Responsible Management and Innovation (MRI)

Overall business performance through sustainable innovation

The Responsible Management and Innovation (MRI) Department brings together teacher-researchers in economics and management sciences who are interested in innovation and change processes within organisations. In particular, their work focuses on how organisations adapt their management practices and business models in a context of a dual transition: ecological & social on the one hand, and digital & industrial on the other.
They are committed to conducting research that is closely aligned with the challenges of the socio-economic world, and work in close collaboration with a wide range of organisations: startups, VSEs/SMEs/mid-sized companies, healthcare and social and solidarity economy (SSE) organisations, and local authorities.
They are also strongly involved in teaching, within the School’s programmes (engineering, Specialised Master’s® programmes, etc.).

Head
Julien De Benedittis
Email: julien.de-benedittis@mines-stetienne.fr
Telephone: +33 4 77 42 93 27

11 teacher-researchers
45 publications per year
1 research unit
1 technology platform
The MRI Department is affiliated with the Henri Fayol Institute

Areas of Expertise

Core Competencies

  • Circular economy and frugal innovation
    Development of sustainable business models and assessment of the climate and environmental impacts of innovations.
  • Entrepreneurship and Innovation
    Strategies for the creation and growth of innovative companies, particularly startups and SMEs.
  • Human resources management and change management
    Supporting organisational transformations and improving workplace dynamics.
  • Information systems management and digital intelligence
    Digital transformation of organisations, adoption of digital sobriety practices, and use of new technologies in management.
  • Public management
    Local governance dynamics and stakeholder interactions in the development of local public policies, with a focus on the ecological and societal transition of territories.
  • Strategic management and business models
    Business model innovation, sustainable business models
  • Corporate social responsibility (CSR)
    Integrating social and environmental responsibility principles into organisations’ strategies, including digital challenges through the emerging concept of CDR (Corporate Digital Responsibility).
  • Agile transformation and enterprise engineering
    Process orientation and integration of agility, particularly in companies operating in project mode.

Fields of activity

Research work is carried out in close collaboration with socio-economic stakeholders: companies (startups, VSEs, SMEs, mid-sized companies), social and solidarity economy (SSE) organisations, healthcare organisations, and local authorities.

The research methods used are mainly qualitative (action research, intervention research, case studies). Quantitative methodologies (survey data) are also used when required by the topics addressed.

Research Areas

The research work of the MRI Department focuses on sustainable innovation from two perspectives:

  • The ecological and social transition
    Circular economy & sustainable business models, new forms of organisation & impact-driven organisations, socially responsible HRM, frugal innovation.
  • The digital and industrial transition
    Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR), digital sobriety, digital maturity and transformation, agility & resilience, blockchain and digital commons

Research unit

EA 4161 – COACTIS – Action Design in Context

The Responsible Management and Innovation Department is part of the Coactis laboratory, the Research Unit in management and organisational sciences of Lumière Lyon 2 University and Jean Monnet University of Saint-Étienne, which brings together 70 teacher-researchers and around thirty PhD students. Members of the MRI Department are involved in two of the laboratory’s research areas.

  • The ENGAGE area – Social Transformations, Organisations, Ecosystems
    Renewal of organisational practices (political approach to CSR, critical perspectives on digitalisation, internationalisation and performance), ecosystems (territorialised cooperation, co-construction of public action), organisational and inter-organisational levers fostering social transformations.
  • The Str@fi area – Strategy & Finance: Decisions and Impacts
    Strategic decision-making in complex environments (in particular tensions between organisations’ missions and stakeholder expectations) and organisational transformations (digital transition, emergence of new economic and organisational models adapted to economic, societal and environmental imperatives).

Thanks to this dual approach combining scientific expertise and applied fields of intervention, the MRI Department supports organisations in their transformation towards more sustainable and resilient models.

Contact and Practical Information

Business cards

  • Address
    École des mines de Saint-Étienne
    Henri Fayol Institute
    29, rue Ponchardier
    42023 Saint-Étienne, France
  • Transport
    Bus: Line 6, stop “Congress Center”

Research