Navigating the Ecological Transition : A Business School Perspective

The transition towards sustainability is now a major issue that has taken centre stage in public debate, policy circles, scientific forums, and business roundtables. Higher education institutions focusing on educating tomorrow’s managers and leaders and on business practices are doubly challenged by this development. On the one hand, they must be accountable to their internal stakeholders who strongly identify with the new “environmental awakening”. On the other hand, because of their status as research institutions, they must provide answers and propose solutions to face this challenge which is shaping up to be the most crucial issue that humanity has had to face in the modern era.

In this book, faculty and researchers from École Supérieure de Sciences Économiques et Commerciales (ESSEC Business School), a recognized leader among European schools of business and management, provide a multi-faceted perspective on the different areas that need to be considered to understand the new market dynamics during this environmental and social transition. The book identifies the obstacles that come in the way of the transformation of dominant business models, and how to overcome them in order to move away from “business as usual”. The various chapters in this work offer a vast diversity of approaches that address the paradigm shift towards sustainability, providing insights for both business and higher education. The book includes chapters from seven different departments at ESSEC: Management; Accounting and Management Control; Economics; Information Systems; Decision Sciences and Statistics; Marketing; Operations Management; and Public and Private Policy.

Research-based and combining theory with practice, this thought-provoking book will be welcomed by academics, institutions, and professionals alike, wishing to gain perspectives on the challenges of the transition towards a sustainable society.

Hugues Bouthinon-Dumas is Associate Professor of Law in the Public and Private Policy department and the Head of the Public Affairs Track at ESSEC Business School in Paris. He holds a doctorate in economic law from Paris Dauphine University and his “Habilitation” from Paris Sorbonne University. He teaches business law, legal aspects of the ecological transition, sustainable finance, company law, and economic criminal law. He is also a part-time judge at the Nanterre court (Paris Business District). His interest areas cover markets regulation, company law, including corporate governance issues, Law and Management, and legal theory.

Arijit Chatterjee is Professor of Management and Academic Director of the Asian Strategy Consulting Project at ESSEC Business School. His research interests are in strategic decision-making, how inequality within and outside of firms is addressed through institutional mechanisms and social movements, how challengers and incumbents use disruptive tactics in strategic action fields, and how small organizations can address grand challenges.

Bernard Leca is Professor of Management Control, Chaired Professor on Ecological Transition at ESSEC Business School, and Academic Director of the Evaluation et Mesure d’Impact Social et Environnemental (EMISE) Laboratory. He researches and works with companies and other organizations on topics related to sustainability. He focuses on sustainable development goals, and issues related to climate change and biodiversity collapse with a particular focus on power asymmetry among actors, and how this might influence adaptation and mitigation processes.