Press Release
HEC Paris to serve the Luxury Industry in Korea
in partnership with the Seoul Luxury Business Institute
Jouy-en-Josas, 4 June 2009
HEC Paris has recently partnered with the Seoul Luxury Business Institute (SLBI) to offer a series
of Executive Education programs in luxury management. The SLBI was created to meet the
business and training needs of companies operating in the luxury industry and companies
developing a luxury approach in more traditional industries.
According to Daniel Mayran, President of the SLBI, “Luxury firms have realized that their ability to
create value, to innovate and adapt to the current economic challenges is largely dependent on
their ability to leverage their human capital. Without world-class managers and executives, luxury
firms are stuck in old business models. We thus called upon HEC Paris to deliver internationalstandard management programs of particular relevance to the industry, to Korea and to Asia.”
Professor Jean-Noël Kapferer, author of the recently released best-seller “The Luxury Strategy”
and one of the world’s foremost experts on branding, is leading the academic design and content
of the programs and states that “Building a great brand is about art, but managing a great brand is
about business. Success in this competitive market requires the specific skills and vision that we
provide in this series of programs.”
Over the last several years HEC Paris, Europe’s #1 ranked Business School, has experienced
significant international growth, as seen in the profile of participants on all HEC programs, the
diversity of faculty recruitment and the publication of research in the world’s most prestigious
journals.
In Executive Education, the HEC Paris portfolio of international corporate clients has greatly
expanded. Professor Bertrand Moingeon, Deputy Dean of HEC Paris, remarks that
“Increasingly, we are called upon to bring our expertise to non-European markets, and in particular
Asia. Our ability to develop and deliver international-standard programs worldwide is a key
indicator of our international position and reach. Our Executive MBA is now delivered in St.
Petersburg, Beijing and Shanghai. We lead CEO clubs in Abidjan and Dakar, and train corporate
clients in countries including China, Nigeria, Australia, Qatar, Kuwait, the USA, India, and South
Africa.”
Joshua Kobb, Director for International Development and Strategic Partnership for HEC Executive
Education adds “This is an excellent opportunity for HEC Paris to further its reach in Asia,
responding to the needs of the international business community and the luxury industry in
particular. The SLBI partnership is another example of HEC’s capacity to deliver worldwide. HEC
Paris looks forward to the successful launch of this initiative, which will be of tremendous value in
Korea.”
About Jean-Noël Kapferer
Jean-Noël Kapferer is internationally recognized as one of the leading and most influential authorities on branding.
Professor of Marketing at HEC Paris and holder of the Chair “Prestigious Brand Management”, he directs research
on the challenges presented by branding.
Professor Kapferer has an MBA from HEC Paris and a PhD from Northwestern University in Chicago, where he
began his teaching career. Author of twelve books on communication and brands and over one hundred articles
published in top academic journals, his work has been translated into several languages and disseminated
worldwide.
About HEC Paris
Founded in 1881, HEC specializes in management education and research.
HEC offers a complete and unique range of academic programs for the leaders of the future: the Masters Degrees
(MSc programs and Specialized Masters), the MBA program (full-time and part-time), the Executive MBA (Paris,
Beijing, Shanghai and St Petersburg), the TRIUM Global Executive MBA (New York, Paris and London) and the
PhD.
HEC has a permanent faculty of 105 professors, 3400 students on its campus and over 8500 managers and
executives trained in the executive education programs each year. All together, 98 different nationalities are
represented on a 320 acres wooded campus. HEC Paris is ranked #1 Business School in Europe three years
running by the Financial Times.
For more information: www.hec.edu
Press Contact, HEC School of Management Paris
Elisabeth de Réals
 + 33 1 39 67 94 23 dereals@hec.fr www.hec.edu