'The entrepreneurial spirit is critical to positively transforming the world'

Interview with Emmanuel Métais, dean of EDHEC Business School

This month’s interview is a bit peculiar. Indeed, we wanted to interview one of our new partners, Emmanuel Métais, dean of EDHEC. Ring has been partnering with EDHEC to launch “Generations, powered by EDHEC” an impact seed fund which mission is to reveal the potential of entrepreneurs building a better future. But one can genuinely wander: what can a business school do with a seed impact fund? is it just a trendy thing to do or is it part of a more sincere mission? Let’s hear Emmanuel Métais explain it to us.

Can you pitch EDHEC and explain to what extent it is different from other business schools?

At EDHEC, our tagline is “Make an impact” – in academia, in business, and in the world. The school’s mission statement is rooted in entrepreneurship and humanism, values that the founders of the school, many of whom were industrialists from the North of France, held in esteem. Their goal was to create a not-for-profit school that would educate leaders and frontline decision-makers who would consider the consequences of their decisions on the economy as well as society at large. They dared to create a school that today wishes to break the classic mold and take an innovative approach to research, business education, and internationalization. The EDHEC of today is the result of this bold experiment: It is a business school with five campuses and multiple research centres, including the EDHEC-Risk Climate Impact Institute and the EDHEC Infrastructure & Private Assets Research Institute. It offers unique learning opportunities such as EDHEC Online, a 100% digital education platform, and the Global Economic Transformation and Technology master’s degree for students who want to learn in Berkeley, Seoul, and Paris and combine technology and management studies. EDHEC is dedicated to serving future generations.

Are there radical changes in the expectations of the students and alumni towards EDHEC?

Yes, students and alumni expect EDHEC to address the challenges that the world is facing at this moment in time. Students want degree programmes that focus on solving problems such as climate change and social justice. They are determined to use their positions in business, finance, and law to promote biodiversity and inclusion, and they want to use technology and data analysis to propel society and the economy forward ethically. EDHEC's mission is to provide the education necessary to help this generation reach their goals. This means giving them hybrid degrees that combine engineering and finance, or law and health management, for example, as well as global learning opportunities that allow them to volunteer with NGOs on the frontline of humanitarian and social initiatives. Our alumni expect EDHEC to keep pace with the needs of business and the economy, and so they count on the school to adapt its degree programmes. EDHEC students and alumni set the bar high, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.

How can a school like EDHEC really impact society and business to solve the great environmental and social challenges?

Higher education must provide learning that enlightens and emboldens students to take on challenges that will move our society forward. At EDHEC, we are constantly looking for new degree options for students who want to have an impact, and we are more focused than ever on supporting students who want to tackle climate change and social justice. EDHEC teaches CSR and sustainability in all degree tracks and offers in-depth courses in data analytics, climate science, green finance, environmental transformation, corporate ethics, and public policy and law. In recent years, we have entered partnerships with Sciences Po Lille, Mines Paris Tech, and the Ecole Supérieure de Journalisme to provide students with the courses they need to construct lives of purpose and impact. EDHEC Entrepreneurs, which manages our three startup incubators, created a sustainability guide called Responsible by Design that provides startups with a pathway to address a societal challenge from Day 1. As a school, I believe we are doing a lot to tackle these challenges, and I can say, without a doubt, that our students are dedicated to tackling them, too.

Does it imply to change radically the classic model of business schools? To what extent?

EDHEC’s founders set out to break the mold, and that’s what the school continues to do more than a century later. At EDHEC, academic research serves not only to nourish the classroom but also business and society at large. By employing this innovative approach to academic research, EDHEC is able to have a direct impact on the world of business and finance, as well as fund new research and scholarship initiatives. In 2020, for example, the EDHEC Foundation sold Scientific Beta, one of the school’s academic research spin-offs, to the Singapore Stock Exchange. Today, money from this sale is used to invest in the EDHEC-Risk Climate Research Center and fund scholarships for first-generation students. I believe EDHEC is building something different, something distinct and radical. We focus our intellectual and financial resources on positively transforming society and creating a brighter world for future generations.

We have seen many schools launching their investment funds. Is it just the flavor of the month, or do you think it is part of what we expect from a school?

In my opinion, it’s more than a fad. The entrepreneurial spirit is critical to positively transforming the world, so I believe there is a need for this type of support for entrepreneurs and innovative thinking in general. At EDHEC, we wanted to create a fund for entrepreneurs, but we wanted it to serve future generations. Therefore, we decided to focus exclusively on startup projects that are “responsible by design” and with the most potential for impact in health, biodiversity, environmental transformation, and equity and inclusion. The GENERATIONS Powered by EDHEC fund is also different in that it offers pre-seed and seed funding. It exposes entrepreneurs to an entire ecosystem of entrepreneurial expertise and know-how provided by EDHEC incubators, professors, academic partners, and alumni. A significant portion of the fund's profits will return to EDHEC to be used by the Foundation to accelerate the school’s ambitious scholarship programmes. The goal is to create a regenerative business model that, thanks to education, will impact society and the environment for many years.