Henri Fayol Institute

Industry and territories of the future, efficiency, resilience, and sustainability

The Henri Fayol Institute focuses on contemporary transformations driven by digital, ecological, and industrial transitions, which are essential for the efficiency, resilience, and sustainability of industry and territories.
It mobilizes complementary expertise in mathematical and industrial engineering, intelligent systems, environment, responsible management, and organizational innovation, to support the evolution of practices towards value-creating global performance, rooted in territorial dynamics.

Director
Flavien Balbo
flavien.balbo@mines-stetienne.fr

53 permanent staff

4 scientific departments

3 research unit

8 platforms

Scientific Objectives

The Henri Fayol Institute develops interdisciplinary research focused on the understanding and transformation of complex systems, whether industrial, organizational, or territorial. Its ambition is to produce useful scientific knowledge to address the major challenges of ongoing transitions — digital, ecological, industrial, and societal — by combining methodological rigor and operational impact.

Design decision-making models adapted to uncertain and multi-stakeholder environments.
Develop approaches for optimization, simulation, and data analysis to improve the overall performance of organizations.
Explore new levers for responsible governance and sustainable innovation.
Articulate technical, economic, social, and environmental dimensions in the design of solutions for businesses and territories.

By combining engineering sciences, management sciences, and social sciences, the Fayol Institute places societal impact at the heart of its scientific approach.

Research Areas

Optimization and management of complex systems
- Modeling, simulation, and decision support
- Optimization of industrial, logistical, and territorial systems
- Decision-making in uncertain environments
Artificial intelligence and data engineering
- AI for system optimization, prediction, and autonomy
- Data science, IoT, embedded systems
- Data governance, quality, and ethics
Environmental transition and circular economy
- Industrial ecology, life cycle assessment (LCA)
- Sustainable design of systems and processes
- Supporting organizations’ ecological transitions

Responsible Management and Organizational Innovation
- Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
- Social, territorial, and entrepreneurial innovation
- Digital transformation and organizational governance
Sustainable territorial engineering
- Territorial socio-technical systems
- Urban logistics, mobility, territorial planning
- Cooperation between public and private stakeholders

Areas of Expertise

Core Competencies

The Henri Fayol Institute mobilizes multidisciplinary expertise in applied mathematics, industrial engineering, computer science, artificial intelligence, data science, environment, management, and social sciences. Its teams combine scientific rigor and innovation capacity to model, analyze, and manage complex systems at the interface between organizations, technologies, and territories. This expertise is based on a mastery of optimization, simulation, and data processing tools, as well as an integrated approach to economic, environmental, and societal challenges.

Application Domains

The work of the Henri Fayol Institute applies to many strategic areas such as the industry of the future, logistics, ecological transition, data governance, responsible entrepreneurship, territorial development, and organizational resilience. These interventions take the form of research projects, collaborations with companies and local authorities, training programs, or innovation initiatives. The Henri Fayol Institute thus acts as a scientific and operational player committed to supporting industrial, digital, and environmental transitions.

Video presentation of the Centre

Discover the Henri Fayol Institute through its projects, platforms, and teams. This research and training center of Mines Saint-Étienne operates at the intersection of digital technology, complex systems, environmental transition, and human sciences, with an interdisciplinary approach focused on the major transformation challenges of organizations and territories.

Center Members

Under the direction of Flavien Balbo (Director), and accompanied by Sophie Peillon (Deputy Director), the Henri Fayol Institute relies on a multidisciplinary team that forms an essential pillar of the School’s research, training, and technology transfer activities.

53 permanent staff: 45 research faculty, 5 administrative and technical staff, and 3 expert engineers (C3I).
38 doctoral and postdoctoral researchers, actively contributing to the innovative research projects conducted by the center.

Members of the Henri Fayol Institute