The Program
The Master of Research in Management is a full-time program lasting two years. It starts in the September of any given academic year.
The program has two tracks. Track one focuses on the sociology of organizations, while track two emphasizes the economic perspective of business issues.
Track 1: Social and Behavioral Sciences
This track is aimed mainly at students who seek to build a career in strategy, organizational behavior, entrepreneurship, or business ethics, but still open to students with other interests. Students from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds (e.g. economics or sociology) are welcome to apply. During their studies at IESE, they will be given the opportunity to focus on their core area of interests, while receiving broad-based training on both quantitative as well as qualitative research methods. The track has a strong general management orientation, and students graduating from it are expected to publish in top management outlets such as the Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, Management Science, Organization Science, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, or Strategic Management Journal, amongst others.
Track 2: Management Sciences
This track is aimed mainly at students who are seek to build a career in accounting, finance, marketing, decision science, managerial economics or operations, but still open to students with other interests. This track has a more quantitative orientation, attracting students who feel comfortable with quantitative analyses, and offering them strong training, for example, in analytical modeling and empirical analysis. Students graduating from this track are expected to publish in top disciplinary outlets such as the Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial Economics, Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing, Management Science, or MIS Quarterly, amongst others.
During the first two years, students take a range of required courses, advanced and specialized courses and seminars, followed by a field examination and the development of an empirical research paper.
The Master of Research in Management is designed to meet the following objectives:
- To develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to conduct world-class research on the most relevant issues in the field of management. Particular emphasis is placed on identifying and solving business problems, often in the face of uncertainty and incomplete information, and involving the management of people in organizational settings.
- To provide a deep grounding in the key disciplines and analytical tools (mathematics, statistics, economics) necessary to move from "mere" problem-solving to the elaboration of general principles of wide applicability to business situations.
- To establish the philosophical, ethical and human principles that lead to a deeper understanding of the human person in an organizational context, and to ensure that authentic human values are at the core of key business decisions.
Main Features:
- This is a full-time program based in Barcelona.
- The majority of students have support from fellowships.
- The program is accredited by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science.
- IESE is a founding member of the European Association of Doctoral Programs in Management and Business Administration (EDAMBA), an organization that offers learning opportunities and outreach programs, including exchanges and conferences sponsored by the European Union.
- The program provides opportunities to collaborate with other leading management institutions throughout Europe and the United States.
- The program is fully integrated into the wide range of management programs and activities that make IESE one of Europe's leading centers of management education.
- Students have the opportunity to work as research assistants to IESE faculty members during the summer between the first and second years of the Program. Often this will entail participation in key research projects being carried out by IESE's faculty.
- Students receive sustained, individual attention from members of the program's faculty from beginning to end. This is vital to the efficient and timely completion of the dissertation, and provides students an unparalleled learning experience.
Students wishing to acquire Spanish language competency have the option of participating in IESE's Spanish Language Instruction, offered to all MBA and exchange students at the start of the academic year.
