France's grandes ecoles, the elite graduate schools in which its political, business and professional leaders are trained, not only provide a ticket to the upper reaches of French life but also serve as a repository of the nation's highest culture and learning. Imagine the shock, then, when France's top business school, Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales, decided to offer a management program next fall that will be taught in English. Reason: English has become the language of international business.
H.E.C. is not turning into an overseas branch of the Harvard Business School, however. The new classes will involve only 30 students...