Master of Science Business Transformation for Sustainability
Building upon KEDGE’s academic excellence and commitment to Corporate Societal Responsibility (CSR) related issues, this programme breaks the boundaries between disciplines to reinvent tomorrow’s organisations. Employing an innovative, learning-by-doing experiential approach, it empowers students to advocate for sustainability in business, develop comprehensive sustainability strategies relevant to today's challenges, and implement them across diverse spheres of influence. Located in Paris, a city renowned for its academic excellence and rich cultural heritage, this programme offers students unparalleled access to top experts in the field. Through internships, job opportunities, and networking events, students can expand their professional networks and foster career growth. To join this programme, applicants must meet the requirements, including a strong command of the English language. Upon programme completion, students will receive an MSc degree in Business Transformation for Sustainability. Armed with the requisite skills and knowledge, they will be poised to pursue rewarding careers across a spectrum of industries, spanning environmental management, international business, and sustainable development.
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KEDGE Business School’s Master of Science Business Transformation for Sustainability is a double degree programme. It delivers a Master of Science accredited by the conférence des grandes écoles (CGE) and a diploma recognised by the French Ministry of Higher Education.
MSc Sustainability programme highlights
ALL MODULES FOCUSED ON SUSTAINABILITY
> Every one of the 5 modules within the course is tailored to centre around sustainabilities' principles. By immersing themselves in this focused educational environment, students gain the knowledge and skills necessary to become adept stewards of our planet's future.
- Sustainability Factories
- Fundamentals of Sustainability Transformation
- Collaboration for Transformation
- Change Management for Sustainability
- Sustainability Management & Tools
This highly comprehensive learning empowers graduates to orchestrate resources across corporate boundaries, and to successfully manage organisations in dynamic and changing social and environmental contexts. The programme also provides them with the mindset that makes the difference between the past and the future: a mindset of sustainable collaboration.
ANCHOR IN THE SUSTAINABILITY RESEARCH CENTRE
KEDGE's Research Centre for Sustainability focuses on interdisciplinary research on organisational impacts. With 24 academics and 6 PhD students, it is among Europe's largest hubs for corporate sustainability research and education. The Centre promotes sustainable business practices, striving for a better world. The MSc programme leverages this expertise, exposing students to seminars and workshops on sustainability challenges on an international level.
EXPERIENTIAL APPROACH
As part of the MSc programme, students are immersed in an ecosystem and exposed to invaluable practical experiences and research opportunities. These include internships and industry placements in France or abroad, collaborative projects with corporate partners, research methodologies within the field, a two-month NGO-mission and engaging company challenges which create the opportunity for students to apply sustainability notions and go through a first-hand sustainability transformation experience. This experience enhances their career prsopects and prepares them for leadership roles in the international sustainability sector.
Transformation is also encountered during the sustainability factories, in which students engage in a personal and organisational journey. By enhancing complex thinking capabilities for problem solving, sustainability factories allow for better problem framing, application of knowledge, acceleration of ideas, co-construction of solutions and presentation of sustainable value propositions for a better world.
A 2-MONTH NGO MISSION
Collaboration with key players from the civil world such as NGOs and regulators is key to successful business transformation. To ensure a thorough understanding of the potential of such cross-sector collaboration, students engage in a 2-month NGO mission with a specific assignment. The real-life experience in non-business sector organisations activates students' understanding of the contributions that such players can make towards sustainability transformation. Skills acquired during the NGO project are a differentiating element for employability. During the programme, students are supported in the transferability process of such skills in their career-building process.
COMPLEX THINKING FOR PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION
Personal transformation for sustainability involves an individual's conscious effort to change their attitudes, beliefs, behaviours, lifestyle choices in ways that promote environmental, social, and economic sustainability. This transformation is deeply rooted in the recognition of the interconnectedness between personal actions and their impacts on the planet and society.
Students are immersed in an ongoing process that requires research, continuous learning, self-reflection, and adaptation. It involves staying informed about emerging sustainability trends and solutions, reflecting on one's progress and challenges, and being open to evolving perspectives and practices.
Complex thinking for sustainability, anchored in Edgar Morin's approach, emphasises a holistic understanding of the interconnected and interdependent nature of sustainability challenges. Incorporating Morin's principles into our curriculum empowers students to navigate the complexities of real-worl sustainability problems with agility and creativity.
INTERNATIONAL AND MULTICULTURAL PROGRAMME
This international Master of Science (MSc) offers thorough preparation for upcoming graduates, comprising:
- Courses taught in English, facilitating mastery of the universal language of business and equipping students to navigate effortlessly in international professional settings.
- Educational resources , such as business simulations and case studies, delve into global issues, offering a comprehensive view of sustainability challenges worldwide. This -- -curriculum is pivotal in equipping aspiring leaders and professionals to confront urgent international issues.
- International speakers and professors, fostering a dynamic multicultural environment both on campus and during internships bring diverse experiences and perspectives, reflecting the industry's global richness and nurturing adaptable professionals ready to excel internationally. This exposure not only enhances their academic experience but also fosters a profound comprehension of global sustainability challenges and the collaborative approaches essential for their resolution.
INCLUSIVITY AS A SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL
The curriculum and the vision of the school place significant emphasis on core values like inclusiveness. Within the framework of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, several goals specifically address the principle of inclusivity. At KEDGE, embracing inclusivity entails actively combating various forms of discrimination, including: gender, sexual orientation, religion, geographical and social origin, disability, territory (rural versus urban for example).
This commitment to inclusivity is integrated into various aspects of the academic programme, ensuring that students from diverse backgrounds feel welcomed and supported throughout their master's degree.
GREEN PLAN: SUSTAINABILITY IN FRENCH HIGHER EDUCATION
The programme approach perfectly captures the school's culture of sustainable development through several initiatives. The Green Plan is the reference of "Sustainability Development" in French superior education. It is both a self-diagnosis guide and a dashboard, as well as a strategic guide for the initiatives aimed at promoting sustainability and environmental responsibility within universities and other institutions of higher learning. Key components of the Green plan may include: environmental management, social responsibility, sustainable curriculum, campus sustainability, stakeholder engagement, waste management, sustainable transportation, carbon neutrality as well as climate action.
For over a decade, the school has diligently pursued the advancement of its sustainable development strategy, in line with the six principles (purpose, values, method, research, partnership, dialogue) for managing responsible education supported by the United Nations (UN PRME).
Key skills developed in the Sustainability Management programme
UNDERSTANDING NEW SPECIFIC TOOLS AND METHOD FOR BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION
Students are exposed to a variety of stakeholders and gain a comprehensive understanding of specific new tools for leading business transformation in a dedicated module:
- Circular economy
- Sustainability research methods
- Responding to climate change
- Sustainable finance
- Reporting for sustainability
DEVELOPING REFLECTION AND DECISION-MAKING
- Circular Economy Collage
- This 3-hour collaborative workshop examines our current economic model, highlights its impacts and explores a different model using fewer resources, designs out waste and respects the planet's limits. Participants are working in small groups with the help of a set of cards and brainstorm ideas to shift away from our economy towards a more sustainable and circular model.
- The workshop provides a structured and collaborative environment for exploring the transition to a more sustainable and circular economic model, empowering participants to envision, apply and contribute to positive change.
WORK EXPERIENCE IN SUSTAINABILITY
Our sustainable studies module provides students with hands-on experience and real-world projects that address global environmental and social challenges. Throughout the course, students work on collaborative projects with industry partners including an in-company internship as well as an NGO mission to make a tangible impact on sustainable development.
> Company: Throughout the internship, students actively participate in projects and initiatives aimed at advancing sustainability goals within the company. They apply theoretical knowledge gained from their academic studies to real-world scenarios, gaining practical skills and insights into sustainable business practices. During the company internship, students undergo a comprehensive 4-month training programme aimed at practicing value creation across four dimensions: value creation, stakeholder relations, steering, operational management and the transformation process.
> NGO: During the NGO mission, students collaborate with an NGO working on sustainability-related initiatives, such as environmental conservation, social justice, or community development. They contribute their skills and knowledge to support the organisation's mission, gaining hands-on experience in addressing real-world sustainability challenges.
CURRICULUM
The course includes 5 different modules, starting with SUSTAINABILITY FACTORIES, followed by FUNDAMENTALS OF SUSTAINABILITY TRANSFORMATION, COLLABORATION FOR TRANSFORMATION, CHANGE MANAGEMENT FOR SUSTAINABILITY and SUSTAINABILITY MANAGEMENT & TOOLS. This highly comprehensive learning empowers graduates to orchestrate resources across corporate boundaries, and to successfully manage organisations in dynamic and changing social environments. The programme also provides them with the mindset that makes the difference between the past and the future : a mindset of sustainable collaboration for sustainable business transformation.
Semester 1
→ September-December
MODULE 1
SUSTAINABILITY FACTORIES
The sustainability factories run along the whole programme, from the beginning to the end of the academic year.
The aim of the course is triple:
- Reinforcing the alignment between individual and organisational transformation;
- Developing capabilities for complex thinking;
- Launching and accelerating real case company challenges for sustainable business. transformation
MODULE 2
FUNDAMENTALS OF SUSTAINABILITY TRANSFORMATION
This module is designed to build the fundamentals for a sustainable business transformation. It is composed of four courses:
- Sustainable value creation : sustainability, CSR and ethics – impact on business creation processes within companies
- Business transformation consulting: knowledge, posture and approaches for business diagnostics and transformation for sustainability
- Environmental sustainability : understanding the meaning of nature and the environment for businesses, deciphering threats, challenges and opportunities;
- Social sustainability: relates to conditions for fairness, in terms of welfare, wellbeing and vision for a better future
MODULE 3
COLLABORATION FOR TRANSFORMATION
This module highlights the key points for effective cross-sectoral collaboration for sustainability. It is composed of three courses:
- Collaboration for sustainability: develop knowledge and skills related to cross-sector partnerships and inter-firm strategic alliances in the context of environmental and social sustainability
- Business modeling for sustainability: develop a business model which challenges the traditional economic logic and puts forward a new organisational system by considering social, environmental, and economic requirements simultaneously
- Communication for sustainability: understanding sustainability communication challenges and incorporating sustainability in corporate communication
Semester 2
→ March-June
MODULE 4
CHANGE MANAGEMENT FOR SUSTAINABILITY
This module prepares students to handle change in transforming business models for sustainability on a societal, organisational and individual level. It includes topics such as:
- Sustainable leadership: develop both knowledge and awareness in terms of individual sustainable leadership and organisational leadership for sustainability
- Sustainable change in organisations: issues and challenges inherent to organisational change, in general, and sustainable organisational change in particular
- Social change : explore changes in society through technology, social movement, pandemic, and informal economy and examine whether businesses can contribute to positive social change and sustainable development during these changes
MODULE 5
SUSTAINABILITY MANAGEMENT & TOOLS
The Dos and Don’ts of a sustainable business transformation, fundamental knowledge and techniques related to sustainability:
- Sustainable finance: understanding the role of finance in anthropocene issues and the emergency for sustainable investment needs, defining the sustainable finance ecosystem and managing the sustainable investing methodologies
- Tools and techniques for sustainable management: take a bird’s-eye-view on corporate social responsibility and corporate sustainability practices and critically reflect on the effectiveness of contemporary tools and techniques in the transition to sustainable development
ADDITIONAL CONTENT
- Transformation for sustainability dissertation
- 4- to 6-month sustainability internship in France or abroad
- 2-month NGO mission
- Managing biodiversity
- United nations simulation
- Science fiction journey
- Pro-bono sustainability skills lab
- Company challenges pitches
- Climate change impact on logistics roundtable
- Circular economy mural
- Cross sector business modelling workshop
- Sustainable cities workshop
- Permaentreprise project
- Engagement in the "Fondation Edgar Morin"
PG
12 Months / 24 Months
