Learning That Stays Close To Business Reality: Action Learning At EDHEC’s Global MBA Program

Action Learning sits at the core of the EDHEC Business School’s Global MBA program. It shapes how participants engage with strategy, leadership, and decision-making by placing them directly in contact with real organizations, real constraints, and real consequences. Rather than treating deliberate practice as an add-on, the program integrates experiential learning from the onset and throughout the curriculum, ensuring that theory is tested, refined, and internalized through action. 

For Karin Kollenz, Professor of Strategy at EDHEC Business School and a key contributor to the Global MBA program’s hands-on approach, this reflects a simple principle. “There is no better way to change your behaviour, to learn new skills than trying them out. We bring the real world into the classroom.” Action Learning, is about creating situations where students act, reflect, and adjust, rather than observe from a distance. 

This philosophy is shared at program level. As Sandra Richez, Program Director of the EDHEC Global MBA, explains, “Action learning to me means using real cases, live cases, things that are happening in business right now.” The objective is clear. Business education must remain anchored in reality if it is to prepare leaders for complex, fast-moving environments. 

From Knowledge To Application 

EDHEC’s Global MBA action learning approach focuses on collaboration, problem-solving, and reflection. Participants work in diverse teams, engage with organizations across sectors, and address issues that companies are actively facing. These projects range from sustainability challenges and digital transformation questions to growth strategy and organizational change. 

Richez emphasises the impact of this applied approach on learning outcomes. “Taking applied learning cases and situations really helps the learning stick. When you do something, when you’ve really exercised all the different areas of analysing, research, and actually doing and putting it into action for an actual company, it’s a much more holistic experience.” 

This emphasis on doing reinforces analytical rigour while developing judgement, adaptability, and confidence. Participants are required to connect frameworks to practice, balance competing priorities, and deliver recommendations that can be implemented, not simply evaluated. 

Multiple Formats, One Learning Philosophy 

The Global MBA integrates Action Learning through several complementary formats, each reflecting a different business reality. 

Longer projects such as the Sustainable Impact Challenge unfold over several months alongside academic coursework. Teams define the scope with partner organizations, conduct research, test assumptions, and present actionable solutions. These projects expose participants to complex trade-offs around sustainability, governance,e and performance, while strengthening teamwork and leadership capabilities. 

More intensive formats mirror consulting environments. At the end of the program, full-time consulting projects place participants in client-facing roles for two months. They operate as consultants, addressing strategic questions and delivering structured recommendations under real deadlines. 

Shorter in-class projects, led by faculty, allow participants to engage with live business issues over two to three weeks. These are complemented by simulations and case work, creating a constant rhythm between theory, experimentation, and feedback. 

The Global MBA Hackathon, a signal event in the program, introduces a different kind of pressure. “It’s really a twenty-four-hour project,” Richez explains, “and the idea is to take a strategic issue that a company wants to dig deeper into and then work very hard for twenty-four hours on it and then come back to the company with solutions.” This format sharpens decision-making, prioritisation, and collective intelligence, while closely reflecting the pace of real business situations. 

Learning In Direct Contact With Organizations 

A defining feature of Action Learning at EDHEC is sustained exposure to companies throughout the program. Participants interface with organizations (this year it included LVMH, AXA, and BNP, among others) well before graduation, often on high-priority topics. 

Professor Kollenz underlines the value of this proximity. Students work on live cases, strategic questions and consulting projects, receiving direct feedback from companies. This interaction allows them to test their thinking, adjust their behaviour and understand how decisions are shaped in practice. 

Richez highlights the responsibility this creates. “You’re kind of in the driver’s seat, put right in front of employers, right in front of companies that maybe one day will be your clients, maybe one day will be your employers, and you’re asked to already, before you have your degree, start working on strategic projects.” 

This exposure accelerates professional maturity. Participants develop credibility, learn to communicate with senior stakeholders, and gain insight into organizational dynamics across sectors and geographies. 

For Professor Kollenz, working on real issues sees students experience the impact of their decisions. They learn how to influence, collaborate, and adapt under pressure. 

“The great thing about action learning is that it’s extremely motivating because students see that they’re helping a company and they can actually make an impact,” she explains. This sense of contribution reinforces engagement and gives meaning to the academic effort required by an intensive program. 

Action Learning also opens professional horizons. Through projects, hackathons, and job shadowing, participants gain early visibility with organizations and decision-makers. In some cases, these interactions lead directly to employment opportunities. 

Preparing For Complex, International Careers 

The Global MBA attracts experienced professionals with an average of seven to eight years of work experience and a highly international cohort. Action Learning responds directly to their expectations, challenging participants to operate at a higher level of responsibility and across cultures and disciplines. 

By working continuously with real organizations, participants build transferable capabilities that extend beyond a single role or sector. They learn how to structure ambiguity, collaborate across diverse teams, and deliver under uncertainty. These skills support the significant career transitions observed among graduates, including changes in function, industry, and location. 

Learning That Lasts 

Action Learning at EDHEC is not a standalone pedagogical tool. It is a coherent philosophy that runs throughout the Global MBA, shaping how participants learn, interact and evolve as leaders. 

As Sandra Richez notes, the intensity is deliberate. “It’s such an action-packed MBA, and you’re constantly in contact with business throughout your studies.” For participants, this proximity ensures that learning remains relevant, demanding, and enduring. 

Discover how Action Learning shapes the EDHEC Global MBA. Download the brochure to explore the program in detail. 

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