Bachelor Cycle of the Grande École Program

Bringing theory and practice together to excel in management

  • Format

    5 years

  • Languages

    English – French

  • Location

    LILLE – PARIS

  • Fees

    €12,900 per year
    (2023-2024)

  • Intake

    SEPTEMBER

  • Credits

    300 ECTS

Accreditations

overview

The Bachelor Cycle is structured around semesters, each with distinct pedagogical objectives and a unique identity, including one term dedicated to international experience.

Every semester features at least one interdisciplinary project. This allows for students to put into practice acquired knowledge and skills (for example, during the first semester, the Investigating Business project allows students to mobilize knowledge and skills in economy, management, law, and communication in a single project, which professors from each field will support and evaluate).

In terms of content, the program focuses on current topics such as social responsibility, ethics, the environment, entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence, coding, big data, technological impact, and sociology.

Advantages of the Bachelor Cycle

  • An interdisciplinary approach where students mobilize acquired knowledge and skills through projects in a cross-disciplinary way. This interdisciplinary approach incorporates the disciplines of management, economics, quantitative methods, law, and personal development. 
  • A skill-based approach: ‘learning by doing’: students learn via concrete situations (provided by companies or organizations), and real-life projects.
  • Active pedagogy based on interactions between professors and students, mixing remote and physical courses.

Objectives of the Bachelor Cycle

  • Provide each student with customized guidance.
  • Facilitate students’ overall development with skill and knowledge acquisition.
  • Help students develop intercultural skills, as well as a sense of ethics and responsibility.
  • Enable students to acquire a solid knowledge base in the fundamental disciplines of management and economics.

Program of the Bachelor Cycle

The three years of the Bachelor Cycle are structured around six semesters with their own identity – built around the competency-based approach, along with transversal and interdisciplinary learning. Students’ engagement to their learning is even stronger when they work on projects that truly have meaning for them.

For this reason, every semester, students participate in at least one interdisciplinary project, allowing them to implement immediately the teaching that they have received throughout the semester – covering themes such as exploration of the business world, solidarity, the design and implementation of a new good or service offer on a market, of social and climate-based impact in the company’s performance criteria, entrepreneurship, etc.

Great importance is also given to the development of students’ creative and innovative capacities, new ways of working and new challenges, such as artificial intelligence and digitalization.

Induction period

Introduction

When they arrive at IÉSEG the first year, students begin with a 3-week induction period, during which they benefit from a responsibility seminar, the acquisition of IT skills, and refresher courses in fundamental disciplines and in English:

Responsibility Seminar

This seminar aims to bring out the talents and personality of each student and to provide them the means to be more aware of themselves, of others and of their environment, and to promote awareness of their responsibilities.
It is made up of the following activities:

Up to me
Two back-to-self workshops (choosing proper nutrition, managing stress, showing respect) help students prepare mentally and to decode feelings.

Diversity and Learning Styles
Following a diversity icebreaker with communication and collaboration styles, this module covers learning styles, cultural intelligence, multiple intelligence and the framework of the 4Rs (recognize, respect, reconcile, and realize and root).

Pecha Kucha
The Pecha Kucha (‘chit-chat’ in Japanese) is a new, dynamic and engaging presentation format, consisting in the synchronization of an oral and visual pitch according to the “20×20” format (20 slides that change every 20 seconds) for an optimized presentation of 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

Awareness of risk behaviors related to addictions
Play on prevention and awareness of risky behavior associated with alcohol and drug addictions.

Discovery of sustainable development (climate fresco, food collection, etc.)
Faithful to its vision of “training changemakers for a better society”, the School has decided to immerse its new students, from their very first days, in actions with a social and environmental impact. The aim of this immersion is to show them how they can have a positive impact on the world around them, in particular through their involvement (one of the School’s key values) in an association.
At the start of the 2023 academic year, the students will be helping the Banque Alimentaire du Nord and the Secours Populaire du Nord et des Hauts-de-Seine.

Semester 1 (S1): Learning & Working with a Professional Mindset*

Description and objectives of this semester

This semester marks the transition from high school to higher education; it will allow students to professionalize and optimize their communication, to discover the corporate world, along with its economic and legal environment, all the while learning the fundamentals of economics, quantitative methods and teamwork.

The objectives of this semester are the following:

Learn to learn in higher education.

Develop critical thinking.

Work and communicate effectively on a team.

Understand how an organization works.


Courses examples:
> Business Exploration
> Economical Environement
> Legal Environment
> Collective and Relational Efficiency
> Consumer Decision-Making Process
> etc.

Capstone Project : Investigating Business

From a company chosen by the group:

Discover, analyze and evaluate its organization and functioning

Decipher its economic and legal environment and the choices made to adapt, anticipate and influence

Make the link between concrete observations and elements studied in class

Put into perspective the way it functions compared to other organizations

*Please note that the first year (semesters 1 and 2) of the Bachelor Cycle – Grande École Program is only accessible if the student has a sufficient level of French.

Semester 2 (S2): Exploring Diversity*

Description and objectives of this semester

Building on the previous semester, this semester will enable students to consolidate what they have learned, while developing intercultural sensitivity and creativity in their ways of working and in the way the team works. This semester will also allow students to understand the basics of project management.

The objectives of this semester are the following:

Discover, understand and be exposed to diversity

Understand what motivates people as individuals

Develop their capacity to implement concrete actions

Reinforce their ability to contribute to a team’s performance


Courses examples:
> Algorithmic Thinking
> Creativity
> Diversity
> Project Management
> Sociology
> etc.

Capstone Project: Developing a solidarity project

Collectively design a charitable or humanitarian project aimed at fragile or disadvantaged groups, in partnership with UNICEF.

Implement the project by forming teams and using appropriate methods of project management and impact measurement.

Establish and monitor an estimated budget.

Planning and organizing an awareness campaign and collection of donations (in partnership with UNICEF).

*Please note that the first year (semesters 1 and 2) of the Bachelor Cycle – Grande École Program is only accessible if the student has a sufficient level of French.

Semester 3 (S3): Developing Creativity & Innovation

Description and objectives of this semester

This semester introduces sales techniques, as well as the main disciplines of management. Students will thus learn to manage interdisciplinary courses and collective action related to a company’s innovation and development.

The objectives of this semester are the following:

Develop and demonstrate their creative and innovative abilities

Integrate the legal dimension of intellectual property and brand protection

Acquire the fundamentals of management disciplines

Learn to select the most appropriate tools


Courses examples:
> Marketing Management
> Imperfectly Competitive Markets
> Trademark Law
> Econometrics and Data Analysis
> Cost Accounting
> Sales Techniques
> etc.

Capstone Project: Designing and implementing a new offering on a market

Design a product or service proposal for a market.

Elaborate a coherent business plan, integrating market studies and a funding plan.

Decipher economic and legal elements related to the targeted market and integrate them into the offering.

Select and use quantitative decision-support tools with precision.

Semester 4 (S4): Applying Learning to the Reality of the Corporate World

Description and objectives of this semester

Faced with the demands of profitability and economic competition, the company must be able to integrate social and environmental requirements, with the same level of priority. During this semester, students will be confronted with the reality corporate world: developing sustainable solutions combining growth with a positive social and environmental impact.

The objectives of this semester are the following:

Go further into depth and apply management disciplines

Learn to make well-founded choices and balanced decisions

Learn what motivates them as future professionals

Act in an ethical and responsible way.


Courses examples:
> Management Control
> Sustainability and Business
> Managing Resources
> Financial Analysis
> Philosophy for Managers
> Environmental and Energy Economics
> etc.

Capstone Project: managing for PPP (People, Planet, Profit)

Identify and measure the impact of each personal or managerial decision.

Understand the social, environmental and financial stakes of companies and their environment.

Learn to decide and act in a balanced and coherent way by taking these issues into account.

Be immersed in a long-term strategic vision.

Semester 5 (S5): Deploying a Spirit of Entrepreneurship in a Digitalized World

Description and objectives of this semester

This semester concentrates on the integration and application of artificial intelligence and digital transformation with the perspective of creating a company. It places particular emphasis on data analysis to enable entrepreneurs to understand their sector, make strategic decisions and predict customer behavior.

The objectives of this semester are the following:

Develop and implement their capacity for innovation and in the framework of entrepreneurial projects

Demonstrate a sound understanding and mastery of management consulting assignments

Take up the challenges of digital transformation, develop and disseminate digital culture

Develop their professional project and prepare their choice of Master major


Courses examples:
> Digital Corporate Finance
> Design Thinking
> Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
> Company Law
> Market Research
> Business Negotiation
> etc.

Capstone Project: Creating Business

Understand and implement a complete and structured project to create a company.

Integrate and implement the elements of digital transformation.

Adopt a strategic posture.

Semester 6 (S6): Acquiring a Holistic International Experience

Description and objectives of this semester

Students will either go on an exchange abroad or spend their semester at IÉSEG, spending a significant amount of time with international students and subjects of international, social, and cultural importance. The semester will be partly made up of electives.

The objectives of this semester are the following:

To be fully exposed to a cultural and international environment

Adopt the international and cultural dimensions in the curriculum and learning environment through an academic exchange or internationalization “at home”

Reinforce autonomy and decision-making skills

Broaden skills by building the portfolio of courses in line with the student’s personal and professional project


Courses examples:
> Global Brand Management
> International Finance
> International Business Law
> International HRM
> International Business Strategy
> etc.


Students who do not complete an academic exchange during their Bachelor cycle must attend this semester, which is resolutely international. International students on academic mobility will also take these courses.

Zoom on… Gap semester/year

A gap semester/year is possible in each cycle (Bachelor and Master) between two semesters or two years pf the program, for a period of 6 months to 1 year, depending on when it is taken. During this period, students have the opportunity to complete one or more work placements or to consolidate a personal, professional or entrepreneurial project.

Examples of gap semester:
> Supporting an NGO or association: coaching two women micro-entrepreneurs in Peru; ecological volunteer work in the Amazon combining agroforestry and beekeeping; turtle conservation in Costa Rica.
> Business creation project: music label; company specializing in cutting-edge medical tools; family business
> Personal project: cycling around Europe to raise awareness of environmental damage and emphasize possible solutions.

University semester exchanges and Double Degree

University semester exchanges

In order to obtain a Grade de Master degree in Management at IÉSEG, students must have at least one semester of university experience in one of the School’s partner universities/schools abroad. The university semester exchange may take place during the Bachelor or Master Cycle, or during both.

Students benefit from six semesters of teaching during the Bachelor Cycle. One of them is dedicated to the university exchange abroad or to an international experience on the IÉSEG campus, where students will interact with French and international students and follow a program exposing them to international and intercultural issues.

University exchanges aim to:
> Familiarize students with other pedagogical methods and ways of approaching management, along with the ways companies handle business issues;
> Help students become more open-minded regarding other ways of thinking and living;
> Strengthen their intercultural skills by learning to communicate and work in another cultural environment.

Our international network

Dual Degree from a partner university

Students of the Grande École Program also have the opportunity to obtain a degree from a partner university through exchange programs.

> Universidad del Rosario – Bogota, COLOMBIA
> Pforzheim University, GERMANY
> Universidat Politècnica de València, SPAIN
> Fairleigh Dickinson University – Teaneck (NJ), USA
> Juniata College – Huntingdon, USA

Internships

Three professional experiences (which may be internships or work contracts) are part of the Bachelor Cycle, at the end of the academic year.

Learning based on language practice

To reinforce their international dimension, students must follow a compulsory language course (French for non-French speakers or German, Spanish or Italian) and can also choose a second language option from one of the following languages:

  • German
  • Spanish
  • Italian
  • Mandarin
  • Portugese
  • Arabic
  • Russian
  • Japanese

Students have access to an e-learning facility.

picto-zoomZoom on… the Excellence Program

The Excellence Program is aimed at students who have an outstanding academic record at IÉSEG. Its objective is to support students who would like to join prestigious international universities (Harvard, LSE, Stanford, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge, LBS, Cornell, Columbia, MIT, Wharton, etc.) alongside their studies at IÉSEG or afterwards. IÉSEG, via its selection committee, studies each application in order to define the most appropriate type of support and assistance for each applicants (financial, human, etc.).

The Excellence Program offers a unique opportunity for academic growth and exposure to new cultures.

Partnerships

Since September 2019, all Grande École Program students have been following mandatory online courses in web development, UX (User Experience) and UI Design (User Interface or Design Interface) and in Data Science, designed and taught by Le Wagon, an internationally recognized coding school.

Local contact

Find here your dedicated contact in your region.

General contact

Diviya NEDA

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