Master Cycle of the Grande École Program

All Master Cycle students, regardless of the major they choose, will benefit from core courses, representing 26 ECTS, spread over the two course semesters that make up the Master Cycle.

The core courses offered in the Master Cycle aim to train responsible, innovative leaders, capable of initiating change with an overall understanding of economic, technological, societal, financial and environmental issues. They also contribute to training inspiring leaders capable of giving meaning to their strategies and leading their teams in a shared collective vision.

This course reinforces students’ knowledge of change management and, simultaneously, their knowledge of the theories and practices related to sustainability. The societal impact of companies is increasingly recognized as being a priority. Companies need to engage in major change initiatives to meet the demands of social and environmental challenges, such as climate change and social inequalities.

This course teaches managers to be inspiring, intercultural and ethical pioneers of change. It aims to create knowledge that nurtures innovative leaders, promoting creative solutions for and with responsible organizations. It aims to explore, analyze and improve a leader’s behavior in order to develop a strong leadership identity.

Companies are faced with multiple technological challenges in the age of artificial intelligence and massive data. The Data Sciences course allows students to acquire knowledge related to different ways of processing massive data and to have a language and an understanding of the issues in this field.

The corporate environment is characterized by the existence of business cycles that companies need to identify and understand. These cycles evolve according to decisions made by different types of stakeholders. These interrelationships between stakeholders and their decisions concerning their internal organization, strategy and external environment on the one hand, and the evolution of this environment along business cycles on the other, increase the complexity to which managers are exposed. Students thus become familiar with this complexity by first presenting business cycles and their impact on strategic decisions, then discovering the nature of such decisions, and finally being put in charge of a fictitious company.

Managing in Vivo is a support system for Bachelor students by Master students, during which Master students are trained in communication processes and in team management. This unique course allows students to acquire managerial skills through experience, while offering individualized follow-up to students in the Bachelor cycle, facilitating their transition to higher education.

This course aims to understand the mechanics of personal data law under the GDPR and its relationship to intellectual property.

The objectives of this course are to understand the mechanics of personal data law under the GDPR and its relationship to intellectual property, to make decisions regarding the management of personal data resources, to assess the impact of different personal data management strategies, and finally to establish and monitor personal data compliance.

Coaching sessions and simulations mobilizing all the knowledge acquired by the student.

This course consists of coaching sessions and simulations that mobilize all the knowledge acquired in macroeconomics, economic conditions and fluctuations, strategy as well as knowledge in different management disciplines (Marketing, Finance, Accounting, HR, OPS, etc…)

The Career Program supports students in defining their professional project through a personalized follow-up by coaches who are experts in their fields. It helps prepare students for their entry into the job market in the best possible way.

In addition to English, which is the language of instruction and work, students are required to learn another language as part of the Grande École Program.

An IÉSEG student in the Grande École Program Master cycle can choose one of the 13 available majors*.

Each major offers:
> 6 compulsory courses
> 3 major open electives

*Provided that the student’s choice is validated by passing the orientation test for the chosen major.

The Marketing Management major offers extensive training in managing marketing actions across different media and in reaching objectives at an international level.

Major Objectives

1. Build strong analytical and technical skills in order to benefit from the digital transformation
2. Analyze and monitor digital activities
3. Be able to set a marketing strategy in line with a company’s objectives
4. Know how to make consistent, effective and ethical marketing decisions
5. Design attractive technologies considering users’ experience

Career Opportunities

> Product/Brand Manager
> Account Manager
> Category Manager
> Market Researcher
> Marketing Data Analyst
> Consumer Behavior Analyst
> Communication Manager
> Trade Marketing Manager
> Marketing and Merchandising Planner, etc.

Core Courses

> International Marketing
> Advanced Marketing Mix
> Marketing Strategy
> Consumer Behavior
> Customer Experience / CRM
> Innovation Marketing

+ 3 electives from:

> Communication Marketing
> Brand Management
> Omnichannel Retailing Management
> Advanced Pricing Management
> Services Marketing
> CSR and Marketing
> Cross-Cultural Marketing
> Sales Management
> Business Development in B2B Sales

The Digital Marketing major provides students with a profound understanding of designing, implementing, and optimizing marketing activities using digital technologies.

Major Objectives

1. Build strong analytical and technical skills in order to benefit from the digital transformation
2. Analyze and monitor digital activities
3. Be able to set a marketing strategy in line with a company’s objectives
4. Know how to make consistent, effective and ethical marketing decisions
5. Design attractive technologies considering users’ experience

Career opportunities

> Community Manager
> Digital Manager
> Omnichannel Manager
> Web Marketing Consultant
> Internet Product Manager
> Web and E-commerce Manager
> Web Traffic Manager
> SEO, SEA, SMO, SEM Manager
> Web Designer, etc.

Core Courses

> Digital Technology
> Advanced Marketing Mix
> Marketing Strategy
> Consumer Behavior
> Digital Communication
> Digital Analytics

+ 3 electives from:

> Cross-Cultural Marketing
> Sales Management
> Business Development in B2B Sales
> Communication Marketing
> Brand Management
> Omnichannel Retailing Management
> Advanced Pricing Management
> Services Marketing
> CSR and Marketing

This major focuses on nurturing international negotiation experts with professional knowledge in business development to handle procurement and sales activities as a liaison with customers, suppliers, partners and organizational units in business networks.

Major Objectives

1. Know how to attract customers in order to deliver the value of relationship management to target audiences.
2. Become an expert in negotiation to manage conflicts and provide solutions in business interactions.
3. Know how to make ethical decisions in a changing environment and build mutual benefits with business stakeholders.
4. Provide analytical knowledge in professional selling to customers and create business roadmaps for implementation.

Career Opportunities

> International Business Manager
> Business Development Consultant
> Account Manager (e.g., Relationship Account Manager, Key Account Manager, Strategic Account Manager)
> Business Service Manager
> Purchaser
> Business Mediator
> Estate Agent
> Sport Agent Negotiator
> NGO Negotiator

Core Courses

> Practical Negotiation Skills
> Applied Conflict Management Theories
> Decision Games and Negotiation
> Culture and Negotiation Strategies
> International Relationship Management and Digital Strategy
> Professional Selling Skills & Personal Sales Performance

+ 3 electives from:

> Business Development for B2B Sales
> Communication and Internal Customer Management
> Managing Conflict through Mediation
> Multi-party Negotiation
> Sales Management
> Purchasing Strategy

Digital Transformation are at the heart of all organizational processes. They must be developed and managed in a way that aligns with the organizational goals. This major trains experts who can act as a bridge between technical experts (i.e. engineers) and users (managers, users, customers) in organizations.

Major Objectives

1. Understand how IS can be used to satisfy organizational information needs and support organizational change.
2. Identify opportunities to solve organizational problems or create opportunities through the use of information technology.
3. Participate in the design, development, and implementation of organizational information systems.
4. Guide information systems projects and understand ethical IS-related challenges.

Career Opportunities

> Business Systems/Functional Analyst
> IS Project Manager
> IS Consultant
> Applications/Web Developer
> IS Product Manager
> Data Analyst

Core Courses

> Systems Analysis & Design
> Database Systems
> IS Project Management
> Business Intelligence and Data Analytics
> IS Security and Privacy
> Applications Development

+ 3 electives from:

> Programming with Python
> Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business
> Trends in Digital Innovation
> Enterprise Systems

The International Business and Managerial Economics major targets students who want to deepen their knowledge of how the business world works and how the economic environment affects business decisions. It prepares future changemakers to be key drivers of sustainable firms’ performance and to conduct missions in large companies and in national, European and international institutions.

Major Objectives

1. Understand the economic environment and how this affect the productivity, efficiency and profitability of corporate firms and organizations.
2. Understand ethical issues related to economics.
3. Know how firms of various sectors and institutions may react to macroeconomic fluctuations and how to anticipate them.
4. Gauge how assets, economics and natural resources management have to be conducted to take benefit from economic fluctuations.

Career Opportunities

> Economist and Studies Officer
> Economics Consultants
> Chief Economist in the banking sector
> Consultant in Strategy
> Environmental Economist
> Market Research Analyst

Core Courses

> Diversity, Institutions & Discrimination in the Labor Market
> Market Analysis and Competition Policy
> Judgement and Decision Making
> International Business & Strategy
> Multidimensional Performance: Economic, Social & Ecological Perspective in Banking
> Managerial Economics

+ 3 electives from

> Macroeconomics & Monetary Policy
> Health Economics, Policy & Management
> Economics & Business Ethics
> Decision Making in Corporate Investments

This major aims to immerse students in the practice of entrepreneurial management to help familiarize them with how to launch a new business, revitalize an existing one, or drive sustainable change/innovation in an established organization.

Major Objectives  

1. Be immersed in the practice of entrepreneurial management. Through interactive lectures, hackathons, case studies, online content, and guest seminars, this track will help familiarize students with how to launch a new business, revitalize an existing one, or drive sustainable change/innovation in an established organization.
2. Become ethical entrepreneurial managers.
3. Acquire entrepreneurial tools and competences to develop the ability to drive sustainable change in any kind of organization and context.

Career Opportunities

> Key Account Manager
> Digital Project Manager
> Account Strategist
> Entrepreneurship Support Manager
> Consultant
> Business Unit Developer

Core Courses

> Foundations of Entrepreneurship
> Entrepreneurial Teams
> Financing Entrepreneurial Ventures
> Design Thinking & Creativity
> Entrepreneurial Experience I
> Entrepreneurial Experience II

+ 3 electives from:

> Inclusive Entrepreneurship Practice
> Social Entrepreneurship: the Challenges
> Intellectual Property & Openness: Using Legal Tools to Enhance Innovation, Creativity and Related Investments
> Emerging Technologies

The aim of this major is to nurture students towards becoming effective and responsible managers. It seeks to train future managers and consultants in the areas of human resources, people or HR analytics, learning and development, change management, talent management, and general management.

Major Objectives

1. Train to become future managers and consultants in the areas of human resources, people or HR analytics, learning and development, change management, talent management, and general (people) management.
2. Prepare to be able to set a people management strategy in line with organization’s larger business objectives.
3. Learn to make effective and ethical decisions in people management.
4. Learn to create a more inclusive and people-centric work environment.
5. Become aware of new concepts, changes in work and work arrangements, and modern techniques to manage people.

Career Opportunities

> Talent Manager
> People or HR Analytics Manager
> HR Business Partner/Human Resource Manager
> Compensation and Benefits Manager
> Learning and Development Manager
> Recruitment Manager or Consultant
> General Manager
> Human Resources Consultant
> Change Manager

Core Courses

> Strategic Talent Acquisition & Development
> HR Analytics
> Managing Teams
> Practical Negotiation Skills
> Strategic HRM
> Power Dynamics & Influence in Organizations

+ 3 electives from:

> New Work Practises in the Digital Age
> Global Labour Law for Managers
> Employee Performance Management
> Compensation Management

This major focuses on how a firm can efficiently manage its operations, logistics, supply chain, purchasing, inventory, quality, and projects.

Major Objectives

1. Receive training to become an operation manager of the future.
2. Reflect on, analyze, and make crucial and ethical decisions related to product and service companies’ operations.
3. Understand everything about companies’ decisions on production, logistics, inventory, projects and purchasing.
4. Provide knowledge to increase companies’ efficiency, while meeting quality expectations.
5. Manage a supply chain.

Career Opportunities

> Supply Chain Manager
> Logistic Operations Manager
> Project Manager
> Quality and Lean Manager
> Purchasing Manager
> Analyst
> Supply and Demand Planner

Core Courses

> Supply Chain Management I
> Supply Chain Management II
> Inventory Management
> Project Planning
> Total Quality Management
> Decision Tools for Operations Management

+ 3 electives from:

> Production and Capacity Planning
> Purchasing Strategy
> Lean Management
> International Green Logistics
> Enterprise Systems

The aim of this major is for students to understand the functioning and management of the key risky financial assets in one of the most challenging and fast-changing industry landscapes.

Major Objectives

1. Prepare for a career in a large variety of financial firms, including retail banks, investment banks, mutual funds, audit firms, insurance firms and investment houses.
2. Acquire deep knowledge of financial products to understand the emergence of new financial technology innovations.
3. Be able to manage different classes of financial securities in an ethical and responsible way.
4. Learn about a wide selection of markets from FX to bonds, from stocks to alternative assets and green assets.
5. Analyze the modus operandi of more sophisticated options, futures and swap contracts.
6. Understand and implement quantitative techniques to analyze financial data and improve risk management techniques.
7. Grasp the recent changes undergone by the financial industry since the 07/08 subprime crisis and the challenges ahead, along with the impact of recent regulatory developments.

Career Opportunities

> Asset Manager
> Portfolio Manager
> Fund Manager
> Risk Manager
> Financial Researcher
> Financial Analyst
> Market Research Analyst
> Credit Analyst
> Equity or Debt Dealer
> NAV Fund Accountant
> Private Banker
> Financial Advisor
> Financial Economist

Core Courses

> Portfolio Management
> Debt Securities
> Derivatives
> Financial Risk Management
> Firm Valuation
> Private Wealth Management

+ 3 electives from:

> Active Portfolio Management
> FRM Level I Preparation
> Credit Risk Management
> Sustainable Finance

This major is the gateway for students who want to achieve high-quality knowledge in control, accounting and financial management, with an emphasis on financial planning and performance analysis, and efficient decision-making.

Major Objectives

Upon graduation, students will be able to:

1. Guide decisions, manage risk, and monitor performance.
2. Measure and analyse performance and report on results.
3. Work across many arenas to improve company-wide operations in a changing environment.
4. Step into a role that inspires and guides their team to achieve their organization’s goals.
5. Enhance organizational success by using relevant technology and analyzing data.
6. Do all of the above with integrity, ethics, and legal compliance, while demonstrating a professional attitude at all times.

Career Opportunities

> Finance Manager/Finance Analyst
> Financial Risk Manager
> Cost Controller/Manager
> Management Controller
> Financial Controller
> Relationship Manager
> Chief Financial Officer, etc.

Core Courses

> Strategic Performance Management
> Financial Simulation and Forecasting
> Advanced Corporate Finance
> Enterprise Resource Planning
> Corporate Financial and Non-Financial Reporting
> ost Management

+ 3 electives from:

> Internal Auditing and Control
> Financial Statement Analysis
> Decision Making in Corporate Investments
> CMA Coaching

By joining this major, students will be introduced to different techniques of decision making in corporate finance, as well as to recent developments relevant to a financial director’s role.

Major Objectives

1. Become highly skilled and responsible financial analysts and financial managers.
2. Become equipped with up-to-date technical tools used in corporate financial decision-making.
3. Understand the use of ethics and code of professional conduct relevant to financial analyst positions.
4. Study an in-depth analysis of various sources of funding.
5. Understand the impact of corporate actions on firm economic, social and environmental performance and value.

Career opportunities

> Financial Manager
> Corporate Finance Analyst
> Treasurer
> M&A Analyst
> Equity Research Analyst
> Debt Capital Markets Analyst

Core Courses

> Advanced Financial Statement Analysis
> Advanced Corporate Finance
> Firm Valuation
> Empirical Corporate Finance
> M&A, Takeovers and Corporate Restructuring
> Ethics in Finance

+ 3 electives from:

> Advanced Firm Valuation
> Private Equity
> Sustainable Finance
> Debt Market Instruments
> Options & Futures

Designed for students looking to jumpstart their career in audit and advisory services, this major blends advanced knowledge of accounting/audit/finance and data analytics skills that are in-demand.

Major Objectives

1. Analyze business cases with the relevant audit/advisory skills and know-how to satisfy organizational information needs.
2. Identify opportunities to solve organizational problems through the use of data analytics.
3. Understand the ethical issues related to auditing and advisory.
4. Become a reference in regards to technical accounting and finance questions.

Career opportunities

> Financial Auditor in audit firms
> Consultant in audit firms (TS and other Advisory Services)
> Internal Auditor in corporations, etc.

Core Courses

> Financial Reporting
> Advanced Financial Reporting
> Advanced Financial Statement Analysis
> Auditing
> Financial Consolidation
> Due Diligence

+ 3 electives

> Internal Auditing & Control
> Sustainability Reporting and Assurance
> Enterprise Systems
> Special Topics in Auditing & Advisory

This major will provide students with a theoretical and practical toolbox to succeed in consulting, one of the important, lucrative, yet competitive industries.  

Major Objectives

1. Have a profound understanding of all key management areas (finance, strategy, human resources, marketing, information systems).
2. Display outstanding analytical skills (data analysis, problem solving) and people skills (communication, negotiation, relationship building).
3. See yourself as versatile thinker and management generalist rather than a specialist.

Career opportunities

> Management consultant
> Strategy consultant
> Business analyst
> Human resources manager
> Project manager
> Business consultant
> Environmental audit consultant

Core Courses

> Advanced Corporate Finance
> Strategic HRM
> Marketing Strategy
> Systems Analysis & Design
> Practical Negotiation Skills
> Consulting Skills

+ 3 electives

> Lean Management
> Emerging Technologies
> Co-creating the School’s Sustainability Reporting
> Trends in Digital Innovation
> Internal Auditing and Control

In addition to their core courses and the courses related to their chosen major, students will choose five electives (two in S1, three in S2).

Master students have access to a wide range of elective courses that allow them to personalize their studies, with a view to open-mindedness and general culture, as well as an interdisciplinary mindset.

Employee Performance Management, Managing Well-Being and Work-Life Balance, VBA for Finance, Sustainability Management and Reporting, Sport Marketing, Digital Leadership and Innovation, The Project Management Experience, Blockchain for Business, Corporate Governance, Machine Learning, Tax Planning, CFA Level I Preparation, Data Visualization, Climate LAB, Chinese Political and Economic Strategies, Geopolitics & Digital Economics, etc.

During the Master cycle, students have to complete a Final Thesis (or dissertation) or a consulting project. This semester represents the end result of years of theoretical and practical training provided at IÉSEG. The objectives are to develop analytical, research and organizational skills related to real situations.

It aims to show students’ aptitude to work on complex problems, the results of their research and suggested solutions.

Students are responsible for writing a thesis, which involves in-depth personal research, all the while benefiting from the assistance of their thesis supervisor. In this way, they reflect upon and develop a specific issue extensively.

The research that goes into a thesis surpasses the framework of an individual case or situation. Students can choose to work on a particular case and to add a general dimension to it, or they can choose a broader issue, which they illustrate through precise examples. The thesis subject must be in accordance with one of IÉSEG’s fields of study: economics, finance, strategy, marketing, management control systems, human resources, etc.

Students of the Grande Ecole Program in the Master Cycle have the opportunity to take part in consulting projects in business, or, either in entrepreneurship or in innovation.

Consulting projects are educational work where students (either alone or in pair) hold a position as consultant for a company. They will work on a specific aspect for one semester and their objective will be to provide an external perspective and fresh ideas so that the company may make actual progress on projects in France and across the globe.

Assignments can relate to an area of expertise in Specialized Master Programs at IÉSEG: Management, Multicultural Management, Marketing, Finance, Human Resources, Information Systems, Operations Management, Audit & Control, International Negotiation or to a cross-functional subject.

Students are coached by lecturers-researchers at IÉSEG, who are experts in their area. The project manager in the company will also supervise the student on a regular basis.

With the consulting projects in entrepreneurship (Projet de Création d’Entreprise – PCE), students develop a detailed project to create a new company and a full business plan, under the guidance of a pool of academic and professional experts. At the end of the semester, they present their concept to a jury of experts

A significant number of these projects actually become start up business either when the student graduates or in the following years.

With the consulting projects in Innovation (Projets de Consulting Innovation – PCI), students have the opportunity to work with engineering students from d’Yncréa Hauts-de-France.

These are real innovation projects (for example, products or services, or corporate reorganization process) that have been entrusted to the engineering students, and those from IÉSEG, by companies or organizations.

The projects implement key concepts such as co-development, transdisciplinarity, collective intelligence, creativity, codesign, and allow students to acquire multiple skills, as they are confronted with real life business challenges (time constraints, cost, and working within a multidisciplinary team, etc).

> Learn more about the Consulting Project Innovation

During the Master’s program, students complete a 6-month internship in a company during which they take on “junior executive” responsibilities, demonstrating their ability to analyze a problem and propose solutions.

Examples: Junior Auditor, Assistant Product Manager, Junior Management Controller, Assistant Human Resources Manager, etc.

> Learn more about the Executive Internship