Matthias de Larminat, a former mountain climbing French infantry officer, swapped the battlefield for the business classroom.He enrolled in the Global MBA at ESSEC Business School in 2012, after a lengthy career in the military which included deployments with NATO in Afghanistan, the United Nations on the Ivory Coast, and as a team commander overseeing 150 soldiers in the French army.
Matthias, who has four kids, also served as head of real estate finance for the French military, responsible for buildings, training camps and army bases, with a €200 million yearly budget.
Since graduating from the MBA in 2013, he has also worked for the Djibouti Economic Development Fund, which provides financing for small and medium sized businesses in the African nation. More recently he landed a job as general manager for CMA CGM, the shipping group with 20,000 employees, in Gabon, also in Africa.
You’ve worked in Paris, Djibouti, Bolivia and Gabon. How did the MBA prepare you for a global career?
The ESSEC Global MBA is mainly focused on strategy and how to make a company global. It looks at local and global issues, such as cultural differences, legal constraints, organizational pitfalls, and political issues.
As a result, we dealt with intercultural differences and ways to maximize benefits from this diversity. This started from the class mix: we were less than 30, but a representative sample of all continents. This mix was a great learning experience: imagine yourself in Bolivia with Chinese and Japanese classmates who don’t speak the local language, in a sector you have never touched before. This is clearly a pragmatic way to build self-confidence and to get used to dealing with diversity.
You have a lengthy background in the army. What skills are transferable from military to management?
An army officer shares common managerial practices with a business manager: the military officer has to be honest, organized, competent, and just.
According to my experience, the main similarity is the final goal of the activity and the environments; uncertainty is everywhere. As a result, an officer has to be a leader — more so than a business manager — making decisions fast, under strong pressure to preserve the life of his soldiers. This decision making ability is highly valuable and is often what organizations expect from their business managers.
In such environments cohesion is also a key success factor. Thus, team building and the capability to build trust are important.
How does running a public finance unit compare to the private sector?
Be it public or private, it is all about maximizing money in a constrained environment. That means taking risks.
The first thing which is clearly different is the objective: the final goal was not profit but to ensure an adequate level of service with a restricted budget. The main goal of public finance is to maximize productivity and investment for the benefit of the society. It is hard to value the ROI.
In the private sector, it is also a matter of maximizing the ROI but the final goal is mainly about profit maximization.
What does a French military officer do in his downtime?
As a former mountain climbing infantry officer, I enjoy skiing, climbing, and walking.
But the main part of my free time is devoted to my four kids. It’s not always that easy to balance professional and personal life.
Having taken the decision to move abroad, I am very happy to discover new countries and cultures with my family. After Africa, the next step is Vietnam, where we are moving for two years by the end of November.
You advised Grameen-Veolia Water on a sustainability project. Should more MBAs be involved in social enterprise?
I believe that studying social and sustainability cases during an MBA is very important, as it provides a social approach for future managers.
MBA programs don’t aim to provide social enterprise leaders, but leaders with social understanding. Thus, I do believe it is necessary to give space to such study in MBA courses, but it has to remain a restricted part of the program.
Student Reviews
The best intercultural university
There are more than 50 nationality in the grade, so there are opportunities to interact with people from all around the world. In terms of academics, the BBA course offers diverse courses for the 1st
Creativity, adaptability and entrepreneurship
The Master in Management program at the ESSEC Business School allows the students to choose their courses accordingly to their preferences and their professional targets. We can also go through international exchange and take part in internships with companies that are also partners with the school. The school is also next to the city of Paris.
Top business school in France
Doing PhD in essec took some time, to be precise about five years. But the experience was very good and cost effective too. There are opportunities for the student for teaching assistantship and that helps both financially and in career. In the final year I could manage to teach marketing to M1 students and this helped shape my career
Great college
The program is well suited for early professionals with an engineering degree preferably or a degree in economics. I would suggest taking the ceasure irrespective of the experience level as it helps you take your time to adjust to the job market.
Good school in France
I am currently enrolled in M2 in Essec business school. I am specialising in marketing management. The Grande Ecole programme is valued in France and my school ranks very high up. There are a lot of opportunities for internships and CDD.
The program curriculum
BBA program. The program is really practical and useful, provide us many international opportunities. Like internship and humanitarian experience, and the flexibility is also really cool, we can choose different campus and tracks as we want.
International Course
This school is very international and business oriented. Highly recognized by the companies The campus has been renovated and is very functional and modern from now on. Excellent atmosphere. Reputation of essec is a plus
Friends, Career opportunities.
The program I did gave me the opportunity to start in Singapore. I got the chance to know all the students that started there and we bonded and made some friends for life. The career opportunities that ESSEC also gave me were unbelievable.
Practical and useful
I think the best thing about Essec is that it's not focusing on academics rather it emphasizes on future job mindset and professional experiences..
The classes are interesting and we have plenty of workshops attributing to different sectors..
The campus is very nice with a good cafe and wonderful library.
The only problem is the location of the campus. It's quite far from Paris.
Amazing experience! Must try
I think its a very amazing school with great and experienced faculty. Also the alumni network is very solid and useful. The school has a great balance of studies and work experience which is really essential for a student.
GBBA: Diverse, Enriching, and Career-Boosting
My experience at ESSEC Business School has been outstanding. The Global BBA program offers a rich academic curriculum and diverse learning opportunities. I appreciated the chance to study on different campuses, including an international exchange, which broadened my perspective. The social environment is culturally diverse and vibrant, enhancing both my personal and professional growth. The administration is attentive, constantly offering new academic and student life opportunities. The campus facilities and classrooms are excellent. I highly recommend ESSEC for its excellence, global exposure, and career opportunities.
ESSEC BS BBA REVIEW
The English track BBA program at ESSEC is simply exceptional. Courses are taught by internationally renowned professors who are experts in their field. The subjects taught cover a wide range of disciplines from marketing to finance, strategy and entrepreneurship. The English track is a major asset because it allows you to develop perfect mastery of professional English, essential in today's globalized business world. Some students love student life at Essec, which is one of the best in France, but it all depends on taste.
Great program, incredible school
I love almost everything about this school, from the student life to the academic program and the opportunities it provides.
I'm currently at the Paris campus, in Cergy, and I'm really enjoying it.
The BBA program is very rich and diversified, you can start with geopolitics and then finance, what I mean is that there's a great balance between the subjects in this program.
I was also lucky enough to spend a semester at the Singapore campus, and I loved that experience on the other side of the world.
ESSEC is also known for its dynamic and rich student life, with access to several parties a week and the various associations within the school.
If I could recommend just one school, it would be this one - I'm 100% satisfied.
Great experience
First of all, what I appreciate the most is the academic environment. The courses are extremely stimulating and are taught by high-level professors, often experts in their field. The diversity of subjects offered, ranging from marketing to finance, including entrepreneurship, allows you to acquire a complete and versatile education. The group projects, although sometimes stressful, are also an opportunity to learn to work in a team, which is essential in the professional world. One area that I feel could be improved is the management of student events. Although many activities are organized, I have noticed that some events can lack organization or communication, which can frustrate those who want to get involved. Better coordination between the different student associations and the administration could really improve the overall experience.
