If we were to liken IESE to any business school in the US, we would surely pick Harvard. The Barcelona business school was built upon HBS foundations from the get-go, by forming the Harvard-IESE committee in 1963 prior to launching its MBA program one year later. Like the HBS MBA, IESE’s is focused on general management, and has also heavily incorporated the case study method into its teaching. IESE’s quality has been recognized by the Financial Times, which ranked it as the 10th best business school worldwide in 2022, first in ESG, and second in international courses.
IESE’s MBA program can be completed in either 15 or 19 months. Apart from its general management focus, the school is also known for its broad entrepreneurship offerings, including the Finaves venture capital fund, which is affiliated with IESE. Furthermore, IESE emphasizes its extensive international network woven into its faculty, curriculum, and educational partnerships. In terms of class composition, IESE typically has 350 students, 85% of whom are international. Students tend to be highly analytical; 43% of the class of 2021 have STEM undergraduate degrees, one of the highest figures among all schools.
As for employment, 34% of graduates from the MBA class of 2021 entered the consulting sector, with 25% and 17% entering finance and tech, respectively. Healthcare was relatively popular among students as well, attracting 10% of the class. In terms of geography, 26% of graduates took up work in outer Europe, 20% in Spain per se, and the rest in Latin America and Asia Pacific with 22% and 20%, respectively.
Notable IESE alumni include Paco Ybarra (Global Head of Markets and Securities Services of Citigroup, MBA 1987), Luis Maroto (CEO of Amadeus IT Group, MBA 1989) and Francisco Reynes (President of Natural Gas Fenosa, MBA 1989).
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1,000
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Structured
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90%
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680
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