28th Spring University · Paris 2027

A new generation is entering the labour market at a time when organisations face a twofold demand: giving more meaning to collective action, and accounting ever more precisely for their social, societal and environmental commitments. Choices of employer, forms of commitment and expectations of work are changing profoundly. Social responsibility is no longer peripheral: it is becoming a factor of credibility, differentiation and retention for organisations (Viot & Benraïss-Noailles, 2014; Benraïss-Noailles et al., 2023).

These changes cannot, however, be reduced to a uniform reading of “young generations”. Aspirations, relationships to work and the languages of commitment remain plural. They differ according to career paths, occupations, sectors, regions and lived experience. This diversity calls for careful analysis of the value tensions, changes in work and renewed forms of individual and collective responsibility that run through organisations (Crausaz & Delaye-Habermacher, 2024).

At the same time, organisations are required to demonstrate the reality, consistency and traceability of their commitments. Requirements for sustainability, due diligence, reporting and control now involve senior management as well as the HR, CSR, legal, compliance, risk, audit and internal control functions. They raise an essential question: how can standards, indicators and control systems do more than meet a formal obligation, and genuinely help improve practices, prevent risks and strengthen trust?

In the tradition of social and societal audit, the aim is to set the social, economic and societal performance of organisations side by side in order to inform management decisions, governance practices and dialogue with stakeholders (Igalens & Peretti, 2016; Peretti, 2024). Societal audit can thus become a lever for understanding and transformation: it makes commitments objective, assesses the quality of the data produced and brings to light any gaps between stated intentions, the systems in place and work as it is actually experienced.

Regulatory requirements are therefore not merely technical or legal constraints. They raise questions about the quality of work, health, managerial responsibility, governance and the transmission of skills. They can support risk prevention, social dialogue and impact management. But they can also create complexity, excessive formalisation or a loss of meaning when they become detached from the realities experienced by employees (Bachelard, 2015, 2025).

This 28th Spring University reaffirms the particular responsibility of teachers, academics and educational institutions. Educating is not only about passing on methods of audit, reporting, compliance or impact measurement. It is also about developing judgement, critical thinking, a sense of social responsibility and the ability to engage in dialogue with stakeholders. Preparing young generations means enabling them to combine professional standards, quality of work and the sustainability of organisations (Igalens & Gond, 2025; Peretti, 2024).

Passing on the values of the IAS (rigour, dialogue, responsibility and attention to stakeholders) lies at the heart of this ambition. The Spring University will be a space for dialogue between academic research, teaching innovation and organisational practice. It will take place in three stages: a doctoral workshop at IPAG Business School; an academic and teaching day hosted by the Réseau Compétences & Développement in Courbevoie; then a session of exchanges with an international company based at La Défense, subject to confirmation. Theoretical and empirical work, case studies, accounts of experience and professional debates will all have their place, with the same standard: rigorous, open thinking that is useful for action.

Accepted and reviewed contributions may be considered, depending on their nature, scientific quality and the editorial processes that apply, for publication in the conference proceedings, in a collective volume published by Éditions EMS, or in a special issue of the journal Question(s) de Management, ranked FNEGE 4. Authors wishing to submit a text to the special issue of Question(s) de Management must follow the journal’s own procedures and review process.

Submit my paper (form in French)

Authors are invited to submit a full article for scientific review, following the guidelines of the Geneva 2026 call for papers. The text should be 25,000 to 40,000 characters long, including spaces. It should be submitted in Word format, justified, with 1.5 line spacing, in Times New Roman 12 and with 2.5 cm margins.

The first page should give the title of the article, the authors’ surnames and first names, position, institution, address and email address. The second page should contain the title, an abstract and keywords in French, and an abstract and keywords in English. Headings should be limited to two levels; appendices and footnotes should be avoided. Quotations and references follow the APA author-date system.