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New Dean Will Help Grenoble Ecole De Management Keep Pace With The Business World

Loïck Roche is appointed Dean while Thierry Grange, who took the school global, becomes President of the Strategic Board

By  Ifeatu Nnaobi

Fri Jul 27 2012

BusinessBecause
Grenoble Ecole de Management has shaken up its management structure and appointed a new Dean, to keep pace with changes in both the business world and in business education.

Established in 1984 by Grenoble’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Grenoble Ecole de Management is one of Europe's top 30 business schools and one of the world's top 100 business schools, according to the Financial Times.

The School has based its development strategy on three major pillars: Management of Technology & Innovation, Geopolitics and Innovative Pedagogy.

The governance structure will now include a Strategic Board, headed by outgoing Dean Thierry Grange. The colourful Grange has been the architect of Grenoble's evolution from French Grande Ecole to international business school, and its expansion into countries like China, the UAE and China.

Loïck Roche will become Dean of the business school and head the Board of Directors.

A graduate of ESSEC, Roche holds PhD s in Psychology and Philosophy and a post-doctoral degree in Management Sciences. On his LinkedIn profile he talks about how he got started in education:

It’s important to start with my Grandfather. All his professional life he was a skilled worker. He was working on a mechanical press which formed sheet metal for making the bonnet of Renault cars. You can imagine the noise. In this time, the general conditions of work were very, very difficult.

When my grandfather’s son, who was to be my father, was seven years old, he took him one day to the factory. My father was literally traumatized by the noise.

My father understood that day, if he wanted to avoid this destiny, only studies could save him. But with parents who were simple workers, who had little education, it was very difficult to study. And when he missed the “Baccalaureat”, his parents told him: “Stop”, and said: “Now, you must earn your living; you will go to work in a factory.”

So when I was born, his own idea was to avoid my having to follow the same path. This past of my family story could explain why I could follow my studies

He goes on to say

This also explains why I am convinced that teams can win, why teams can be the best, even if initially they do not have the best people nor the best tools and resources to succeed. I believe in the will, in the work, in the management, and therefore in the progress of men and women, in the progress and performance of organizations.

Roche began his career as an HR consultant. He joined Grenoble Ecole de Management as a research faculty member in 1995 and has held a variety of academic positions and authored over 30 books

Roche took up the post of Dean on 1sy July 2012. He is committed to ensuring that the Grenoble Ecole de Management education keeps pace with international developments in business education. He said, “Our environment is undergoing major transformations. International competition grows relentlessly every year, and we must be thrilled about it.

"In France, new trends are changing the environment of schools and universities. A radical reform is taking place in terms of teaching methods and course content. Businesses, students, and executive education participants are no longer accepting the faculty member as sole guardian of knowledge and the classroom as only place to learn. Whilst we have nearly 7,000 students, 1,200 employees, 130 academic partners worldwide, and an effective international positioning, we need to innovate... in order to maintain our efficiency and secure our future.”

The mission of the Strategic Board, which will be headed by outgoing Dean Thierry Grange, is to ensure that the School's strategy matches up with its objectives, and to assess new strategic development opportunities in France and abroad.

If teaching is moving out of the classroom, where will Grenoble students of the future be learning, and who will be teaching them? With two visionary Deans in charge, it seems that interesting times lie ahead for Grenoble Ecole de Management. Stay tuned for more updates here! You can follow Dean Roche on Twitter here

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