Francis Bidault

Francis Bidault is a professor emeritus at ESMT European School of Management and Technology. He is the founding director of ESMT's full-time MBA Program, which he directed from September 2005 to January 2010. Before joining ESMT he was a professor of strategy and innovation management at Theseus Institute and EDHEC Business School and the dean of the Theseus MBA program. His special area of expertise covers industry analysis, the management of alliances and the management of innovation.



He has published extensively. His latest books are Managing joint innovation: How to balance trust and control in strategic alliances, 2012, and Leveraged innovation: Unlocking the innovation potential of strategic supply, 2006. His articles appear in journals such as Research Policy, Sloan Management Review, or R&D Management. He is the author of several award winning case studies (CEEMAN, EFMD, CCMP). Several of his research findings have been presented in the Financial Times.



Professor Bidault has been a consultant to numerous organizations including, IBM Services, Philips Semiconductors, Bosch Power Tools, Baxter Renal, France Télécom, Electricité de France, ST Microelectronics, EADS, Volvo, TCL, etc. in such areas as strategy formulation and organization structure, industry analysis and forecasting, and product innovation. Francis Bidault was recruited as a member of the jury on the international Innovation award at PriceWaterhouseCoopers in January 2000.



His research interests are currently focused on how companies develop and exploit their technology base, especially through strategic alliances and how they improve new product development processes. His research on Technology Pricing was awarded the 1986 Crédit National Prize.



Professor Bidault has been closely involved in executive education for many years. He is regularly invited to teach in executive programs in China as Visiting Professor at CEIBS (China's most famous business school). He taught Technology Management and Strategy at IMD, Lausanne, from 1988 to 1996. He was appointed Director of IMD's MBA program in 1990 and held this responsibility until December 1992. Previously, he was Professor of Industry Analysis and Technology Management (1977-1988), and Vice Director of the Doctoral Program, at Lyon Graduate School of Business (Groupe ESC Lyon, now EM Lyon) where he is also a member of the board since January 2014.



Professor Bidault is French. He studied economics and finance at the University of Amiens and Institut d'études politiques de Paris, gained his Doctorat de 3ème Cycle in economics at the University of Paris-Sorbonne and his Doctorat d'État in Business Administration at the University of Montpellier. He holds the "habilitation" (accreditation to supervise PhD students).