Research at CEREN

Research Policy

The Burgundy School of Business' research centre (CEREN) was created in March 2003.

Research and pedagogic innovation to deliver excellence in teaching is a key activity of the School’s faculty. In compliance with the School’s mission statement, research is committed to the discovery and dissemination of knowledge relevant to management and entrepreneurship. Its main purpose is to supply the educational programmes with concepts, methods and tools enabling participants and business partners to assimilate entrepreneurial behaviour and best practices in management supporting sustainable development and performance.

Ceren’s mission is to enrich educational programs, enabling participants and business partners to take the ownership of both entrepreneurial behaviour and management best practices that make innovative business ventures sustainable.
Our center focuses on instrumental and contract research in Entrepreneurial Management as a process that can be researched by scholars, taught by educators, and managed by entrepreneurs.

We live in a world of opportunities and challenges. Entrepreneurial management enables us to turn these to our advantage. We are convinced that entrepreneurial management is a process that can be researched by scholars, taught by educators, and managed by entrepreneurs.
We seek to provide concepts, methods, and tools to help leaders to better read their environment and to make more relevant decisions.We emphasize the importance of entrepreneurial management as:
“Entrepreneurial management is a process which “starts with the capacity of entrepreneurial individuals to recognise new opportunities and become passionate about exploiting them…Once the entrepreneur has committed himself or herself to their opportunity, they must marshal sufficient resources to see their goals achieved…Successful entrepreneurship also requires the skills to select, organize and manage the activities associated with innovation and change” (Tim Mazzarol, CEMI)

Academic research

The school strives to develop two areas of distinctive expertise in "Entrepreneurship, Clustering and Innovation" and "Sustainable Performance Development", but at the same time wants to preserve a broad basis of research activities to sustain teaching excellence in all relevant fields.
Inside those two first teams (ICE et DDP), three new topics have emerged …

• Experimental Economics : structured upon Dr Angela Sutan’s expertise, a new multidisciplinary team (psychology, marketing, communication, economics…)
• Anticipated actions : 10th Experimental Economics Days, creation of the Laboratory in Experimental Economics, 2 big research projects funded by Europe and Burgundy
• Health : multidisciplinary team (marketing, Health Economics, HRM, psychology, Health at work, Health and Food…)
• Internet, and e-business based upon Dr Djamchid Assadi expertise with a focus on e-tourism

Practice oriented research

CEREN has developed research activities in connection with the economic world. For example it is involved in plans to set up a cluster centred on the manufacture of wood-framed houses in Burgundy.

As part of its relations with companies, CEREN has created three academic chairs.

• The first of these chairs, coordinated by Joël Ernult, had been created in partnership with the "Caisse d'Épargne de Bourgogne-Franche Comté", also funded by EDF and Hewlett Packard. It focuses on corporate social responsibility and business performance.
• The second is a UNESCO "Wine and Culture" chair in partnership with the University of Burgundy. This is to be a multidisciplinary structure involving education and research in wine growing and wine production, connected to an international network of universities and their partners in the corporate world.
• The third one is dedicated to "Health and Food", is coordinated by Dr François Allaert and has been created in partnership with Cenbiotech. It focuses on marketing of on nutrition and health claims made on foods.

Pedagogic Development and Innovation

Pedagogic development and innovation are driven by the vision that learning emerges from doing and is a result of participation in communities of practice.
In line with research activities in the two areas of distinctive expertise, BSB's Faculty strives to develop action learning teaching methods confronting students with the business context that will stimulate their learning of entrepreneurial traits and managerial skills. Faculty members publish also case studies.
To enable the School’s mission statement with regard to education, i.e. the development of responsible managers, leaders and entrepreneurs, the Personal Development Department was created. The purpose is to make the most of the students’ experience, to help them to evaluate this experience in terms of entrepreneurial spirit and leadership and to develop their ability to adapt to new environments and to cultural diversity.

CEREN Management

The research activities are supervised by three authorities.

• The Research Director,
• The Advisory Board advises the Research Director in matters of orientation and evaluation.
• A Steering Committee validates the research projects and allocates material and financial resources.

It is made up of the Research Director, the Dean of the Faculty and the elected Dean of the Faculty.

CEREN Advisory Board

Doctor Stéphan Bourcieu	Director of the school
Marie José Albert-Batt	International Relations Director
Isabelle Demay	Corporate Relations Director
Tim Mazzarol, PhD	Professor, Business School , University of Western Australia (Australia)
Ruth Dupré, PhD	Tenure Professor, Institut d’Économie Appliquée, Director of Programmes, HEC Montréal, Canada
Paul Jarley, PhD	Gatton Endowed Professor and Director of the Center of Labor Education and Research at the University of Kentucky, Dean of Faculty and Special Programs, Research Associate in the Center for Labor Education and Research, USA
Doctor Jean Jacques Chanaron	Research Director, CNRS (France)
Xavier Roy	President of "Club des Districts Industriels Français"

CEREN Steering Committee

Dr Sophie Reboud	Research Director and Director of CEREN
Dr Joël Ernult	Elected Dean of the Faculty
Patrick Scotti	Dean of the Faculty