Leading the conversation on business and society, globally

Creating knowledge through research is a crucial part of INSEAD’s mission to develop responsible leaders who transform business and society. As one of the world’s leading business schools, we take seriously our privilege to engage our stakeholders and empower them as agents of change. 

Our 155 faculty members are recognised experts in their fields, and collectively cover nine academic areas representing all aspects of business. Research on cutting-edge topics – such as environmental sustainability, ethics, gender diversity, health, performance and progress, social impact, Tech for Good and wealth inequality – informs and influences how businesses address increasingly complex global challenges. 

INSEAD’s innovative research has been increasingly featured in top publications and at major research gatherings worldwide. In the first quarter of 2020 alone, we have contributed to thought leadership at the top echelons during three major global dialogues – the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 2020, the Choose France 2020 Forum International Business Summit and the ChangeNOW Summit 2020. 

World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 2020

From 22 to 24 January, INSEAD was in Davos alongside the World Economic Forum as a sponsor of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Tent. 

Hosted by The Hoffmann Global Institute for Business and Society (HGIBS) – which was established in 2018 through a landmark gift from André Hoffmann MBA’90D and his wife Rosalie – our faculty joined world leaders in examining the opportunities presented by the SDGs through three topical sessions.

The first session featured presentations by INSEAD Senior Affiliate Professor of Strategy and Academic Director of the Global Talent Competitiveness Index Felipe Monteiro, INSEAD’s Executive Director of the Global Talent Competitiveness Index and Executive Director for Global Indices Bruno Lanvin, Dean of INSEAD Ilian Mihov, and HGIBS Executive Director Katell Le Goulven, who looked at how to put talent at the service of the SDGs in an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-disrupted work environment. 

In the next session, INSEAD Professor of Decision Sciences and Technology Management Theodoros Evgeniou examined how regulators and businesses should balance the productivity gains and ethical challenges of AI, together with a panel of speakers which included Deputy Dean of INSEAD Peter Zemsky.

In the final session, INSEAD Professor of Economics Mark Stabile – who is also The Stone Chaired Professor in Wealth Inequality, Academic Director of The James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Centre for the Study of Wealth Inequality, and Deputy Academic Director of HGIBS – joined Professor Mihov and a panel of international speakers in a discussion on bridging the gap between business and policymakers in managing inequality.

Choose France 2020 International Business Summit

On 20 January, Professors Mihov, Zemsky, Monteiro and Global Head of Boards and External Relations at INSEAD Christine Hirzel attended the Choose France 2020 International Business Summit in Versailles, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron for over 150 CEOs from around the world. INSEAD was honoured to be the exclusive academic partner of the Summit.

INSEAD presented the findings of a new study by the school which found that France is well-placed to compete in the rapidly digitising global economy due to a powerful base of technical and analytical skills and an increasingly flexible and international workforce. However, companies will need to provide opportunities for learning, social impact and inclusion to tap into its burgeoning talent pool.

Co-authors and INSEAD researchers Professor Zemsky, Professor Monteiro and Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour Jennifer Petriglieri, together with Nicolo' Andreula, Scientific Director of the Master in Digital Entrepreneurship at H-Farm, surveyed nearly 1,888 students and graduates of three French higher-education institutions. They also interviewed 94 managers at 20 companies in France. Using additional data from INSEAD’s annual index of talent competitiveness in 125 countries, they were able to build up a three-dimensional picture of the national talent landscape in terms of established perceptions, current realities and future opportunities. 

ChangeNOW Summit 2020

The ChangeNow Summit in Paris on 31 January presented an opportunity to discuss the impact of innovation and digital technology on healthcare and how INSEAD is collaborating with international organisations and practitioners to tackle global issues in alignment with the SDG goals. 
 

INSEAD Professor of Marketing, The L'Oréal Chaired Professor of Marketing - Innovation and Creativity, and Director of the INSEAD Sorbonne University Behavioural Lab Pierre Chandon interestingly spoke about collaborations with food companies to transform ‘pleasure’ from an enemy of public health into an ally. Professor Chandon was recently awarded a 2019 Honorary Professorship from Universidad del Pacifico in Peru. 

“At INSEAD we are combining research and real life.” 

Pierre Chandon

Professor of Marketing and L'Oréal Chaired Professor of Marketing - Innovation and Creativity, and Director of INSEAD Sorbonne University Behavioural Lab

Luk Van Wassenhove, Emeritus Professor of Technology and Operations Management and The Henry Ford Chaired Professor of Manufacturing, INSEAD, and Prashant Yadav, Affiliate Professor of Technology and Operations Management at INSEAD joined others in a discussion on developing country supply chains and logistics in improving access to medicines. 

Other INSEAD speakers included Assistant Professor of Organisational Behaviour Kaisa Snellman, who shared about increasing class gaps in sports activities; Professor of Technology and Operations Management Stephen Chick, who drove home the point that empathy is a deeply rooted value in medicine; Professor Theodoros who spoke about AI as an enabler; as well as Assistant Professor of Economics Alexandra Roulet and Professor Stabile, who discussed worker wellbeing in the gig economy. 

Charting the future

As a trailblazer in management education, INSEAD harnesses the collective power of our diverse community, bringing together leaders of today and of the future to find creative solutions to the world’s most pressing problems and inspire action to tackle them head-on.