Mission & Values

HEC Paris was founded in 1881 by the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry, making it one of the oldest European business schools.

The past twenty-five years have seen some major developments: a more international community, more diverse diplomas, HEC Paris acquiring the status of a world-ranking Research School, greater autonomy, the health crisis.

Faced with these new challenges in 2021, the school has redefined its vision, its mission and its values. Nearly 3,000 members of the HEC community have participated in the elaboration of this new framework.

Our vision

We IMPACT business and society through research, education, and action, to contribute to a more inclusive, prosperous and sustainable world.

Our mission 

To give concrete form to this desire for impact, the mission of HEC Paris is organized around three fields of action, which are also the pillars of its excellence:

1. We Think and push the boundaries of knowledge. HEC Paris intends to invest massively in the production of knowledge, but also in the dissemination of that knowledge beyond the academic world. The goal is to continue to support research at the highest world level, to raise its profile and make it accessible, in order help everyone to acquire a better understanding of the world and further enlighten decision-makers.  
2. We Teach, learn and grow together. In a constant process of exchange, HEC Paris develops its teaching, both in terms of its content and its modalities. Passing on solid and original knowledge in an environment where we all learn from each other and grow together, that is our ambition.
3. We Act to unleash human potential. HEC Paris wishes to be a key player in society and to be a part of the solution, whether in terms of promoting diversity (with regard to gender and discipline, but also socially and geographically), supporting the ecological transition, the creation of impacting enterprises and initiatives. Ever at the service of the common good. 

Our shared values

Driven by our European roots and a 140-year-old history, our core values are:

• Curiosity
  • The curiosity characterizing all its members is deep-rooted in the DNA of HEC Paris. It is manifest in the professors' desire to constantly push back the frontiers of knowledge and to demonstrate a critical spirit, in its students' thirst for learning and exploring, in the spirit of solidarity in its alumni, and in the constant quest for innovation among its support staff. Having an impact on the world and society, always exploring further, being curious about others: that is how HEC Paris draws inspiration from the world and its changes.

• Excellence
  • Excellence is a founding value that underpins all others, is present in the heart of all programs, and is a prerequisite for everyone at HEC Paris: students, professors, alumni and support staff. However, this quest for excellence is not a desire to surpass others, but rather an individual and collective requirement, a desire to surpass oneself, to go beyond one's limits for the sake of an ideal and the common good.

• Diversity
  • All members of the HEC Paris community are firmly convinced that true excellence comes from diversity. Diversity of disciplines, programs, diversity of talents having different origins geographically, socially and in terms of gender: HEC Paris wishes to be a laboratory for all diversities in order to offer more exchanges and more tolerance to the world and to society..

• Responsibility
  • The impact that HEC Paris strives for surpasses the purely academic sphere: it must also have an effect on the world and on society at large. By building an exemplary sustainable campus, by incorporating social and environmental issues into all its courses, by acting for sustainable innovation and more inclusive growth, HEC Paris aims to become a responsible player for change, and thus to reconcile economic issues with new social and environmental imperatives.

• Entrepreneurial Spirit
  • HEC Paris has always brought together men and women endowed with an entrepreneurial spirit and a thirst for exceptional innovation. A pioneer in the teaching of entrepreneurship, it is now a reference in terms of incubation and excubation, uniting generations of innovative entrepreneurs. A quarter of its graduates currently create their own companies, while its alumni include innumerable successful entrepreneurs.