Nestlé’s Strategic Lesson: Why Sometimes the Best Decision Is to Sell a Business
In an era of volatility, corporate endurance is less about expansion than about choice. In 2026, Nestlé, led by Philipp Navratil, is undertaking a sweeping portfolio, reminding that long-term performance begins with strategic coherence. Endurance is not a growth problem;…
Why Do We Believe in KPIs?
If numbers -especially Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)- have come to occupy such a central place in our relationship with the world – particularly within organizations – it is because they serve as powerful bulwarks against the existential anxieties that run…
Between fashion and beauty: luxury brands and the challenge of coherence
It’s the beauty of luxury. When you read that L’Oréal just bought Gucci, it feels natural. But in reality, this alliance between fashion and beauty is a challenge. Each brand has its own ritual, its own way of doing things…
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Sexual Harassment: three wise Human resources
Unmasking Anger: Do Women have the right to get Angry (just like Men)?
When Minds Clash: Don’t underestimate Workplace Conflicts!
Did Oracle Crack the Leadership Code?
What is human capital?
Consilience or “the unity of knowledge”: an approach to complexity, a critical compass, a course of action
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Should we trust social media analysis? The need for a bridge between computer science and social researchers
The recent EYES (Emerging Youth Early Signs) 2021 report published by SKEMA PUBLIKA used Twitter information to uncover shared sentiments among young people of different countries. Should we trust social media analysis ?
Is a “mass employee exodus” on the cards after COVID-19
Since the start of the global COVID-19 pandemic, several studies and reports have highlighted the need to change the way organisations are designed, particularly in terms of structural configuration and work organisation, to models favouring agility and resilience in order to better withstand this crisis and prepare for the next ones.
Médecins Sans Frontières, a pioneer of the NGO business model
Understanding the NGO business model requires a paradigm shift, because the indicators used in the models of for-profit organisations (profitability to finance investments that will generate economic growth and more profit) do not apply to non-profit organisations.
What is the most profitable way to sell ? Evidences from research
Auctions are commonly used in many different situations (art, fish, flowers, etc). But at the same time, many products are sold through posted prices or negotiations. In the joint article with Dan Bernhardt and Tingjun Liu, published in Journal of Economic Theory, we identified the "value discovery" as the merit and the "participation cost" as the demerit of auctions in order to study the most profitable way to sell.
Christo: a business model designed to preserve creative freedom
After 60 years of setbacks and negotiations, months of engineering studies and weeks of execution, Christo’s final posthumous work, L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped, is now on public display for two weeks. While its artistic value may be a matter for debate, its financing is exemplary since no public funding was needed.
Informal networks, formal structure and incremental innovation
Where are the most innovative employees within organizations? What is their position in the informal knowledge-sharing network and the formal organizational structure? What is the relationship between formal and informal dimensions?
MIGRANT WORKERS’ ‘RIGHTS-TALK’: AN IMMENSE PROMISE FACING HIGH SOCIAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL BARRIERS
The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) require that business know and show that they respect human rights. They can do so by conducting human rights due diligence and by translating and embedding human rights throughout their organization.
Do you have the right business model for your strategy?
You should change your business model! We regularly hear this injunction from mentors coaching startups or from strategy consultants called by managers to improve the performance of their (small or large) company. This may be true… or not.
THE WORLD AFTER COVID-19: THE FOUR APPROACHES OF DECISION MAKERS WHEN FACED WITH UNCERTAINTY
We are all trying to figure out what tomorrow holds, either by making our own predictions or by listening intently to those made by others, particularly the experts...
How the Covid-19 crisis is exacerbating inequalities between male and female researchers
Academic careers depend on the researcher’s capacity to publish scientific articles in the best journals in their field. Publication is the deciding factor for promotion and peer recognition. Women are less present in this race and their numbers decrease the further up the academic ladder we look.
International organised crime, a lucrative form of entrepreneurship
Illegal drug trade, arms and human trafficking, counterfeiting... “Grey globalisation” players have spawned transnational organised crime (TOC) that is difficult to stamp out. Indeed, it is complex on account of its production bases, networks, funding and demand. An analysis of drug trafficking through the lens of consilience provides a better understanding of this issue and its challenges.
Remote work, trust and surveillance in times of pandemic
The Covid-19 pandemic crisis is affecting our ways of living, travelling, and working. In conditions of lockdown and gradual reopening of businesses, companies around the world had to rapidly deploy large-scale remote work solutions wherever possible and even where it was previously thought to be unfeasible. What are the potential consequences and how can these be addressed?
Startups and large firms relationships: When both David and Goliath win
We all know about the David against Goliath story and the result of their battle. When applied to startups and large firms, the asymmetry of the situation of the stakeholders usually ends up the other way around. This asymmetry is…
The role of data science in the target analysis process
So far, the field of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) does not seem to have made the shift to digital. Yet machine learning and artificial intelligence could be used in several phases of the process for evaluating a target company.
Consilience or “the unity of knowledge”: an approach to complexity, a critical compass, a course of action
In a complex world, it is no longer possible to content ourselves with deeper but disjointed knowledge. Consilience or “the unity of knowledge” is a way to approach the problems and challenges of our time by interconnecting fields of knowledge…
Culminating events and time working together in top management teams
Top management teams (TMTs) – comprising the most influential executives in an organization – are important because of their influence over strategic choices and performance. Prior studies have shown that TMT characteristics such as age, education, and functional background affect…