New Year’s Greetings from the President - AMBA Accreditation - Reorganisation of programmes as of January 2021 - Interview of the Month - Focus on the German-language Executive DBA - New Members of Faculty - Alumni - Survey: Lockdown N°2 and then what? - Publications - Videos - Admissions – Management Research News.

 

                            
 
                        

Interview with Professor Anne Bartel-Radic member of the Academic Committee and Faculty Fellow at Business Science Institute.

Aline: Hello Professor, could you briefly introduce yourself to our readers?
Anne Bartel-Radic: Hello! I’m Full University Professor of Management Sciences at Sciences Po Grenoble / University Grenoble Alpes, specialising in International Management. My research themes are at the crossroads of strategic management, organisational theories and HR management, but always from an international perspective. I’m currently supervising 6 PhD and 5 DBA candidates, and I take great pleasure in these collaborations and the research that we carry out in this small, very international team. I also manage the Social Sciences Research Centre at the University of Grenoble Alpes and as such I’m part of the extended team of the University's Research and Innovation Vice-Presidency. Within the Institute of Political Studies, I chair the Scientific Committee and co-manage a Master's degree course in Management and Business Administration. I’m also a member of the Board of Directors of the Atlas-AFMI Scientific Association (Association Francophone de Management International).   

Aline:  What led you to join Business Science Institute?
Anne Bartel-Radic: I'm German and have been living in France for 25 years.  Being fluent in German had been of little use to me during my career in France - until 2018, when Professor Kalika offered me the opportunity to lecture at a seminar for the second German-language cohort in Luxembourg. I accepted with great pleasure, because I enjoy teaching and supervising research very much - even if doing it in German was initially a challenge! I really enjoy the collaboration with doctoral student managers with "field" experience, working with them is mutually rewarding! For about a year and a half, I've been coordinating the German-language groups at Business Science Institute. The face-to-face group "moved" in 2019 from Luxembourg to Frankfurt, and in 2020 we opened a German-language "online-DBA" group. I really appreciate the organisational culture of Business Science Institute, a network based on mutual trust and which allows us to demonstrate our entrepreneurial streak and develop programmes that are adapted to different countries!

Aline:  How is the DBA perceived in Germany?
Anne Bartel-Radic: In Germany, unlike France, the title of "Doktor" is important for access to top-level positions in companies. However, a "traditional" programme of study at a university requires a full-time commitment of at least five years or even more - which is obviously incompatible with a career in a company. Part-time DBAs are therefore increasingly sought after in Germany, and there is a strong demand for them. Our programme is one of the few to be conducted entirely in German, which is a great advantage. Another difference between France and Germany is that titles, particularly that of doctor, are officially "worn" there, even in identity papers. The recognition of the DBA as a "real doctorate" is therefore essential for German doctoral students. The Business Science Institute's AMBA accreditation will be very useful in attesting to the quality of the programmes, but even before it was obtained, the experience of the first German graduates of the LUXDE1 cohort in 2020 has shown that our DBA is well recognised in Germany.

Aline: So, the approach to studies is not the same in the two countries?
Anne Bartel-Radic: That's right! Whereas 80% of an age group in France passes the baccalaureate, only one third of young Germans obtain the "Abitur". In Germany, it is common to start one's working life with an apprenticeship in a company, and to train throughout one's life. And this continues up to the highest level of study, at doctoral level. These careers, which are firmly embedded in the company, lend themselves particularly well to the grounded research that doctoral students carry out during their DBA!  

Aline: Your research focuses on intercultural management - how do you see this field? Is it still relevant in our globalised world for a new generation of managers?
Anne Bartel-Radic: Of course, globalisation and digitalisation have completely transformed the way interculturality is experienced, both at work and in private life. But intercultural management still involves many issues that research should help to better understand. Two perspectives structure the field of intercultural management: one aims at understanding the cultural specificities of management and organisations, and at describing cultural differences. This is a perspective that I have personally invested less in my research, but it is clear that globalisation has not erased cultural differences! The other perspective analyses interactions in the context of cultural diversity; my research aims in particular to better understand these dynamics. These interactions are increasingly taking place digitally, which raises new questions. This is far from being obvious or "natural" for managers, including the younger generations. We are also currently working on new training methods for these themes, through serious digital games.

Aline: Business Science Institute has recently been commended by AMBA for the work of its doctoral students on their thesis topics, which are very often geared towards the UN SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). Among the doctoral students in the German-speaking DBA programmes, are there any thesis topics that impressed you in this respect?
Anne Bartel-Radic:  We can but welcome the fact that half of the theses defended so far at Business Science Institute clearly relate to at least one SDG. German doctoral students are also contributing to this. In September 2020, Jens Höllermann, a doctor from the first German-language cohort, won the Business Science Institute's Managerial Impact Award for his thesis on ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) criteria in finance! Others are working on volunteer management, or on raising the standards of professional education. Our research on intercultural teams aims to contribute to the SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) objective "collaboration for the goals": how to work together to achieve crucial contemporary environmental and societal goals.

Aline: An increasing number of candidates are choosing the online programme in German. Is this just a trend in view of the crisis generated by the current pandemic, or is it an underlying trend?
Anne Bartel-Radic: In 2020, 10 students started their thesis in the Frankfurt 2 face-to-face group, and 5 online. But the two groups are far from being strictly separated: since the seminars of the face-to-face group have also been held at a distance since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we invite the "online" doctoral students to join us whenever they wish, at least for informal exchanges after classes. And in the face-to-face group seminars, many professors use the digital resources developed for online courses as a back-up. I am a great believer in these hybrid formats, which create ideal learning conditions and adapt very easily to unforeseen events such as the current health crisis.

Aline: You are currently supervising 5 Executive DBA theses, what are the profiles of your students?
Anne Bartel-Radic: I supervise the theses of doctoral students from different cohorts. Two doctoral students are part of the LUXDE 2 cohort, they started in 2018 and are currently finalising and writing their theses, which deal respectively with business model innovation in companies in the consumer goods sector, and the sale of "knowledge intensive business services". Within the Frankfurt 2 cohort which started in 2020, I'm supervising the work of two doctoral students who are working on leadership and change in vocational training. Finally, I'm also supervising a thesis in the Digital DBA in English. The profiles are varied, some are company managers, others executives in industry or service and consulting companies.

Aline: And to conclude, if you could go back in time with hindsight, what topic would you have chosen for your doctoral thesis?
Anne Bartel-Radic: My thesis was on the organisational learning of intercultural competence, so it deals with three themes that I find fascinating: learning, organisations and interculturality. I defended it in 2002, so I started this work more than twenty years ago, and today the world has changed a lot, particularly through digitalisation. But if I had to do it all over again in the same historical context: I might do it differently in some respects, but I wouldn't change anything about it! I find it very important to choose research topics that are of great interest to you - working on these topics then becomes a pleasure! This is a piece of advice I give to doctoral students: choose a research topic that is topical and useful, but also one that you are passionate about!

 

 

Thesis presentations
Dr Raguiata Bah discusses the situation of senior citizens in banks. 
The director of studies and research at BCRG, Dr. Raguiata Bah (Dakar Cohort No. 4, 2017-2020), presented on 9 December 2020, the results of her thesis research "The determinants of job retention of seniors: between employability and management of job insecurity", in the presence of the governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of Guinea (BCRG) Louncény Nabé and representatives of academic and banking institutions from across the country.


Le Dr Guy Laurent Fondjo vante la portée des MUFFA et MC2

Dr Guy Laurent Fondjo (DBA à distance cohort n°2, 2018-2020), currently CEO of Afriland First Bank Guinea and President of the Association of Banking Professionals in Guinea, presented to the Central Bank of the Republic of Guinea, his doctoral thesis on microfinance "How can participatory and self-centred management of microfinance structures contribute to poverty reduction? Case of the Republic of Guinea".

 

Interview with Malik Bouacida, Geneva cohort n°3, 2015-2018 

Aline: Hello Doctor Bouacida, could you introduce yourself briefly to our readers?
Malik Bouacida: I have been teaching at the University of Strasbourg for 20 years. After a traditional university education in management, I joined the University of Strasbourg. I am also in charge of a Master's programme at the Strasbourg School of Management, where I had the opportunity to develop several university cooperation projects with Algeria, such as the relocation of Master's programmes and the creation of EM Alger Business School, a management school accredited by the Algerian Ministry of Higher Education.

Aline:  You are a doctor graduate of Business Science Institute (Geneva Cohort No. 3, 2015-2018) and you have published your thesis in the Business Science Institute's collection at EMS editions*. What impact has this DBA had on your career?
Malik Bouacida: My doctoral studies, supervised by Professor Ulrike Mayrhofer, were the result of a long and careful process of reflection. After several years spent teaching and setting up projects with Algeria, I wanted to give a more professional orientation to my career, grounded specifically in the experience I had acquired. The choice of the DBA was quite natural because it offered me the opportunity to do useful research on a current managerial issue that I am passionate about. The publication of my work, of course, contributed to giving visibility to a very topical issue in Algeria and more generally in the countries on the southern shore of the Mediterranean. Today, it is a benchmark academic textbook, dedicated to the very important question of the performance of Algerian-foreign joint ventures.

Aline:  You are a coordinator in Algiers for the Business Science Institute, could you tell us more about your role?
Malik Bouacida: We are the veritable intermediary for Business Science Institute in Algeria. This role aims, on the one hand, to make the Business Science Institute's DBA programme better known in Algeria and, on the other hand, to inform and guide Algerian executives interested in this programme. Several Algerian executives are currently following the course in Europe and others have successfully completed their DBAs. There is a real interest among Algerian executives for this top-class programme. Unfortunately, for obvious reasons, some of them do not necessarily have the possibility to travel. Therefore, together with Professor Michel Kalika, we thought it would be a good idea to offer this programme actually in Algeria.

Aline:  Do you have any other project on the go at the moment?
Malik Bouacida: I do indeed have several academic and professional projects in the pipeline. As a follow-up to the book published in 2018, I have just carried out a large study among Algerian managers on the role of trust in the success of JVIs and on the conditions for inter-organisational knowledge transfer. I am also engaged in a research programme with Italian colleagues. In particular, we are working on the contribution of micro-enterprises to economic development in southern Mediterranean countries.

*Les conditions de réussite des joint-ventures internationales en Algérie, éditions ems, collection Business Science Institute, 2018, 144 p. (Key Success Factors for International Joint Ventures in Algeria).

Loyalty programs (LPs) are an important marketing instrument used to promote repeat purchases and customer relationships. Although numerous studies have shed light on the adoption, design, and outcomes of LPs, research that reviews the accumulated knowledge in a holistic manner is sparse. Against this background, this study reviews 131 LP-related articles following the Theory–Context–Characteristics–Methodology (TCCM) review protocol. By considering the theories, contexts, characteristics, and methodologies used in LP research, this study (1) paints the most comprehensive picture of the field to date and (2) develops a future research agenda to help advance the field further. Our review reveals that existing studies mostly rely on status-based, inertia-based, or relationship-based mechanisms to theoretically explain LP-related effects, while multi-theoretical perspectives are rare. LP research focuses strongly on a few key industries, such as retail, airlines, and hotels, but lacks insights into the design and outcomes of LPs in online and B2B contexts. Furthermore, we diagnose a need for more research on the role of competition among LPs and the impact of recent technological advances on LP management.

Christophe Schmitt, Nouvelles perspectives en entrepreneuriat. Du modèle du télégraphe au modèle de l'orchestre, (New perspectives in entrepreneurship. From the telegraph model to the orchestra model) Vuibert, 2020, 192 p.
What if, in order to understand entrepreneurship, we needed to approach the subject in a different way?
This is the whole point of this book, which seeks to refresh our way of thinking about entrepreneurship in both research and practice. Through the study of two major models derived from the communications theory, it proposes an innovative reference framework based on the daily practices of the entrepreneur and other actors in the ecosystem.
The telegraph model sheds light on the causal and effectual logics that are the focus of much research in this field. The orchestra model introduces a new perspective for understanding entrepreneurship: the logic of complexity.
It is essential today to put entrepreneurs back at the centre of the debate and accompany them on their journey. Researchers and students will find in this book the elements to do so.
A new perspective on entrepreneurship, through the author's 15 years of experience in the field.

 

Se désinscrire / Unsubscribe
Mettre à jour ses préférences / Update your preferences

Copyright © 2021 BSI Luxembourg ASBL, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you opted in at our monthly newsletter.