Private company

Skema Business School

Logo: Wander Writer, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons4

French business school

SKEMA Business School ("School of Knowledge Economy and Management") is a French business school ("Grande École") with campuses across Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Africa. It was established in 2009 through the merger of Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Lille (ESC Lille) and CERAM Business School in Sophia Antipolis. The school holds international accreditations from EQUIS and AACSB, and its Executive MBA is accredited by the EFMD (EFMD Accredited EMBA).2 It is part of University of Côte d'Azur.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 20, 2026.

Overview

2009Founded1
  • Industryhigher education1
  • HeadquartersLille, France1
  • Websitewww.skema-bs.fr
  • Legal formdeclared association1
  • Slogan“At Home Worldwide”1
  • Kind of organizationAssociation1
  • LEI969500QCQEILKQ1N1T473
  • StatusActive3
  • LEI statusIssued and current3
  • Registered address6 AVENUE WILLY BRANDT, 59777 Lille, France3
  • Registered withNational Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, 7837058413

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SKEMA - Lille Campus (France)
Photo: SKEMA Business School, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons6

SKEMA Business School ("School of Knowledge Economy and Management") is a French business school ("Grande École") with campuses across Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Africa. It was established in 2009 through the merger of Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Lille (ESC Lille) and CERAM Business School in Sophia Antipolis.2

The story

The merger was announced on 30 June 2009, and they now form a single non-profit organization confirmed by their respective governing bodies (the General Assembly of the French Riviera Chamber of Commerce and the Board of Directors of ESC Lille). In spite of some criticism due to the heterogeneity level regarding student selection, the official ceremony and announcement of the new name took place on 16 November 2009. CERAM Business School and ESC Lille were respectively founded in 1963 by the French Riviera Chamber of Commerce and in 1892 by Lille Chamber of Commerce.

The new school name, SKEMA, is derived from the Greek, skhêma (shape, figure, formation of an object) meaning schema in Latin. It also stands for the initial letters of "School of Knowledge Economy and Management".

The consolidated middle schools is now one of the largest French business schools in the number of students (8,500), seventh in number of teachers (166) and sixth in terms of budget.

Since its beginnings in 2009 as a result of the merger between ESC Lille and CERAM Business School, SKEMA has been a global business school with the same ambition for its French and international campuses: to train mobile and adaptable leaders and managers, able to contribute to the knowledge economy and generate sustainable performance with an appreciation for the values and challenges of society, the environment and the economy.

From Wikipedia’s article on Skema Business School, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5

Products and brands

SKEMA has several research centers and a unit for entrepreneurship and innovation.

FAIRR (Finance and Accounting Insights on Risk and Regulation)

KTO (Knowledge, Technology and Organization)

MINT (Marketing Interactions)

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PRISM (PRoject Information and Supply Management)

RISE² (Reflections and Research In International Strategy Sustainability Entrepreneurship and Economics)

ThinkForward - a regular podcast that covers business topics.

SKEMA Ventures - a business unit dedicated to entrepreneurship and innovation. Through teaching, coaching, incubation and acceleration, this unit helps SKEMA students and alumni think, design, test and launch an entrepreneurial business/project in a global context. Faculty facilitate and stimulate the generation of ideas and assists entrepreneurs in the construction, launching, and development of their business/project. Entrepreneurs also apply their knowledge at events such as the StarTonic Weekend, Bootstrap, Bootcamp, Booster and Startup Kafés.

PEPITEs & Incubators - SKEMA partners with French universities to offer PEPITEs (student centers for innovation transfer and entrepreneurship) and grants student-entrepreneur awards: PEPITE PACA-EST Cre@tude; Incubateur PACA-EST (IPE); PEPITE Lille Nord de France; Le Village By CA; and, the incubator Tonic in Lille. In Belo Horizonte, SKEMA has a SEED (Startups and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Development) accelerator, in China it works with the Crescenders incubator, and in the United States, SKEMA participates in an entrepreneurial clinic / bootcamp co-organized with the North Carolina State.

From Wikipedia’s article on Skema Business School, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5

Subsidiaries and ownership

Parent company

  • University of Côte d'Azur since 2015

From Wikidata.1

Acquisitions

  1. Succeeded ESC Lille1
  2. Succeeded centre d'enseignement et de recherche appliqués au management — Business School1

Timeline

  1. 2015Acquired Acquired by University of Côte d'Azur1
  2. 2009Founded Founded1

Sources

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