Posts Tagged ‘Innovation#8217;

Before the actual course (subjects) begins, IE organises the “LAUNCH” program.  The “Launch” program is designed, not to make you learn a particular subject/business topic, but to challenge your way of thinking about a particular problem, to make you realise there are other ways of thinking other than yours (possibly better ways), and break the barriers of your imagination.

From the entire LAUNCH program, two parts have left an indelible mark on my brain:

a)      Revolutionize your Space – This program was conducted by the Dean of IE Architecture School and his colleagues. In this workshop we were divided into teams and given the theme “revolutionize your workspace”. With cardboards, tape, scissors, glue pins etc. we were told to design and make a prototype of your ideal workspace that could challenge or change the conventional norms. My team and I decided to make a prototype called “Eden”, a place where you would have a lazy river with floating pods. Each pod had a separate theme such as “Food POD” Serves the best food in the world, “Music POD” you can listen and play the best music in the world, “Elevator POD” which would take you up to the top of the world and you could see everything. Well this might seem irrational or fancy for any business student but it was all about letting your imagination run..no one thought about electricity before it was invented. 

What I really took away from this was that often business decisions are not based on the conventional methods and time stands testament that some of the best business decisions have been the unconventional ones. Also, we had limited resources (stationery in this case) and we had to design the best possible prototype with that. That’s what business is about right? Designing the best product/most efficient process/the most cost effective solution in a constrained situation isn’t it? 

b)      Basketball Match – I am a sports person and I was the most excited for this particular course. This course was conducted by a former professional basketball player who had won many trophies in Spain. Divided in teams, we were given a few basketball challenges (such as shooting the maximum baskets) and had to compete with other teams. Basketball is a sport that some of us had never played. Thus, during the tasks we had to find out a way to use all the team members efficiently but also find a way to win.  Similar to business, not everyone knows everything and as a team we have to maximise the strengths and minimize the weaknesses. It’s something that we all know but often get caught in our own motives and therefore lose focus of the overall task. Without a “TEAM” the entire organization would collapse.

The reason I wrote this blog is to expose the future students to the innovative methods that IE uses to teach invaluable lessons that will remain with us for the rest of our lives. The subjects and topics covered might seem obvious for a lot of us but when these are taught in an different way they stay with us for the rest of our lives.

It is arguable that one of IE´s core values, innovation, is a central ingredient and mindset for anybody to lead and anticipate change, and thus foster faster advancements in societies that are in constant flux.

During and after the International MBA program, IE students therefore seek challenges to turn what they have learned into competitive advantages and change drivers – just like IE IMBA graduates Bernadette Aguirre and Arti Sinha. Bernadette and Arti just won the world’s largest and most established online innovation competition that for over ten years has matched the brightest and most creative people from all over the world with leading companies in an experience designed to address most pressing business and social innovation challenges – the Innovation Challenge.

This is the 2nd time that a team from IE has won the Innovation Challenge. For their efforts, Bernadette and Arti have received $7,500 in prize money and have increased their profiles as Innovation Leaders. Congratulations!!!

Take a look at IE Business School’s New Space in the center of Madrid. Opening late August 2012!

This new semester has brought with it some big changes to the IE Campus online as we took advantage of the summer break to roll out a completely new version – incorporating for the first time a dedicated mobile site – IE Campus Mobile.

Now when students access the IE Campus from a smartphone, they will be taken to our mobile optimized site giving them access to all the information they need, to get the most out of their program.

IE Campus Mobile provides access to schedules, announcements and documents amongst various other useful tools, and will work on any smartphone.

This is just the first step in a project designed to make accessing our courses easier than ever, incorporating the most up to date and innovative methods. The video below shows a few of these new features and lets you see them in action.

Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault and Nissan, visited IE last week to speak about the importance of innovation in the car industry. Mr. Ghosn revealed the  extent to which he is pushing innovation in his area and he said that the time for new technologies has finally arrived.

Watch a clip below of Mr. Ghosn speaking at IE.

During the International MBA program students have the opportunity to participate in several real consulting projects. The IE Consulting Project (IECP) is offered during the elective period and this April marked the conclusion of the April 2010 class’s IECP where 16 International MBA students presented their final projects to senior management at Unilever.

This year four teams of four students each worked on projects closely aligned with Unilever’s core activities such as Corporate Social Responsibility, Strategic Planning and Process Improvement. In order to complete these projects teams met with senior management but also visited Unilever facilities in Europe.

Duncan McIver, Works Director of Unilever’s Aranjuez facility concluded: “Once again I am extremely impressed with the caliber, professionalism and enthusiasm of the students and the work they have produced. Some projects were more strategic and others more operational, but in all cases the conclusions and recommendations have been practical, and applicable immediately to our business.”

To learn more about the International MBA program and our teaching methodology please click here:

On 25^th March IE’s annual Global Alumni Forum 2011 took place in Lima. IE directors as well as important Latin American companies participated. One of the speakers, Pablo Martin de Holan, Director of IE’s Entrepreneurial Management Department, talked about “Strategic innovation: How to encourage innovative spirit in companies”.

In an interview with Peruvian newspaper Gestión, Pablo said that innovation must take place in every company. He highlighted two different levels of innovation: a global level, a topic on which nobody has  innovated previously, and a personal level, finding new ways that benefit the innovator and the company. He said that managers are not familiar with certain daily issues, but the rest of the workforce are, that is why they should find solutions to these daily problems.

To innovate, a company firstly has to ask itself what incentives they must provide, secondly, it has to look for a place where people can meet, develop and work on new ideas together, and for a method so ideas can be developed in a systematic manner.

Pablo Martín de Holan y la Innovación estratégica

El pasado 25 de marzo se celebró en Lima el Global Alumni Forum 2011 que organiza todos los años el IE Business School. Contó con la participación de directivos del IE y de grandes empresas latinoamericanas. Uno de los ponentes fue Pablo Martín de Holan, Director del Departamento de Gestión Emprendedora  del IE, que habló de la “Innovación estratégica: ¿cómo alentar el espíritu innovador en las empresas?”.

En la entrevista que concedió al periódico peruano Gestión, Pablo contó que la innovación se tiene que llevar a cabo dentro de cada empresa. Ha destacado dos niveles diferentes: uno a nivel mundial, sobre un tema que nadie antes haya innovado; y otro a nivel personal, es decir, encontrar nuevos caminos que beneficien al propio sujeto y a la empresa. Los gerentes no están familiarizados con ciertos asuntos cotidianos, el resto de empleados sí lo están, por lo que son ellos los que tienen que encontrar soluciones a estos problemas del día a día.

Para que una empresa innove, primero tiene que preguntarse qué tiene que incentivar, después tendría que buscar un espacio donde la gente pueda juntarse y desarrollar nuevas ideas y trabajar en ellas, y por último buscar un método y que así “las ideas se desarrollen de manera sistemática para tener algo más concreto que decir”.

IE Consulting Club in association with Accenture and Cemex are hosting the “IE Management Consulting Forum 2011″. The forum will be held this afternoon at 4pm and Saturday 9th of April. The event will include presentations, case workshops and discussion panels involving senior business leaders sharing their opinions on different topics in businss.

For more information about the IE Consulting Day click here.

One of IE Business School’s key values is entrepreneurship. The school was founded in 1973 by a group entrepreneurs and we are proud that 10% of our alumni start their own ventures after gradauation. Jeremy Melul, International MBA Class of 2009 graduate,  decided to start his own company Jogabo after finishing the program. We interviewed Jeremy where he shares his experiences with the MBA but also his current situation with his new venture:

Hi Jeremy, could you please introduce yourself?

My name is Jeremy Melul, I am both French and English and I graduated from the 2009 International MBA program. I currently live in London UK but I am a citizen of the world after having lived in London, Paris, Brussels, New York, Boston, Palo Alto, Sydney, Cape Town, Madrid and Pune. I work for my own startup, “jogabo”.

Why did you come to Madrid and IE?

I came to IE because I was looking for a more innovative program and something more geared towards entrepreneurship. I also wanted to diversify my US centric network a bit. After having done my Bachelor at Tufts, and my Master at Stanford, Europe was really my only option and I have to admit that the advantages of being in Madrid and getting to re-learn Spanish in such a wonderful environment really influenced me. Oh and did I mention the weather in Madrid?

Describe your International MBA experience
It was an amazing experience but it sure went by fast. Obviously I got a lot of the knowledge I was seeking coming in as an Engineer looking to get the bigger picture on things. But that is obviously not the only reason I decided to get an MBA.

Tell me about “Jogabo” the company you founded
Jogabo is the social and easy way to play soccer. Our aim is to make amateur soccer “bonito” by connecting soccer enthusiasts, facilitating the organization of games and adding a social layer of fun and competitiveness to the beautiful game. If you look at how people get their games organised or how they go about looking for playing opportunities it is quite astounding and archaic. It is a painful and inefficient process that requires using multiple disconnected tools and usually leads to many people actually not playing, which to me is the biggest concern. At any given time and location, there are many games being organized and many players potentially looking for other players. Unfortunately, they are just not aware of each other’s interest, and are not connected in any way. When you think about all the tools that are out there, be it smartphones, facebook, twitter, location aware devices (you name it), this shouldn’t happen! What we are doing is building a location aware web application for the soccer community that allows users to organize games, share their plans and discover opportunities to play in their area. Organizers can create games, invite players and get simple tools to manage their event. Players can follow games their friends are planning, as well as games that match their location and interests thereby helping them discover playing opportunities they would ordinarily be unaware of.

How did the program help you found your company?
We are a lean startup and are bootstrapping the company for now. This is obviously not what Business School prepares you for. However, the program has helped me prepare for steps we will take in the near future once we start looking for funding and we start hiring people. It is good to know that I am well equipped to tackle the future because it gives me the confidence I need to be able to just concentrate on “now”. And in startups, it is all about what is the most important thing that we need work on RIGHT NOW!

What is the next step for “Jogabo”?
The next step for us is to launch the site in closed beta, which is what we are working on non stop to make our deadline. I am actually in the US right now so that I can work closer to my technical co-founder. You know how the story starts right? “Two guys, in a garage…” so I guess we are trying to improve our odds a little bit that way.

What do you recommend to people starting the IMBA?

I have two main recommendations for new intakes. First of all, get involved in extra curricular activities through the Clubs and take a leadership role if you can. It really enhances yourwhole experience. For me it was the Football Club (obviously) and my MBA experience would not have been the same without it. It was a lot of work in addition to the existingcourse workload: organising the internal league, the 11-a-side team, the teams tournament travels to Paris, Barcelona and Los Angeles and starting the IE GreenLaces Cup. Looking back through, it was a hell of an experience with many opportunities to bond with some of my peers outside of my section. Secondly, take advantage of every minute of your MBA because it goes by fast and it is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Work hard but don’t forget to play hard.

Students at IE Business School that are interested in Entrepreneurship can also join the Entrepreneurship Club or participate in Venture Lab where students have the possibility to develop a business idea and make it real. 

In January 2011 IE Business School has been ranked 4^th worldwide and 1^st in Europe in the Webometrics – Ranking Web of World Business Schools.  The Webometrics Ranking measures the scientific activity on the web and the free access to scientific publications and other academic material in an electronic format using quantitative methods and applied indicators. IE’s position in this ranking is good proof of our commitment to research and new technologies. For additional information about Research at IE, please click here.