ESCP Business School achieves the objectives of Brand & Size one year ahead of schedule and prepares for the world to come

During its press meeting, titled “Open Up!”, to kick off the new school year, ESCP presents a two-fold assessment of its “Brand & Size” strategy and its experience in dealing with Covid-19 and outlines the school of tomorrow.

ESCP’s mission is to prepare tomorrow’s business leaders. These leaders will be distinguished by their ability to understand the world in all its complexity, to make courageous, relevant and sustainable choices and to implement them successfully.

ESCP’s unique model is based on a pan-European identity offering an original vision of the world and on a dual pedagogical model based on a multicultural and multidisciplinary approach.

Launched in 2018 and amplified during the school’s Bicentenary celebrated one year ago, the “Brand & Size” strategic plan aims to develop by 2022 the critical size of the school and the positioning of the ESCP brand internationally.

One year ahead of schedule, ESCP is achieving its objectives and is planning the preparation of the 2022-2026 strategic plan which will involve all the school’s stakeholders.

The Covid-19 crisis has been an accelerating force on two levels :

• With 13% more students (for 17% more candidates, i.e. an increased selectivity) the school now reaches 7100 students in all its programmes.
• In addition, massive investments have been made to equip more than 50 hybrid rooms on campus and to deliver courses to students both physically on campus and remotely.

In September, the start of the new school year began with in-person courses for all campuses and programmes. The school remains ready to activate the defined stages of a 24-hour pedagogical continuity plan in a differentiated manner depending on the situation of each campus.

Beyond the necessary reactivity, ESCP has taken advantage of the lessons learned from the confinement to draw up a vision of distance learning in line with students’ expectations and based on a vision of both pedagogical and technological innovation.

The digital experience is not a simple replica of face-to-face learning. Contrary to the lockdown, where everyone had accepted the constraints of the moment, students and participants expect distinct and complementary contributions from both modes of learning.

“It is our conviction that face-to-face interaction is a main ingredient in social life, and therefore in all collective activities, such as creation, innovation and learning. An important ingredient, of course, but not the only one, because digital technology now has its rightful place and represents a major challenge for the future, because with the advent of digital technology, our competitors of tomorrow are probably GAFAM or China’s BATX,” explains Frank Bournois, Dean of ESCP. He thus introduces the 20/40 principle that will be applied to all programmes: each course will have to offer a minimum of 20% distance learning and a minimum of 40% face-to-face.

“Our Brand & Size approach has led us to partner with European and international institutions of excellence to bring an international and interdisciplinary perspective to our students. The latest double degrees with Sothby’s, Saint-Cyr or CFJ illustrate the ABCDE strategy: Arts, Business, Culture, Design & Engineering,” adds Léon Laulusa, Executive Vice-President ESCP. “This pedagogical approach is made possible thanks to the principles of ultra-learning and detailed personalization that the high level students we recruit are very appreciative of.”

Overview :

• 2020: 7,100 students (+17% more applicants than in 2019)
• A majority of international students (56% across all programmes and 121 different nationalities)
• Nearly 75% of international students among the new entrants admitted directly into M1 and 89% of intl. students in the MBA
• MiM: 58 specialisations and the possibility to follow 3 different specialisations during the course of one’s studies.
• Reinforcement of the MS and MSc offer (25 specialised masters)
• Successful launch of the Global Executive Ph.D. for high level executives, in conjunction with ESCP professors and prestigious partners (Harvard…)

Status for the new school year :

• 100% of the courses in person AND online
• 100% of the teachers and staff present in Paris for the start of the school year,
• Back to school seminars on key themes: Sustainable Development and Digital Transformation.
• About a hundred rooms equipped for video and audio capture, including: fully equipped hybrid rooms on the République and Montparnasse sites; 20 rooms with light equipment (rotary cameras), and 50 rooms soon to be equipped with multi-purpose cameras for documents and interactions, including on campuses outside Paris.
• Digitization of student services with the implementation of 3,200 individual online coaching sessions (in addition to those offered face-to-face).