In the glamorous realm of beauty, a less appealing truth lurks beneath the surface—the cosmetics industry generates massive amounts of unrecyclable waste.

As we loom closer to an environmental crisis, disruptive innovation is necessary now more than ever. 

As business schools seek to prepare future business leaders to tackle these issues, schools are centering sustainability and innovation at the heart of the curriculum.

There are even MBA degrees out there that offer specializations in sustainability and innovation, with the MBA at HEC Paris being one of these programs. 

Here are the main ways that innovation skills can prepare grads for success in sustainable business jobs at major companies such as L'Oréal.

An understanding of sustainable business can fuel innovation 

Innovation is as much about creativity as it is about understanding a given problem and finding a unique solution to solve it.

A desire to understand environmental issues at a greater level inspired Anna Dragina (pictured), an MBA graduate from HEC Paris and global sustainability manager at L'Oréal, to gain her business school credentials.

Anna had previously worked in L'Oréal’s corporate communications department in her home country of Russia, which involved a lot of duties connected to sustainability issues and working alongside NGOs.

“It became clear to me that I wanted to pivot from corporate responsibilities to purely sustainable business issues,” she says.

To do this, she says, she would need environmental skills that she didn’t possess at the time, as well as a holistic overview of business operations.

“If I was going to be speaking to the director of a factory about processes and operations, I needed an understanding of how the business worked,” she says. 

To fill in the gaps, Anna began her search for an innovative MBA degree, setting her sights on HEC Paris. Since she wanted to further her career within L'Oréal—a French company—it made sense to join an MBA in Paris. 

Plus, the opportunity to specialize in sustainability and innovation cemented Anna’s decision.

During the 16-month MBA program, Anna broadened her understanding of business beyond the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry, learning about sustainable business practices in the energy, oil, and gas sector while learning about different priorities in global markets and how to understand the stakeholder vision. 

While HEC Paris MBA students learn about core business areas in courses such as Financial Markets and Strategic Management, they can then blend their learnings with electives in the Sustainable and Disruptive Innovation specialization, such as Design Thinking for Innovation and Socially Responsible Investing. 

Innovation skills are gained through practice in sustainable business areas

Learning about sustainable business and innovation is important, but practicing your innovation skills is even more crucial.

The HEC Paris MBA offers practical initiatives for students to test out their knowledge in a supportive environment. 

In the capstone project, Anna worked with a real company to solve a sustainability issue that the firm was facing.

“I went far and beyond on how to innovate on sustainability and imagine the future for the business in 2030, defining their business priorities,” she says.

Anna also took part in an MBA summer internship with luxury company Richemont in the Paris office. The experience enabled her to apply knowledge from her MBA classes and improve her understanding of regulation and stakeholder priorities.

This MBA internship involved considering the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)—the new EU reporting standard that outlines how companies report on their sustainability measures. Luckily, Anna had learned about this regulation in her MBA degree at HEC Paris.

Harnessing innovation skills in a sustainability role at L'Oréal 

Following her MBA in France, Anna returned to her company with a new job title: global sustainability manager.

More specifically, she oversees the global sustainability operations of one of L'Oréal’s brands, Vichy, defining the strategy for sustainability, as well as working with the team to define product formulation and reduce packaging intensity.

“It’s a very challenging role that requires a lot of negotiation and going back and forth convincing stakeholders,” she says.

However, the knowledge and network she gained from her HEC Paris MBA is helping her every step of the way.

“Thanks to my MBA, I now have the soft skills to learn fast and to connect with people,” she says. “One of the most valuable learnings for me is that knowledge is found when working alongside people, rather than in books.”