FINANCIAL PROESSIONS PUBLISH A STUDY ON DIGITIZATION AND SKILLS TRANSFORMATION

USPA NEWS - On October 20, 2020, the EM Normandie Digital Transformation Management chair published a study entitled "Knowing how to think and know how to be at the heart of higher education". This research study studies how the corporate finance professions evolve in the face of the constraints of digitalization. It shows that, paradoxically, the rise of digital technology is not leading companies to recruit more geeky profiles, but on the contrary, profiles with more pronounced soft skills. The new profiles sought must at the same time have a great culture of their field (hard skills), but also know how to communicate, know how to listen, be capable of critical thinking, know how to adapt, be curious and humble which are so many qualities acclaimed by the business world in the digital age.

On October 20, 2020, the EM Normandie Digital Transformation Management chair published a study entitled "Knowing how to think and know how to be at the heart of higher education". This research study studies how the corporate finance professions evolve in the face of the constraints of digitalization. It shows that, paradoxically, the rise of digital technology is not leading companies to recruit more geeky profiles, but on the contrary, profiles with more pronounced soft skills. The new profiles sought must at the same time have a great culture of their field (hard skills), but also know how to communicate, know how to listen, be capable of critical thinking, know how to adapt, be curious and humble which are so many qualities acclaimed by the business world in the digital age. These results raise the question of the teaching of finance in higher education, even as e-learning and the standardization it induces are accelerating: training in knowing how to think is therefore the issue of higher education. But is this the path chosen today by management schools? For Christine Fournes, associate professor in corporate finance and accounting at EM Normandie: "this study makes it possible to pose objectively how the skills required evolve in the face of digital transformation". This research work, carried out by a team of 6 professor-researchers in finance from EM Normandie, is based on both a quantitative study and a qualitative study carried out in February 2020 with 6 thematic focus groups.

ABOUT THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION MANAGEMENT CHAIR ------------------------------------------------------------ The Digital Transformation Management chair is directed by Mathilde Aubry, associate professor in Economics, focuses on the relationship between man and technology at work. The team of teacher-researchers focuses on the transformations of professions, functions and working methods within organizations due to the use of Information and Communication Technologies. She is also interested in the new strategic challenges that companies must face: data management and protection, the need to innovate or the transformation of business models ...The Digital Transformation Management chair is supported by Crédit Agricole Normandie, the holding company Chalus Chegaray et Compagnie and its subsidiaries Colloquium and Cavas as well as the PTBG group. The TES competitiveness cluster, a benchmark for innovation in high digital technology, and the Normandy Region are also partners of the chair and invested in various projects. ABOUT EM NORMANDIE-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Founded in 1871 among the first major French business schools, EM Normandie has established itself as a benchmark institution in the world of business schools. It holds the international EQUIS and AACSB accreditations. With more than 5,000 students and professionals in its initial and continuing diploma training programs and 20,000 members of the Alumni EM Normandie association around the world, the school is located on five campuses, in Caen, Le Havre, Paris, Oxford and Dublin. EM Normandie trains the managers of tomorrow, future responsible leaders prepared to lead change in a multicultural environment, and it supports employees and business leaders throughout their careers." www.em-normandie.com | Twitter: @EMNormandie Source: EM Normandie Business School