HEC School of Management
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École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Paris
| Established | 1881 |
|---|---|
| English name | HEC School of Management |
| School type | École consulaire of the Paris Chamber of Commerce |
| Dean | Bernard Ramanantsoa |
| Faculty (full-time professors) | ~100 |
| Students | ~3,500 |
| Alumni | ~34,000 |
| Location | Jouy-en-Josas, France |
| Website | www.hec.edu |
- For other schools named Hautes Études Commerciales, see Hautes Études Commerciales.
The HEC Paris School of Management or École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Paris (HEC Paris), is a business school located near Paris, and one of the most prestigious French Grandes Écoles. It was founded in 1881 by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Paris.
The school has many notable alumni in business and politics, including three current french ministers, the director-general of the WTO, the IMF president, and seven CEO of CAC 40 companies.
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[edit] Overview
[edit] History
In 1819, the École supérieure de commerce de Paris became the first business school created in the world. Yet, most of the most prestigious French Grandes Ecoles already existed. For example, the École Polytechnique and the École Normale Supérieure were created during the French Revolution.
Most of business schools were created decades later, at the end of the 19th century, and were less attractive than universities. Established in 1881 by the Paris Chamber of Commerce (CCIP), the École des Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC) wanted to be in the fields of management and trade what the École centrale de Paris was in the field of engineering. In order to gain recognition from the academic world, the school offered lessons similar to what was taught in secondary education and few management teachings.
Despite its ambition and the quality of its teachers (often chosen among prestigious Parisians academics), the school was considered as a second chance for upper-class children who did not want (or could not!) attend university and a way to shorten compulsory military service (one year instead of three). As a result, HEC suffered of a lack of attractiveness at least until the 1930s. Created in 1892, the entrance examination was removed between 1906 and 1913.
In 1921, the school introduced the case-based method of the Harvard Business School, but most of lectures remained theoretical. In 1938, HEC program was lengthened to 3 years.
The problem of attractiveness disappeared after world war two, due to French corporation demand for North American management education. At the end of the 1950s the case-based method is generalized and a one-year classe preparatoire is created to prepare the entrance examination which had become difficult. An evidence of the recognition of the diploma is that only 9% of HEC students also attended university in 1959, whereas 47% had done so in 1929.
In 1964, French President Charles de Gaulle inaugurated a new 250-acre wooded campus in Jouy-en-Josas. In 1967, HEC launched its executive education programs. At that time, the CCIP wanted HEC to become an MBA school like Harvard. Since the alumni opposed this project, the CCIP established a new school in 1969, the Institut Supérieur des Affaires (ISA). Yet HEC and the ISA were gathered in the “Centre d’enseignement supérieur des affaires” the following year. This group changed its named to “Groupe HEC” in 1989.
Women have been accepted at HEC only since 1973. Only 27 girls were accepted that year and “HEC jeunes filles” (HECJF), another school dedicated to women, disappeared. Its alumni are officially considered as graduated from HEC. HECJF alumni include, for example, Édith Cresson, the first and to date the only woman to have held the office of Prime Minister of France.
During the 1970s, HEC began to become global. It signed a partnership with the New York University and the London School of Economics in 1973, and has recruited foreign students since 1975. In 1988, HEC founded the CEMS network with ESADE, the Bocconi University and the Cologne University.
[edit] HEC today
[edit] Rankings
HEC Paris is the most attractive business school, both in France and in Europe. Each year a dozen of admitted students prefer attending ESSEC, while hundreds prefer attending HEC. Few admitted candidates prefer attending Normale Sup'.
HEC has often been ranked first by French magazines for decades, but the school has also gained international recognition. It has been ranked the top Business School in Europe by the Financial Times of London[1] :
In 2007, the École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris published a "Professional Ranking of World Universities". Its main criterion is the number of chief executive officers (or equivalent) among the "500 leading worldwide companies" (Fortune Global 500). Despite its small size, HEC is ranked fifth.
The school does not appear in the Academic ranking of world universities compiled by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, because of its small size and its lack of research.
[edit] Programs
[edit] The Grande Ecole (Msc in management)
The Master of Science in Management (former DEA) is HEC's leading program.
HEC's MSc in Management has been ranked number one in Europe by the Financial Times since 2005.
[edit] Admissions
Most of the Grande Ecole students have attended a classe preparatoire (preparatory classes). 16 000 undergraduate students follow courses dedicated to the preparation of business schools entrance exams, in what is known as prépa HEC.
During at least two years, preparationnaires are required a very high amount of work. According to a survey of the Observatoire National de la Vie Etudiante, they work in average 58 hours per week[2]. They study mathematics, history, economics, philosophy, English and another foreign language.
Among preparationnaires, 380 students are accepted into the Grande Ecole each year after passing a nationwide selective test known as the concours. There are around 3700 candidates for HEC every year and no wait list.
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| Candidates | Number of places offered | Rank of the last admitted students | Selectivity rate | Enrolled | Yield |
| 3693 | 380 | 380 | 10,2% | 362 | 95% |
French students who have a Bachelor degree can also apply for admission to the HEC Master of Science in Management. If they succeed at another dedicated concours, they are admitted directly to second year and follow a separate program for 'direct admits.
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| Candidates | Number of places offered | Rank of the last admitted students | Selectivity rate |
| 1044 | 60 | 60 | 5,7% |
The International Admissions Service manages the student recruitment tests and interviews on behalf of HEC and three other Grandes Écoles in France. HEC, through SAI, selects only those candidates with a degree gained upon successful completion of at least three years of university education outside France (equivalent to the French licence or Bachelor’s degree). The selected students enroll directly in the second year of the Grande École program with the 'direct admits' and, after two years, get HEC's degree of Master of Science in Management.
[edit] Course Program
French students who attended a classe préparatoire are taught fundamental managerial sciences during their first year at HEC. Courses include economics, accounting, finance, law, psychology, sociology and mathematics (models, operations research, and statistics). During this first year, students can spend a semester in a foreign university. They can also enroll in a specific one-year program to get the diploma of a French university. Currently, they can get a Bachelor's degree from the Sorbonne in mathematics or humanities, from Dauphine in economics, and from UVSQ in law.
Direct admits, including international students, enter directly into the second year where they begin a business intensive program. Courses include finance (taught only in English), accounting, marketing, management, human resources, and supply chain. Second year students are also given the opportunity to spend one semester in a foreign university. At the end of their second year, students choose specific majors, and must again pass through a competitive application process.
In order to graduate, students are required to have 8 months of job experience. Since this is usually difficult to fulfill during the summer, many students take a semester or year off to complete their internship. This usually occurs between the second and third year.
The final year of study covers intensive courses in the chosen major.
[edit] Dual Master's degrees
[edit] Placement
[edit] Master in International Business
[edit] Specialized Masters
[edit] Masters in business administration
In 1969, HEC Paris launched the HEC MBA Program, becoming one of Europe's first MBA Schools. It aims to differentiate from other MBAs by its diversity, its bilingual option, its 16-month curriculum structure, and the MBA Tournament organized by its students.
The Institut supérieur des affaires is the department of the École des Hautes Études Commerciales that manages its MBA program. The HEC MBA Program attracts exceptional students from around the world with more than 55 nationalities represented in the 2005 graduating class. The rigorous selection process seeks an overall balance between academic achievement, professional experience, international exposure, and personal motivation. Knowledge of French is not an entry requirement, but participants are highly encouraged to have a basic knowledge of French at the start of the MBA Program.
In addition to completing the online application form, candidates must present an official university transcript; official GMAT test scores; TOEFL, IELTS, or TOEIC results if applicable; two letters of recommendation; and essay responses. Pre-selected candidates are invited to attend evaluation interviews conducted on campus or in designated cities around the world. The HEC MBA Program has exchange and double degree partnerships with numerous universities and business schools around the world.
HEC also offers a Part-Time MBA program made for young manager who want to maintain a professional activity.
[edit] Executive Education
HEC offers a number of Executive MBAs.
[edit] HEC Executive MBA
The HEC Executive MBA is a program for top executives with a minimum of 8 years' corporate experience which prepares for general management positions.
It is offered in Paris, Nice, Beijing and Saint Petersburg.
[edit] Global Executive MBA (Trium)
HEC also offers the TRIUM Global Executive MBA programme jointly with Stern School of Business of NYU and the London School of Economics. It is divided into six modules held in five international business locations over a 16-month period. Whitefield Consulting Worldwide, a global MBA consultancy, has ranked the TRIUM Executive MBA programme as second worldwide. The Financial Times' most recent rankings (2007) of executive MBA programmes also placed TRIUM as second worldwide[3]
[edit] Alumni include
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| Name | Company |
| Henri de Castries | Axa |
| Baudouin Prot | BNP Paribas |
| Louis Gallois | EADS |
| Henri Proglio | Veolia Environnement |
| Pierre Feraud | Foncière Euris |
| François-Henri Pinault | PPR |
| Bruno Lafont | Lafarge |
| Jean-Paul Agon | L'Oréal |
| Sidney Taurel | Eli Lilly |
| Henri Lachmann | Schneider Electric |
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| Name | Minister |
| Valérie Pecresse | Higher education and research |
| Eric Woerth | Budget and civil service |
| Jean-Louis Borloo | Ecology |
| Rachida Dati (not graduated) | Justice |
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| Name | Function |
| Dominique Strauss-Kahn | Director-General of the International Monetary Fund |
| Pascal Lamy | Director-General of the World Trade Organization |
| Paul Reynaud | Président du Conseil (head of government) (1940) |
| François Hollande | First secretary of the French Socialist party |
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| Pierre Rosanvallon | Historian and political scientist Professor at the Collége de France |
| Michel Crozier | Sociologist |
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| Roland Garros | aviator |
| Maurice Herzog | mountaineer first person to climb a peak over 8000m |
| Claire Chazal | journalist |
| Philippe Kieffer | officer |
| Pierre Brochand | Director of the DGSE (France's foreign intelligence agency) |
| Jacques Rouxel | Animator |
[edit] Student Life
[edit] Campus
HEC is located on a 110-hectare woodland campus in Jouy-en-Josas, 16 km. (10 miles) southwest of central Paris (as the crow flies), next to Versailles. Access to the campus is by car or the RER Parisian suburban train, which has a stop on the C line at Jouy-en-Josas.
Lodging is provided in one of ten dormitories, with 'Direct Admit' students and internationals housed separately from the other French students. Everyone eats together at the University Restaurant, which serves three meals a day in a cafeteria setting. Undergraduates, or those in the Grande Ecole, have classes in the Batiment des Etudes (Batzet), while graduates study in the MBA building. There are two on-campus bars: Zinc, which is located on the second floor of the Cafeteria (or Kfet), and the Piano Bar, which is adjacent to the MBA residence hall. The campus also bosts several sports fields and two lakes.
A map of the campus can be found at: http://www.hec.fr/hec/fr/groupe/campus/index.html.
[edit] Clubs
There are around 130 clubs or "associations" on campus. The site [www.campushec.com] - in french-gives a presentation of each one of these, as well as acting as a social networking site for undergraduates.
Among the most recognized clubs are:
- Sports clubs such as Rugby Club HEC, Filles HEC Rubgy (Girls Rugby), Ski Club HEC (external site [2]), and Club Football
- HEC débats, which organizes debates and conferences on campus
- Grand Cru, one of the most famous wine organisations amongst Grandes Ecoles' (external site [3])
- HEC International Students, which with one-fifth of all undergraduates coming from international backgrounds, is one of the largest groups on campus
- Jouy Entreprise (JE) acts as a junior consulting firm for local businesses. Competition for acceptance in the JE is intense, with campus-wide elections in March.
Above all, The HEC Student Council (Bureau des Eleves in French or BDE) is in charge of the social entertainment on campus. It is also in charge of coordinating all club activities and representating the students in front of the campus administration. The BDE organizes weekly events such as POWs (Parties Of the Week), lunchs and dinners, speakers, and sport events. HEC parties are some of the most recognized ones among all French schools and universities. The BDE is composed of a 40-student team that is elected each year in April and for which the competition among students creates the well-known Student Office Campaign.
[edit] Notes & references
- ^ see the ranking
- ^ Observatoire National de la Vie Etudiante, Enquête "Conditions de vie" 2006 [1]
- ^ see the ranking
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
