New Impact Papers DigestRethinking Leadership, Sustainability, and Innovation

ESCP Business School is pleased to announce the latest edition of the Impact Papers Digest, a collection of thought leadership designed to bridge academic research with business practice. Featuring insights from ESCP faculty and external experts, this edition explores the complex challenges shaping leadership, sustainability, and innovation—and the strategies needed to navigate them.

With climate urgency, AI-driven transformation, and geopolitical uncertainty reshaping industries, business leaders today must go beyond conventional strategies. This edition of the Impact Papers Digest provides fresh perspectives on how organisations can turn complexity into an advantage, balancing innovation with responsibility.

At the core of this publication is ESCP’s LIGHTS framework—Leadership, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Geopolitics, Human Well-being, Technology, and Sustainability—which structures the school’s research priorities and connects them to real-world challenges.

As a business school, we have a responsibility to actively engage with this transformative period, creating the knowledge and leaders needed to shape a sustainable and equitable future.

Léon Laulusa
Dean and Executive President of ESCP

This edition brings together a wide range of perspectives on key global issues:

  • Sustainability as a strategic imperative – how businesses, policymakers, and individuals can integrate sustainability into decision-making and turn ecological constraints into opportunities for long-term success.
  • The evolving role of leadership – why today’s leaders must embrace adaptability, ethical responsibility, and creative problem-solving to navigate increasing complexity.
  • Innovation and technology – how AI and digital advancements are redefining industries, reshaping expertise, and challenging traditional business models.
  • Geopolitics and economic resilience – the shifting role of Europe in global affairs and how strategic autonomy is becoming essential for long-term stability.
  • Human well-being in the workplace – the growing need for inclusive leadership and policies that put people at the centre of organisational success.

By connecting research with business practice, this edition challenges us to rethink progress—not as a static goal, but as a dynamic and collaborative process.

Régis Cœurderoy
Associate Dean for Research at ESCP

The Impact Papers Digest is aimed at business leaders, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and practitioners looking for actionable ideas to drive change in their organisations. It offers a space where academic insights meet real-world decision-making, encouraging a dialogue on the future of leadership and sustainable business.

Download the latest edition of Impact Papers Digest here.

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