This new alliance can be decrypted in several ways

The goal is ambitious: "To create a centre of higher education of a new, multidisciplinary, international radiation type."EM Lyon and Central Lyon just announce a strategic "alliance" to "better prepare the leaders of the future". "Training in the business is no longer sufficient, said Patrick Molle, Director General of EM Lyon. He is also a background in Humanities and social sciences and scientific knowledge. Because growth is conducted today by the innovation and technology. That is why we must bring closer us to other institutions, in particular schools of engineers. "The project code name: Yin Yang.

Two schools, installed and part of the same street, are not their first collaboration. They chose now to strengthen their ties, while keeping each identity. A key, a series of initiatives.

Among these, the creation of a new school dedicated to innovation, design and entrepreneurship; but also the launch of a "factory of projects", at halfway between incubator and "cross-fertilisation". A joint subsidiary dedicated to continuing education will also be the day. In addition, the two campuses will be reworked into more than one, "green" type, the road between them is called as a disappear. This new alliance can be decrypted in several ways. She enrolled in the first place in the logic of the approximation between engineers and managers, already being implemented by several institutions. Audencia thus works with 20 schools of engineers for a curriculum leading to a double degree. Grenoble EM is partner of the Institute of technology (INPG) in a continuous training program leading to the diploma of engineer. Another example, Artem, Nancy knotted alliance between the ICN, Ecole des mines and the higher national school of art.

The origin of all these partnerships a finding: the future managers are less interested in technology and engineers must integrate their side of solid concepts of management, marketing and HRM.

Territorial development

The Lyon agreement can also be seen from a perspective of increasing size, to develop synergies. The two schools also provide group activities: library, computer, home, security "It is not to reduce costs, but to offer more services to the students", says Patrick Molle. Is the time, in many schools, economies and for critical size, taking into account both the gradual disengagement of the ICC and the growing financial needs of the institutions.

Already, several schools have hired reconciliations to cope with these constraints. The ESC Lille and the Ceram Business School as announced last June their merger. "We will propose a kind of unreported education, based on sustainable performance, knowledge management and multidisciplinarity," exposes Alice Guilhon, Director of the Ceram, which takes the whole branch. Among the schools of management, the only merger successful, until then, was the Escem, resulting of the union of the ESC of Tours and Poitiers, in 1998. -Side engineers, the movement is committed for several years. It is true that some schools have more than a few dozen students...

But perhaps more importantly, the Lyon alliance is part of a territorial development perspective. With the growth poles of competitiveness and PRES (research and upper education pole), schools and universities have more interest in closer to other centres of production of knowledge and leading-edge companies. It is the logic prevailing for Giant (Grenoble Isère Alps nanotechnology), the campus of Grenoble innovation project, which should benefit from 1.2 billion euros of investment over six years and together 20,000 students and researchers. Same logic to the plateau of Saclay, South of Paris. These three points of view, the two Lyon schools initiative, as they say, "makes sense".