Junior-Enterprises, a new turning point?

The booming Junior-Enterprise movement

Last Saturday took place the General Assembly of Presidents of June. On the occasion of this, the National Confederation of Junior Enterprises was able to unveil its new strategy for 2024 and submit the new mandate to the votes of the presidents of the Movement. For several years now, the Junior-Enterprise Movement has been moving towards new horizons by developing, in addition to educational added value for students and quality service for customers, real responsible and ambitious projects.

• What are the future challenges of the Junior-Enterprise Movement?

The National Confederation of Junior-Enterprises

The National Confederation of Junior-Enterprises, commonly known as the CNJE, is an Association under the 1901 law which federates and protects the largest student movement in France made up of more than 200 Junior-Enterprises. It is the guarantor of the Junior-Entreprise brand and its special status. Indeed, a Junior-Enterprise is a non-profit association but with an economic vocation since it functions as a professional consulting firm. It is thus for the National Confederation of Junior Enterprises to legally protect these associations held by students in Higher Education. To support them, audit-advisory campaigns are organized to verify the internal functioning of JEs and to support them in the continuous improvement of their processes.

The CNJE is also the heart of the Junior-Enterprise Movement, which it leads on a daily basis through training, webinars and above all congresses during which the Movement’s partners (BNP Paribas, Alten, EY, Engie and Saint Gobain) offer training and discussion sessions. These congresses allow Junior Entrepreneurs from all over France to meet to learn and discuss.

Composed of former Junior-Entrepreneurs, the National Confederation of Junior-Enterprises consists of an office, an international manager as well as 7 poles:

• Information Systems Division : in charge of developing, maintaining and managing all of the CNJE’s digital tools as well as supporting Junior-Enterprises in their digital transition.
• Events Department : in charge of organizing congresses and major events of the movement, they are at the heart of the dynamism of the largest student network in France.
• Integration Unit : in charge of integrating new structures into the Junior-Enterprise movement, the integration unit supports new associations wishing to become Junior-Enterprise in their approach and in the implementation of their processes.
• Audit Division : in charge of supporting and controlling the audits of all the structures of the movement, it thus ensures the protection of the Junior-Enterprise brand.
• Consulting division : in charge of supporting Junior-Enterprises in their daily lives, they provide advice to enable all structures to develop and evolve. They are also responsible for monitoring the Movement’s legal framework.
• Training Department : in charge of all the dissemination of knowledge sharing and the continuous training of the movement, they take care of preparing certain training courses with the trainers of the movement.
• Communication Department : in charge of the CNJE’s external communication, they take care of giving visibility to the movement to make it legitimate among professionals and students. He is also in charge of communication around all the events internal to the movement.

The Movement’s new strategy

For several years, new challenges have been at the heart of the DNA of the Junior-Enterprise Movement, since 2018 a CSR prize has been awarded, for example, during the National Winter Congress. If until then the educational added value and study management were the two main issues for Junior Entrepreneurs, today the commitment to more responsible , united and high-impact causes is emerging as the new standard in the Movement. The June General Assembly of Presidents was the launch of the CNJE’s new strategy for 2024, also an opportunity to present the new mandate of the CNJE which will take office on July 1st. Click here for the CNJE’s 2024 Strategy Booklet.

This online event was also an opportunity to take stock of a Horizon 2020 strategy initiated during the 2016-2017 Mandate and which is now coming to an end. It is indeed under the Mandate of Romain Tanguy , former president of Escadrille , that the CNJE had launched its strategy in 4 years relating to three major axes:

1. Promote the establishment of Junior-Enterprises
2. Raising and unifying Junior-Enterprises
3. Promote the establishment of Junior-Enterprises (internally)

During the last AGP, therefore, a new vision and new strategic axes were unveiled. Axes that testify to a shift in the objectives and future challenges of Junior-Enterprises.

The vision: ENRICH THE JUNIOR-COMPANY EXPERIENCE TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE TRANSFORMATION OF SOCIETY

3 axes:

1. Anchoring Junior-Enterprises as an expert and legitimate structure
2. Reinforce the value proposition of Junior-Enterprises
3. Gathering Junior Entrepreneurs into an active movement

We can clearly see with this new strategy that the Movement is tending to move away from its hitherto rather self-centered model in order to really take advantage of its more than 50 years of existence for the players in its environment. A change of vision and objective which accompanies the changes in our society but which also testifies to the maturity of a student movement which is constantly seeking to renew itself.

Junior initiatives

This new turning point is above all at the initiative of the Junior-Enterprises which have adapted to their immediate environment to modify their services, their customer support, as well as their vision of their mission as a Junior-Enterprise. The number of student initiatives has increased tenfold over the past 4 years. Many Junior-Enterprises have embarked on supporting humanitarian or solidarity projects . Support for entrepreneurs with innovative and responsible projects has been widely developed. More human, local projects have taken a very important place in the missions of Junior Entrepreneurs.

Many student initiatives have been put in place during the COVID-19 crisis period:

• Donation for hospitals : The Junior-Enterprises donated more than 22,000 euros for the AP-HP and more than 14,000 euros were collected for provincial establishments such as the AP-HM, the CHU de Lilleet Toulouse University Hospital.
• Support initiatives for recovery and Pro-Bono study have multiplied to support the recovery of the economy and attempt at the level of Junior-Enterprises to help support companies in difficulty. ESCadrille supports in particular the winning project of the StartupWeekend Special COVID.
• Many junior entrepreneurs took part in the Hackathon organized by the CNJE to find solutions in this time of crisis. A member of ESCadrille notably participated in one of the winning projects of this Hackathon: Solidarit-e.

How does ESCadrille establish itself as one of the drivers of this transition?

In addition to all the initiatives mentioned above, ESCadrille tries to stimulate this more responsible dynamic, whether in its studies or in its daily actions. For example, we have launched a Crisis Management service to adapt to the challenges and current events of our customers. A service that offers an inventory of the structure with an impact analysis. We then offer you one or more scenarios for measurement and offer you operational recommendations to support you in your adaptation and in your projects.

We have also, in a process of getting as close as possible to the professionals with whom we work on a daily basis, launched Entreprenons Demain , debate and discussion sessions for professionals around various themes. A way to collect testimonials and feedback from professionals as well as to support them in order to find solutions. The report of our first debate is available, click here.

We rely daily on our experience with entrepreneurs to offer strategic support as close as possible to current issues to help our clients adapt to the Crisis. We also promote responsible recommendations in all of our studies. This responsible business experience, ESCadrille has learned from its school , Toulouse Business School, but also from the experience of its former members who, for some, once in working life have decided to specialize in CSR . From this point of view, we exchange with them on a daily basis to better understand the issues and the responses to this challenge today.