Archive for the ‘News’ Category

Richard Barnard current student of the International MBA program – Class of 2010 describes his experience during the MBAT Sports Weekend.

 This past weekend close to a hundred IE Business School students from across the English, Spanish, November, April IMBA intakes and the other Master programmes flew to Paris to take part in the annual MBA Tournament (“MBAT”). MBAT is hosted by HEC Business School on its campus close to Versailles west of Paris.

MBAT brings together business schools from across Europe including the UK, Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Holland, among others. For 3 days each year these business schools compete in a broad spectrum of sports, winning individual event trophies and aiming ultimately for the MBAT Cup, awarded to the overall champion.

Coinciding with the end of Core Period 2 and a few days holiday from the IMBA programme the mood was relaxed. IE students competed in several activities and the teams performed superbly. Special congratulations must go to the IE Football Team who once again proved they are the best in Europe in 2011, beating LBS in the final to be crowned MBAT champions.

Gold medals were also won by the IE Golf Team and for Women’s cross-country. Silver medals were won by the Women’s Football Team, Men’s Rugby Team, and Bronze by the Swimming team and Golf Team 2. Personally, I represented IE at Cricket and Tug-of-War; whilst not participating in a champion team at either of these two sports, the sporting camaraderie made the weekend extremely enjoyable.

 The diversity of the IE student body shone through and the MBAT weekend provided a fantastic opportunity for all students from all the various programmes to meet, mix and have fun. The weather helped; three days of glorious Parisian sunshine ensured that good times were had by all participants on and off the sports fields.

We also made time to visit the centre of Paris and see the sights. The cricket team decided to do this on the first day, taking the approach of “bringing cricket to Paris” and playing at each of the major landmarks across the heart of the city, culminating in a game of cricket beneath the Eiffel Tower.

On a final note, although there was not a prize for it, I believe that by popular consent IE also won the disco dance floor challenge … at least I won something!

A good example of how IE Business School helps women to reach their professional goals is through events like “IE Women’s day: Women without fear of power”, taking place next 1^st June at our Madrid campus and will speak about the keys to success for women.

 This event will count on the presence of Mrs. Mónica Deza, Vice President of Innovation of the McCann World Group in Spain and Counselor of APD, Mrs. Mª Paz Sánchez, Director of General Electric Capital in Spain, and Mrs. Elisa Martínez de Miguel, Executive Partner of Newmann international.

 These women have enjoyed success in their careers, and they will share with us their personal experiences, opinions about the current position of women in the world and their professional development.

 The audience will also have the opportunity to network with each other and the different speakers.

If you want would like to attend, please click here.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 Un claro ejemplo de cómo IE Business School ayuda a las mujeres a lograr sus objetivos profesionales, es a través de eventos como el “IE Women’s day: Mujeres sin miedo al poder”, que se celebrará el próximo 1 de junio en nuestro campus de Madrid, el cual va dirigido a todas las mujeres que quieran conocer las claves del éxito femenino.

 El evento contará entre otras con la participación de Dña. Mónica Deza, Vicepresidente de Innovación de McCann World Group España y Consejera de la APD; Dña. Mª Paz Sánchez, Directora para España de General Electric Capital o Dña. Elisa Martínez de Miguel, Executive Partner de Newmann international.

 Las asistentes tendrán la oportunidad de intercambiar opiniones entre ellas y de charlas con las diferentes ponentes.

Si quieres asistir a este evento, pincha aquí.

IE Business School’s International MBA allows students to customize their MBA experience during the Elective period, known as IMBA+.

Amongst the many options students are offered is the opportunity to spend an intensive week at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in Shanghai as part of a Short Exchange. During this time, students will learn about China and its unique business practices through the module “Doing Business in China.” They will also have time to network and explore China’s commercial and financial capital.

Cheung Kong is the first and, at the moment, only private business school in the whole of China and has fast become one of the Asian leaders in business education.

Please click here to read a recent article published in Expansion y Empleo about Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business. (article in Spanish)

IE Business School students at the Hult Global Case Challenge

A team from IE Business School has competed in the 2^nd Annual Hult Global Case Challenge – a call to action for the world’s brightest business school minds to tackle the world’s most pressing issues. The competition, in partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative and Water.org, an organization co-founded by Gary White and actor Matt Damon, focused on developing solutions to the global water crisis. Hult will make the winning idea, along with a $1 million prize, available to Water.org to accelerate access to clean water and sanitation.

“Hult is thrilled that IE Business School has joined the Challenge,” said Stephen Hodges, President of the Hult International Business School.  “This year, we had thousands of students from around the globe competing to help solve the issue of clean water access which can benefit millions of people.  The diversity of these teams, from the world’s top business schools, consisted of some of the most talented thought leaders of our time, ensuring a spirited competition.  We thank IE Business School for supporting this effort.”

The teams were selected from more than 1000 applications.  Most schools had multiple team applicants with one or two teams from each school being chosen.

Regional competitions took place on March 5 on Hult’s five campuses in Boston, San Francisco, London, Dubai and Shanghai. IE Business School’s team competed in London and the team members included five IMBA students: Vittorio Lapiana, Alberto Riboni, Riccardo Corti, Federico Marafante and Marco Moncada.

Our team won the first heat of the competition among 8 other teams from top European business schools and we then had the opportunity to present in front of all the jury and participants for the European final, reaching 4^th position out of a total of 32 teams. Even if it was a great result, we missed the opportunity to fly to NY for the worldwide final chaired by Bill Clinton.

It has been an amazing experience and we hope that an IE Business School team can reach first place next year!

Pino Bethencourt - Professor at IE Business School

IE Business School professor Pino Bethencourt has recently published an article in Forbes magazine, outlining her belief that women can take over boardrooms and executive positions around the world – but only if they are prepared to take the last step.

This last step, Bethencourt states, relates to “mastering the unwritten rules of leadership models” in organizations. Indeed, Bethencourt admits that despite the progress that women have made, top executive teams have been designed “by men and for men” for a very long time, making decision-making processes difficult to change from the outside.

Bethencourt feels, therefore, that women will be able to change these “unwritten rules” once they fill executive positions in sufficient numbers. To get there, however, “women are simply going to have to learn to play the game of power the way men do. At least for now.”

You may read the full article at Forbes.com by clicking here.

As well as being an IE Business School professor, Pino Bethencourt is founder of Bethencourt – Stratetgic Development. Please click here to learn more.

Con intención de dar a conocer la metodología aquí desarrollada, IE Business School realiza una “Master class” todos los meses para que aquellos interesados en el International MBA y MBA Part-time tengan la oportunidad de vivir lo que es una clase dentro de nuestra escuela.

Este jueves 12 de mayo, el profesor José Ignacio Gafo, Marketing Manager en Vodafone, experto en marketing internacional y desarrollo de negocio, trató el caso Starbucks Coffee.

Además, tuvimos la oportunidad de contar con la intervención de la Directora de Marketing en España y Portugal de Starbucks Coffee, Beatriz Navarro, la cual nos habló de la empresa desde su perspectiva.

Para conocer más acerca de la metodología, picha aquí.

Click here to read about our methodology.

At IE Business School we take the threat of climate change very seriously. We therefore encourage our students to care about the environment while they develop their managerial skills. Symbolic of our dedication to corporate responsibility we would like to introduce you to the IE Energy Day – taking place on Thursday the 19th of May at 19:00(CET). This event is organized by IE to stimulate discussion on the environment and ways that businesses can help promote a carbon neutral world.

 We invite the IE Community to learn more about the energy sector by attending the speech titled “The Goal of Climate Change” by Mr. Jesús Abadía Ibáñez – IE Business School Executive MBA Alumni and Director of Environmental and Sustainable Development for ENDESA. Also participating and moderating the debate will be Mr. Carlos Garía Suárez – CEO of Tenoma Energía Sostenible S.A. and professor of Renewable Energy and Corporate Social Responsibility at IE Business School.

 At the end of the conference we also invite you to an informal cocktail where you will have the opportunity to network with members of the IE Community, professors and professionals from the sector.

To register for the IE Energy Day Event click here.

En IE Business Business School nos tomamos muy en serio el asunto del cambio climático. Por esto, animamos a nuestros estudiantes a que se preocupen por el medioambiente a la vez de que desarrollan sus habilidades en gestión. Nos gustaría presentaros el IE Energy Day, el cual tendrá lugar el jueves 19 de mayo a las 19.00 (CET), un acontecimiento que simboliza nuestra dedicación a la responsabilidad social. Este acto está organizado por IE, en el que se discute sobre medioambiente y el modo en que los negocios pueden ayudar a promover un mundo libre de carbono.

Invitamos al IE Community a aprender sobre el sector energético asistiendo a la charla titulada “El objetivo del cambio climático”, del Sr. Jesús Abadía Ibáñez, ex alumno de IE Executive MBA y Director de Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo sostenible de ENDESA. El Sr. Carlos García Suázer, CEO de Tenoma Energía Sostenible S.A.  y el profesor de Energías Renovables y de Responsabilidad Social Corporativa en IE Business School también participarán y moderarán el debate.

Os invitamos al final de la conferencia a que asistáis a un cóctel informal donde tendrás la oportunidad de charlar con los miembros de IE Community, profesores y profesionales del sector.

Para registrarte en el IE Energy Day pincha aqui.

Last weekend, The Spanish national newspaper ABC  published an article about the important steps a student has to complete in order to pass the rigorous admissions process of one of the best business schools in the world.

Julián Trigo, Director of the Admissions Department at IE Business School, and other members of the Admission Committee outlined several important aspects to succeed in this process:

• Due to the limited number of places, it is recommended to start the process several months before the master starts or even a year in advance.
• A candidate must possess a strong academic record and above all a huge personal motivation, to seal a place in a master. In addition, the candidate has to have a good knowledge of the program he/she is planning to study.
• All the documentation that students send will be very useful to know more about the candidate: recommendation letters, plans after the master, language certificates, etc.
• Sit the GMAT, GRE or in the case of IE, the IE Admissions test, which is aimed at an international audience. It is very practical and there is no need to prepare anything beforehand. 
• Get an interview. This is an important part because it is when the schools have the opportunity to meet the candidate and get to know them personally.

If you want to discover more about the admissions process, please click here.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

El pasado fin de semana, el periódico ABC publicó un artículo sobre los pasos más importantes en el riguroso proceso de admisión que hay que superar para poder cursar un máster en una de las mejores escuelas de negocio mundiales.

Julián Trigo, Director de Admisiones de IE Business School y otros miembros del Comité de Admisiones de algunas de las principales escuelas, coinciden en varios puntos esenciales para pasar con éxito éste proceso:

• Debido al número limitado de plazas, se recomienda comenzar el proceso con varios meses e incluso con un año de antelación.
• Tener un buen expediente, formación y sobre todo, una gran motivación personal, para garantizar el aprovechamiento del máster. Además, debe de conocer bien el máster que quieren cursa.
• Toda la documentación que pueda entregar, servirá para conocer mejor al candidato: cartas de recomendación, planes después del máster, certificados de idiomas, etc.
• Presentar el GMAT, GRE o en el caso del IE, también aceptamos la prueba de admisión del IE, la cual está dirigida a un público internacional. Tiene un enfoque práctico y no necesita de preparación previa.
• Realizar una entrevista. Esta parte es esencial ya que es cuando se tiene la oportunidad de tener un trato directo con el candidato.

Si quieres averiguar más sobre el proceso de admisión, pincha aquí.

IE Business School’s Venture Lab will today open their Venture Days event to be held in Madrid on May 11^th and 12^th.

During these two days, IE Business School will welcome a variety of entrepreneurs and guest speakers who will share their thoughts and experiences with IE students. Speakers will include Martin Varsavksy (founder of Jazztel and Ya.com), Kike Sarasola (founder of Room-Mate Hotels), Dr. Lily Chang (from National University of Singapore) and Juan Tomás Hernani (the Spanish Secretary General of Innovation).

In addition, the 8 finalists of IE Business School’s Venture Lab will present their projects to an international panel of 35 investors and other VIPs related to the entrepreneurial ecosystem from Germany, Jordan, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Israel, Denmark, the UK, the US and Spain.

These events highlight IE’s commitment to entrepreneurship and our dedication to providing students with all the support possible to help them in their entrepreneurial ambitions. As IE was founded by entrepreneurs in 1973, this is a theme that runs throughout our programs.

If you would like to read more about the event please click here.

 Richard Barnard current student of the International MBA program – Class of 2010 describes his experience during examweek in the second core period:

We are midway through our second exam week of the International MBA programme and this period, Core 2, has flown by. Regarded as the busiest term and often the most testing in terms of time, team and workload management, it has proven to be struggle at times but overall we’ve pulled through and are now heads-down, charging for the finish line.

Core period 2’s difficulties lie in the fact that we’ve had to manage 3 work groups: our Core Period 2 work group, entrepreneurial management group and also the Core Period 1 work group which we’ve used for the Economics and Marketing projects (the subjects that straddle Core Periods 1 and 2). Finding the time to commit to each of these teams has been hard and conflicts have naturally arisen. However, we were advised that Core Period 2 would produce ‘crunch’ situations and thus we were prepared.

There have been some major deliverables this term; memorable moments have included the final entrepreneurial management project presentations, carrying out questionnaires on the streets of Madrid for our marketing assignment, and revising for the subject that has given us all nightmares, cost accounting.

Inevitably the groups experienced moments of blowout, but thankfully all issues were resolvable and the mood within my section is positive, looking forward to clearing the exams, enjoying a few days well-earned break and then cracking on with Core Period 3 or, for the minority, embarking on an internship (IMBA in Practice).

Once the exams are over IE has granted us all 3 days holiday to fly to Paris and attend the annual MBAT (MBA Tournament) Europe’s largest annual MBA sporting/ social event, or to just relax and recuperate on a Spanish beach. I’m taking the first option, flying to Paris to represent IE at cricket and dodgeball, am presuming the skills required are vaguely compatible … run, catch and throw!

The past few weeks have seen blue skies, long sunny days and rising temperatures, the weather we all came to Spain for. With temperatures rising to the high 20’s centigrade, the parks and plazas are now filled with people chatting, drinking and eating long into the balmy evenings, and the prospects of a long hot Spanish summer await us all … happy days!