What is your role at NIMEC and what themes are you working on?
I’ve been a researcher at NIMEC since 2018, when I joined IAE Rouen as Maître de Conférences. As part of the “Organizational Behavior and Managerial Postures” team, I’m part of the “Steering and Anticipation” axis, where we focus on new steering tools in a context of organizational change.
My research focuses on three areas: the management of standards and regulations in organizations, the changing business model in the financial sector under the influence of the economic and legal environment (arrival of FinTech, start-ups in the financial sector that use new technologies to offer banking services, digitization, regulation, etc.) and the challenges of sustainability for financial reporting.
Could you describe your career as a researcher?
I became interested in the role played by standards in organizations at the end of the 2000s, more specifically after the 2008 financial crisis, when banking regulations became more stringent. In this context, I carried out a research project in a cooperative bank that had to reconcile compliance with new regulatory ratios with its social and environmental objectives, necessitating a change in its business model. In 2009, with a colleague specializing in healthcare economics, we also looked at the impact of the HPST law on a healthcare establishment, more specifically a University Hospital Center (CHU). My research work stems from observations made in companies, within the framework of research agreements, the aim being to be as close as possible to the players in the field. From various exchanges with the latter, I came to the conclusion that standards structure the way companies operate, can be a source of competitive advantage, and over time have become a means of formalizing and legitimizing their actions, and can even form an integral part of their strategy.
How did CSR come to be at the heart of your research? Could you define for us what lies behind the expression “green finance” and explain why you have specialized in this area of research?
In 2009, when the HPST law was promulgated, the healthcare sector was in the throes of change. Numerous issues arose, not least that of harmonizing this new law with the social responsibility of healthcare establishments. The results of our study in a university hospital confirmed that stakeholders’ perception of value had not changed with the organizational changes brought about by the reform. I would say that my interest in CSR was born in the context of this study. Later, I became interested in other sectors such as public accounting, where the same social and environmental concerns can be found. Accounting has evolved in response to these new issues. Accounting models have been created, some of which are already widely applied in companies. In France, the ANC has been working for several years on adapting accounting standards to new environmental and social concerns. In response to a call for tenders from the ANC on the subject of environmental accounting, and as part of a research contract, we are a team of six teacher-researchers (from the Université de Rouen Normandie, the Université de Bordeaux and Kedge Business School) working on the challenges of sustainability for financial reporting. The European CSRD directive will come into force from January 2024, replacing the NFRD(Non Financial Reporting Directive) adopted in 2014. Like the NFRD, the CSRD obliges companies to publish on their extra-financial activities, including their impact on the environment. By introducing the notion of sustainability, it places sustainable development at the heart of its concerns. Companies must not only report on their extra-financial activities, but also account for the impact of their activities on the environment (materiality of impact). Compared with previous directives, the new regulations will apply to a broader spectrum of companies, particularly SMEs and SMIs. The latter are at the heart of the sustainability issue, and are the main focus of our study within the framework of this contract. At the same time, banks, as the main financiers of the French economy, are concerned by the current topic of ecological transition, through “green finance”. “Green finance is defined as all financing initiatives for the benefit of investments beneficial to the environment and biodiversity” (Green Finance Study Group – G20 working group, 2016 report). My interest in the banking sector and CSR naturally steered me towards the topic of green finance. Many banks are mission-driven enterprises and enshrine social and environmental values in their statutes, for which they are accountable, representing a radical shift in their business model.
Do you come up against “greenwashing” in your CSR surveys? and/or what are the main results of your work (are SMEs really committed? what are their dominant views?)?
In the first part of our project with the ANC, we went out to meet with SME managers to find out what factors encourage or resist the publication of sustainability reporting. What’s interesting about our meetings with SME managers is the sincerity of what they have to say. The implementation of a CSR approach in SMEs is often driven by the manager. Most of the SMEs we met had already incorporated CSR initiatives into their strategy. However, some of the more reticent managers pointed out that their short-term concern was financial, and that the administrative burden and cost they felt the implementation of a CSR approach would entail was a factor of resistance that we noted. We didn’t really come up against any ” greenwashing” in our CSR surveys.
Are green finance and responsible or sustainable finance synonymous? If not, what are the differences between these concepts?
Green finance is part of sustainable finance. As mentioned above, green finance encompasses financial operations that promote the ecological transition. Sustainable finance, a broader term, includes solidarity finance and responsible finance. Sustainable finance is defined as all financial practices and regulations designed to promote the interests of the community over the medium-to-long term (Banque de France). It is in line with the 17 sustainable development goals defined by the UN, which include the fight against poverty, health, environmental degradation, inequality, peace and justice. Responsible finance covers all initiatives and regulations designed to encourage the financing of socially responsible projects and investments (SRI).
What is your vision of URN’s transition approach and how are you involved in it, both in terms of research (participation in referent networks/multidisciplinary project management, etc.), training (participation in referent networks/specific courses/mention on transition issues, etc.) and campus life?
I became aware of URN’s transition approach through various channels: mobilizations and awareness-raising campaigns on the dangers of global warming (conferences, demonstrations, courses given to undergraduates on ecological transition, etc.), the institutional website which displays URN’s commitment to ecological transition, the transition institute, the existence of DDRS referents in the various components. I have a very positive view of URN’s approach and its ambition to become the university of transitions.
I contribute to this mainly through my research work, and by raising students’ awareness of social and environmental issues in the courses I teach. Traditional finance is no longer sufficient for business analysis. The teaching of accounting must also evolve in this direction and integrate the subject of environmental accounting.
What is your vision of pluri-inter-transdiciplinarity? Do you practice it?
The issue of ecological and social transition calls for reflection with other disciplines. Through the CARE project run by NIMEC, multidisciplinarity is practiced with colleagues from other disciplines: law, economics, human and social sciences, etc. I’m currently working on a research project with a SHS colleague. In my opinion, multidisciplinarity is the only way to provide answers to the challenges of transition. Each discipline can draw on the others for a broader vision of social and environmental issues.