Various testimonials from leading managers currently using EDHEC's research findings served to emphasise the School's original approach to research which is to combine academic excellence with industrial relevance to contribute actively to the needs of business and the economy in general.

A number of workshops were set up after the opening presentation to provide participants with a more interactive discussion with experts from the EDHEC Research Centres: Accounting & Financial Analysis, Economics, Capital Markets, Management, Marketing and Law.

Up until now, research has been perceived as inaccessible or inapplicable and yet it is the basis of competition of all businesses.  Faced with this reality, the EDHEC Research Day was conceived to demonstrate how research into management can be applied to economic players on both national and international levels. It explained why research has been put at the centre of EDHEC's strategy and described the policies regarding industry partners to an interested audience of financiers, marketing specialists, lawyers and management consultants amongst others.  

Noël Amenc, Director of Research at EDHEC remarked that while top management recognised the importance of the relationship between research and industry it is frequently the case that this research is not acted upon. To illustrate this point, when two major European papers on the subject of insurance and financial markets were published (Solvability II and MiFID respectively), EDHEC was the only business school to respond. According to professor Amenc, The criteria for evaluating research must change to ensure that there are real links between schools and business.

Alain Dubois, Chairman of the Board at LYXOR Asset Management, who participated in the round table discussion, confirmed EDHEC's innovative research strategy when he stated that Although financed through sponsors and other private revenue, the research centre continues to implicate itself in matters of general interest rendering it a veritable public service.