Higher education in management: The case of France

Abstract

When compared to the social sciences, the science of management is an altogether new field in France. J.B. Say taught his first courses at Cnam in what was called at that time '‘applied political economy’’ from 1805 onwards. The first major management schools in France appeared between the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries, notably with the founding of ESCP in 1819, HEC in 1881 and ESSEC in 1907. These business schools were created primarily by the Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CCI), a group of public institutions fashioned by Napoleon in 1803 in order to sustain the development of both private companies and the regional economy (De Montmorillon 2011). Until the 1960s, most knowledge of business management belonged primarily to practitioners and consultants. It was only in 1955 that the first master’s degree in management was offered by a public university, followed by Pierre Tabotoni’s creation of the first institute for business management (Institut d’Administration des Entreprises, IAE).