BREAKTHROUGHS

In this special Books episode of Breakthroughs, five HEC Paris academics share the works that nudged, shook or sharpened the way they think about research: Seungah Sarah Lee with Imagined Communities by Benedict Anderson; Olivier Darmouni with Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson; Quirin Fleckenstein with Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely; Michelangelo Rossi with Thinking, Fast and Slow b...

Universities are often seen as neutral places of learning. But are they becoming actors in their own right? In this episode of Breakthroughs, HEC Paris researcher Seungah Sarah Lee explores how geopolitics, student mobility, global rankings, and emerging South-South cooperation are reshaping higher education. Drawing on studies covering more than 500 universities across 89 countries, she discusses...

Has there always been only two genders? Or have there been societies, including in the Western world, where additional genders were recognized? A recent study by Matteo Winkler shows that many cultures throughout history, including Western cultures, did not necessarily conceive of sex and gender as binary. This comes at a time when an Italian court dismissed a case demanding the recognition of one...

AI may feel weightless, but Olivier Darmouni argues that its real-world costs are anything but virtual. In this episode of Breakthroughs, the HEC Paris professor explains when and where the boom in data centers could raise electricity prices in the future; and how these centers could reshape investment in power infrastructure and force Europe to think much harder about energy security. Olivie...

When credit markets seize up in crisis periods, most people still blame the banks. But new research suggests the bigger pullback may come from nonbanks like those in the syndicated loan market. These have grown fast but remain fragile, cutting lending harder in times of stress – with negative consequences on employment. That shift could reshape how we think about crises, jobs and financial resilie...

The 98th Academy Awards are just days away, six weeks after the Academy listed the nominees. But what do Oscar nominations really do to moviegoers? According to Marketing professor Michelangelo Rossi, they don’t just guide what we watch, they can also raise expectations enough to change how much we enjoy a film. Michelangelo joins Breakthroughs to unpack his latest research, cosigned by Hi! PARIS...

Marketing professor Michelangelo Rossi shares with Breakthroughs the research he and Hi! Paris academic Felix Schleff published on Oscar nominations and their impact on movie-goers’ expectations. On the eve of the 98th Academy Awards, Rossi describes the overlooked downside of such quality disclosures. He also shares his latest research on the impact that Europe’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) has had...

What if we put standardized barcodes on products we buy which inform us of their sustainability, supply chain, human rights records, etc? That’s the proposal of HEC & CNRS researcher Brian Hill. In his recent policy paper , he maps out an efficient way of shifting disclosure rules from companies to products - in the name of sustainability. This is a timely exchange, coming as it does as Europe...

A bumper christmas edition of Breakthrough featuring Brian Hill. He's Research Director at the CNRS and HEC Professor in the Economics and Decision Sciences Department. Brian discusses his new policy paper which shifts the focus of disclosure rules from companies to products - in the name of sustainability. A timely exchange, coming as it does as Europe reaches a provisional agreement to simp...

Puissantes by HEC est un podcast qui révèle des entrepreneuses qui ont bâti leur propre voie. Elles transforment une idée, un désir ou un manque en un projet qui leur ressemble profondément et racontent leur parcours, leur détermination et le déclic qui les a poussées à franchir le pas, jusqu'à la fierté d'être devenues des entrepreneures. Ce podcast est porté par HEC Stand Up, le programme qui ac...

SHORT BREAKTHROUGHS: Gaza Humanitarian Foundation Challenges UN Bodies and International Law While the GHF has closed its doors, could its controversial approach to humanitarian aid be a blueprint for the administrating of Gaza? Law academic Julia Emtseva analyzes this US-Israel initiative and its possible implications for a territory shattered by violence and famine. This is a condensed version o...

When the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (the GHF) began operating in late May 2025, much public debate centered on its immediate humanitarian record: the shootings, the chaos near distribution sites, the opaque role of private security companies. But what of the GHF’s impact on international law and conventions, core obligations of an occupying power and very notion of politicizing humanitarian aid?...

Short of time? Here's an abridged version of the Breakthroughs podcast exchange with HEC strategy professor Aline Gatignon. Her research focuses on the ripple effect of corruption, tracking how scandals reshape cross-sector partnerships between nonprofits and multinationals. The lessons are urgent for any leader whose organization touches public trust, whether in emerging markets or in Western cap...

When a corporate scandal explodes, like Volkswagen’s Dieselgate or BP’s oil spill, companies scramble to save their reputations. Often, they turn to nonprofits, funding environmental or social causes to show they’re part of the solution. But are these partnerships real, or just spin? Strategy professor Aline Gatignon suggests answers. Her new study uncovers how crises change the way corporations a...

HEC academics Pauline Asmar, Matteo Winkler, Lisa Baudot and Olivier Sibony share with Breakthroughs the books which sustained or transformed their approach to research. For, as the 19th century Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle once said: "What we become depends on what we read after all of the professors have finished with us. The greatest university of all is a collection of books." These boo...

Why should employees articulate your company’s purpose - and not just the firm’s CEO? In this SHORT LISTEN Breakthroughs speaks with Pauline Asmar, a doctoral researcher at HEC Paris, whose groundbreaking work reframes how purpose actually works inside companies. Drawing on data from nearly 60,000 employees across 469 firms, Asmar reveals that it's the middle managers who translate abstract missio...

Why should employees articulate your company’s purpose - and not just the firm’s CEO? In this episode of Breakthroughs, we speak with Pauline Asmar, a doctoral researcher at HEC Paris, whose work reframes how purpose works inside companies, at the level of the teams. The research is co-authored by HEC Professor and Purpose Chair director Rodolphe Durand. Drawing on data from nearly 60,000 employee...

This month’s HEC Breakthroughs podcast features the insights by KU Leuven professor Frank Wijen who challenges fellow researchers in sustainability to go deeper and to have greater impact. Here are some of the key points taken from our 30-minute exchange on what Wijen calls “engaged research”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is academic research into sustainability doing its job, moving the cursor forward in a time of unprecedented climate crisis? It’s a question Professor Frank Wijen discusses in the context of dramatic ecology-related incidents around the globe. “Researchers are taking snapshots and not movies,” he says, and this static orientation is not answering the urgency of real-life crises. Breakthroughs expl...

We’ve heard it a thousand times: diversity is good for business. But what if that familiar line doesn’t stand up to scrutiny or serious research – and, to cap it all, it’s counterproductive? In this SHORT LISTEN version of the HEC Breakthroughs podcast, HEC Paris professor and best-selling author Olivier Sibony explains why the “business case” for diversity may be leading us astray. If we want fai...

We’ve heard it a thousand times: diversity is good for business. But what if that familiar line doesn’t stand up to scrutiny or serious research – and, to cap it all, it’s counterproductive? In this latest HEC Breakthroughs episode, HEC Paris professor and best-selling author Olivier Sibony explains why the “business case” for diversity may be leading us astray. If we want fairer, smarter organiza...

President Donald Trump’s dismantling of American Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs is happening at breakneck speed. His Executive Orders label DEI policies as "illegal and immoral forms of discrimination”. HEC scholars Matteo Winkler and Marcelle Laliberté scrutinize this shift of narrative which is challenging certain constitutional rights. They share their research on this seismic...

Japan’s “super-aged society” (over 28% of its population aged 65 or above) and the US’ “aged society” (around 16% over 65) pose new challenges to the retirement period. And they’re set to rise. Just how do these two countries answer them? HEC professor Lisa Baudot plunges us into her new research through the eyes of CEO retirees from accounting’s Big Four. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy fo...

“I just make the time to read a book and it gives me this burst of fire in the belly to give me another two or three hours of creativity or productivity.” This cry of passion by author Robin Sharma is a call to arms four HEC researchers have heard throughout their respective careers. Gilles Deleuze, Norbert Elias, Sherry Turkle and E.O. Wilson are so many references inspiring our academics in...

The questions of language, culture and merit have long intrigued researchers. HEC accounting professors Daniel Martinez and Keith Robson share the challenges these issues pose for diversity and equity. Professor Robson describes the cultural notions like language that favor the progression of elite groups in service firms in the UK. Whilst Associate Professor Martinez joins with fellow-researchers...