, centre of Paris, in the "new town#France, new town" of Cerg ...
without support of public funds resulted in heavy debt to the
Caisse d'Epargne Caisse, a French word, may refer to: *Caisse Desjardins, an association of credit unions in Quebec *Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears, a road-bicycle racing team *Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, a public pension fund in Quebec *Caisse nati ...
and ANFESP (National Association for the Financing of Private School Equipment), the Council General of Val d'Oise. This resulted in obligation to repay an amount up to 4-5 million francs a year. These financial expenses represented 11.7% of the ESSEC budget in 1975 (compared to 5% for INSEAD). The operating budget exploded from 6 million francs in 1972 to 28 million in 1979. Tuition fees increased to one point it doubled that of HEC. In 1979, the financial crisis erupted, exacerbated by an environment of high interest rates and an economic slowdown related to the oil shock. Ultimately, the school hit a deficit of 10.4 million francs during this year. The apprenticeship tax, introduction of continuing education and the donation of student's parents were used as sources of funding. The consideration of the nationalization of ESSEC and possible attachment to the larger university were put on the table, with those ideas coming within the field of possibilities with the election of François Mitterrand to the presidency of the Republic. Gilbert Olivier strongly opposed to the plan, seeing it as a failure of the initial project of the school to emancipate itself from the higher education system. Financial condition ultimately improved permitting the school to operate without taking such decisions. The rescue was made possible by the Versailles Chamber of Commerce, which injected 10 million francs to cover the deficit of ESSEC, bought 51% of ESSEC's ownership for 12 million francs and committed to pay an annual subsidy of 6 millions of francs from 1982 to 1989. In exchange, ESSEC retained its legal autonomy (and did not become a service of the chamber like the case of HEC Paris and ESCP with the
Paris Chamber of Commerce The Paris Chamber of Commerce (french: Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de Paris or ''CCIP'') is a chamber of commerce of the Paris region. It defends the interests of companies of the city of Paris, and provides services to these companies. S ...
) but had a governance system with a management board and supervisory board. This intrusion of a supervision as well as the absence of representation of the students and the professors in the general assembly triggered strikes and the launching of petitions against the plan. The agreement was finally signed on April 6, 1981. The fear of control of the school and its pedagogy would ultimately prove to be unfounded.


2000–present

In 1999, the school decided to change the name of its
Grande Ecole Grande means "large" or "great" in many of the Romance languages. It may also refer to: Places * Grande, Germany, a municipality in Germany * Grande Communications, a telecommunications firm based in Texas * Grande-Rivière (disambiguation) * Ar ...
program to be an MBA (
Master in Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...
), an Anglo-Saxon standard normally reserved for executives who already have many years of experience. ESSEC intended to highlight its accreditation from the
AACSB The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, also known as AACSB International, is an American professional organization. It was founded as the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business in 1916 to provide accreditation to ...
(American accreditation body) and the mandatory 18 months of internships of its students. The move was followed by other business schools, such as ICN Nancy and ESC Grenoble. ESSEC then reviewed its international agreements to bring the program to the MBA or Master level. The repositioning of the program was heavily criticized by HEC Paris, EM Lyon and University Paris-Dauphine, so much so that
Ali Laïdi ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...
in his book Secrets of the economic war (2004) said that HEC Paris would have mounted a destabilization operation toward ESSEC by attacking its MBA position. The case led to an opening of investigation and resolution by the Paris Chamber of Commerce. In 2005, ESSEC expanded its campus with the inauguration of the Nautile building and further, in 2007, with the multipurpose room, the Dome (of which has 2,700 people capacity) and the Galion. The buildings were designed by
Marc Seifert Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system o ...
, son of Ivan Seifert who designed the original campus in 1973. In 2008, the library was expanded. Renovation of the restaurant area followed the following year. In March 2006, ESSEC Business School inaugurated its new campus in Singapore within the
National Library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, or significant wo ...
, the ESSEC Asian Center. In 2010, ESSEC presented its strategic plan for 2010–2015. The program portfolio was repositioned: the
EPSCI The ESSEC Global BBA is the Bachelor of Business Administration program of ESSEC Business School, France. It was created in 1975 by ESSEC to prepare students to meet the needs of French firms launching operations on the international market. ...
(post-baccalaureate program) became the
bachelor A bachelor is a man who is not and has never been married.Bachelors are, in Pitt & al.'s phrasing, "men who live independently, outside of their parents' home and other institutional settings, who are neither married nor cohabitating". (). Etymo ...
of ESSEC, the name of MBA was abandoned and replaced with MSc in Management. The group's communication was unified under the name ESSEC Business School. A fundraising strategy of 150 million euros was announced. The school also aimed to be one of the 20 best Business Schools in the world, to join the 10 best schools in Asia and to make into top 5 in Europe. The abandonment of the name of MBA from its Grand Ecole program was a strategy pushback for the school. As the result, this program did not appear in the
Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...
ranking of Masters in Management since its creation in 2005 nor in the MBA because of its hybrid nature. The dean of the time, Pierre Tapie, however, did not regret this decision, because he believed that the school had gained reputation. In fact, in 2007, the
Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
ranked ESSEC Grande École program 7th in the world, ahead of HEC and
INSEAD INSEAD, a contraction of "Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires" () is a non-profit business school that maintains campuses in Europe (Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE), and North America (San ...
. During this time, the school expanded its double-degree agreements with
Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM Ahmedabad) is the world's number 1 business school, located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The school has been accorded the status of an Institute of National Importance by Ministry of Human Resourc ...
in 2006,
Centrale Paris Centrale may refer to: Places * Centrale (Milan Metro), a rail station in Milan, Italy * Centrale (shopping centre) in Croydon, South London ** Centrale tram stop, named after the shopping centre above * Centrale Region, Togo * 138 East 50th Stree ...
, University of Keio in 2009, École du Louvre, ENSAE and Saint-Cyr in 2010, ENS in 2011,
University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...
, three South Korean institutions in 2014 and
Bocconi University Bocconi University ( it, Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, ) is a private university in Milan, Italy. Bocconi provides education in the fields of economics, finance, law, management, political science, public administration and comput ...
in 2015. In 2014,
Jean-Michel Blanquer Jean-Michel Blanquer (; born 4 December 1964) is a French jurist and government official serving as Minister of National Education under Prime Ministers Édouard Philippe and Jean Castex from 2017 to 2022. Education and early career Born in ...
, the new dean of the school, announced the strategic plan "ESSEC 3I 2020" (Internationalisation, Innovation and Involvement). The internationalization went through, a new ESSEC Asia-Pacific campus was established, which opened in 2015, an ESSEC Africa campus was opened in 2017, collaboration through a strategic alliance with
CentraleSupélec CentraleSupélec (CS) is a top French graduate engineering school of Paris-Saclay University in Gif-sur-Yvette, France. It was established on 1 January 2015, as a result of a strategic merger between two prestigious grandes écoles in France, ...
and involvement of students to create their own courses and mentorship program, among other things. The school also launched its first MOOCs, inaugurated its startup incubator, ESSEC Ventures and established an experimental research laboratory, K-Lab.


Grande école degrees

ESSEC Business School is a ''grande école'', a French institution of
higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after comple ...
that is separate from, but parallel and often connected to, the main framework of the French public university system. ''Grandes écoles'' are elite academic institutions that admit students through an extremely competitive process, and a significant proportion of their graduates occupy the highest levels of French society. Similar to
Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...
schools in the United States, Oxbridge in the UK, and C9 League in China, graduation from a grande école is considered the prerequisite credential for any top government, administrative and corporate position in France. Monique de Saint-Martin, « Les recherches sociologiques sur les grandes écoles : de la reproduction à la recherche de justice », Éducation et sociétés 1/2008 (),
lire en ligne
sur Cairn.info
Valérie Albouy et Thomas Wanecq
Les inégalités sociales d’accès aux grandes écoles
(2003), INSEE
The degrees are accredited by the '' Conférence des Grandes Écoles'' and awarded by the Ministry of National Education (France). Higher education business degrees in France are organized into three levels thus facilitating international mobility: the ''Licence'' /
Bachelor's degrees A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
, and the
Master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.
and
Doctorat A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...
degrees. The Bachelors and the Masters are organized in semesters: 6 for the Bachelors and 4 for the Masters. Those levels of study include various "parcours" or paths based on UE (Unités d'enseignement or Modules), each worth a defined number of European credits (ECTS). A student accumulates those credits, which are generally transferable between paths. A Bachelors is awarded once 180 ECTS have been obtained (bac + 3); a Masters is awarded once 120 additional credits have been obtained (bac +5). The highly coveted PGE (Grand Ecole Program) ends with the degree of Master's in Management (MiM)Ben-David, Joseph and Philip G. Altbach. eds. ''Centers of Learning: Britain, France, Germany, United States'' (2nd ed. 2017).


Research


Departments

The School is made up of eight research departments in different fields of human sciences: Accounting and Management Control; Business Law and Environment; Economy; Finance; Management; Operations management; Marketing; Information Systems, Decision Sciences and Statistics.


CERESSEC

The ESSEC research center or ''Centre de recherche ESSEC business school'' (CERESSEC) was created in 1969. Supervised by AERES since 2013, the research focus is around a scientific area in partnership with the Ministry of Higher Education and Research. According to the HCERES report issued on May 13, 2019, CERESSEC is "a leading research laboratory at national and international level, it is a leading French center in the field of management and related disciplines." It supports the school's influence in national and international rankings. The research center brings together 165 professors, on two sites in
Cergy Cergy () is a Communes of France, commune in the French Departments of France, department of Val-d'Oise, in northwestern suburbs of Paris. It is located from the Kilometre Zero#France, centre of Paris, in the "new town#France, new town" of Cerg ...
and Singapore. The professors work on nine research themes: Accounting and management control; Economy; Finance; Information system ; Law, Negotiation and Consultation; Management; Marketing; Management of Operations; Statistics.


ESSEC Iréné

ESSEC Iréné is the Institute for Research and Education on Negotiation in Europe created in 1996. The research focus is in several topics related to negotiation, mediation, stakeholders dialogue, and conflict resolution. The stakeholder involved in the research include academics, senior civil servants, elected representatives, managers and employees of businesses, trade unionists, social mediators.


ESSEC Behavioral Research Lab

This institute is an interdisciplinary research platform which focus on the study of human behavior in a controlled environment. The study is mainly conducted in the fields such as behavioral marketing, behavioral management,
behavioral Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions and mannerisms made by individuals, organisms, systems or artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or organisms as we ...
and
experimental economics Experimental economics is the application of experimental methods to study economic questions. Data collected in experiments are used to estimate effect size, test the validity of economic theories, and illuminate market mechanisms. Economic expe ...
.


Organization and governance

ESSEC is a nonprofit organization. Its management consists of a Director General (School Dean), assisted by its executive committee, made up in particular of the deans of programs, professors and research body. They reports to the board, which administers the association, and which is made up of two representatives of the Paris Ile-de-France CCI, a representative of the alumni association, and two qualified professionals. The supervisory board is made up of twenty-eight members, six representatives of the Paris Ile-de-France CCI, two members of the Institut Catholique de Paris, five former students, one member of the Confederation of SMEs, four students, five professors including the dean of the professors, two members of the administrative staff of the school, and three qualified professionals. The general assembly is the guarantor of the stability of the statutes of the association, and it is composed of the president of the CCI of Paris Île-de-France, a representative of the association of graduates, a representative of the Confederation of SMEs, the dean of professors, and the rector of the Catholic Institute of Paris (ICP).


Deans of ESSEC Business School


Rankings


Campuses

ESSEC has 4 campuses:
Cergy Cergy () is a Communes of France, commune in the French Departments of France, department of Val-d'Oise, in northwestern suburbs of Paris. It is located from the Kilometre Zero#France, centre of Paris, in the "new town#France, new town" of Cerg ...
,
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
, La Défense and Rabat. An Africa-Indian Ocean campus project in
Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...
was announced in 2016 but was canceled in 2017.


Cergy campus

The main ESSEC campus is located in
Cergy Cergy () is a Communes of France, commune in the French Departments of France, department of Val-d'Oise, in northwestern suburbs of Paris. It is located from the Kilometre Zero#France, centre of Paris, in the "new town#France, new town" of Cerg ...
. Inaugurated in 1973, the site is located in the city and open to the public, mixing students and inhabitants in the area. In 2007, two new buildings were constructed: the Dome and the Galion, both significantly increased area of the Cergy campus. The Dome, which acts as a multipurpose room, can accommodate up to 2,700 people. It is used for business forums (Career Fairs), conferences, exam site and cultural and social activities. The Galion is an administrative and educational building. It houses 54 offices and meeting rooms, 8 amphitheaters, and 12 classrooms as well as open work spaces. At the end of 2018, the Campus 2020 project was announced, which intends to modernize the Cergy campus by 2023, for a total cost of 35 million euros (private and public funding). Among the main lines of this project are the construction of a sports center of nearly 2,000 m2, the redevelopment of the old gymnasium and the existing administrative building into spaces intended for research activities.


La Defense campus

ESSEC has had premises in the CNIT in La Défense since 1989, mainly used for continuing education and the MBA.


Singapore campus

The ESSEC Asia-Pacific campus in Singapore was announced in October 2012 by Pierre Tapie shortly before his departure. The new campus was inaugurated in May 2015 by Jean-Michel Blanquer. ESSEC has already been present in
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
since 1980 with a permanent office in Japan and in
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
since 2005 through the ESSEC Asian Centre located in the National Library Building. After considering among
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
,
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
and
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
, the school finally chose the latter in 2005, in particular for its position as a gateway to Asia. Located in Nepal Hill, the campus spans five levels, 6,500 m2, can accommodate 1,500 students per year and cost 24 million euros, fully funded by ESSEC. It was designed by Singaporean architect,
Dr. Liu Thai Ker Doctor is an academic title that originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb 'to teach'. It has been used as an academic title in Europe since the 13th century, w ...
(former architect planning Singapore).


Rabat campus

The creation of this campus was announced in November 2015 by Jean-Michel Blanquer and was inaugurated in April 2017.
Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
was chosen for the already effective presence of ESSEC's partner
CentraleSupélec CentraleSupélec (CS) is a top French graduate engineering school of Paris-Saclay University in Gif-sur-Yvette, France. It was established on 1 January 2015, as a result of a strategic merger between two prestigious grandes écoles in France, ...
, its proximity to
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
and the large number of Moroccan alumni. Located 15 km from Rabat, the campus covers 6,000 m2 and has a capacity of 480 students. The campus is located right in the Casablanca - Rabat -
Kenitra Kenitra ( ar, القُنَيْطَرَة, , , ; ber, ⵇⵏⵉⵟⵔⴰ, Qniṭra; french: Kénitra) is a city in north western Morocco, formerly known as Port Lyautey from 1932 to 1956. It is a port on the Sebou river, has a population in 201 ...
axis. The campus was built specifically for ESSEC by the Addoha real estate group to which the school pays rent (proportional to the number of students hosted during the first three years, then €360,000 / year beyond), with the possibility of to buy back the premises after nine years. At its first school year, the campus had seventy students, including eighteen Moroccans.


Programs


ESSEC Global BBA

The undergraduate program was initially created in 1975 by ESSEC Group to prepare students to meet the needs of French firms launching operations on the international market. It was formerly known as
EPSCI The ESSEC Global BBA is the Bachelor of Business Administration program of ESSEC Business School, France. It was created in 1975 by ESSEC to prepare students to meet the needs of French firms launching operations on the international market. ...
, ''"École des Practiciens du Commerce International"'', and is now referred to as "ESSEC Global BBA". The Global BBA lasts for four years and is designed for candidates graduated from high school (in France "Baccalauréat"). At the end of the program, each student will have completed a minimum of 12 months of coursework abroad (each student will do two exchange programs abroad), a one-month humanitarian project and between 11 and 18 months of professional experience, which may also take place abroad.


Master of Science in Management - Grande École

ESSEC's postgraduate programme is its Master of Science in management, designed for students with no professional experience (instead of managers with 3–5 years of experience like US
MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...
programs). It is the flagship program of the school. The ESSEC MSc in management has been historically designed for candidates who have completed French preparatory classes after
high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
diploma and passed a competitive entrance examination known as the ''concours'', or have a university degree (Bachelor or Master). Application is now also open to non-French students: students with a university degree of three years or more received outside of France can also apply. Students from ''classe préparatoire'' will spend two to three years after Baccalauréat only to prepare for the national entrance examination of
Grandes Ecoles Grandes may refer to: * Agustín Muñoz Grandes, Spanish general and politician *Banksia ser. Grandes, a series of plant species native to Australia * Grandes y San Martín, a municipality located in the province of Ávila, Castile and León, Spain ...
which includes a written part (lasting three weeks) as well as an oral part (one to four days for each grande école). It is commonly considered the most prestigious path after High School in France (only 5% of a generation will be admitted to a ''prépa'') with Law and Medicine, and consists in intensive courses in Mathematics,
History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
and
Geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...
,
Economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...
,
Literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
, Philosophy, and two foreign languages. In 2015, among more than 20 000 students enrolled in classe préparatoire (business section), 5 614 applied to ESSEC concours (considered one of the most difficult), only 890 were invited to oral examination and 380 were eventually admitted. This means an acceptance rate of 6.77%. ESSEC offer an ''à la carte'' program – whether following courses at ESSEC or at a partner institution, going abroad or focusing on an associative project etc.


Master in Finance

The ''Master in Finance'' replace the old Master ''Techniques Financières'' since 2016. The Master in Finance is recognized by the French Higher Education and Research Ministry as master's degree. There are three specialized tracks: * Corporate Finance: M&A, Private Equity, ECM, DCM, Equity Research, Leveraged and Project Finance; * Financial Markets: Sales, Trading, Risk Management and Portfolio Management; *FinTech & Analytics: Quantitative Asset and Risk Management, Data-based Market Making and Trading and Quant Hedge Funds (with a solid Math/Physics degree). The Master in Finance has a partnership with the
Chartered Financial Analyst The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program is a postgraduate professional certification offered internationally by the American-based CFA Institute (formerly the Association for Investment Management and Research, or AIMR) to investment and fina ...
(CFA).


ESSEC M.S. Advanced Masters

The Advanced master's degrees are accredited by the " Conférence des Grandes Ecoles" in France. These programs are specialised to allow students finishing their studies or young professionals to complete their initial training (usually scientific or engineering) by acquiring complementary knowledge.


ESSEC Global MBA

The Global MBA at ESSEC Business School is a 12-month, full-time MBA program with an emphasis on emerging markets and experiential learning. It offers two Majors allowing students to specialise in the following area: Luxury Brand Management, Strategy and Digital Leadership.


PhD in Business Administration

The PhD trains future professors,
researchers Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness t ...
and consultants. Before starting their dissertation work, students must follow a two-year program of courses and seminars that ends with Preliminary Examinations and a Dissertation Proposal. The curriculum starts with an intensive period of interdisciplinary training common to all students. This is followed by research training for the chosen field of specialization.


ESSEC Executive Education

More than 5,000 managers participate in ESSEC Exec Ed programs every year, primarily at La Défense campus, located in the heart of Paris’ financial district and ESSEC's Singapore campus.


ESSEC & Mannheim Executive MBA

ESSEC and Mannheim Business School launched their joint Executive MBA Program in 2004. Building on the first established Executive MBAs in Europe by ESSEC since 1994, several modules are proposed in Mannheim, Paris, Singapore and various other locations worldwide in partner business schools.


International partnerships

ESSEC has developed partnerships with universities all over the world for exchange and double degree programs, including
UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...
,
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
,
Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...
,
Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , ...
,
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
, Peking University,
Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (; abbr. THU) is a national public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. The university is a member of the C9 League, Double First Class University Plan, Projec ...
, Seoul National University, Keio University, National University of Singapore,
IIM Ahmedabad Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM Ahmedabad) is the world's number 1 business school, located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The school has been accorded the status of an Institute of National Importance by Ministry of Human Resourc ...
,
IE Business School IE Business School is a graduate and undergraduate school of business, located in Madrid, Spain, European Union, Europe. It was founded in 1973 under the name Instituto de Empresa and since 2009 is part of IE University. IE Business School runs ...
,
University of Mannheim The University of Mannheim (German: ''Universität Mannheim''), abbreviated UMA, is a public research university in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1967, the university has its origins in the ''Palatine Academy of Sciences'', ...
, King's College London, Esic Business & Marketing School, Fundação Getúlio Vargas' EAESP, among many others.


ESSEC alumni

The association of graduates of the ESSEC or ESSEC Alumni group is founded in 1923. It brings together the 50,000 graduates of ESSEC.. It spans in 75 countries within five continents. It organizes more than a thousand events per year by its two hundred volunteers and employees. The network partners with its 60 corporates and consists of 17 regional clubs and 73 chapters around the world. The association also publishes the alumni magazine, Reflets, five times a year. Since 2017, the association has been physically present on the Cergy campus through an office open to students. Starting from the same year, lifelong ESSEC Alumni membership has been included in the tuition fees for new members, on the model already implemented by major international universities.


Notable alumni

Business * Nicolas Hieronimus, CEO of L’Oréal Group *
Antoine Bernard de Saint-Affrique Antoine Bernard de Saint-Affrique is a French businessman. He was appointed CEO of the Danone group in May 2021. His family name is ''Bernard de Saint-Affrique'', sometimes abbreviated to ''de Saint-Affrique'', and his given name is Antoine. Fa ...
, CEO of
Danone Danone S.A. () is a French multinational food-products corporation based in Paris. It was founded in Barcelona, Spain. It is listed on Euronext Paris where it is a component of the CAC 40 stock market index. Some of the company's products are ...
*
Michel Bon Michel Bon (born 5 July 1943) is a French businessman and politician. He is a graduate of the ESSEC Business School, of the Paris Institute of Political Studies, of the École nationale d'administration and of Stanford Business School. In 1981, ...
, ENA, CEO of
Carrefour Carrefour () is a French multinational retail and wholesaling corporation headquartered in Massy, France. The eighth-largest retailer in the world by revenue, it operates a chain of hypermarkets, groceries stores and convenience stores, whic ...
(1985–1992), CEO of
France Telecom Orange S.A. (), formerly France Télécom S.A. (stylized as france telecom) is a French multinational telecommunications corporation. It has 266 million customers worldwide and employs 89,000 people in France, and 59,000 elsewhere. In 2015, ...
(1995–2002) *
Patrick Cescau Patrick Cescau (born 27 September 1948) is a French businessman and a former chief executive of Unilever. He was the first combined chief executive of the English (originally Lever Brothers) and Dutch parts (originally Margarine Unie) of Unilever. ...
, Former CEO of
Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy dri ...
* Pierre-André de Chalendar, CEO of
Saint-Gobain Compagnie de Saint-Gobain S.A. () is a French multinational corporation, founded in 1665 in Paris and headquartered on the outskirts of Paris, at La Défense and in Courbevoie. Originally a mirror manufacturer, it now also produces a variety of ...
* Nicolas Namias, CEO of Group BPCE * Jérôme Grivet, Deputy CEO of Crédit Agricole * Pierre Nanterme, CEO of Accenture * Yves Perrier, CEO of
Amundi Amundi is a French asset management company. With €2 trillion of assets under management (AUM) at the end of 2021, it is the largest asset manager in Europe and one of the 10 biggest investment managers in the world. Founded on 1 January 2010, ...
, former CFO of
Société Générale Société Générale S.A. (), colloquially known in English as SocGen (), is a French-based multinational financial services company founded in 1864, registered in downtown Paris and headquartered nearby in La Défense. Société Générale ...
* Pierre Denis, former CEO of
Jimmy Choo (fashion house) Jimmy Choo is a British high-end luxury fashion house specialising in shoes, handbags, accessories and fragrances. The company, J. Choo Limited, was founded in 1996 by Malaysian Chinese couture shoe designer Jimmy Choo and British ''Vogue'' ac ...
*
Marie-Christine Lombard Marie-Christine Lombard (born 1958) is a French business executive. She was appointed CEO of SNCF Logistics, Geodis in October 2012. She is also a member of the Supervisory Board of Keolis. Since 2008, she also has been chairing the Coordinating Co ...
, former CEO of
TNT Express TNT Express was an international courier delivery services company with its headquarters in Hoofddorp, Netherlands. History The namesake Thomas Nationwide Transport grandfather company was originally started in 1946 with a single truck in A ...
* Dominique Reiniche, CEO of Coca-Cola Europe * Gilles Pélisson, CEO of TF1, former CEO of
Bouygues Telecom Bouygues Telecom () is a French mobile phone, Internet service provider and IPTV company, part of the Bouygues group. It is the third oldest mobile network operator in France, after Orange and SFR, and before Free Mobile. Its headquarters, de ...
(2004–2006) and of
Accor Group Accor S.A. is a French multinational hospitality company that owns, manages and franchises hotels, resorts and vacation properties. It is the largest hospitality company in Europe, and the sixth largest hospitality company worldwide. Accor op ...
(2006–2011) * Charles Bouaziz, Former CEO of PepsiCo (Europe) * Joe Saddi, Chairman of
Booz & Company Strategy& is the strategy consulting business unit of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), one of the Big Four professional service firms. Strategy& is a global strategy consulting firm with a network of 75+ offices with 3000+ consultants around the wo ...
* Élisabeth Moreno, President of Hewlett-Packard
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
, Former President of Lenovo France * Thierry Peugeot, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Peugeot-Citroën * Jérôme Tafani, CEO of Burger King France Politics * Cécile Duflot, ex-French Minister of Housing in the Ayrault Cabinet, formerly head of the French Green Party and now head of Oxfam France *
Fleur Pellerin Fleur Pellerin (; née Kim Jong-sook, born 29 August 1973) is a French businesswoman, former civil servant and Socialist Party politician who served as a French government minister from 2012 to 2016. Early life Pellerin was born in 1973 in Seou ...
, ex-French
Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizatio ...
in the First Valls government. * Emmanuelle Mignon, ex-Cabinet secretary of French President Nicolas Sarkozy from 2008 to 2012 *
Alexis Kohler Alexis Kohler, full name Arnaud Alexis Michel Kohler, (born 16 November 1972, Strasbourg) is a French special adviser, senior official, and politician. Énarque, former director of cabinet of Pierre Moscovici then of Emmanuel Macron at the Minist ...
, Chief of Staff of
President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency i ...
Emmanuel Macron Academics *
D. K. Bandyopadhyay Dilip K. Bandyopadhyay is a professor, scientific management researcher and an academic administrator of repute. Presently he is the Chief Advisor to the office of the Founder President of Amity Group of Institutions. He was second vice-chancell ...
, Indian scientific management researcher Other well-known alumni * Marie-José Pérec, former sprinter, three times Olympic champion * Philippe Sollers, French writerAnna Topaloff, " ESSEC, la business school qui mène à tout ", '' GQ'', juillet 2015, pages 54–58.


See also

* Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Paris * HEC Paris * ESCP Business School *
Triple accreditation Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * I ...


References


External links


Official website
{{Coord, 49, 01, 59, N, 2, 04, 40, E, display=title, region:FR_type:edu_source:dewiki ESSEC Business School Educational institutions established in 1907 Business schools in Singapore Education in Paris 1907 establishments in France