ESCP Business School London

Founded in 1819, ESCP Europe has produced generations of leaders and entrepreneurs. With its six urban campuses in Berlin, London, Madrid, Paris, Turin and Warsaw, ESCP Europe's truly European identity allows it to offer a unique multicultural education style in the field of business and a global view in International Management issues. Each year, ESCP Europe welcomes over 6,000 students and 5,000 executives from more than 120 different countries, providing them with a comprehensive offer of Management courses and specialised programmes (Bachelor, Master, Executive MBA, PhD and Executive Education). ESCP Europe is included among just 1% of business schools in the world that possess the Triple Crown Accreditation (AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS). www.escpeurope.eu – Follow us on Twitter @ESCPeurope

First into the Future

A pioneer for the past 200 years, ESCP Europe can be proud of a large number of innovations successfully adopted all around the world. It remains the only pan-European school, with six campuses in Berlin, London, Madrid, Paris, Turin and Warsaw, and an associated campus in Luxembourg.

Being our Bicentenary year, 2019 is the perfect time to celebrate the innovative spirit embedded in ESCP Europe’s genes. To do so, we look back to the creation of the School in 1819 - whereupon it became the first business school in the world - and discover the recipe for such a long life!

#1 The Foundations of a Pioneering School (1819-1869)

In 1819, a private company of a special kind is established: one of the very first business schools, and now the oldest business school in the world was created.

During this seminal period, the School builds on original concepts that will constitute the pillars of ESCP Europe’s innovative strategy actioned from the 1970s onwards:

• A bold policy of international openness (more than 20% foreign students as early as 1827-1828), with educational content, addressing international issues (three foreign languages taught from 1823; study tours in Europe from 1826-1827;). This was a true feat in France in the context of post-Napoleonic-wars society!
• In addition to management science and technology, students study law and political economy, or applied sciences (chemistry). ESCP Europe's multicultural and multidisciplinary model is already emerging.
• A location at the heart of economic capital (Hôtel des Fermes, then Hôtel de Sully, in Paris).

This early phase is shaped by its builders: entrepreneurs such as Germain Legret and Amédée Brodart, and scholars such as economist Jean-Baptiste Say, theorist of the concept of entrepreneurship; merchant Vital Roux, contributor to the conception of the French Commercial Code and promoter of a pedagogy oriented towards practical teaching; and economist Adolphe Blanqui, owner and director of the school for 24 years.

#2 Consolidation and Maturity (1869-1969)

Between 1869 and 1969, under the auspices of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the School is reinforced and reaches maturity. Both its resilience and adaptability are proven: on the one hand, a significant expansion of programmes and enrolments (from a few dozen students in the 1820s, to 250 at the end of the 19th century and nearly a thousand by the 1970s); and on the other, enhanced selectivity and increased academic requirements from the 1920s onwards, including:

• State recognition of education in 1890.
• Establishment of the first specialization sections, a legacy of the "Comptoirs" (trading posts) invented in the early years of the School: Maritime section (1905), Colonial section (1913), Hotel section (1916), Trade Representation section (1917), etc.
• Mandatory competitive entrance exam in 1926.
• Promotion to the status of higher education establishment in 1947, an essential step towards the gradual transformation into a Grande École de Commerce.
• Creation of the Alumni Association and Student Union in 1950.
• Integration of IT and a language laboratory in the 1960s.

During a turbulent century during which the city of Paris was hit by armed conflicts three times, the School premises are transformed to accommodate the war wounded (in 1870, 1914-1918, and 1939-1945) - twice in the buildings on Avenue de la République.

#3 The Reinvented Business School (1969-2019)

When the School gains its autonomy in 1969 by leaving the ESCAE network, ESCP Europe gradually reinvents its business model, based on the values and academic principles that have been instilled since 1819.

The new integrated European campus model results from the continued growth of a 150-year-old institution, as a response to budding economic globalization.

This transformation takes place in the context of intensification and the enlargement of the European Union.

Five milestones mark the progress of reinventing the new European model: 1969, 1973, 1999, and 2009:

• 1969: Creation of a dedicated permanent Faculty and the Student Association Tribunes ESCP.
• 1973: On 8th October 1973, the École des Affaires de Paris (named l'École Européenne des Affaires from 1982 onwards) is created, wherein students follow an international curriculum with alternating semesters in major European capitals (London from 1974, Düsseldorf from 1975 (campus transferred to Berlin in 1985). 1973 is also the year when the School becomes accessible to women (Joëlle Le Vourch is the first female student in 1973).
• 1999: Merger of ESCP and EAP.
• 2009: Creation of ESCP Europe, following an intensified network expansion with the opening of the Turin campus in 2004, and preceding the Warsaw campus in 2015.
• 2018: ESCP Europe becomes independent from the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The launching of the European Bachelor degree is launched, anchoring the School in the European LMD model and triggering strong growth. The student population doubles in 4 years.

Over two centuries, the world has changed: the political economics classes taught at the beginning now side with humanities-oriented courses, and applied sciences in a laboratory have given way to coding and big data. However, it is still the entrepreneurial vision of the founders that prevails today, shining through in aspects such as the European success of the Blue Factory, the School's incubator present on all ESCP Europe campuses!

Our Mission

“ESCP Europe’s mission is to inspire and educate tomorrow’s business leaders.”

Our conviction is that tomorrow’s business leaders will need to be international, digital, and inter-culturally effective. Our approach to education and organizational structure reflects this, with strong international programs delivered by an integrated (pan-European) Faculty across campuses in each of Europe’s principal markets.

We advance this mission through our unique approach to international management education and research, which promotes transnational experience, collaboration and learning within a pan-European framework.

In 2015, the School formalized a unique approach and perspective under the C4B acronym: Cultures for (4) Business. This continues to guide our work and is now embedded into a new Strategic Plan for the period 2018-2022.

C4B or How We Deliver at ESCP Europe

1. An expert academy focusing on international/comparative research.
2. Mandatory rotational programmes providing unique multi-campus learning experiences across Europe.
3. Inter-disciplinary teaching integrating the hard (coding, etc.) and the softer (the humanities, etc.) skills of management.
4. A diverse, creative and entrepreneurial community.

Our Vision (What and where we want to be by 2022)

“In 2022, ESCP Europe will be recognized worldwide as the leading European business school for internationally-focused management education."

Our Vision, to Become True, Implies:

• producing and disseminating world-class research in international/comparative management that shapes the way organizations and leaders think and behave;
• producing culturally and digitally smart graduates equipped to shape and connect tomorrow's business worlds;
• engaging meaningfully with business, alumni and government to foster advancements in international management practice and intercultural relations;
• harnessing diversity in all of its forms as a source of innovation, strength, and leadership.

Our Values and Commitment are European

We cultivate the values of academic Excellence inherited from European university culture.

Through our research, we develop a Singular concept to management disciplines based on a multicultural, interdisciplinary and open approach to the major challenges of tomorrow's world.

In our School, set up by entrepreneurs 200 years ago, we develop Creativity by cultivating curiosity, boldness and encouraging the contribution of all disciplines to economic dynamism.

Our community is committed to promoting Pluralism through respect for cultures and all forms of diversity.