Strategic partnership between HEC Montréal’s Pôle D and EntreChefs PME
October 31, 2023
HEC Montréal’s Pôle D (Top Executives and Strategic Management Hub) signed a strategic partnership with EntreChefs PME (ECPME) during Small Business Month, to promote high-level research on the role of executives.
While the $2,000 billion SMB succession market faces the major challenge of preparing for the transition of 3 out of 4 business leaders in the coming decade, this partnership with ECPME is designed to serve as a catalyst for mutual aid and sharing to ensure a healthy and sustainable future. ECPME, with its community of 2,200 SMB owners and their successors in Canada, Belgium, and Switzerland, will work closely with Pôle D to make value-added knowledge available to its members, academic community, and the SMB management ecosystem.
“We must find the wherewithal to understand the human dimensions of entrepreneurship to shape, inspire and guide the entrepreneurs of tomorrow,” declared Diane Arseneau, General Manager, ECPME. “With a partner like Pôle D, we shall stop at nothing short of redefining and humanizing the image and future of SMB management by building a strong bridge between science and entrepreneurial passion, which ECPME has been nurturing for close to 50 years. In our opinion, the future of SMBs depends on this alchemy.”
Alaric Bourgoin, Co-director, Pôle D and Diane Arseneau, General Manager, ECPME
About HEC Montréal's Pôle D
Pôle D was created in 2021 by experienced researchers and CEOs, and its goal is to:
- Develop high-level scientific knowledge on the role of CEOs;
- Support Quebec’s development by contributing to the growth of tomorrow’s leaders;
- Provide CEOs with a space for reflection and free expression, away from organizational constraints;
- Put aspiring executives in touch with current CEOs to stimulate career interests and provide mentoring opportunities.
Alaric Bourgoin, Associate Professor in the Department of Management, and Denis Chênevert, Professor in the Department of Human Resources Management, are Pôle D’s co-directors, while Alain Brunet (former CEO of the SAQ) and Yves Devin (former CEO of the STM), are its associate directors.
About ECPME
Founded in 1974, ECPME connects and brings together 2,200 SMB owners wishing to fraternize with like-minded individuals to make the most robust decisions for their organizations and thrive as leaders, through collective wisdom and mutual aid. This community of entrepreneurs experiences the daily realities of SMBs in a variety of business sectors and regions, including the 17 administrative regions in Quebec. Its members have a consolidated revenue of $39 billion and over 110,000 employees in Belgium, Canada, and Switzerland.
Find out more
Pôle D [in French only]
ECPME [in French only]