PGE2 - Your pathway (AST2)

You have joined the 2nd year of the Programme Grande Ecole. This is the time when you can start to specialise, depending on your ambitions. Be prepared for the different options which will be offered: 

1. Your “curiosity pack” optional modules (choose 1) 
2. Your pathway choice 
3. Choosing your academic exchange abroad
    

Here is all you need to know to make an informed and logical choice: 

1- Choosing your Curiosity Pack 

During Semester 3 (PGE2 S3) all students will follow the same modules: Managing International Complexity, Global Sustainability Issues, Information Technology Management, Strategic Formulation and Simulation. 

You will choose your Curiosity Pack from the following options: 

PACK 1: Sustainable Consumption 1 & 2 (Marketing / Management & Organisations)  

Through this pack, students will reflect on how we can build strategies that contribute to a more sustainable future. The marketing module will start by introducing current trends in marketing, such as AI initiatives, organic and fair-trade products and the search for more meaningful experiences. ​ 

Increased consumer awareness and demand for sustainability will be a second theme for discussion, including a focus on how marketing communications are used to defend causes relating to sustainability.​ 

The sessions will be dedicated to examples and workshops on designing sustainable products and services and discussions on how more value can be created with fewer natural resources (hedonic, experiential, social and symbolic value of products and services). ​ 

The module will also include a focus on customer care and customer relations. Examples will be given of companies that foster a particularly human approach to customer service, (such as the H2H strategy in the Accor hotel group). ​ 

Finally, students will learn about companies' marketing communications relating to their sustainability initiatives, and in particular, how to leverage these initiatives so as to capture long-term value while avoiding accusations of greenwashing.  

The Management & Organisation approach will focus on the managerial and social-scientific aspects of responsible consumption topics like organisational change, social change, communication and influence (external and internal), and ecological leadership... 

PACK 2: Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship 1 & 2 (Strategy & Innovation / Management & Organisations)  

This pack will take students on a journey of exploring the complex social problems that surround us and the entrepreneurial strategies that help solve these problems. The course takes a perspective of an existing organisation that wants to increase its social impact, as well as that of an entrepreneurial venture that is just starting off. Students will learn to identify social business opportunities, define a social enterprise, its basic framework and business model, select an appropriate organisational form, social impact investment methods, learn about different funding options, and more.​ 

The Management & Organisation approach will cover topics such as corporate social entrepreneurship, social intrapreneurship, managing and measuring a company’s social performance, etc. 

PACK 3: Analytics (Strategy & Innovation / Marketing)  

•  Strategy Analytics (30 hours) 

This course will provide a conceptual and broad-based introduction to econometrics and business analytics. It will provide future managers with a basic understanding of what data can do in forming business strategies. Through engaging questions, explanations, and applications, students develop a deeper understanding of the fundamental reasoning behind how and why analysis can generate actionable knowledge and learn to think critically about whether a given analysis has merit or not. ​ 

• Marketing Analytics (30 hours) 

This module will build on the Strategic Analytics module provided in this Curiosity Pack. Students will learn to apply data analytics in different marketing situations so as to obtain insights that can be used to make strategic marketing decisions in companies. Firstly, they will learn to design field and lab experiments and collect, identify and analyse customer marketing data. Then they will see how to identify and use the correct analytical methodologies for common customer-centric situations. Finally, they will practice interpreting and analysing results to the best use of the company concerned. Teaching will be very applied, involving manipulation of data through a series of cases for international companies. ​ 

PACK 4: Finance and Supply Chain Fundamentals  

• Corporate Finance (15 hours) 

The aim of this module is to extend students’ basic knowledge of corporate finance principles. The students will become more familiar with the main business environment issues, which affect the investment and financing decisions of the firm, whatever its stage of growth. After completing the module, the students should be able to understand the transition from the business risk of the operating activities to the risk of the financial structure. They will be able to understand and analyse a company’s financing position and address the main financial management issues in a global and international environment. Topics covered: ​ 

• Payout policy and capital structure ​
• Debt financing ​
• Mergers, corporate control and governance​

​ 

• Financial Markets: Fundamentals​ (15 hours) 

The aim of this course is to provide students with an understanding of portfolio or fund management, as well as of the nature of financial markets and of the securities that are traded on them. Concepts of risk, return, and pricing are central to developing this understanding. Various asset-pricing models and security analysis techniques will be applied to practical investment problems. International issues of diversification and fund management will be used to develop the aims of the course. Topics covered:​ 

• Portfolio theory ​
• Equilibrium in capital markets ​
• Options, futures and derivatives

• Operations Management (15 hours) 

The main objective of this course is to provide students with a sound conceptual understanding of Operations Management (OM), its strategic importance, the scope of activities and its links with other business functions. The course provides the students with knowledge on how operations management influences the company’s competitive situation and solving business problems. 

Topics covered: 

1- Process selection and capacity decisions 

2- Production planning and scheduling 

3- Quality management 

• Green Purchasing (15 hours) 

The main objective of this course is to understand the different features of purchasing sourcing strategies and supplier management processes. An emphasis will be made on the management of environmental issues in the purchasing process.  

Topics covered: 

1- Purchasing policies and strategies 

2- Purchasing processes 

3- Relating purchasing performance to business performance, in particular the achievement of marketing objectives, through the achievement of appropriate customer service levels  

4- Green aspects in purchasing 

PACK 5: Accounting and Information Systems 

• Financial Accounting​ (15 hours) 

The aim of this course is to extend students’ basic knowledge of Financial Accounting. The course will focus primarily on the quantitative characteristics of financial information to encourage students to think more deeply about the assumptions on which financial statements are prepared. In addition, attention will be paid to the role of accounting standards and conventions and how they influence how transactions and events are recorded. The goal of the course is to enable students to determine the financial health of a company based on the company’s financial statements. Topics covered: ​ 

• Accounting standards ​ 
• Valuing inventories, tangible and intangible assets & R&D expenditures ​ 
• Provisions, contingent assets & liabilities ​ 
• Irrecoverable debt & allowances 

• Managerial Accounting​ (15 hours) 

The aim of this course is to extend students’ basic knowledge of managerial accounting. Students will be introduced to more advanced cost concepts and accounting tools and apply a more strategic perspective that addresses the challenges management accounting is facing in today’s business world. Topics covered: ​ 

• The usefulness and challenges of management accounting in today’s business world ​ 
• Measuring costs in a competitive environment: Activity-Based Costing ​ 

• Using accounting for control: Flexibles Budgets and Variance analysis ​ 
• Pricing decisions in a competitive environment ​ 
• Cost management 

• Information and Communication Systems Management (30 hours) 

The aim of this module is to provide students with knowledge of how business professionals and managers specify, procure and use information systems and how to manage relationships with the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) professionals who build and maintain them. In addition, the course provides extensive knowledge on how the executives of the organisation set the information strategy and align it with the overall business strategy. 

Topics covered: 

• information systems in decision-making and control  
• manage the ICT activities in-house 
• procure and manage outsourced ICT-related services  

PACK 6 : Géopolitique & Affaires Internationales 

• Manager l'information : captologie, cybersécurité et influence (30 heures) (FR) 

Notre attention sur Internet est parfois manipulée. Les techniques actuellement utilisées ont été découvertes au début du XXème siècle, lorsque les chercheurs ont exploré les méthodes pour conditionner les comportements humains et animaux. C’est le cas de l’école de pensée behavioriste ou des premières études consacrées aux addictions. Ce module s’intéressera à ces premiers travaux comme aux plus récents afin de comprendre les techniques permettant de capter l’attention. 

• Negotiation in a complex world (30 hours) 

Negotiating in a globalised world is made easier when one takes into account the underlying cultural background of the managers. In effect, under the illusion of a flat world, cultures remain living and have a deep impact on the measure of time, the use of gifts, our relation to the law, or the way in which we communicate. This module will explore the most usual misunderstandings between global managers of different cultures.  

For all 6 of these curiosity packs :

To conclude, all six of these packs will help you design your specialisation.  We advise you to make this choice bearing in mind the track you aim to follow in the third year of the PGE (PGE3).  The MSc portfolio is regularly adapted to market and company needs. 

Registration for the majority of the MSc programmes available at the school is not selective and the choice of Curiosity Pack will not have an impact on your final year.  However, certain MSc Programmes have limited places, notably those with academic partnerships such as the MSc Innovation & Entrepreneurship (with INSA), the MSc Management de Projets Créatifs, Culture et Design (with EESAB) and the MSc Sustainable Management and Eco-Innovation (with the Ecole des Metiers de l’Environnement). Due to its ranking in the Financial Time, the MSc International Finance also remains selective. 

If you are particularly interested in applying for one of these four MScs, you must prepare a “dossier” that can convince the programme director. For this, we advise you to choose your Curiosity Pack carefully (for example, Pack 4 for the MSc IF), to obtain good academic grades during semester 3 (PGE2 S3) and to build your CV in a coherent way based on your professional experience.  The Directors of these 4 programmes can use any of these elements to make their selection (choice of Curiosity Pack and/or your GPA and/or your professional experience).   

2- Choosing your track Explore/Expand/2-years Work-study  

From 10 to 16 September (dates subject to change) you will have the opportunity to choose your pathway (Explore/ Expand) via an OFL (online selection process).

For the work-study programme, you must sign a contract with a firm before 28/08/2020. We will discuss this during the intake. 

To choose your main orientation: 

• The Expand Track will lead you to a double degree abroad 
• The Explore Track to a double degree with one of the Masters of Science in Rennes 
• The "Work study" format will lead you to an operational specialisation 

There are 3 main course configurations. It is important to know the details of these tracks to make the right choice.

Important: once registered, it is impossible to change your track (due to the conditions for graduation).  Please take the time to read the information below: 

• Expand track: you will spend the PGE2 at Rennes SB.  Students may wish to include a césure gap year before their specialisation year (PGE3 S5 & S6) in one of our partner universities to obtain a double degree. 
• Explore track: the student will study in Rennes during semester 3 (PGE2 S3) before going on exchange in a partner university (PGE2 S4).  On this track, it is possible to do a césure gap year (although it is not compulsory) and then specialise in PGE3 with one of our MSc programmes, one of the work-study tracks or to spend one year with one of our French partner universities (EM Strasbourg).
• The two-year work-study track « Responsable de Projets Innovants – New Business Development Manager” (RPI-NBDM) requires an academic exchange in Semester 5 (PGE3 S5). Once registered, it is impossible to change tracks.
  

3- Choosing your academic exchange abroad 

Please consult this link for more information on your choice of an exchange abroad.   

For more information, please contact aloha@rennes-sb.com