Updated: Feb 15
The following is a report on La Rochelle Business School recent activities, near-term plans,
and “open items” that might interest individuals seeking to align their business school’s or
university’s teaching and research with the need for a sustainable/flourishing/-
regenerating world. Reports on such activities and plans will be posted every two months
by schools participating in the evolving initiative currently titled: globalmovement.net
ACTIVITIES IN THE LAST THREE MONTHS:
A. PROGRESS IN COURSE DEVELOPMENT (AND INFORMATION ON EXISTING COURSES)
EXPERIENTIAL AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSES: students are prepared with courses on CSR, SD, SDGs before they go on their international voluntary mission (Humacité, Climacité). Contact person: Sophie Pauget, paugetso@exceliagroup.com. Progress developing new specialization course to be open in September 2020 entitled “Sustainable Development Project Manager” and new course entitled “Environmental Culture” to be open in the first semester 2021. Contact person: Lucile Ouvrard, ouvrardl@excelia-group.com.
HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT COURSES: Some courses (e.g., Environmental Law) focus on CSR/SD/the environment through case studies and examples integrated in the lectures. Contact persons: Isabelle Baudet, baudeti@exceliagroup.com and Dominic Drillon, drillond@excelia-group.com
LANGUAGE AND CIVILIZATIONS COURSES: debates on sustainability and sustainable tourism organized in English lectures to stimulate discussions and arguments. Contact person: Caroline O’Neill, oneillc@excelia-group.com
MARKETING COURSES: Some courses (e.g., Innovation Marketing) focus on CSR/SD/circular economy/ethics though case studies and examples integrated in the lectures. Further courses could integrate SD such as Market Studies and Intercultural Client Relationship Management. Contact person: Alexandre Schwob, schwoba@excelia-group.com.
STRATEGY COURSES: Progress integrating sustainability, CSR, ethics into strategy courses. Development of new courses for September 2020. Contact person: Fanny Romestant - romestantf@excelia-group.com
SUPPLY CHAIN COURSES: Progress integrating sustainability, CSR, and ethics in core and advance courses. Contact person: Jesus Gonzalez Feliu – gonzalezfeliuj@excelia-group.com
B. RESEARCH: Several research axis integrating CSR/SD in their research (Tourism, CSR/DD and Agility Axis). Contact person: Jean-Pierre Helfer, helferjp@excelia-group.com (Research Director). Several on-going projects funded by companies and preparation of research projects funded by the French National Agency or the European Commission through the IRSI. Contact person: Pierre Baret, baretp@excelia-group.com
C. PARADIGM FOR BUSINESS EDUCATION: On-going development of a new strategy plan (vision, mission and strategic axis) to position the school as a model in terms of teaching integrating CSR/SD. This paradigm is illustrated, among other things, by our unique programmes “Humacité” and “Climacité”, where student volunteer on a mission favoring people and the environment. The staff can also participate. Contact person: Valérie Fernandes, fernandesv@excelia-group.com and Sophie Pauget, paugetso@excelia-group.com. A full Master of Sciences has been developed in SD and CSR in 2000 (first business school in France to do that). This has extended to the Bachelor level in 2020. CSR/SD is one of LRBS – Excelia Group learning goal. The Sulitest is being used when students enter the school and when they graduate. We developed also an e-learning course on CSR and ethics.
D. PUBLICATIONS: Regular publications on sustainability. Contact person: Jean-Pierre Helfer, helferjp@excelia-group.com (CSR/SD research axis from the CERIIM, Excelia Group) and Pierre Baret, baretp@excelia-group.com (IRSI Director, Excelia Group).
E. CASES/EXERCISES: Regular publications of teaching case-studies on CSR/SD through the INNOV Case Lab. Contact persons: Marie-Noelle Rimaud, rimaudmn@exceliagroup.com.
Regular pedagogical meetings and seminars, some of them focusing on integrating CSR/sustainability in teaching materials through Excelia Lab. Contact person: Valérie Fernandes, fernandesv@excelia-group.com.
On-going work on book chapter on using the SDGs to transform students into changemakers. Publication planned for Springer editions (to be published approximately in January 2021). Contact person: Morgane Fritz, fritzm@excelia-group.com.
PLANS FOR THE NEXT 3 MONTHS
CULTURE AND CONTEMPORARY ISSUES COURSES: development to be seen next year with new programs and courses (2021).
STRATEGY COURSES: Strategy courses with new sustainability and CSR content scheduled for September term. Contact person: Fanny Romestant - romestantf@exceliagroup.com.
SUPPLY CHAIN COURSES: Supply chain intro course integrating sustainability, CSR, and ethics scheduled for September term. Advanced “Introduction to Logistics” and “Sustainable Purchasing” etc. scheduled for 2020/2021 presentation. Contact person: Jesus Gonzalez Feliu - gonzalezfeliuj@excelia-group.com.
TRAININGS: training on a game called “La fresque du climat” to raise students’ awareness on climate issues offered to the staff from 3rd July until 4th September 2020. Willlingness to use the game in various programmes related to Climacité. Contact person: Lucile Ouvrard – ouvrardl@excelia-group.com.
MOBTS Virtual Conference Session June 28-July 1, 2020: Innovating and Collaborating in Business Education for a Sustainable/Flourishing/ Regenerating World. Session on globalmovement.net initiative. (July 1, 2020, 1 pm to 2 PM). Contact persons: James Weichert – weichert@globalmovement.net and Morgane Fritz – fritz@globalmovment.net.
IAJBS/CJBE annual meeting virtual sessions July 12-15, 2020: Beyond embedding: Aligning all core required business courses with the need for a sustainable world, virtual session in place of session in postponed mid-July combined 26th Annual World Forum of the International Association of Jesuit Business Schools and 23rd Annual Meeting of the Colleagues in Jesuit Business Education, (July date to be determined). Contact persons: James Weichert – Weichert@globalmovement.net and Morgane Fritz – fritz@globalmovement.net .
Academy of Management Virtual Annual Meeting, August 7-11, 2020: Information available on Transforming business education through Sustainable Development Goals and curriculum innovation - PDW session on globalmovement.net initiative and two other sustainability initiatives at AOM Annual Meeting originally planned for Vancouver and being arranged virtually instead. Contact persons: Morgane Fritz – fritz@globalmovement.net and James Weichert - weichert@globalmovement.net.
E5t, October 2020: Organizing and hosting the event gathering companies and researchers on CSR/SD topics. Contact person: Pierre Baret, baretp@excelia-group.com.
EurOMA Forum, March 22-23, 2021: Organizing and hosting the 8th International EurOMA Sustainable Operations and Supply Chain Forum. The focus is on ‘practicing sustainability’ in operations and supply chain management. Sessions will focus on teaching cases and aligning core business courses with the need for a sustainable world. Contact persons: Minelle Silva, silvam@excelia-group.com and Morgane Fritz, fritzm@excelia-group.com.
2nd International Research Meeting on Artificial Intelligence (IRMIA-2020), 14- 15 October 2020: Organizing and hosting the event. One theme focusing on AI and CSR. Contact person: Dominic Drillon, drillond@excelia-group.com.
OPEN ITEMS (topics we would appreciate guidance and help on. We have not yet started on them very much…so far)
Oxygen Association (student association focusing on SD): how to integrate better students in CSR/SD teaching and research?
SD/CSR Governance: how to integrate our stakeholders in our structure and our approaches?
PLEASE NOTE:These every-other-month reports on near-term events will not cover many things the schools have already done in the more distant past. Some of those things will be summarized in a longer, but also concise, document by each school reporting similar info for courses, programs, research, publications, etc. that occurred before February 1, 2020, and providing contact people for each item.