Member – CRESPO-FEBVAY Anne-Valérie
A.-V. CRESPO-FEBVAY is a research associate at Montpellier Research in Management, Organizations Group
She was previously a doctoral student in the Human Resources group and served as the administrative coordinator for the cross-cutting research area on management and responsible practices from 2017 to 2022.
She has also been active in the AGRH’s Territories, CSR, and Innovations group since 2016
Within MRM’s HR and then Organizational groups, hisresearch illustrates a “rooted and embodied” micro-CSR (dissertation defense in November 2023; 1st prize in the ADERSE-ORSE dissertation competition in 2024). His work focuses primarily on issues related to organizational transformation driven by middle managers. It explores the new frontiers of organizations and work and proposes “horizontal, networked alignment” to complement intra-organizational CSR strategies. His research focuses on companies in particular, organizations in the broader sense, and inter-organizational collectives, and it outlines how managers and citizens can take the “initiative to assume a more societal role.”
The epistemological stance employed stems from sociology and requires a certain level of expertise as a practitioner: participant observation (Soulé, 2007). This academic approach aims to “move beyond the apparent contradictions of the participant observation stance to fully and honestly embrace the intersubjectivities of fieldwork,” p. 131 (Soulé, 2007). In addition to providing rare access to the field through legitimacy, trust, and a valuable understanding of codes and terminology, this approach enables practitioners to participate in the production of knowledge and proves to be a strength in the managerial sharing of scientific knowledge.
Science communication is a key focus of research. It seems to me that this is particularly inherent to Section 06—to integrate research with society and foster connections with managers in the socio-economic sectors to co-create academic knowledge that is “actionable” in management, thereby driving societal progress.
Sharing knowledge—both scientific and managerial—with students is also a key objective. The content of the sessions and their pedagogical approach have evolved over the past 10 years and now flexibly combine practical examples, academic perspective, and pedagogical innovations. The driving force behind these sessions lies in numerous practical examples and precise scientific knowledge, which are used to build—and often co-create with students—a dynamic and adaptable teaching approach that they find engaging. Learning is built around everyday situations in business, government, or nonprofit organizations to understand their underlying concepts through the application of critical thinking—the foundation for skill development among learners, whether in executive education, work-study programs, or continuing education.
Related Research Activities
Committee Members Academic: AGRH, “Humanism, Management, and the Environment” research seminar, April 10, 2025, ISTEC Paris
Member of the Scientific Review Board for the CIRSE management journal (International CSR Congress 2024 and 2025, “The journal bridging the gap between academia and the professional world on the topic of CSR”), www.congresinternationaldelarse.com, since 2024
Research Program Director for the Chair: Program No. 9, “Responsible Engagement, Businesses, and Regions”; MIND Chair, “Building Vibrant, Inclusive, and Engaged Organizations”; M. Jaeck and M. Meyer, Montpellier Business School, since 2022
Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Lab Chair , directed by K. Messeghem, Montpellier Management, since 2024
Assignments Related to Field Activities
President of the National Observatory on Partnerships since December 2025; board member of the LeRAMEAU applied research laboratory since October 14, 2025
Co-Leader of the GIP (National Public Interest Group) “Businesses Commit (to Social Innovation),” since January 2024. Launched by the President of the Republic in 2018 and co-founded by businesses and the Ministry of Labor and Employment/France Travail in 2022, the initiative involves 100,600 companies nationwide across 101 departmental clubs, approximately 2,000 companies in Occitanie, and 80 in the Hérault department.
Treasurer of the Agir Contre l’Exclusion Occitanie Foundation (7 clubs and associations under the 1901 law, active in 8 of the region’s 13 departments, with 72 employees); active since 2008, particularly in the Hérault and Gard departments; in Occitanie, there are 382 member companies and 1,471 companies involved in initiatives
Administrator at MLJ3M—Mission Locale des Jeunes de la Métropole de Montpellier Méditerranée (serving as a mentor for the integration of young people from neighborhoods targeted by urban policy since 2008). Representative of the partner council, comprising 34 companies. 10,500 young people supported annually
| Crespo-Febvay, A.-V. Marais, M. January 2026 | “Seeking Meaning at Work Outside One’s Own Company? The Paradoxes of Managers’ Participation in Inter-Company Groups,” pp. 298–318 | Meaning at Work Put to the Test by Paradoxes: Between Individual Aspirations and Organizational Realities, Loubès A., Commeiras N., Fabre C., Loose F., Rascol-Boutard S., EMS | Review Committee |
| Crespo-Febvay, A.-V., Jaeck, M., Meyer, M. , 2025 | “Trust at the Heart of Manager-Organization Relationships as a Driver of Responsible Innovation: An Illustration Based on Four Regional Networks of Organizations,” pp. 31–59 | Innovations, Journal of Economics and Innovation Management, No. 77 | FNEGE 2 (2025 Rankings) |
| Crespo-Febvay, A.-V., Marais, M. , 2022 | “Cross-Company CSR Dialogue Groups as Spaces for Meaning-Making,” pp. 237–260 | Meaning at Work: Management and Societal Issues, Commeiras N., Fabre C., Loose F., Loubès A., Rascol-Boutard S. EMS | FNEGE-certified, 2023 |
| Crespo-Febvay, A.-V., Loubès, A. , 2019 | “Inter-company CSR Dialogue as a Driver of Responsible Innovation?”, pp. 75–102 | Innovations, Journal of Economics and Innovation Management, No. 59 | FNEGE 3 (2022 ranking) |