- IMD Business School  - IMD Business School  - IMD Business School
About

The E4S Center is dedicated to inspiring and activating the transition to a resilient and inclusive economy within planetary boundaries, mindful of the opportunities and challenges raised by scientific and technological change.

About

The E4S Center is dedicated to inspiring and activating the transition to a resilient and inclusive economy within planetary boundaries, mindful of the opportunities and challenges raised by scientific and technological change.

The Center promotes dialogue between researchers and practitioners working with technology and those focusing on social economic issues to solve the world’s greatest challenges. E4S supports the alliance between management and technology and the need for innovation.

At E4S we are:

Training the next generation of leaders by offering a Master’s degree in Sustainable Management and Technology.

 

Inspiring socio economic transformation by connecting more than 100 researchers at our three partnering institutions and beyond to produce knowledge and expertise with the ambition of positively impacting the global economy.

 

Strengthening the local start-up and innovation ecosystem by partnering with institutions to create a structure that will support start-ups.

Our team

The E4S Center is composed of over 100 mission-driven staff, researchers and faculty from all three institutions, committed to driving the transition to a more resilient, sustainable and inclusive economy.

 - IMD Business School
Jean-Philippe Bonardi

Managing Director

Jean-Philippe Bonardi is a Professor of Strategic Management and Business Economics, and the former Dean of the HEC Lausanne, the Faculty of Business and Economics of the University of Lausanne. He earned his PhD and a Master from HEC School of Management (Paris, France), as well as a Master in Economics from the University of Aix-en-Provence, and was previously an Associate Professor at the Richard Ivey School of Business of the University of Western Ontario (Canada). He also held visiting appointments at the University of California Berkeley, Tulane University (USA) and the University of New South Wales (Australia). Professor Bonardi is also currently co-Managing Director of the ‘Enterprise for Society’ (E4S) center, jointly created in 2020 by the University of Lausanne, the Ecole Polytechnique of Lausanne (EPFL) and the Institute for Management Development (IMD). The goal of this center is to help shape and accelerate the transition towards the economy of the upcoming industrial revolution, an economy that will have to be more sustainable and inclusive. His research focuses on Strategy Formulation in general, with a focus on the relationships between firms’ strategies and public policies, including technology and environmental policies. He studies not only how firms are impacted by these policies, but also how firms devise innovative strategies to participate in the development of these policies and how they manage the relationships with external stakeholders (media, NGOs, activists, consumer groups, etc.) in order to do so. His research has been published in major international research outlets including the Academy of Management Journal, the Academy of Management Review, the Strategic Management Journal or Management Science. He also served as an Associate Editor of the Academy of Management Review, one of the leading academic management journal, between 2008 and 2011. Professor Bonardi has also acted as a consultant to various companies in Europe and North America, and has taught and designed Executive education programs for companies and international organizations such as the United Nations, the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), the RBC Royal Bank, Threadneedle, La Poste, SSL International, UPM, Veolia, DSM, Air France, UEFA or the International Olympic Committee, among others.

Our programs

Master of Science in Sustainable Management and Technology (SMT)

We are training the next generation of leaders through our SMT Master Program. It offers graduates with a bachelor’s degree in Economics, Management or Engineering who are passionate about sustainability the essential technical and economic skills needed to tackle real-world sustainability issues.

 - IMD Business School

This is a unique opportunity to take our know-how in sustainability and our long-standing experience, through HEC, in business research and education and combine them with the core competencies of two major universities – one specializing in technology and the other in management and large corporations.

Nouria Hernandez Rector, UNIL, Switzerland
 - IMD Business School

Our society has reached a tipping point. By pooling the right kinds of expertise, we can harness science and technology to take our society in the right direction. That is precisely what E4S has been set up to do.

Martin Vetterli President, EPFL, Switzerland
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