GEM turns the mountains into a living laboratory: sport and outdoor industries as a training ground for managing transitions
As business schools rethink their pedagogical models in response to major technological, environmental and societal transitions, GEM is reaffirming a clear strategic direction: anchoring earning in real-world experience and the field. Aligned with its positioning and its EAGLE 2030 strategic plan, the School is making the Alpine environment a defining strategic marker and an istinctive lever for learning, with the ambition of becoming a leading academic reference on transitions in alpine, sport and outdoor ecosystems. Its MSc in Management of Sports & Outdoor Markets (MOSOM) is one of the most tangible expressions of this immersive approach.
Industry and the mountains as a learning environment
The MSc MOSOM is built on an experiential model combining exchanges with industry professionals and realworld projects. Students work on live business cases with companies such as POMA, Ekosport, Salomon and Les Deux Alpes, addressing concrete strategic challenges specific to sport and outdoor markets.
As part of the module Project Management: The Art of Co, students take part in an immersion day at Croix de Chamrousse, organised in partnership with ANENA (French National Association for Snow and Avalanche Studies). Through avalanche search and rescue simulations, they experience first-hand the challenges of coordination, collective decision-making and risk management in uncertain environments.
Learning through innovation and foresight
Innovation is a structuring pillar of the programme. Students analyse weak signals, identify emerging trends and use design fiction approaches to imagine the future evolution of the sector.
This forward-looking work has resulted in the development of an innovation catalogue for Decathlon, as well as the Cahier des Éclaireurs , a collection of analyses exploring nine emerging trends shaping the sport and outdoor industries.
Educating managers capable of navigating sector transitions
The programme combines core management fundamentals, strategy, marketing, transformation and project management, with in-depth knowledge of sport and outdoor ecosystems, including key stakeholders, value chains, competitive dynamics and sector-specific cultures. Delivered entirely in English, the MSc MOSOM brings together multicultural cohorts. Field immersions and international teamwork foster essential transversal skills such as leadership, collaboration and the management of complex projects.
The mountains as a managerial lever within executive education
Beyond degree programmes , this approach also shapes GEM’s Executive Education offer through tailored modules combining management training, alpine immersion and collective intelligence:
- Lead Like a Guide (with Mountain Path)
- Deciding in an Uncertain World (mountain crisis simulation within GEM Labs)
- Harnessing Collective Strength (avalanche crisis management with ANENA)
Through these initiatives and its broader strategy, GEM positions the mountain environment as a genuine pedagogical and managerial lever. More than a simple experiential setting, it has become a structural pillar of the School’s identity, academic model and territorial anchoring.
