Made in IAE
Enrolled at the University of Montpellier in 1993 as a student, Emmanuel Houzé never left home. Stability accompanied by a constant need to travel internationally, to continually feed off new projects. Meet the new director ofthe Institute of Business Administration.
"A pure product of the University of Montpellier." That's how Emmanuel Houzé describes himself. It must be said that the new director ofthe IAE has been with the institution for 28 years now: "I arrived in 1993, when the Richter campus opened," recalls theProfessor, who is in charge of the information systems management program. He came to this discipline "by chance," after starting out in DEUG A, where he wasn't really passionate about mathematics, physics, or chemistry. He then discovered management and specialized in information systems. " This discipline began to emerge in the 1970s and seeks to better understand the challenges involved in deploying information technology in businesses," explains the specialist.
Pioneer
Emmanuel Houzé devoted his DEA (Master's degree) at IAE to this discipline, working with Robert Reix, the founder of IAE Montpellier, "a fascinating teacher! He was the one who promoted the spread of information systems management in France." In 2000, the then student defended his doctoral thesis on virtual teams in information systems management, "a highly topical subject given the current pandemic, which has seen an explosion in the use of teleworking."
After completing his thesis, Emmanuel Houzé became a lecturer in 2001 at a laboratory that would later become Montpellier Research Management, continuing his involvement with IAE. At the time, the young researcher set up IAE's first apprenticeship program in collaboration with La Poste. "We had 10 apprentices at the time, and today we have 364 and work with three apprentice training centers." Why work-study programs? "Because students' professional integration requires both academic training and professional training, so we need to find the right balance between the two."This balance has clearly been achieved, as IAE Montpellier now boasts a professional integration rate of 90% six months after graduation.
International responsibilities
Emmanuel Houzé quickly took on international responsibilities as well, notably setting up the IAE's very first dual degree program in international business with Burapha University in Thailand, where he was later awarded an honorary doctorate. "In one year, students obtain a degree from both institutions, a policy that we have since promoted, with eight dual degree programs currently inplace."
Since 2017, this international investment has also involved managing the Erasmus Capacity Building program called Gecko. This program aims to improve the employability of engineering students by providing them with managerial skills in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand, "countries that do not include many management courses in their engineering school curricula." For Emmanuel Houzé, international projects are "vital."Vital but time-consuming: with an average of seven or eight international trips outside the European Union each year, theProfessor , or rather spent before the outbreak of Covid, a lot of time on planes.
Desire to innovate
This is a habit he will have to break over the next five years due to lack of time. Elected director of the IAE on June 21, Emmanuel Houzé will take up his post on September 14, having served as deputy director of the IAE between 2007 and 2016 and again in 2020. " I wanted to make a modest contribution to the IAE, where I have received so much; it was a logical next step."
This new adventure is driven by a desire to innovate, particularly by taking a step forward in digitalization. "I want to move towards innovative teaching models by offering a formula that combines face-to-face, distance, and asynchronous courses to provide greater flexibility. To do this, we need to understand the current changes that are causing the needs of our audiences to shift. If we have succeeded in rolling out this model in five years' time, then it will be a success." See you in 2026...