FULL-TIME MBA

Established in 1964 with guidance from the IESE-Harvard Advisory Committee, IESE's full-time MBA program was the first of its kind in Europe. It currently includes 560 students, with 80 percent of the class coming from outside of Spain. The program is a globally-focused general management program renowned for its strong international character, bilingual (English/ Spanish) dimension and use of the case method. At the core of the curriculum are managerial decision making, leadership and ethics. In 2010-2011, globalization was given even greater emphasis this year within the curriculum.

This year, second-year MBA students travelled to the school's New York Center for new elective courses. Four elective courses were offered at the Manhattan campus before classes started in Barcelona. Some 50 students took part and gave high marks to the experience.

At the 16th annual Roland Berger-IESE Case Competition, held in February, top honors went to Saïd Business School (University of Oxford), defeating London Business School in the final round. The competition brings together future business leaders from around the world to network and share ideas.

In May, 207 students representing more than 50 countries received their MBA degree during IESE's commencement ceremony. The graduation address, delivered by Mango Founder and Chairman Isak Andic, encouraged graduates not to give up or take failure as a final answer as they pursue their business careers. He reminded them that successful businesses can be started from nothing, citing some Internet companies as examples.

This year, the Admissions team achieved its goal of recruiting high-caliber candidates for each of the four sections of the incoming class. The class of 2013 will be the second class in IESE's history to have four sections. The percentage of sponsored students and the number of countries represented in the MBA is the highest to date.

In order to attract and maintain top-quality candidates, MBA Admissions enhanced its rigorous admissions process, which consists of a 1-day assessment in addition to two interviews. Assessments were held on three continents and are planned to be held on one more continent next year.