法國商學院放眼全球

With the political mood in the US and UK growing more introspective, French business schools are sensing an opportunity to attract more international students to their campuses at home and abroad.

隨着美、英兩國的政治氣氛變得日益內向，法國各商學院嗅到了一絲吸引更多國際學員到其海內外校區學習的機遇。

In recent years the focus of French business schools has been on consolidation and mergers, such as those that created both Neoma and Kedge in 2013. Some have been more successful than others and the trend may be coming to an end. “I don’t think we will see many more mergers,” says Jean-Michel Blanquer, dean of Essec. “The mergers that made sense have been done.”

近年來，法國各商學院的重心一直放在整合與合併上，例如2013年誕生了NEOMA商學院和Kedge商學院的合併。有些合併很成功，有些則不然，這股趨勢可能正在結束。“我認爲我們將不會看到很多新的合併，”法國ESSEC高等商學院院長讓-米歇爾?布朗凱(Jean-Michel Blanquer)說，“有意義的合併都已完成。”

This return to greater stability at home is one factor encouraging some French schools to look outward. There is also pressure from government. French higher education lags behind the world’s main providers of general transnational education — the US, UK and Australia — and a recent report by government-affiliated think-tank France Stratégie, highlighted an “urgent” need for a new approach.

國內格局進一步迴歸穩定，是激勵一些法國商學院將眼光投向海外的因素之一。此外，還有來自政府的壓力。法國高等教育落後於美國、英國、澳大利亞等世界主要通用跨國教育供給國，而隸屬法國政府的智庫France Stratégie最近發佈的一份報告強調了採取一條新路徑的“迫切”需要。

While French business schools are among the more active higher education institutions overseas, teaching some 3,000 students outside France, there is awareness that there is potential for growth. In order for a French school to gain accreditation from the ministry of national education for its academic awards, it must now demonstrate a clearly defined strategy for international expansion.

雖然法國商學院在海外已躋身諸多更具活力的高等教育機構之列，在法國之外向約3000名學生授課，但人們知道它們仍有增長潛力。要讓本校頒發的學歷獲得國家教育部認證，任何一家法國商學院現在都必須拿出一份明晰的國際擴張戰略。

But being international is not enough, says Bernard Belletante, director-general of EMLyon. “We’ve been sending students abroad for many years and internationalisation is not a problem thanks to the EU,” he says. “Now we have to move to globalisation.”

但僅實現國際化還不夠，法國里昂商學院(EMLyon)院長貝爾納?貝勒唐特(Bernard Belletante)表示。“多年來我們一直在送學生到海外學習，因爲有歐盟(EU)存在，國際化不是問題，”他說，“現在，我們必須邁向全球化。”

Financial pressures are also an important driver pushing French schools to seek new markets. There are several categories of business school in France: those part of a public university (the Institut d’Administration des Entreprises network); privately-run business schools that operate like companies with shareholders; some that operate as non-profits under the status of etablissement d’enseignement supérieur privé d’intérêt général (private higher education institutions with a public interest); and the écoles consulaires, a final group that includes big schools such as HEC and ESCP Europe, which are overseen, in part, by the French Chambers of Commerce.

財務壓力也是推動法國商學院尋找新市場的一個重要驅動力。法國有多個種類的商學院：公立大學下轄的商學院（Institut d’Administration des Entreprises網絡）；像股份公司一樣運營的私立商學院；以EESPIG（公益性私立高等教育機構）身份運營的非營利性商學院；以及最後一類工商會商學院(école consulaire)，包括巴黎高等商學院(HEC Paris)、ESCP歐洲商學院(ESCP Europe)等部分受法國商會(French Chambers of Commerce)監督的大型學院。

“Although each category has its specific challenges, all are faced with the significant decrease of public funding,” explains Frank Bournois, dean of ESCP Europe, referring to cuts in funding from the French Chambers of Commerce and the local apprenticeship tax. Also, while France offers attractive tax incentives to philanthropists, French business school foundations are still learning the art of attracting wealthy donors.

“儘管每一類都有自己具體的挑戰，但它們都面臨公共財政資金大幅下降的問題，”ESCP歐洲商學院院長弗朗克?布爾努瓦(Frank Bournois)解釋道，他指的是來自法國商會及地方學徒稅的資金的削減。此外，雖然法國爲慈善家們提供有吸引力的稅收激勵政策，但法國商學院各基金會仍在學習如何才能吸引有錢的捐贈人。

French schools therefore spy new revenue opportunities abroad. “The domestic market is already mature, so growth lies in the recruitment of international students,” says Jean-Guy Bernard, the dean of EM Normandie.

於是，法國商學院發現了新的海外創收的機會。“國內市場早已飽和，因此，增長在於招收國際學生，”諾曼底管理學院(EM Normandie)院長讓-居伊?貝爾納(Jean-Guy Bernard)說。

For some, that recruitment strategy means opening campuses in different continents. The latest to open, at the end of September, is Shenzhen Audencia Business School (SABS), a joint venture between Audencia business school, based in Nantes, and Shenzhen University in southern China’s Guangdong province.

對一些商學院而言，這種招生策略意味着在各大洲開園辦校。最新開辦的是去年9月底揭牌的深圳南特商學院(SABS)，由法國南特高等商學院(Audencia Nantes Business School)與位於華南廣東省的深圳大學合辦。

Launching three programmes in 2017 — an MBA, a DBA and a masters — SABS aims to attract 500 students in three years. Audencia also plans to launch a campus in Latin America within three years, while an agreement with the Ivory Coast’s Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphou?t-Boigny was announced earlier this year.

深圳南特商學院2017年將推出工商管理碩士(MBA)、工商管理博士(DBA)及管理學碩士3項課程，計劃3年內招收500名學生。法國南特高等商學院還計劃3年內在拉美啓動一處校區，而在2016年初，該校宣佈已經與科特迪瓦的費利克斯?烏弗埃-博瓦尼國立綜合理工學院(INPHB)達成協議。

In September, Paris-based Essec began teaching in Rabat, Morocco, where its new Africa-Atlantic campus opens next year, with the aim of attracting students from across west Africa, complementing its east Africa-Indian Ocean campus in Mauritius. “Our goal is to be multi-polar, present in the business hubs of each continent,” says Prof Blanquer, its dean.

2016年9月，總部位於巴黎的法國ESSEC高等商學院開始在摩洛哥首都拉巴特授課，該學院位於這裏的非洲-大西洋新校區將在2017年投入使用，目的是吸引整個西非地區的學生，與設在毛里求斯的東非-印度洋校區形成互補。“我們的目標是實現多極化，在每個大洲的商業中心都擁有一席之地，”院長布朗凱教授說。

EMLyon, which already serves Africa with a campus in Casablanca and is stepping up its partnership with East China Normal University to create a joint school in Shanghai named Asia-Europe Business School, is now targeting South America, according to its dean.

據里昂商學院院長介紹，該學院早已通過設在卡薩布蘭卡的一處校區爲非洲提供教育服務，並且正加緊與華東師範大學合作在上海創建一所名爲亞歐商學院(Asia-Europe Business School)的合辦學院。目前，里昂商學院正在瞄準南美地區。

“I’m convinced that in 10 years the international accreditation bodies will be demanding evidence of the internationalisation of a school’s graduates, for example, 50 per cent of graduates who are not French,” predicts EMLyon’s Belletante. “That’s impossible if you are not going abroad.”

“我相信，國際認證機構10年內將要求學校展示畢業生國際化的證據——例如，非法國籍畢業生佔50%，”里昂商學院院長貝勒唐特說，“如果不進軍海外，這是不可能做到的。”

French schools must beware of a copy-and-paste approach, says Fran?ois Bonvalet, dean of Toulouse Business School, which now has international campuses in London, Barcelona and Casablanca. “We need to pull from the French savoir-faire,” says Prof Bonvalet, but applied work and teaching practices must be adapted to local norms. He also cautions that the cost of establishing campuses abroad can be detrimental to the home campus.

圖盧茲商學院(TBS)院長弗朗索瓦?邦瓦萊(Fran?ois Bonvalet)表示，法國商學院必須謹防簡單複製的模式。圖盧茲商學院目前在倫敦、巴塞羅那和卡薩布蘭卡設有國際校區。“我們需要汲取法式經驗，”邦瓦萊教授說，但應用研究和教學實踐必須適應當地標準。他還告誡，海外辦校的花費可能對國內的校本部造成損害。

“It’s expensive to operate abroad especially in areas where tuition fees cannot be raised,” he explains. “As we want to have harmonisation within our programmes taught across multiple campuses, the expenses of one campus limits what we are able to do in France. So our business model must be well defined.”

“海外運營成本高昂，尤其是在無法提高學費的地區，”他解釋說，“因爲我們希望在多個校區所授課程項目之間保持協調，所以某處海外校區的開銷會限制我們在法國能夠做的事情。因此，我們的運營模式必須非常清晰。”

Other schools, such as HEC Paris, are stopping short of investing in new campuses abroad, choosing instead to partner with business schools around the world to offer joint and double degrees and student and faculty exchanges. Schools that perform well in global rankings can leverage the power of their international brand to attract more international students to their programmes in France, often using overseas offices and fairs.

巴黎高等商學院等其他學院已不再投資新建海外校區，而是選擇與世界各地的商學院合作，提供聯合學位、雙學位課程以及師生交換項目。全球排名中靠前的商學院，能夠利用國際品牌的影響力吸引更多國際學生參加它們在法國的項目——它們經常利用海外辦事處和博覽會。

Whatever their strategy, globalisation is causing many schools to reflect on their French identity, consider how best to market the strengths that have cachet abroad and discard French specifics that hold them back.

無論採取什麼策略，全球化正促使許多商學院反思自己的法國身份，思考如何最大限度利用它們在海外擁有聲望的優勢，摒棄阻礙它們的法式特色。

For example, the traditional French system of classes préparatoires (preparatory classes), which organises the selection and preparation of students for competitive exams into the leading business schools, is not accessible to international students. All classes are in French, with a strong emphasis on maths and French humanities or liberal arts.

比如，傳統的法國預科班制度（爲希望通過競爭性考試進入一流商學院的學生組織選拔和備考）並不接受國際學生。所有預科班都設在法國，而且高度重視數學和法國人文學科。

But a growing number of students are now entering bachelor degree programmes that have been introduced alongside the classes préparatoires. “It’s drastically changing the game,” says ESCP’s Prof Bournois. “This new track is becoming more attractive to non-French students.”

但如今，越來越多的學生正進入與預科班一同被引入的學士學位課程學習。“這徹底改變了遊戲規則，”布爾努瓦教授說，“這一新路徑正變得對非法國籍學員越來越有吸引力。”

According to Eloic Peyrache, associate dean of HEC, many French business schools tend to be more multi-disciplinary than their US or British counterparts and offer more academic content and greater contact time with faculty.

巴黎高等商學院副院長埃盧瓦克?佩拉什(Eloic Peyrache)表示，與美、英兩國的商學院相比，很多法國商學院往往更側重多學科教育，提供更多學業內容，學員與教員交流的時間也更多。

Prof Peyrache thinks French schools also excel in the personal development of students. “We work on three dimensions at HEC. Know yourself, know the market and match yourself with the market,” he says. “French business schools spend more on the know yourself. We tend to have slightly longer programmes, which leaves more time for broadening horizons and opportunities to learn. We give students longer to ask questions and find answers.”

佩拉什教授認爲，在學員個人發展方面，法國商學院的表現也很出色。“在巴黎高等商學院，我們致力於3個維度。瞭解自己、瞭解市場，讓自己與市場相匹配，”他說，“法國各商學院花更多時間讓學員瞭解自己。我們的課程往往時間稍長，可以給學員留出更多開拓視野的時間、更多學習的機會。我們給學員更多提出問題和尋找答案的時間。”