"Bouncing back after the health crisis : What if strategic tools are not our allies after all ?"

Over the last several months, we have been confronted with unprecedented situations including lockdowns and distance working. Whether we are talking about circumstantial changes or more structured transformations, how can organizations bounce back ? Can strategic tools provide better understanding of the uncertainties of tomorrow ? 

While technological progress means that management cannot be dissociated from a multitude of tools (indicators, management charts, evaluation systems, etc.), when they are used in organizations, they can produce unexpected effects. Therefore, is it wise to yield to the warning bells of these tools ?

In order to answer this question, researchers from the Financial Control, Accounting and Audit Department at TBS Education invite you to join an open discussion on this topic which is at the heart of the project by the TBS research Chair called Nombres et Société, "Figures and Society".

The purpose of the TBS Research Chair, Nombres et Société, is to host and give value to work about the question of what place figures take up in our society. Thus, the chair proposes to unite qualified partners from different sectors around a common scientific program. 

Mission, objectives and scientific program

The main objective of this scientific program is to imagine, fomulate and share good practices and focus points whereby reality is put back into operations and activity in organizations and the way they are perceived with the data, figures and indicators which provide the structure of management control today. 

In order to create this chair, Nombres et Société, the pre-requisite is an annual allowance of at least 75000€ to be allocated between the financial partners within the scope of a three-yearly commitment so that the scientific program can be completed. The allowances for the chair are managed by a sponsorship agreement with a tax advantage for companies of 60 % of the donated amount.

Participants and activities

The chair's activities are organized by constituting work groups made up of leaders with experience (CEO, CFO, COO, CIO) working on the same work theme. The allowance is used for animating these activities and hiring the appropriate resources to :

• Formalize, imagine and communicate the answers to your managerial problems, as well as the challenges when using the data, figures and indicators in management.

• Organize events - conferences, workshops, round tables - open to all in order to promote the participants and their work during the length of the agreement. 

• Promote partners of the chair to students at TBS Education, in addition to organizing specific events for students, with interventions across different programs, presentations at recruitment fairs, etc.

• Share the results of the chair throughout professional and academic networks via expert reports, press articles and specialized magazines, communications and research articles.

TBS Research Chair "Figures and Society"

Pauline BEAU, Professor-Researcher at TBS, p.beau@tbs-education.fr
Lambert JERMAN, Professor-Researcher at TBS, l.jerman@tbs-education.fr