Social and Environmental Responsibility in the Rouen School of Management

Over the last several years, the Rouen School of Management has carried through a large number of initiatives aimed at putting into action the principles of social and environmental responsibility, against the background of global responsibility
These initiatives have been led by both the school’s staff and its students, who have developed their own projects in parallel.
Today, they are centred on 4 main themes :

• The integration of Sustainable Development in the school’s development strategy
• A proactive commitment to promoting diversity and social integration
• The introduction of global responsibility into the school’s research work and teaching
• The active commitment of students through their association activities

The integration of Sustainable Development in the School’s development strategy.

The commitments of the Organisation and Information Systems Departments (DMGO and DSI)

The DMGO and DSI undertake to set up and/or continue the following measures :

Recovery of waste

• Donation of working computer materiel to an association
• Sorting of paper/cardboard waste put into blue bins by the cleaners
• Ordering skips for electronic/computing waste
• Recovery of used batteries and storage cells, contract signed with Corepile

Reduction of consumption :

• of water
  • Quarterly test for leakage
  • Daily checks by the janitors and cleaning staff
  • Flow restrictor for taps
  • Reduction of volume of water in tanks
• of electricity
  • Purchase of ‘ecolabel’ light bulbs
  • Installation of source selector with presence detector
  • Replacement of old equipment
  • Building work to eliminate electric radiators
• of paper 
  • Photocopies done in recto/verso ; PowerPoint presentations printed 4 slides per page
  • Reduction in volume of photocopies
  • Additional course documents made available on the intranet
  • Reduction in student printing quotas

Travel and accessibility

• The loan of laptop computers for teleworking
• All buildings to be made accessible for wheel-chair users

Social and environmental ethics

• Protection of the environment
  • Management of the estate (around 150 trees in an area of 7 ha), taking expert advice from the ONF (= Forestry
    Commission)
  • Parkland maintenance carried out by a CAT (Centre for employment of handicapped people)
• Fair trade
  • Offering fair trade products in the drink vending machines
  • Logistics assistance in the organisation of ‘Fair Trade Markets’ by student associations
• Business relations
  • In relation with contract awarding procedures, taking into account the provisions of government decree 2004-15, dated 7 January, 2004, whereby the protection of the environment may be one of the considerations in the awarding of a contract.   

The Rouen Business School, member of ‘Campus Responsable’

The Rouen Business School is a member of the ‘Campus Responsables’ campaign launched by Graines de Changement in partnership with the WWF and the Comité 21 (French Council for the Environment and Sustainable Development).

The aim of the ‘Campus Responsables’ campaign is to encourage institutions of higher education (Business and Management Schools, Graduate Engineering Schools, Universities) to progressively integrate sustainable development in their teaching and research programmes, but also in all of the administrative work of the institution (general services, financial control, architecture, corporate relations, and relations with the local community and other groups, internship policy, etc.)

An active commitment to promoting diversity and social integration

Financial assistance for students

Reduction in fees offered by the Rouen Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Every year, the Rouen Chamber of Commerce and Industry grants reductions in tuition fees to meritorious students who come from a financially disadvantaged background. In 2006-2007, the total amounted to 189,000 €.
The grants committee meets in February to study each request; priority is given to students with clear academic merit who make every effort to manage their budgets efficiently. The committee can grant reductions of up to 50% of the tuition fees.

Unsecured loans
The Rouen School of Management has signed a partnership agreement with the CIC Banque BSD-CIN by which students who distinguish themselves because of their good academic results, and who do not have the means to cover the tuition fees may benefit from an unsecured financial solution. Thanks to this partnership with the CIC Banque BSD-CIN, a student admitted to one of the Rouen School of Management’s programmes, who cannot register because of financial reasons, can find a financial solution, at a good interest rate, and without any parental guarantee.

Initiatives in favour of social integration and diversity

“Envie d’Sup!” – Partnership between the Rouen School of Management and 4 Lycées in the Greater Rouen area

Within the framework of the ‘Envie de Réussir’ (I want to succeed) project, the Rouen School of Management has entered into an agreement with to four Lycées in the Greater Rouen area: Val de Seine, Les Bruyères, Flaubert and Vallée du Cailly. This partnership is part of the ‘Envie de Réussir’ project under the aegis of the Délégation Interministrelle à la Ville (Inter-ministerial Delegation for Urban Affairs), in partnership with the Rectorat (Local education Authority) and the Haute Normandie Regional Council. The aim of this project is to support and guide Lycée pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds who have distinguished themselves through their good academic results through the three years of the Lycée, helping them shape their projects for the future.
From January 2007 on, 28 pupils in the first year of Lycée and from the four Lycées involved, have been sponsored by Grande Ecole Programme students at the Rouen School of Management. They have taken part in a special programme involving the School’s Faculty, students, alumni and corporate partners. Twice a month, they have come to the School’s campus to take part in workshops on discovering the world of business, the development of a career plan or working methods. They have also been invited to join in cultural visits in the region. Their tutors, 1st and 2nd year students in the Grande Ecole Programme, work on a voluntary basis and have received special training. They will work with the Lycée pupils throughout their three years in the Lycée, and will draw up a report on the progress of each pupil they have worked with.
“The aim of this approach is to demystify the access to higher education, and particularly to the ‘Grandes ecoles’, as perceived by the Lycée pupils, and to show them the different career possibilities which are available to them, while giving them the means to show their skills in a good light, during selection interviews, for example”, explains Anne Prévost, the Rouen School of Management faculty member who is at the origin of this project.
This initiative by the Rouen School of Management, which takes in 600 students from the Haute Normandie region every year, is part of the School’s ongoing commitment to opening up access to Higher Education.
“Our responsibility with regard to social integration and equal opportunities in the field of higher education and circuits of excellence is clear” says Arnaud Langlois-Meurinne, Dean of the Rouen School of Management. “Our mission is, specifically, to favour the integration into the business world of young people who are a reflection of the diverse nature of French society. By helping young people from all backgrounds to raise their social horizons, we open our programmes to a different type of talent, with a rich human experience, an entrepreneurial spirit and a capacity for innovation which, nowadays, French businesses absolutely need”.

“Tremplin pour Réussir” (Springboard to Success) – Promoting equality of opportunity

“Tremplin pour réussir” is a programme designed jointly by the ISPP and Ferrero, which offers young people who have passed the baccalaureate, but who do not know what to do career-wise, the possibility of doing a year’s training, totally cost-free, in order to consolidate their educational base and assist them to decide on how to pursue their higher education. If they choose join the ISPP, Ferrero will cover the tuition of the best students and take them on as apprentices, with a view to offering them a contract at the end of the period. Those who choose another way will continue to benefit from support and guidance for a further term.
Other initiatives are being developed between Ferrero and the ISPP.

The “Feeling” project with FERRERO

The aim: To formulate and develop a social project which meets the most urgent needs of people in difficulty. This challenge is thrown down for 2nd year ISPP students, 1st and 3rd year IFI students and those in the Tremplin 2 of the Grande Ecole Programme. Ferrero will finance the winning project up to a limit of 10,000 €.

The Rouen School of Management’s Grande Ecole Programme, a partner of the “Passeport Promotions Telecoms”

The Grande Ecole Programme is associated with six telecommunications companies in a programme whose aim is to support and guide students attending the preparatory classes for entry to a graduate engineering school. This initiative allows them to have the assistance of a tutor, someone who works for one of the 6 partner companies, throughout their period of studies, from the entrance exam to their first job.

The Rouen School of Management, signatory of the ‘Diversity in Business’ Charter – 6 July 2007

In signing this charter, the Rouen School of Management is committed to:

• making its managers and staff who are involved in recruitment aware of, and training them in the issues of non-discrimination and diversity
• respecting and promoting the application of the principle of non-discrimination in all its forms and at all stages in the management of human resources
• seeking to reflect the diversity of French society, and particularly its cultural and ethnic diversity, in its staff and student body
• making all those who work for the School aware of its commitment to non-discrimination and diversity
• making the development and implementation of the diversity policy a subject for discussion with staff representatives
• including in the annual report a chapter describing its commitment to non-discrimination and diversity.

Events organised on the campus

Conference with the HALDE – “Rejecting differences and accepting diversity”
The School organised, with the HALDE (The High Authority on the Fight against Discrimination and for Equality) a meeting on the theme “From rejecting difference to accepting diversity” in business, in the administration and in everyday life, on Friday, 31 March 2006. Following this event, Pierre Albertini, Deputy and mayor of Rouen, signed the Diversity in the City Charter, along with Daniel Cadoux, the Prefect of the Haute Normandie region.

Breakfast debate “Sustainable development, a huge field for innovation and enterprise”
The Corporate Affairs Department and the Caisse des Dépôts, partnered by the Haute Normandie Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry, organised a breakfast debate on the 7th of December 2006 on the theme “Sustainable development, a huge field for innovation and enterprise”.

Global responsibility in research and teaching activities

Teaching

The Sustainable development – Ethics – CSR module

This 24 hour module is devoted to understanding the relationship between business and society, mainly via current managerial practice in this field, that is, business ethics, corporate social responsibility and sustainable development
This module is a pre-requisite for the Management of Non-profit Organisations major.

The Learner’s Charter

The Rouen Business School has implemented a Learner’s Charter. In this charter, the students and the whole School express their commitment to three fundamental principles :

• responsibility
  “responsible behaviour is accepting responsibility for what one does, whether it is a success or a failure. Anyone can make a mistake, but this means that it is necessary to examine our mistakes so as to avoid making them again.”
• solidarity
  “the activity of the Rouen Business School results from the combination of people and resources working towards the same goal : each must show solidarity with the others. This is manifested by mutual assistance, pooling of information and the involvement of everyone in the life of the institution. Everyone, through their activities on campus and elsewhere, becomes the guarantor of the School’s honour and image.”
• respect
  “respect for others begins with respect for the rules which life in a society imposes on us. Each individual has a wealth of values. The School has a wealth of individualities which have to coexist, in mutual respect for the individual and for the environment.”

Research

Intercultural management and diversity
Carlos A. Rabasso, Associate Professor at the Rouen Business School, is a specialist on the problems associated with diversity. He has taken part in conferences in various countries in Europe and America, and, with his brother, Javier Rabbasso, an Associate Professor at the University of Rouen, he has published a book , Introduction au management interculturel – Pour une gestion de la diversité Paris : Ellipses, 2007.

This introduction to intercultural management and management of diversity adopts a critical approach to traditional management. The book, in four parts, deals first with cultures and identities, and then examines the different management models. The analysis then moves on to intercultural skills within companies and finally deals with the management of diversity in multi/inter-cultural companies. Whether the reader is a management student or a senior executive in a company or organisation, the book is an invitation to play an active role in finding solutions and alternatives in a society which is going through an identity crisis. So, in a world faced with constant mutation, can intercultural management perhaps be a path towards greater understanding between peoples and their cultures ?