Montpellier Business School, a Grande École, is heir to a long tradition of teaching based on businesses and markets' needs. Founded in 1897 by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Montpellier, the school has succeeded in continually refining its specialized instruction in management sciences over the years to adapt its programs to constant changes in local and global economic environments.
The institution's aim is "to be a leading European business school in the Languedoc-Roussillon Region that is internationally recognized for its values, its academic excellence and its concern for global responsibility and performance, which characterizes its operations, stakeholders, and results."
In order to achieve this strategic goal of global and sustainable performance, Montpellier Business School has adopted the core values of diversity, openness, and global responsibility, all inspired by the school's mission: "to train, through our higher education programs, managers that are strong in their diversity, aware of their global responsibility in carrying out their missions, and able to adapt to changes in local, national and international environments." (By 'global,' we understand societal, economic, and environmental responsibility).
The quality of the school's strategy and results is internationally recognized. The following distinctions attest to the school's excellent international reputation: its triple international accreditation (AACSB, AMBA, EFMD/EPAS), its place among the TOP 50 best Master in Management programs in the world, it is ranking among the TOP 80 European Business Schools in 2013 according to the Financial Times and its place in the French national rankings.
The Montpellier Business School's values aim to anchor all of its actions and activities in a global environment that shows responsibility towards societies, territories, and individuals.
Three prominent families of values guide Montpellier Business School in all of its endeavors:
Ethics: Individual or group capacity to engage in critical thinking concerning the rules and values of human behavior An attempt to define the "right thing to do" based on honesty, fairness, and integrity.
Openness and diversity: individual and collective capacity of dealing intelligently with diversity in all its forms, either voluntarily or involuntarily (without demagogic intentions), through positive openness and outreach.
Responsibility and overall performance: the constant search for economic, social, and environmental efficient actions, bearing in mind acute awareness of their impacts on all stakeholders along with the willingness to report them transparently.
These institutional values can be seen in Montpellier Business School's actions and commitments to fight against discrimination and to train all talented individuals, regardless of their backgrounds and social situations.
As a result of all the measures implemented and the integration of diversity issues into its teaching and research, the school obtained the Diversity Label in France in October 2009 and in October 2011 created a "Diversity and Social and Environmental Responsibility" department.
The mission of Montpellier Business School is "to train, through our higher education programs, managers that are strong in their diversity, aware of their global responsibility in carrying out their missions, and able to adapt to changes in local, national, and international environments." (By 'global,' we understand societal, economic, and environmental responsibility).
Montpellier Business School was founded in 1897 by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Montpellier (CCI) with the visionary goal of "training economic leaders." Today, the school is pursuing its mission to achieve higher education that is rooted in the 21st century by "training responsible, innovative and international managers." Montpellier Business School is a member of the Conférence des Grandes Écoles (CGE), which unites the best French Grandes Écoles of management and engineering. It is also a member of the School of Management Chapter of the CGE, which groups together the 40 French Grandes Écoles of management that issue Master's Degrees (Grade de Master).
Montpellier Business School has implemented a policy of equal opportunity inspired by the values of openness and diversity and global responsibility and performance. In particular, as a result of this policy, the school has created numerous financial aid packages and scholarships, signed the United Nations Global Compact in 2007, and has obtained the Diversity Label issued by AFNOR (the French standardization agency). The school is one of only two higher education institutions in France to obtain this label among 200 companies that have also received the designation.
International policy is integral to the mission of Montpellier Business School, which is reflected in the school's international accreditations. The international dimension begins in cultural exchanges on the campus itself, where international students make up 25% of the student body. It is reinforced by the fact that all students in the Master Grande École program and the Bachelor of International Business Administration program must spend at least one year abroad at a partner university or participate in one or more international academic and entrepreneurial experiences. Furthermore, all programs can be pursued in the French and English languages.
Among the international policy measures to promote diversity, External International Recruitment Centers have been set up in various countries, supporting international students who wish to pursue their studies in Europe in general and in Montpellier in particular.
Hundreds of companies have close ties to the Group and offer internships to students by giving them assignments during their studies or by taking them on for internships or apprenticeships.
Montpellier Business School Business Club brings together the significant companies chosen to support Montpellier Business School in its development strategy and policies.
The Group's business ties are also evident in the role that senior executives play in the professional specializations of the last year of the Master Grande École program at the Montpellier Business School and the context of career conferences. Graduates connected to the Business School through the Alumni Association form a network of 11,000 members. Many also return to the school to serve as jury members, attend job fairs, and work as Montpellier Business School ambassadors.
The school's innovative and continually evolving academic curriculum and teaching methods enable future managers to introduce a spirit of management innovation into organizations, thus providing sustainable added value. Students are equipped with methods and tools that meet the quality requirements of international standards for accreditation. Montpellier Business School recognizes the core idea that business competitiveness is based on innovation and encourages professors to practice this discipline, resulting in a focus on research, knowledge production, and the generation of analytical frameworks and new methods.
