EDHEC students at the heart of tomorrow's projects through the Open Innovation Seminar

On March 27th and 28th, the EDHEC Lille campus turned into a momentary laboratory dedicated to innovation for 16 companies which teamed up with the school: 500 students from the 2^nd year of the Grande Ecole worked on concrete and strategic cases dealing with innovation.

The 30 managers and executives involved in the project left this two-day seminar with ideas and working plans to launch or renew a brand, target new customers, propose diversified offers, grab opportunities coming from the social networks… a real treasure for the companies!

Since it is difficult to evaluate which will be the activities creating value in the short term or in the next ten years, students must consider innovation as a fundamental element of their future accomplishment. This dimension is deeply rooted in the programmes of the EDHEC Business School, which offers a dedicated seminar, based on cases drafted by corporate partners: the Open Innovation seminar.

These companies brought beforehand some projects ; then, during two days, about 30 managers and executives, helped by a dozen professors, oriented the work of the students on the projects through small-group workshops and plenary sessions.

Thanks to their involvement in this educational seminar, corporate partners become a key element in students' progression, and they gain visibility and proximity at a time when students are looking for a gap-year internship.

As for the students, this exchange with the managers creates a real transfer of competences by putting into practice what they learn. This seminary is the opportunity for them to see innovation as a fundamental idea of every company – and not only start-ups – and therefore introduce them to the notion of “intrapreuneurs”.

The Open Innovation seminar is one of the latest improvement linked with the EDHEC credo and its relationship with corporate partners: co-working. Indeed, created and led by both professors and managers, the seminar combines theory, concrete projects and immediate feedback.

Two other seminars are built on an identical scheme: the Negociation seminar for 1^st year students and the Mock Interviews seminar for last year students.

The companies involved are: BETC Euro RSCG, BNP Paribas*, Décathlon, Groupe Casino*, Groupe Seb*, Groupon*, HappyChic*, Lactalis Nestlé, Michelin*, Orange*, Passionata, Sony*, Tata Communications, Tropicana, Unilever*, Viadeo.

* Members of the