Jean-Paul Larçon

Garbės daktaras / Honorary Doctor (Suteiktas vardas 2009-03-25)

Prof. Jean-Paul Larçon is an Emeritus Professor at the Department of Strategy and Business Policy at the HEC School of Management in Paris. He is also a co-founder of CEMS, a global alliance of leading business schools and multinational companies. Since the establishment of the Baltic Management Institute (BMI) in 1999, Prof. Larçon has contributed significantly to its activities as a member of the BMI Governing Board and the International Academic Council, as well as a lecturer in the EMBA programme. He is an internationally recognised authority on strategic management and business strategies for developing economies. But perhaps even more significant is his work of over 20 years in building bridges of academic cooperation between leading Western European business schools and educational institutions in Central Europe, Central Asia, Russia, and China. BMI is a prime example of the early stages of this work. In 2009, Prof. Larçon was awarded the title of VMU Honorary Doctor.

Jean-Paul Larçon was born on 25 March 1946 in France. He graduated from the HEC School of Management in Paris in 1968 with a Master’s Degree in Management and obtained his PhD from the Paris Dauphine University in 1971. In the same year, he completed the International Teachers Programme in Leysin, and the following year he pursued Individual Studies in Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. In 1972, Prof. Larçon became an Associate Professor at the Department of Strategy of HEC Paris. Since 1980, he has been a professor in this department and teaches courses on international strategic management and business strategies for developing economies. He has also taught as a visiting professor in various countries around the world, including the Institut d’Études Politiques in Paris, the WUT Business School in Warsaw, the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) in Bergen, the ESADE Business School in Barcelona, and the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai.

Prof. Larçon has been delivering lectures to BMI students enrolled in the international Executive MBA programme since its inception in 1999. He has published several articles and has written and released 7 books, in addition to authoring 8 chapters in books co-authored with others. One example of such work is the book Les nouvelles Routes de la Soie – enjeux et opportunités économiques (Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie de Paris Ile-de-France 2019) which he has co-authored with Corinne Vadcar.

Prof. Larçon’s administrative responsibilities in educational institutions began in 1979 when he was appointed Dean of CERAM Business School in Paris. Later, from 1982 to 1989, he was the Dean of HEC School of Management, simultaneously serving as President of the Commission Internationale de la Conférence des Grandes Ecoles. In 1988, he co-founded the Community of European Schools of Management (CEMS), now a global alliance of leading business schools and multinational companies whose mission is to ensure high-quality management education. CEMS regards Prof. Larçon as one of the founders and visionaries of this alliance.

Since the late 1980s, Prof. Larçon – currently an Emeritus Professor at HEC – has been a major contributor to academic education projects in Central Europe, Central Asia, Russia, and China. One such example is BMI, as well as the Warsaw University of Technology (WUT) Business School in Poland. In recognition of the professor’s support and dedication to his work, WUT awarded Jean-Paul Larçon the title of Doctor Honoris Causa.

Prof. Jean-Paul Larçon was an important driving force behind the establishment and development of the Baltic Management Institute (BMI), of which Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) is a co-founder and academic partner. He has contributed significantly to the development of VMU’s relations with major European universities and to the strengthening of the University’s status in Lithuania. In his role as a member of the BMI Board, Prof. Larçon continues to contribute to the activities of the institute. BMI, the most prestigious business school in Lithuania, was registered as a public institution in January 1999.

Jean-Paul Larçon has personally contributed a great deal of effort to the development of the BMI International Consortium, which consists of HEC School of Management in France, Copenhagen Business School (CBS) in Denmark, Louvain School of Management (IAG-LSM) in Belgium, NHH School of Economics in Norway, and Vytautas Magnus University in Lithuania. Having worked together since 1999 in academic partnership, these 5 institutions have jointly developed and run the BMI EMBA programme. Students who complete this programme are awarded a Master’s degree in Business Management from VMU and an EMBA certificate signed by the Rectors of all 5 partner business schools. The list of BMI EMBA graduates and students, which now stands at over 400, includes many of the most successful and well-known executives of Lithuania’s most prominent multinational companies.

Thousands of other business leaders have participated in short-term training seminars organised by BMI. The establishment and successful operation of BMI have greatly benefited Vytautas Magnus University. Firstly, through close academic cooperation, it has connected VMU with some of the best universities in Western Europe. For example, according to the Financial Times rankings, HEC School of Management in Paris is the best institution in this category in Europe. CBS, IAG-LSM, and NHH also have high rankings and impeccable reputations. VMU representatives work on the BMI Board and the BMI International Academic Council alongside representatives of these universities. Following the formation of the Consortium, 10 VMU faculty representatives were sent to other universities in the Consortium to deepen their specialisation and to create an international network of teaching contacts. BMI has not only contributed to making Vytautas Magnus University better known abroad but has also improved its status within the country. This is especially true for VMU’s Faculty of Economics and Management. Hundreds of executives of top companies in Lithuania now hold a Master’s degree in Business Management from VMU, thanks to the EMBA programme run by BMI.

The activities of BMI are also of great benefit to the Republic of Lithuania, as the Institute contributes significantly to the country’s ability to compete in the European and global economy by improving the management skills of business executives. Through his direct involvement in the management and programmes of BMI, as well as his efforts to secure and maintain HEC’s commitment to this project, Prof. Larçon has played and continues to play an important role in ensuring the quality and reliability of BMI’s activities that meet international standards.