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‘The MSc International Strategy & Influence is experiencing a marked increase in quantity and quality of candidates’: Christophe Bisson
Christophe Bisson is the director of the MSc International Strategy and Influence (MSc ISI) — a one-of-a-kind, hybrid programme that enables students to combine strategy, economic security and influence while being at the forefront of digital in these areas. In this interview, he provides some insights into the unique aspects of this field and programme.
Christophe Bisson, can you tell us about the new class of students in the fall 2022 academic year?
The 2022-2023 academic year is a year in which we are seeing a great increase in the power of our master's, particularly in terms of the profiles we recruit. We have 77 students this year (28% growth), with more than 40% international students from 16 different nationalities.
What is the reality of the strategy, economic security, and influence sector today?
The sector is recruiting, it is a reality. Many of our graduates see their internships transformed into a promise of employment. They have obtained internships in major institutions, such as Rothschild, IBM and Capgemini.
This employability at the end of the master's degree is explained by the solid constitution of the programme. Thus, academicians close to companies and very high-level strategy/influence/security consultants intervene in our courses. I was also able to solicit, via my network, in particular senior executives from Thalès and Michelin, who bring all their experience to our students.
The MSc ISI is the only programme of its kind that combines the teachings and methods of 360-degree strategy (involving all impacting subjects beyond simple financial indicators) and economic and strategic intelligence augmented by digital.
Another fundamental point: we address the environmental and social criteria integrated into governance, and work to ensure that organisations are competitive while helping to create a more sustainable and better world.
As a demonstration, I work on articles and conferences with the top management of a very large multinational to propose solutions to deal with complexity, while being agile with a view to sustainability. This could potentially serve as an example.
You will speak in November at the European Forum for Economic and Strategic Intelligence in the world after, with the main players in the sector. Can you tell us about your participation as a SKEMA professor?
The European IES 2022 forum is an important meeting on the agenda of economic and strategic intelligence players. There will be several high-level participants, personalities from the sector, such as Alain Juillet, who held important responsibilities in the public and private world.
Many professionals from large companies such as Thalès, Orano, Airbus, ArianeGroup, etc., and also from ministries will be present. I will give the first conference in plenary session on the theme "Augmented economic and strategic intelligence, a new paradigm for a sovereign and competitive nation".
