Taking the world by storm

Today, every ambitious company needs personnel who are not only efficient in their specific jobs, but who are able to think outside of their country’s box.

This need for a more international approach has, to a certain extent, been glossed over, and as many providers of executive education have to face up to worldwide competition, business schools can’t afford to be left behind.

One that is certainly a few steps ahead is IESE Business School, which launched Europe’s first open executive education programme (PADE – the Spanish language version of the Advanced Management Programme) when it opened its doors in 1958. Since then, it has focused on pioneering business education across the world. This longstanding commitment to internationalism, coupled with its entrepreneurial flair, has allowed the school to respond rapidly to the executive education needs of the global, local markets.

With a unique global reach, IESE currently offers programmes in Brazil, Barcelona, Cairo, Shanghai, and Munich, with courses in India, Poland and Kenya to be launched in early 2006. A leader in running single client custom programmes with several modules at different sites, the school recently ran a programme for Visteon with modules in Barcelona, Shanghai, Monterrey, New Delhi and Budapest, and for Barloworld with modules in Barcelona, Johannesburg, Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo, among others.

IESE has been instrumental in setting up associated business schools in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe. These schools play a key role in the executive education programmes offered, by providing faculty with insights into specific regions as well as high quality venues. An example of this is IESE’s close links with the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai. Currently, IESE holds residential modules for both their Executive MBA and their Global Executive MBA in Shanghai, as well as frequent open enrolment and custom executive education programmes.

Working with non-associated business schools, IESE also became the first business school to introduce the concept of joint-venture courses in alliance with other schools when it began the Achieving Breakthrough Service (ABS) with Harvard. Since then, part of its international strategy has been to team up with other top business schools around the world. The soon-to-be-launched, Global CEO Programme for China is an example of this. Aimed at addressing business and management demands on CEOs in China today, the course is offered by IESE, Harvard and CEIBS. The academic rigor, outstanding faculty and diversity of the three schools form a formidable alliance for a general management program uniquely relevant to China. Similarly, in February next year IESE professors and staff will travel to Hyderabad and Mumbai in India, to deliver the school’s Inside India program run in partnership with the Indian School of Business (ISB), and directed towards top Indian executives and international professionals interested in doing business with India.

But not all courses outside of Spain are run with other schools. “IESE is an entrepreneurial school perhaps that’s why we are confident when breaking new ground” says Eric Weber, IESE’s Associate Dean for Executive Education, “Part of our mission is to have a transformational impact on the way participants do business.” Like many businesses searching for new challenges, IESE does its research carefully. Its well-travelled management and faculty keep their eyes open for where new programs may be needed to ensure that the impact of what the school does is relevant. Before it launched the AMP in Munich last year, for example, IESE identified a clear lack of continuous education for those over 35, in Germany and the same can be said of the school’s approach to the program’s launch in Brazil, Egypt, Poland and Kenya.

The school’s strategy has lead to an international reach which is unrivalled by other executive education providers. Limiting itself to providing education to senior management, the school is able to cover the diverse needs of its clients in terms of location and content. This means that it is completely at home with the various formats of executive education, providing custom and open enrolment programs of different types: general management programs, short focused programs, industry meetings and completely bespoke courses.

IESE’s general management programs are either aimed at senior managers from all over the world or those from a specific region. The Advanced Management Program for managers with over 10 years of experience, and the Program for Management Development (PMD) for middle managers looking to take a step up, are held in English on the school’s Madrid and Barcelona campuses as well as in Munich (AMP) and Brazil (AMP and PMD). The programs in Spain are carefully structured into week-long modules, making it easier for business leaders from around the world to attend. Participants of both programs, predominantly from outside of Spain, are connected with other team members and faculty between modules, through a dynamic web community which allows for continuity in the program. Yet the school has not applied a “one size fits all” approach and careful research into the ways managers work in the relevant regions has meant that the same programs in Munich and Brazil have a different, more format, designed with their target participants specifically in mind.

It is this global outlook combined with local application which really makes IESE stand out as an executive education provider. In custom programs on a national and international level the school is known for being open, listening hard to clients needs with and coming up with world-class bespoke solutions. There is no reason why a global player can’t offer their managers the same high-level of training no matter where in the world they are based. With a balanced offer of open and custom programs, IESE works closely with companies to decide which approach suits their needs better. What remains clear, however, is that whatever the decision, the end result will be a reflection not only of the school’s excellent management training but also of its own highly international outlook. The world is our business!