Campus life

Moving towards a long-term, joined-up vision

Delphine Gibassier, associate professor at Audencia and a researcher in accounting for sustainable development, views the ongoing health crisis as a chance for us to bring short-sighted approaches and the “silo” mentality to an end.

 

There has been growing debate among those advocating a slowdown on environmental and social measures and those in favour of a thorough review of the system. What are your thoughts on this?  

Delphine Gibassier: In the aftermath of this crisis, there’ll be a choice to make. Either we do nothing, at the risk of facing a fresh crisis in the coming year, or else we can choose to adopt a long-term vision. As we look ahead to the future, accounting can help us with this. Currently, accounting is seen as a way of helping us observe what has previously happened, rather a way of looking to predict what is going to happen. New accounting models put the onus on the accountants themselves to reflect the future using uncertain figures, as opposed to describing past figures with accuracy.

 

Nevertheless, is a long-term approach enough to see us successfully through this health crisis?

Delphine Gibassier: It will only prove effective if we combine it with a systemic vision, at the expense of a silo vision. In the wake of this crisis, establishing a link between an endangered species and the health of a firm on the other side of the world may appear somewhat incongruous. Yet, taking this link into consideration whilst reflecting on the firm’s business model is no longer unthinkable. It’s an opportunity that must be grasped with both hands if we are to move multi-capital accounting forward. The current crisis highlights the importance of biodiversity and social and human capital. The businesses best able to bounce back are those that have taken care of protecting their social fabric, that is to say their employees, their suppliers and their networks.

 

In this respect, how is Audencia preparing for the future?

Delphine Gibassier: The School is continuing to position itself by setting up of a worldwide centre of expertise, bringing together a Chair and an MBA entitled “Chief Value Officer”, which addresses a key issue: the world after. The Chair will focus on the measuring, monitoring and auditing of multi-capital global performance and will promote the idea that financial and non-financial centres must no longer remain separate. The MBA will enable managers to gain expertise in the creation of multi-capital value and its strategic application. The current crisis provides clear validation of our work and stands to accelerate our approach. We are also supported by a host of businesses, even during this period of lockdown!

 

Guy-Pierre Chomette, Editor

 

Campus life

A support network for businesses

Whether it’s lending their expertise, facilitating networking, or providing traders with much-needed support, our alumni, students and faculty are all rallying alongside businesses who find themselves struggling to cope during the current health crisis.

Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have been witnessing many actions of solidarity. Among them is an initiative that goes by the hashtag #SauvonsUneBoite (SaveAFirm) which has been spearheaded by Jean-Michel Moutot, a management lecturer at Audencia. On 23 March, via his LinkedIn account, he called out to businesses experiencing economic hardship.  This appeal was a no-brainer for this former SME entrepreneur.

“I wanted to take action but equally I wanted to get my students on board too, to gain a realistic insight into the situation at hand.” Thus, 37 masters’ students came to be associated with the project. “Their reaction has been very positive,” he explains.

And it’s working: the post has registered 75,000 views! So far, they have received around fifty requests for support. They eventually selected seven businesses, predominantly located in and around Nantes, instead of the three or four they had originally planned on helping. They’ll be assisting them with their sales and marketing up until 13 May. The list of companies features a magazine paper for the general public, a cleaning firm, a shoe manufacturer, and a cobotics company. The profiles are wide-ranging as are their desired goals: to identify new customers, increase direct sales, seek out new prospects and to strengthen business communication, etc.

 

A strong helping hand

Julien Tourme (Bachelor 08 and SCOM 10) also wanted to make himself useful and do his bit to help. At the head of the digital agency Monsieur Lucien, in partnership with La Boite à Donuts (The Box of Donuts), he has voluntarily developed the free platform www.onsevoitdemain.org. Retailers and restaurants, forced to suspend trading due to Covid-19, can set up an account free of charge and sell vouchers of their choosing. Consumers can then purchase them, with a view to using them after lockdown. Launched on 11 April, the website has already managed to bring together around 130 vendors and 600 'buyers'/'customers' in one month, generating nearly 30,000 euros in vouchers. It is worth noting that some new options (take-away offers, etc...) may also be made available.

 

 

A human approach

In his own way, Vincent Roux (GE 04) is also lending a strong hand to businesses who find themselves struggling during this time of lockdown. He is the President of Réseau Entreprendre Atlantique (a group of business leaders providing support for promising entrepreneurs in the Loire-Atlantique department of France) and is intent on staying connected to the other 320 entrepreneurs, members of the association, as well as the award winners (around 40 per year).

“Right from the start, we called them up to make sure they were receiving the right support, to assess the state of play, and to assist them in setting up the various levers at their disposal. Thanks to the network’s privileged relationship with the banks, we also make good use of our influence to fast-track their files,” he explains. He goes on to say: “We are intent on providing a case-by-case, customised response.”

After publishing a list of support tools, measures, and contacts available to business leaders, REA finds it particularly important to facilitate networking and was recently preparing for the launch of webinars from the end of April. Featuring on the list of subjects: how to manage the return of staff to the workplace whilst protecting their physical safety and mental wellbeing. This is an area for which the network remains extremely vigilant.

 

Florence Falvy, Editor

 

Campus life

A mobilisation call to spread the word on positive initiatives

With the Covid-19 outbreak, people everywhere are rallying together to play an active role in providing the population with much-needed support and solutions. It’s important that the general public get to hear of these initiatives. This is precisely where Gilles Vanderpooten (GE 09) comes in, with Reporters d’Espoirs (Reporters of Hope) and their appeal to broadcasters: “Media, give more of a voice to solutions-based France!”

Against the backdrop of the ongoing coronavirus health crisis, “the need for us all to join together in national mobilisation has never been greater”, explains Gilles Vanderpooten, who heads up Reporters d'Espoirs.

This organisation spearheaded solutions journalism and, for the past 16 years, has been striving to broadcast “news items which inspire people into taking action”. Within the framework of their mobilisation initiative, named “La France des Solutions”, amid the ongoing pandemic it has decided to launch a special operation with the French media, aimed at mobilising them into taking action “right now”. What is their goal? To pass on the message of positive initiatives in the face of this crisis. This will equally involve the use of “more constructive content”. Initially, the Sunday newspapers and the Radio France group got behind the campaign, followed by small-scale media, such as Beur FM.

“It takes a little time. As yet, we haven’t received a huge response to our appeal,” acknowledges Gilles Vanderpooten, who was hoping to involve around ten media outlets by the end of April, after a second call out to a group of 20 celebrities, made up of media commentators and analysts, doctors, and psychologists etc. The drive will continue to run till 27 June.   

Stop the anxiety spiral

Of late, the news has been rather grim, with the daily death tolls, the tragic situations within our hospitals and care homes, struggling businesses, and the like.

In light of this, Gilles Vanderpooten is also drawing mainstream media attention to the fact that “this overly stressful climate is adding to people’s loss of interest in them.” Whilst fake news continues to gravitate around coronavirus, a phenomenon rife on social media, this goes to highlight the importance of sourcing reliable information as well as “promoting good news”.

It is also worth noting that the Reporters d’Espoirs NGO is now linked to Google Assistant.  Simply try saying, “Okay Google, tell me some good news” and hey presto, you’ll access a of heap of positive and inspiring stories.

“Our initial goal was to reach between 5,000 to 10,000 unique users per month. We’ve ended up with 60,000 people using this app,” says a delighted Gilles Vanderpooten.

 

Florence Falvy, Editor

 

Campus life

Immersion into Audencia’s new educational organisation

Lockdown involves an extensive reorganisation of our educational activities. André Sobczak, Academic and Research Director, looks back over this feat of achievement that took just a few days for Audencia to pull off.

 

In terms of teaching, what is the current situation?

André Sobczak: Today, 100% of students can follow their courses online, with around 300 classes conducted per week across all programmes, from Bachelor to DBA. The majority of permanent faculty, as well as a great many part-time lecturers, have joined the mobilisation effort, whereas only a minority of them had any previous experience of online teaching.

 

How did this changeover come about?

André Sobczak: It took us only a week to switch over to online courses, notably thanks to good foresight. Our partner schools in China and a few close companies gave us the heads up so, a fortnight before the start of lockdown, we were able to set up a contingency plan for our activities.

We pinpointed the core courses and fundamental knowledge that needed to be maintained and came up with a new way of delivering classes. Next, we acquired a complementary Blackboard module, a training tool already used here at Audencia, to set up a considerable number of virtual classrooms.

For our faculty and students, the week of the changeover served as a useful training ground in how to use this new tool, thanks to an outstanding mobilisation of all of the School’s stakeholders (IT, innovation, knowledge hub, and programmes, etc.). In order to provide support for all teaching activities, a teaching support member is present in each of the classrooms, on hand to deal with any additional issues that might crop up during the class. This enabled us to switch over quite smoothly.

 

How are the lessons shaping up?

André Sobczak: Very well indeed! This is largely down to mutual goodwill and a great many discussions on teaching methods. Our lecturers have managed to adapt: it isn’t wise to have online lectures going on for three hours. It proved necessary to focus on the essentials, rejig our course schedules, and rechannel part of student training more towards individual work. 

The initial feedback remains positive. The participation rate is good and the students are happy to benefit from interactive teaching which empowers them.

 

What is happening to exams and assessments?

André Sobczak: Academic work will continue to be assessed as normal, whether individual or group projects. On the other hand, it has proven necessary to come up with alternative solutions for invigilated examinations previously held in the classroom, while avoiding the excessive use of MCQ exams, which would have proved the easy way out. The lecturers must allow for the fact that students have access to documents during the examination. This serves as a reminder that the aim of the assessments is not simply to check if our students have learned course content by heart, but that they have understood and know how to apply it to concrete cases.

 

What will we take forward from this?

André Sobczak: I am convinced that there’ll be no going back to the world we knew before. Some teachers have overcome their apprehensions about online teaching and have uncovered new opportunities. While we are looking forward to meeting up with our students back in the classroom for more face-to-face interaction, we have also realised that some course content could be delivered under a different format, and that the students could play a greater role in their own learning experience. When things settle down, we will once again raise the question on how best to deliver training for each segment of course content dealt with inside the classroom. The success of online courses also opens up new opportunities for alumni of the School to get involved more easily with short testimonials during lessons, as well as for us to invite them to take part in seminars or consultancies remotely.

 

Florence Alix-Gravellier, Editor

 

Campus life

Jumpstart your interviews with Audencia Career Center online

The digitalisation of career coaching services is paramount for all higher education institutions seeking to make their resources more widely available to students and alumni operating far from campus. The needs are substantial, given the increasingly high rate of global mobility experienced both during academic courses and throughout one’s professional career. In this period of lockdown, remote support proves even more crucial. That’s why the consultants and coaches here at Audencia Career Center, run by Agnès Marchand-Boissière, have been making concerted efforts to increase opportunities and they have made constructive use of this strange interlude, by channelling their time and effort into your career development.

The team now provides five types of services which are available to both students and alumni:

  • Online one-on-one interviews with a Career Center consultant. Simply schedule an appointment on Together
  • Inspiring & targeted webinars. On 28 April, "Landing a job in times of crisis", hosted by Daniel Porot, played to a full house. Forthcoming sessions on optimising your job application, developing a network, and a host of other recruitment-related issues will soon be available via Tomorrow (for students) and Together (for alumni)
  • Virtual career fairs co-hosted alongside HigherEd - EFMD with highly prestigious companies in attendance. Find out about the full programme by heading to Virtual Career Fair
  • A student-alumni mentoring programme. What could be better than getting hands-on advice from one of your seasoned peers? Access the programme to become either a mentor or mentee on Together
  • Online resources and tools: Graduates First to get lots of practice for remote tests - GoinGlobal to work internationally - AssessFirst to uncover your potential.

 

Don’t miss out on the chance to interact with our dedicated team who, as ever and all the more so during these demanding times of uncertainty, are paying special attention to the individual needs of our Audencia students and alumni.

Initial feedback is tremendously positive and highlights that, even at a distance, the advice issued by our career service consultants here at Audencia remains both well-targeted and relevant.

“An hour was all it took for me to get some great coaching from Julien, who made some recommendations on my posture and how to structure my ideas. Thanks to his valuable advice, all three of my interviews went really well,” explains one of our students, who says it gave him a reassuring ‘confidence boost’, putting him back on track in the recruitment process, of which the goalposts have moved dramatically given the current context.

 

Florence Alix-Gravellier, Editor

 

Around the globe

Audencia Around The World is all set to become a year-long event

On 11 March, Audencia Around the World began its 8-day alumni journey in London. What began as a global initiative bringing alumni together on all 5 continents, was rapidly overtaken by the global health situation. Many, if not most of the gatherings were postponed but will be rescheduled. A huge high-five to London, Brussels, Algiers, Toronto and Vancouver who got together while it was still reasonable to do so. We look forward to seeing what the other communities around the world will do later on!

 

London

Audencia Around the World held its inaugural event in London. Fifty Audencians past and present answered the invitation from Tristan Pelloux (GE 15), London ambassador, to celebrate the School's 120th anniversary and enjoyed an evening of networking and refreshments in fine company, including staff from Audencia: Beatrice du Mesnil, Patricia Munoz-King and Karyn Mikkelsen-Tillet.

 

Algiers

Khalida Anad (Exec MBA 18), Mustapha Khelil (Exec MBA 19) and Christophe Richard (MBA 05 / DBA in progress) were instrumental in organising the gathering in Algiers, to celebrate Audencia's 120th anniversary.

 

Toronto

For its second participation, Torontonians made the cut on 14 March. With the city preparing to stay at home for a while, alumni and friends held a small and friendly gathering which was full of laughter.

 

Vancouver

Vancouver's small but perfect gathering brought together 75% of the alumni community in the city!

 

Brussels

A group of 15 Audencians gathered in Brussels at 'La Cuisine de Flore', owned by alumna Flore Pincemin (GE 04) for a cookery workshop.

 

In a few numbers, Audencia Around the World this year was due to include:

  • 36 events scheduled on all 5 continents
  • 51 alumni involved in the organisation
  • 18 Audencia staff mobilised to join events

 

But also, a definite theme for foodies with:

  • 40 cupcakes due to be baked in New York
  • 2 cookery workshops in Montreal and Brussels
  • 1 brewery visit (and live jazz evening) in Amsterdam
  • 1 presentation of a new locally-sourced e-supermarket in Geneva

 

And not forgetting 6 inaugural alumni gatherings planned in Auckland, Baku, Guadalajara, Lagos, Phnom Penh, Reunion Island.

There are some great stories to tell; a huge thank you to all those Audencians - alumni, interns, students and staff - who contributed to collective effort that will continue until the end of the year!

 

Katie Francois, on behalf of the Audencia Alumni Team

 

Around the globe

Covid-19 - the daily life of a French woman in New York City

Laurène Hamilton (GE 09) is a New York tourist guide and mother of two. She's started to write about her daily life during coronavirus. Here is a glimpse of the first couple of days of confinement.

 

Sunday 15 March: no more brunches!

Sunday 15 March, 2020, 10am: it's already too late to find bread! My small organic supermarket has sold out... Same thing in the grocery store around the corner. My last hope: the bagel shop in front of the subway stop. Bingo! "6 bagels please." Finally a great option for a home-cooked coronavirus-free brunch. Yum!

Other out-of-stock items: medication. New Yorkers are getting ready to medicate for coronavirus. Too bad, I have mostly ibuprofen at home. I'll try to buy paracetamol during my next shopping trips.

School closures haven't been announced yet... And then the decision comes: as of Monday, New York public schools will be closed for 30 days. Restaurants and bars will follow, except for deliveries as of Tuesday 17 March.

 

Monday 16 March: a new routine in New York City

On the Whats'App parents' group, a mother proposes a virtual meeting with Zoom. I dress my son in a hurry and at 10am, we are in front of the screen. After singing his school's morning song, it's time to read Doctor Seuss (a classic for any American child). My son finds familiar faces again and a good atmosphere settles in. The results are positive for a first virtual class start. In any case, this group makes me feel good! Especially when a parent sends a picture of his stock of wine stock to cope with the self-isolation with his children. Humour is a great asset! We need it more than ever.

On Facebook groups in my neighbourhood, original live sessions are flourishing: online music, remote drawing, online yoga, programmes to keep your kids busy. I'm starting to think that I too will have to organise the days of my two children.

2:00 pm: I use the nap time to answer the members of our "Destination New York" Facebook group. For the past 5 days, questions have been pouring in. Advice on postponing travel report or searching through the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism to answer your questions as well as possible. I'm happy to feel useful, especially in this very unusual context.

The lockdown will last at least 30 days, so I've decided to stay optimistic. I'm going to use this time to read a new book about New York City or go painting with my children. We are fortunate to have access to information and live in a world where science is much more advanced than it was during the time of the Spanish flu. Here in the United States, we are advised to follow the recommendations of the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), the U.S. health agency. We're going to make it, all of us together!

 

Katie Francois, on behalf of the Audencia Alumni Team

 

Around the globe

Eugénia in Shanghai: our loved ones are just a message away

Eugénia Lao (IMM 12), is from Macao. Since 2014 she has been working in Shanghai, most recently for luxury brand Qeelin where she is currently eCommerce & Digital Project Manager. Eugénia lived through the Covid-19 confinement in Shanghai and has been back at work since early March.

 

How was the Covid-19 situation managed in Shanghai?

Eugénia : Apart from the basic hygienic measure such as wearing a mask and washing our hands frequently, we were required to fill out an online health declaration form to declare our travel history and individuals who had been to certain areas were quarantined. Other travellers were advised to self-quarantine at home for 14 days. The rest of the residents practiced confinement. All public places closed down for over a month. Thankfully, things have been getting back on track since early March.

At the moment, we are all required to show a code before entering any public places to indicate that we are 'healthy' and have not travelled out of Shanghai in the past 14 days. If you cannot prove you are healthy, you will not be allowed onto the site.

 

How did you keep in touch with your family and friends during confinement?

Eugénia : We are lucky to be living in 2020 as our loved ones are just a message or a video call away!

 

What did you learn about yourself during this period and how did you feel about returning to work and the office?

Eugénia : After 3 weeks of rotation in order to keep the social distance, we started working full time at the office. To my own surprise I was very happy to be back to the office; it felt like it was the first days of school.

 

Are there any new habits that you gained during your confinement that you will continue to use?

  • The confinement definitely interrupted my fitness routine of training 5 days a week. Since I have a sweet tooth and life is too short to skip dessert, and I wasn't prepared to come out of confinement with an extra 10 kilos, I decided to try making the healthy version of all the desserts I love with recipes I found online. Some of them are actually pretty easy to make!
  • I am not the most patient person and meditation seemed like an impossible task until I tried out the app Calm to start my morning with a daily dose of wisdom. They have this “Daily Calm” that takes about 10 minutes per day - light and easy for beginners.

 

Katie Francois, on behalf of the Audencia Alumni Team

 

Around the globe

Katherine in Shanghai: I used my night-owl habits

After 4 years in Beijing where she was ambassador for the alumni chapter there, Katherine Ying Mei Jiang (IMM 15) relocated to Shanghai where she is currently Innovation Product Manager - Automotive Innovation Center at Allianz Partners. She shared her analysis of the Covid-19 situation.

 

How did you keep in touch with your family and friends during confinement?

Katherine: As a person who has been living alone for years, I am used to being connected with people via SNS (heavy user of Wechat, Instagram, LinkedIn). But this time, it raised to a new level. I started to have daily call with family in South Korea. Besides, the situation was “helpful” to be re-connected with old friends worldwide. Some challenges on Instagram was fun, for example I was happy accepting challenge of 100 push-up (which I consider as nice way of encouraging people to exercise, interacting with friends, as well as "showing-off" your apartment new decoration).

 

What did you learn about yourself during this period?

Katherine: Due to the influence of previous and current work in automotive industry, my usual focus was mainly on the industry itself, plus learning German. During this period, I had no “excuse” and enough time to check other topics! It was also interesting that most of gyms started to have their free live-stream courses. And an obvious finding: I am a typical “owl” person who has high productivity at night, if there is no enough reason to wake up early in the morning.

 

How has it been going back to the office?

Katherine: Always wearing mask as usual, having enough disinfection tissue and handwash liquid, etc. People are encouraged to have lunch by isolating themselves (or at least keep enough distance), which I do not see much difficulty. For me the most difficult part would be to re-adjust “owl” body schedule to “early-bird”. Thus, I bought a soymilk machine, which I can pre-set its “cooking” time for the next morning. Coffee machine would be more effective, but the cafe at the company building offers better quality.

 

Are there any new habits that you gained during your confinement that you will continue to use?

Katherine: I consider this time as a perfect chance to get back to one’s old hobbies, or something one was good at during childhood. For me it was reading Korean books, both literature (old-time “expertise” which I neglected for more than 10 years) and non-literature (I chose art and psychology related one). Simple cooking, which I stopped after leaving France in 2015. As well as something I planned while not yet started - drawing. For gym and other sports such as archery, I will have to restart from now on, as those places were closed before.

Even though under lockdown - an unusual and uncomfortable situation -, I found most of us still remaining positive and making full use of the time as enjoyable as possible.

 

Katie Francois, on behalf of the Audencia Alumni Team

 

Around the globe

Xi Jin in Shanghai: I've become a very good cook

Xi 'Mako' Jin (MBA 19) looks back fondly on his MBA year at Audencia as being formative and exciting. He won a place on the first learning expedition to Las Vegas and San Francisco in 2019, fully funded by alumni of the school.

When asked about his experience of the Covid-19 situation, he says that although unplanned, he was not in Shanghai, but in his hometown, a small city near the seaside. He followed news of the developing situation in Shanghai from a distance, via friends and media platforms such as Tencent News.

 

What measures do you think worked the best?

Mako: When the virus broke out, it was the Chinese New Year, nearly all the factories were closed, and people were returning to their hometowns. The government laid down strict rules, blocked travel and kept people at home. After that, doctors and nurses in other provinces went to Hubei province and built new hospitals in very short time.

New technologies were used everywhere. Infected people were tracked so we knew who may have touched them and then gave the priority to identifying them. Some big internet companies like Alibaba and Tencent helped the government to set a new system to separate the healthy from the sick. Infrared devices and IOT technology helped increasing the efficiency of detection.

The Chinese people reacted well to the crisis: 99.99% stayed at home for at least 3-4 weeks and when they had to go shopping, they wore masks.

 

How did you keep in touch with your family and friends during confinement?

Mako: I was lucky that I went back home on 19 January so I spent the period of confinement with my family. With my friends we used Wechat, so keeping in touch was easy. We also used new tools such as Dingding. We used Tencent Meetings to work and study. 4G and even 5G is fast enough to keep the connection running smoothly and quickly.

 

What did you learn about yourself during this period?

Mako: For me, it was interesting, as before the confinement I used to prefer staying at home rather than going out, so it didn't affect me too much. But now I would like to increase exercise to keep healthy. I ate too much staying at home, so I have to lose some weight!

 

Are there any new habits that you gained during your confinement that you will continue to use?

Mako: During this period I read books about IT, programming and cloud management to increase my understanding of the IT industry and new technology. I also became an expert in cooking, which made my parents very happy.

 

Mako was job hunting during the lockdown period and he was able to witness first-hand the new trend for companies to interview online instead of face to face. He had interviews via Liepin (a job search website) and Zhilian Zhaopin. The full recruitment process took place online and Mako successfully secured a new position in cloud computing, joining his new team on 20 April.

 

Katie Francois, on behalf of the Audencia Alumni Team

 

Around the globe

Ayush in Paris: a change in work-life balance

27 year-old Ayush Chandel is from India and he is coming to the end of his studies on Audencia’s MSCPM programme. He is currently on an internship with PSA, the French car manufacturer, in Paris. He shares his experience of being on lockdown.

Ayush says that being at home has made him robust, productive and efficient. According to him, the positive aspect of being at home is being in control of your agenda.

“There are more meetings but working hours don’t seem as long as it’s you who decide when to log in and log out. Working from home changes the work-life balance and the time spent working or with family definitely goes off track.

"The best thing to do for me was to schedule each hour with dedicated activities. My morning started at 6am with one hour of cardio followed by spending another hour on breakfast. After that, I worked until around 5pm and then I usually spent another couple of hours consulting other businesses or getting news updates. The remaining time was with family.”

Communication tools were all in place before lockdown but Ayush has noticed that connection times are longer.

“You cannot hang-up your mum’s call when she is telling you the same news which you have already heard 10 times before” he jokes. “The funny thing now is that you work and cook all together with family. Your mom becomes your boss, dad is CEO and other relatives and friends are co-workers.”

But all at a distance for the time being.

 

What have you learnt about yourself?

Ayush: I discovered, to my surprise, that I am capable of being productive and efficient while being at home!

 

Are there any new habits that you are gaining during your confinement that you hope to continue to use?

  • regular cardio training
  • spending time in the garden or close to nature to understand its beauty
  • cooking - I’ve become an expert!

 

Katie Francois, on behalf of the Audencia Alumni Team

 

Around the globe

Sylvia in Shanghai: look for the bright side

Mathilde Sylvia Bouboutou graduated from Audencia's Grande Ecole programme in 2006 and has worked in Asia (Hong-Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai) ever since. She is currently living and working in Shanghai as Operations & Expansion Manager for Dunho Marketing. She looks back on the Covid-19 situation and reminds us that it is not over yet.

 

How was the situation managed in Shanghai?

Sylvia: Measures were clear and swiftly implemented in Shanghai: we received clear information in several languages on the symptoms and where to go if an infection was suspected. People limited their movements to the essential and wore masks when going out, the city government reassured early as the quantity of food supplies at a reasonable price, quick identification of infected people and of the people they had interacted with, etc. If I’m not mistaken, during the home confinement period, Shanghai registered around 350 cases (and unfortunately 3 deaths) for a population of 23-24 million (probably less since many people were out due to Chinese New Year), so I believe the situation was effectively controlled and the citizens followed the recommendations. It's not over yet, so we should remain cautious.

 

What measures do you think worked the best?

Sylvia: I think the home confinement and social distancing, and quick identification of suspected cases helped a lot.

 

How did you keep in touch with your family and friends during confinement?

Sylvia: Since living abroad, I’ve used social networks to speak with them, so no changes there.If anything, I have probably spoken with them more during this period than before.

 

How are you preparing to return to work/or going back to the office?

Sylvia: We were working remotely since early February; luckily, our industry enables us to do so. We’ve been back in the office since mid-March. As a team, we discovered that we could remain highly efficient despite being scattered all over China. We’re paying attention to preserve this commitment and flexibility, now that the team has been reunited.

 

Are there any new habits that you gained during your confinement that you will continue to use?

Sylvia: I took more time to reach out to people I care for, and I plan to keep those conversations going. Also, while the gyms were closed for over two months, to keep fit and clear my mind, I used online classes and started taking the stairs at home - I live on the 33rd floor… The gyms are open again, so I can enjoy more diverse workouts, but I’m still walking up the stairs!

Finally, I kept looking for silver linings to get past the frustrations of the situation, it does help to look for the bright side.

 

Katie Francois, on behalf of the Audencia Alumni Team

 

Around the globe

Xu Xiaolan in Shenzhen: I've learnt to be more optimistic

Xu 'Laurence' Xiaolan (EIBM 14) is a senior consultant at Ernst & Young (China) in Shenzhen. She has been back at work for several weeks now and sees the Covid-19 situation as having helped her to gain a more positive and optimistic outlook on life in general.

 

How was the situation managed in Shenzhen?

Laurence: In Shenzhen we have already returned back to work for weeks and people around us are wearing masks as always, to my opinion, we have the situation under control, in some point, we conquered coronavirus.

 

What measures do you think worked the best?

Laurence: Staying at home is the best way to avoid infection, but when it’s necessary to go outside, for example to buy some supplies or breath some fresh air, it was necessary to wear masks and gloves and to try not to go to crowded places or meet friends and family face to face. When you return back home, remember to wash your hands with soap and put your clothes under open window to let air move.

 

How did you keep in touch with your family and friends during confinement?

Laurence: Internet is best way for us to talk to our family and friends, we could chat with Wechat or other apps, it’s very important, because staying alone for days or even weeks was frustrating, so talking to our family made us more calm.

 

What did you learn about yourself during this period?

Laurence: I was anxious and full of anger at first during confinement, I was afraid of losing my job or getting infected. As time went on, I started to realise that I was focusing too much on daily news about coronavirus, on bad news, so I turned off news for days. Things went back to normal, I started to use that time to take some online course.

 

Are there any new habits that you gained during your confinement that you will continue to use?

Laurence: I definitely didn't learn know how to cook, but thanks to internet services, I could get all my food online. I guess I didn't gain any good habits but I will have to start watching my weight!

 

Katie Francois, on behalf of the Audencia Alumni Team

 

Around the globe

Working from home: how alumni are managing

WFH, an acronym that’s new - for some - and means 'working from home'.

For many weeks now, millions of people have been confined to their homes. This drastic action in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic is unprecedented. And Audencia Alumni are no exception to the rule with telework across the board for the vast majority!

For those adept in the art of WFH on a regular basis, things may not seem all that different: these good practices have already been adopted, so it’s just a question of applying these habits over the rest of the week. For the remainder, it’s the start of a new adventure: that of setting up a new routine and getting mission ready with a new structure at home.

 

Six top teleworking tips:

  • Set up a designated work area for yourself, no matter how small, that is comfortable and, if at all possible, screen it off from the rest of your dwelling, in order to separate your business life from your private life.
  • Keep to regular hours so as to free up your evenings and weekends for yourself, giving you time to unwind and spend quality time with your nearest and dearest, either in person, with those who are sharing lockdown with you, or by keeping in touch virtually.
  • Continue with the morning ritual and get dressed as if you were going to the office: it’s tempting to stay in your pyjamas, but this won’t help you focus or put you in the right frame of mind, as the journalist Quentin Périnel (SCOM 12) explains to us.
  • Stay connected with your team: by phone, Skype, Teams, and Zoom etc. Emails are great but there’s no substitute for human contact!
  • Take regular breaks: get some fresh air, make yourself a cup of tea or coffee for instance. In short, keep in good physical and mental shape so you’ll be even more productive!
  • Come to an agreement with your managers and colleagues on how the work is going to be monitored and establish a climate of trust.

 

In theory, this all sounds quite straightforward but, in practice, it’s far more complicated! This is especially true with schools being closed and particularly as we may have our children at home…

 

How are alumni who are currently experiencing WFH organising their time and their office at home?

Frederic Siedlis (Exec MBA 19), entrepreneur and co-founder of IVES, tells us about his day:

My wife Claire and I are both entrepreneurs and we have three children. I co-founded a start-up that provides online coaching to entrepreneurs and Claire has a franchise of immersive English courses. Of course we have stressful moments trying to figure out how our companies are going to hold up during this very uncertain time. But we are both optimists and try to look on the bright side of things. The advantage of being an entrepreneurial couple is that we understand each other and we know what we are both going through right now.

So here's how we’ve organised this period where we are part entrepreneur and part home teachers:

  • We each have our own desk
  • We work side-by-side to be able to share ideas and have a chat
  • We take turns teaching the children
  • We've scheduled time to relax a bit (with a St Patrick's day aperitif for example)
  • We’re letting the children go down to the communal garden to let off steam (taking turns with the other residents of course)

Frédéric concludes by saying:

"We know that this experience will help us grow and make us even stronger; we’ll certainly be different. Who knows, perhaps we’ll work together more in the future."

 

Frédéric would be interested in hearing from other entrepreneurs (or not) in the same situation.

Drop a line to audenciaalumni@audencia.com and we’ll pass on the message!

 

Katie Francois & Lauranne Héaumé, on behalf of the Audencia Alumni Team

Around the globe

Use your time in a purposeful way during lockdown

One lives in Nantes, the other in San Francisco. Both have our digital marketing course at Audencia in common and share a real love of writing, for which Axelle Gouverneur (GE 16), and Audrey Martinez (SMED student), are generously devoting their time during the present lockdown period.

A fervent supporter of the sport and wellbeing combo, Audrey is a bona fide ‘digital addict’ and true believer in the power of technology to assist us in adopting a more wholesome lifestyle. She shares her discoveries and advice on her Digi & Healthy blog, a real mine of information where you can source a host of useful ideas and tips in these present times. You can find out about home workouts, featuring some tasty wholesome recipes, as well as telemedicine.

“I want to share my tips on staying healthy, but especially on how to use your time wisely during confinement,” she explains. “Once again, digital technology is proving to be our best ally during these times!”   

Audrey’s top 5 podcasts right now:

 

Axelle Gouverneur works in California as a Growth and Expansion Manager at Choose Paris Region, an agency promoting the region of Ile de France. Confined to her home for the past six weeks, she is concerned about the changes taking place in her surrounding area. The closure of local stores, faced with crushing competition from the e-commerce giants, which has emerged as a palpable consequence of the crisis.

“However, there is also a positive side. A family-run bookshop, a real pillar of our community, has raised $100,000 in just a few days and has developed an online ordering system which will revolutionise their delivery service,” declares Axelle, who shines a spotlight on this experience, in an article published on Medium.

In her own words, writing is a breath of fresh air during these challenging times, as is having a routine and maintaining a certain level of personal standards.

 

Axelle’s comfort box: 

  • Sapiens, by Yuval Noah Harari, to read and read again, so as to take a step back from the present period
  • The New York Times (news) and The New Yorker (culture), providing well-researched articles on the times we are experiencing (with a collection you can find here)
  • Tiger King, to watch on Netflix, a documentary to gain a better understanding of rural America, with just a few months to go before the US presidential election
  • L’Impératrice, a French group you can listen to on Spotify and follow on Instagram
  • Change ma vie (Change your life), a French podcast to help you manage your life and emotions in a more meaningful way
  • Hubspot Academy (US) offers online training which is freely available to everyone

Discover publications by Axelle Gouverneur

 

For Chinese Alumni looking to gain a better understanding of the French culture, Ruyu Zhang (IMM 18) recommends following the “Faguoewenhua” account on social media, to discover a website designed by the French Embassy in China (https://www.faguowenhua.com). It brings together a host of news reports and resources to do with French cultural life, across a variety of areas including cinema, music, dance, theatre, books and the French language.

 

Read about Ruyu's lockdown experience

 

Florence Alix-Gravellier, Editor

 

Around the globe

Together & online

"So now, all alone or not, you gotta walk ahead. Thing to remember is, if we're all alone, then we're all together in that too".  This is a quote from a movie, very dear to me, that I often remember, especially now since the beginning of the lockdown and this feeling of “we're all together in that too" was something that I felt when the Indian alumni community met up online recently.

Audencia Around the World was scheduled to happen in Mumbai, India, on March 21 but due to the reasons known to us today, couldn’t take place. This was going to be the second edition in Mumbai after its’ 2019 success with alumni from the different English-speaking programs of Audencia along with some former exchange program students.

As they say, “Where there’s a will there’s a way”, Sameer Nawani (IMM 11), India Chapter’s ambassador along with Archita Prahladka, who had been part of an Audencia exchange program in 2018, decided to take this forward as an online meet.

On April 11, 2020, Indian Audencians gathered in one virtual room to rekindle the already present solidarity. Going virtual also allowed our Indian alumni across the world to participate making it literally Audencia Around the World:

Many were meeting each other for the first time, some relationships had gone back as far as 10 years. The memories of Audencia and tales of Nantes seemed as fresh for each alumni. The introductions became storytelling sessions which in turn became waves of laughter and smiles. The meet was threaded by various engaging activities including ‘share your favourite beverage’, ‘favoured quarantine activity’,’most memorable Audencia moment’ and so on.

“It is always so overwhelming to see a family in making both on personal and professional fronts. An 'Alma Mater' connect is definitely a more magical and nostalgic one which gives a sense of belonging and love to each Alumni and this French Connect of Audencians is certainly a cherished one!” says Archita and I couldn’t agree more.

On a personal note, it was an absolute pleasure to be a part of this, kudos to Archita and Sameer and thanks to everyone who participated in spite of the time difference.

To other Audencia Alumni out there, when are we catching up online?

 

Nushad Merchant, on behalf of the Audencia Alumni Team

 

Business corner

A test for Covid-19 detection

Loop Dee Science, co-founded by alumnus Stefan Gallard, is developing a new test for fast detection of Covid-19

Stefan Gallard (MBA 13) has dual French and American nationality. After a first degree in the USA and 6 years of experience in the marketing field, Stefan headed to Nantes to pursue an MBA. Since graduating from Audencia, Stefan has continued working in marketing and strategy and has added entrepreneurship and teaching to his career portfolio.

In 2017 Stefan co-founded Loop Dee Science, a biotech start-up with expertise in DNA analysis, based in Caen, Normandy. The company’s objective was to take testing solutions usually only found in laboratories into the field, to the point of care. Loop Dee Science’s initial focus was in the veterinary field and initially worked on testing solutions for animal coronaviruses. At the end of January 2020, with their general understanding of feline and canine coronaviruses and their expertise in DNA analysis, they switched to focus on developing a solution for testing Covid-19. It took them just 6 weeks to come up with a fast testing kit. At this time, a geographical “convergence” as Stefan calls it, emerged with the Research Hospital in Caen (CHU), which is the national reference centre for coronavirus expertise in France. A partnership agreement between CHU Caen and Loop Dee Science has meant that the testing method has been validated in terms of specificity and sensitivity.

Clinical trials are currently in progress and Stefan tells us that as soon as the relevant authorities give permission to proceed, they should be able to begin the industrialisation phase to produce the testing devices and kits. Stefan is particularly proud of the testing device that is the size of a large matchbox, making it easy to transport.

“You don’t need to be a doctor to carry out or read the results” he continues. "The analysis can be run using a smartphone application and we have added a GPS feature which will allow for accurate epidemiological zoning, with the results in real time.”

 

“We started from a blank sheet and pivoted very quickly”

Loop Dee Science is a start-up with 10 people; their size and expertise has allowed them to make the decision to change focus rapidly. “Doing it on a dime” as Stefan says “is what characterises a start-up, as well as the ability to face adversity.” However, Stefan keeps an eye on the endgame and explains why he believes Loop Dee Science will be a key player in providing a solution to Covid-19:

  • Our company is young; the expertise is old – members of Loop Dee Science have been working in molecular biology for over 20 years
  • Our partnership with CHU Caen has provided further scientific backing for the technology which we had already developed
  • We are only about six weeks away from a solution

 

Getting back to a “new normal”

Stefan is convinced that Loop Dee Science will be part of a gamut of solutions that will contribute to life returning to a “new normal” in the future. Part of the solutions, he believes, are technological and/or medical, the other part relies on a behaviour change:

  • Testing: for people with and without symptoms (Loop Dee Science’s area of expertise) and antibody testing to see whether asymptomatic people are immunised or not
  • Personal equipment: face masks are most certainly set to become the norm in terms of daily apparel

 

For more information

 

Katie Francois, on behalf of the Audencia Alumni Team

 

Patronage & support

Audencia students need you!

The Audencia Foundation has set up a Solidarity Fund to support students coping with the insecurity brought on by the Covid-19 crisis. Now is the time to act.

Are students giving up their education because of the health crisis? It is hard to believe but many students are facing this predicament. The economic crisis caused by the pandemic is often generating loss of income due to the abrupt termination of an internship or a job. It is also isolating our students, which can open the door to uncertainty. According to Ipsos, the average cost of living for a student in France is 600€ per month (rent, food, communication, etc.).

Consequently, many students find themselves in difficulty and experience high levels of stress due to the uncertainty about how long the crisis is going to last. Audencia’s students are no exception to the rule and there are growing numbers of students in critical situations.

The Audencia Foundation acted without a second thought. Created in 2009 under the aegis of the Fondation de France to support and participate in the School’s outreach, the Audencia Foundation has created a Solidarity Fund to respond to the these urgent needs while continuing its core support initiatives for students (diversity & international scholarships, entrepreneurship scholarships...).

"The Solidarity Fund aims to limit the impact of Covid-19 on the most vulnerable students, by offering grants in the very short term to meet their basic needs", explains Michaël Thoby (Exec MBA 13), founder & CEO of Emotic and administrator of the Audencia Foundation.

In the next phase, the solidarity fund will support students in hardship to limit the lasting impacts of the crisis. In other words, it is all about helping these students to continue their education.

To meet the needs of students, we are counting on the entire Audencia community.The solidarity of our alumni network takes on its full meaning in times of unprecedented crisis such as this.

Let's act together. Whatever the amount, your donation counts!

 

MAKE A DONATION

 

Guy-Pierre Chomette, Editor

 

Patronage & support

The Class Gift fund into its fourth year!

On 16 April, three student entrepreneurship projects were selected - via videoconference due to lockdown - for financial support thanks to our Class Gift funding, overseen by the Audencia Foundation. Here’s the lowdown on this fourth edition.

Created by the Class of 2016 to provide support for student projects and entrepreneurship initiatives, the Class Gift fund is continuing to grow in scope. This year, our fourth donation campaign managed to raise almost €12,000! The donations raised by students from the Class of 2019 have been supplemented by the sale of 725 bottles of Class year 2019 vintage wine, provided by the Monsieur W company (cofounded by Valentin Bros and Florentin Cugnot (GE 19), themselves beneficiaries of an award from the Foundation in 2018), and the matching gift pledged by Philippe Houzé, President of the Board of the Directors of the Galeries Lafayette Group and 2019 Class year patron.

While €7,000 will be oriented towards entrepreneurship grants, the remaining €5,000 have already been allocated by the Audencia Foundation to student projects geared towards societal impact issues, or noted for their entrepreneurial goals, and aligned with the criteria of IMPACT (Impact, Measurement and Performance Analysis of CSR).

From a total of 34 applications submitted to the panel, made up of CSR and Entrepreneurship professors, three came out victorious during the selection process which was held behind closed doors via videoconference.

Student on the Master of Science in Supply Chain and Purchasing Management, Yvonne Rachael Owasi, has been awarded a grant of €2,000 for her M-Safisha project, a mobile app based in Kenya which seeks to link up domestic workers with potential employers, so as to provide these individuals with lasting and decent employment opportunities.

“M-Safisha drew on the experiences of women in informal settlements in Nairobi and other major cities in Kenya. These women often face a number of challenges: low wages, long working hours, unfair dismissals and other abuses, among a myriad inhumane working conditions. Financing from the Audencia Foundation will contribute to the implementation of the pilot phase of the application by facilitating resources to make it a success.”

For his In’Wine project, a wine cellar in which each bottle is encased in a honeycomb-shaped container where the temperature can be set independently to those of the other bottles, Nicolas Cormerais, student on the Grande Ecole programme has himself picked up a grant of €1,500.

“The Audencia Foundation’s Class Gift will give me the funding to help refine and perfect the functional prototyping, which I can then go on to pitch to investors. The Class Gift will also enable me to enhance communication and help me set about looking for others to come in on the project.”

As for Caroline Charvet (GE 20), she is equally receiving €1,500 in funding. Her Renaissance project is an upcycling app which allows consumers to transform their clothes instead of getting rid of them, and is based on using a network of self-employed tailors.

“Receiving this Class Gift award is a true acknowledgement of my work. It is confirmation that my project is making progress. What’s more, my entrepreneur-student status has enabled me to become part of the Audencia Start-up Lab, where I can work full-time on my project, instead of having to go on a work placement.”

 

Guy-Pierre Chomette, Editor

 

Itineraries

Recent publications

 

As cities grow, they progressively break up. There is a specific term for this model of inefficient urban development, characterised by the using up of more and more land: urban sprawl. Structured around car travel, today the limitations of this model are coming to light: the loss of farmland, pollution, prohibitive costs etc, but primarily a type of city that has forgotten the virtues of having a local community and which intensifies social fragmentation. So far, public policy has failed to significantly curb the spread. The time has come to develop an alternative model to bring about circular urbanisation. Inspired by the principles laid out in the circular economy and applied to urban land, this pragmatic concept aims to concentrate efforts on building cities which promote the intensification of usage, the transformation of existing items, and the recycling of already-urbanised spaces. Today’s challenge is to shift away from pioneering projects towards a genuine change of model, so as to build a municipality which is lean, resilient and welcoming. This manifesto has been written to give citizens, professionals, and elected representatives who make up our cities, the desire to become actively involved in transitioning towards circular urbanisation.

The Manifesto for Circular Urbanisation: practical alternatives to urban sprawl - Sylvain Grisot (Euro MBA 17)

 

 

This book is a declaration of love to all-things sport, to those who keep sports alive, but primarily to pay homage to the emotions experienced by the spectator, and in the main mutually shared with others.

The pages of this little book bring to life the triumphs of a champion - oftentimes -, the defeat of the man or woman who should never have lost - at times, - and the sheer determination of the greatest athletes - always.

It features fans crazy for Nadal, Federer fanatics, those who prefer boxing to athletics, or football to swimming. 

We all (for the most part) have our own favourite moments in sport, those stand-out memories of prowess, disappointment, unfairness or frustration.  Tales, anecdotes and souvenirs all roll into one, a great read recommended for all you sports lovers out there!

Brèves de sport (Sports in brief) - Pierre Brémond (SCOM 14)

 

 

Successful exporting - negotiating the dangers of the deep succinctly addresses the deeper challenges of exporting and dives beyond the typical shallow thinking adopted by well-intentioned, enthusiastic but time-poor entrepreneurs.

The authors share down-to-earth practical experience in an entertaining and impactful way. They demystify export thinking. They guide you towards the steps to take for successful and sustainable international growth.

Featuring: 7 key misguided assumptions - and how to address them, more than 25 authentic case studies and 50 proven business lifesavers.

This book will disrupt you. It will challenge or validate your current approach to exporting.

Successful exporting - Laurent Houlier (GE 90) - John Blaskey

 

Are you a published alumnus who would like to share your published work with fellow alumni? If so, then please drop the team a few lines here at: audenciaalumni@audencia.com

 

Emilie Tendron, on behalf of the Audencia Alumni Team

 

Itineraries

New appointments

Some fellow Audencians have had a change of post in recent months:

  • Tarek Alassar (IMM 14) has been appointed Regional Manager - North America, UK & Ireland at Legos
  • Pauline André (GE 18) has been appointed Financial Controller Middle-East at Givenchy
  • Arnaud Babin (EAC 10 - SCOM 12) has been appointed Influence & Social Media Manager for ‘La République En Marche!’
  • Olivier Baudin (GE 86) has been appointed Head of Executive Education at ISC Paris
  • Camille Berenbaum (GE 16) has been appointed Operational Marketing 360° - International Project Manager - Skincare at Clarins
  • Philippe Blond (EAC IPAC 89) has been appointed Managing Director at Lille Grand Palais
  • Pierrick Boularne (GE 18) has been appointed Associate Business Consultant at Beijaflore
  • Salim Bouzoubaa (GE 18) has been appointed Senior Financial Analyst - Asset & Real Estate Portfolio Management at 'La Française'
  • Renaud Brach (GE 11) has been appointed Commercial Director at Innelec Multimédia
  • Emmanuelle Constant (GE 92) has been appointed Head of Marketing & Communications at iAssure
  • Victoire D'Aboville (GE 07) has been appointed Director of Bonne Pioche Story at Bonne Pioche
  • Tifenn Dano (GE 02) has been appointed Chief Marketing Officer at Dropbox
  • Louis Darrieus (EIBM 10) has been appointed Director - Transaction Advisory Group - Financial Services/Banking at Alvarez & Marsal
  • Frédéric Desclercs (GE 11) has been appointed Director of Partnerships at Studely
  • Maximilien Devay (SCOM 16) has been appointed Marketing & Creative Solutions Manager at France Télévisions Publicité
  • Charles Dubos (GE 15) has been appointed Chief of Staff at Richemont
  • Céline Ducoin (COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER 03) has been appointed Head of Communications at the Ecole des Mines in Saint Etienne
  • Othman El Ferdaous (GE 03) has been appointed Morocco’s Minister for Culture, Youth & Sport
  • Anne Ferré (GE 02) has been appointed Student & New Graduate Adviser at the University of Montreal
  • Jean-François Fournier (GE 94) has been appointed Managing Director - GMS France at Fleury Michon
  • Antoine Gaschignard (GE 11) has been appointed Associate Director EMEA Loan Syndication - Aircraft & Shipping Finance at Crédit Agricole CIB
  • Fabrice Guieysse (GE 05) has been appointed Senior Principal - Business Transformation Architect at Salesforce
  • Clémence Huignard (GE 11) has been appointed Head of Projects at Rocher Participations  
  • Martha Jaramillo Leal (MSCPM 15) has been appointed Footwear Production Coordinator at Alexander McQueen 
  • Julie Lafaye (SCOM 16) has been appointed Senior Growth Marketing Specialist | Southern Europe, Middle East Africa, Eastern Europe at Rapid7
  • Eloi Lanthiez (GE 18) has been appointed Project Manager at Mutumutu.cz
  • Elodie Lebossé Bonnefoy (GE 09) has been appointed Asset Management Engineer - Southwest Region at LCL         
  • Sarah Le Du (GE 14) has been appointed Growth Engineer at PayFit
  • Arnaud Letessier (GE 12) has been appointed Public Finance Inspector & Analyst at the Public Finances General Directorate
  • Lucas Lewczuk (TITRE 1 DRH 19) has been appointed Senior Consultant - Comp&Ben and HR Performance at Arthur Hunt Group
  • Capucine Lonjon (GE 16) has been appointed Head of Weaver & Seamstress Empowerment - Paris & South East Asia at TrendEthics
  • Mélanie Lorcet (EAC 15) has been appointed Thalasso & Spa Manager at Valdys Group
  • Anne-Laure Luquet (GE 15) has been appointed Senior Vendor Manager Sports at Amazon
  • Cédric Malengreau (GE 98) has been appointed Director of Secretariat-General & Institutional Communications at Crédit Mutuel Arkéa
  • Valentin Malinge (GE 18) has been appointed Financial Analyst at Colville Capital Partners France
  • Alexandre Morel (GE 03) has been appointed Partner at CMS Francis Lefebvre Avocats
  • Sonali Mukherjee (IMM 19) has been appointed Business Analyst at Indus Valley Partners
  • Anne-Catherine Philippeau (GE 03) has been appointed Managing Partner at Rothschild & Co
  • Camille Philippot (GE 14) has been appointed Distribution Manager - France Benelux B2B at Michelin           
  • Héloïse Pierotti (GE 19) has been appointed Digital Consultant at Niji
  • Maëla Porcheron (EAC 14) has been appointed Global Sourcing Manager - Contract Manufacturing at Bel
  • Mark Roales (EIBM 14) has been appointed Product Manager at Farlabo     
  • Eloïse Rutin (MASC 15) has been appointed Procurement and Warehouse Manager at SECAN
  • Constance Saussine (GE 13 - MSCPM 13) has been appointed Head of Demand Planning CHAT & Supply Chain Market Leader at Danone   
  • Philippe Serzec (GE 92) has been appointed Partner - Transaction Service at PWC   
  • Anne Thomas (GE 95) has been appointed Executive Director at AFNOR Compétences
  • Chi-Lan Vermeersch (GE 91) has been appointed Head of Corporate Relations - Executive Education & Work-Study Programmes at the University of Lille
  • Virginie Wallut (GE 01) has been appointed Head of Research & SRI Real Estate at La Française

 

A number of Audencians have set up their own companies:

 

Congratulations to each and every one of you on these distinguished appointments and start-ups!

If you too would like to tell us about your own recent appointment or new start-up, then please drop us a line here at audenciaalumni@audencia.com

 

Emilie Tendron, on behalf of the Audencia Alumni Team

 

The end

Thank you for reading The Mag #13!

 

When we first planned this issue, we were going to focus on travel and tourism, but due to the current global health situation, we decided to take you on a different journey: the lockdown experience of alumni & students around the world, the school’s response and how it has adapted and evolved, options for the future… We hope you have enjoyed this special issue.

 

Join the Audencia alumni community by creating your account on Together and by participating in online events or events near you!

 

See you in September for the next issue of The Mag.

 

Do you have any ideas for future issues? Do you want to get involved in writing an article for the magazine? Do you have any other question? Drop us a line at audenciaalumni@audencia.com

 

See you soon!

Your alumni team

 

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