Aurélien Colson

Associate Professor, Public and Private Policy Department

Director of ESSEC IRENE - NDM

Dr. Colson is Associate Professor of Political Science and Negotiation at ESSEC Business School, Paris-Singapore, and Director of the Institute for Research and Education on Negotiation in Europe (IRENE). ESSEC IRENE has run operations in 52 countries, with more than 2,500 participants a year, and has research activities with close links with the Program on Negotiation at Harvard.

Since 1998 Dr. Colson has been teaching negotiation, change management, and leadership at ESSEC for MBA students and for corporation executives. Since 1998 he is also an adjunct professor in negotiation at ENA –France’s national administration school– where he was promoted in 2002 to coordinator of the negotiation seminar. He has done research, consulting and trainings, worldwide, for companies (Accenture, Actelion Pharma, Alcatel Lucent, Bank of Cyprus, The BCG, Canal+, Caisses d’Epargne, Delphi, Disney, EADS, Essilor, Faurecia, Gemplus, Groupama, MPI, Philips, Renault-Nissan, Saint-Gobain, Scientific Atlanta, Société Générale, TBWA, Thales, etc.) and public organizations (European Commission, The World Bank, UNDP, United Nations Institute for Training and Research, the Central Bank of Venezuela, etc.). He also contributes to fieldwork and post-conflict facilitation efforts in Burundi, DR Congo, Macedonia-FYROM, and Tajikistan.

His research on negotiation and futures studies appears in peer-reviewed journals such as Journal of International Negotiation, Négociations, Revue française de gestion, Personnel, Contrats publics, Futuribles, Futures, Foresight, and International Relations. He published with Alain Pekar Lempereur the best-selling Méthode de négociation (2004), translated into English as First Things First: A Negotiation Method (2008), and co-edited with him Négociations européennes. D’Henri IV à l’Europe des 27 (2008). Latest book: Méthode de médiation (2008, with Alain P. Lempereur & Jacques Salzer).

From 1998-2002, Dr. Colson served as Advisor to the French Prime Minister. From 2002-2005, he was Project Leader at the French Government’s strategy agency, where he led a task force on change management and negotiation in the public sector (La conduite du changement dans le secteur public, 2005). He also worked on futures studies.

Aurélien Colson holds a doctorate in political science (Université Paris-Sorbonne-Descartes) and a PhD in International Relations (University of Kent). He got his first degree from Sciences Po Paris. As a Jean-Monnet Fellow from the British Council, he received a Master in International Conflict Analysis (Kent). He got his MBA at ESSEC. A member of the British International Studies Association and of the Association française de science politique, he is a Fellow of the 21st Century Trust (London). In 2002 he was awarded a Marshall Memorial Fellowship by the German Marshall Fund of the USA. In 2008 the Académie des sciences morales et politiques (Institut de France) awarded a Grand Prix to his research.

Aurélien is married, the father of two sons, and lives in Paris. French is his mother tongue, he is fluent in English. Among his hobbies are playing the piano, cooking and sharing a nice bottle of wine with friends.

Negotiation processes and methods

Conflict resolution and mediation 

Change management 

Secrecy and transparency in organisations and decision-making systems

European Union 

Great Lake region, Africa

Marocco

Edition of the Festschrift : La Négociation. Mélanges en l'honneur de Christophe Dupont (to be published in 2009). 

Executive training modules on "Business Negotiation in China", with Mr. Ta Wei Chao. 

Coordination of the cross-disciplinary research seminar on negotiation (SIRENE), in partnership with Négociations.

Graduate teaching

ESSEC, Période initiale: "Histoire et philosophie de la négociation"
ESSEC MBA: "Negotiation Workshop"
ESSEC MBA: "Atelier de négociation"
ESSEC MBA: "Mediation Workshop"
ESSEC Specialised Masters: "Leading Teams"
ESSEC Specialised Masters: "Negotiation Skills" (MS SIAI, MS MMK, MS TFI)
ESSEC Summer Module : "Teambuilding in a Multicultural Context" 

Executive Education

ESSEC MANNHEIM Executive MBA: "The Manager Negotiator"
ESSEC MBA Luxury: "Negotiation Skills"
ESSEC Part Time MS SIAI : "Negotiation in an International Context"

And many interventions in corporate programs

• Grand Prix, Académie des sciences morales et politiques, Institut de France (2008)
• Fellow du Council for the United States and Italy (2003)
• Marshall Memorial Fellow, German Marshall Fund of the United States (2001)
• Fellow, 21st Century Trust, Londres (1998)
• Jean-Monnet Chevening Fellow, British Council (1997)
• Fellow, Gilbert Murray Trust, Oxford (1997)
• Lauréat, Lazard Scholarship (1994)
• Lauréat, Concours général en sciences économiques et sociales (1992)
• Lauréat, Concours Richelieu international de la Francophonie (1991)
• Lauréat, Concours de la résistance et de la déportation (1989)

Other Conferences

• "Rebuilding Trust in War-Torn Societies: How to Pave the Way for the Implementation of Peace Agreements?", presentation, University of Kent, Graduate School of International Relations, 25 March 2009.
• " Médiation en situation post-conflit : une expérience dans la région des Grands Lacs ", Sciences Po Lille (20 October 2008).
• " Négociation & licensing dans l’industrie pharmaceutique ", Pharma Licensing Club France, Cercle de l’Union Interalliée, 9 October 2008.
• " Enjeux de négociation pour la présidence française de l’Union ", ESSEC Management Education, 23 June 2008.
• " Une méthode pour réussir vos négociations ", Ecole supérieure du commerce et des affaires, Casablanca (Maroc), 9 May 2008.
• " Dynamiser le secteur privé en Afrique : la paix, les talents, le dialogue entre investisseurs et parties prenantes locales ", Concluding the Conference: " Afrique SA ", Sénat, 24 April 2008.
• " Entrepreneurship and Negotiation ", Luxembourg Business Academy, Université du Luxembourg (Luxembourg), 7 February 2008.
• " Burundi, R.D. Congo : comment construire la paix au lendemain d’une guerre civile ? Une méthode au service de la réconciliation ", Sciences Po Lille (15 October 2007).
• " Secrecy and Transparency towards Third-Parties in Negotiation ", paper, InterNeg Research Seminar, J. Molson School of Business, Concordia University (Montréal, Canada, 4 April 2007).
• " La négociation et la création d’entreprise ", 28 September 2005, Salon de la micro-entreprise, Palais des Congrès, Paris.
• " Les entrepreneurs du bâtiment face à la négociation ", 23 May 2005, GCCP-Fédération du bâtiment, Paris.
• " Services publics : évolution ou révolution ? ", 10 May 2005, round table, M. Eric Woerth (secrétaire d’Etat à la réforme de l’Etat), M. Louis Gallois (président de la SNCF) et M. Patrick Ollier (Président de la Commission des affaires économiques de l’Assemblée nationale).
• " Gagner la guerre ? Oui, peut-être. Mais comment gagner la paix ? ", 9 April 2005, " Samedis de la connaissance ", Dalloz-Dunod-Armand Colin, Comédie des Champs-Elysées, Paris.
• " La conduite du changement dans le secteur public ", 2 February 2005, audition by the Délégation à la Planification du Sénat, France.
• " Le négociateur face au temps ", 6 October 2004, Association française des juristes d’entreprise.
• " Maîtriser les fondamentaux de la négociation en tant qu’entrepreneur ", 30 September 2004, Salon de la micro-entreprise, Palais des Congrès, Paris.
• " Gestion de la négociation diplomatique ", ENA, 7 April 2000, with Ambassador Joseph Stanford (Canada), Strasbourg.
• " Justice et paix face aux conflits extrêmes ", 14 May 1999, Institut d’études politiques de Paris.
• " François Mitterrand : ‘‘tonton’’ d’une génération ou monarque ambigu ? ", 16 May 1996, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.
• " French political environnement in the 90s ", 14 March 1996, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK

 

• Member of the Scientific Committee, Négociations
• Member of the Editorial Committee, Le Banquet
• Member of the Advisory Panel, Conflict Analysis Research Centre (University of Kent)
• Member of the British International Studies Association
• Member of the International Studies Association
• Member of the International Association for Conflict Management
• Member of the International Political Science Association
• Member of the Association française de science politique
• Founding member of IRÉNÉ (1996)
• Member of the Board, Institut de management public (2003-2005)