You often hear of mergers between big corporates, but how about a B-school merger? In Europe, two schools — the Rouen Business School and Reims Management School — have merged to form a new institution called Neoma Business School. The new school aspires to be ranked among Europe’s leading business schools and be recognised as the preferred partner of companies. The newly-born school has more than 8,000 students, 200 permanent professors, and over 40,000 alumni in its rolls.
The name is based on two terms Neo and Ma. ‘Neo’ refers to what’s new, to create or renew, and ‘ma’ is a direct reference to management, says a press release from the France-based schools. The name makes a clear reference to today’s managerial attitudes, according to Frank Bostyn, the school’s Dean. “It is consistent with how B-schools need to rethink management and imagine a new approach in order to better service humanity and better meet the challenges of business.”
The mission of the school, which has campuses in Reims, Rouen and Paris, is to educate and support tomorrow’s managers and entrepreneurs, capable of responsible leadership and go beyond the dominant models.
The business school will offer a new portfolio of programmes starting 2014, from undergraduate to executive education, which includes a Grande Ecole Master programme as well. — Our Bureau