IESE Business School

It also offers two Executive MBAs, and master´s degrees (Master in Management and Master in Finance) and executive education courses. It has other campuses in Madrid, Munich, New York City, and São Paulo. It has been recognised by EQUIS, AACSB, and ANECA.

• Name — IESE Business School • Type — Business school • Established — 1958 • Accreditation — * AACSB • EQUIS • ANECA • Affiliations — University of Navarra • Dean — Franz Heukamp • Academic Staff — 125 (2024–2025) • Students — 1,672 (2024-25) • City — * Barcelona • Madrid • Munich • New York • São Paulo • Language — English • Website — iese.edu

Antonio Valero Vicente, commissioned by Jose María Escriva de Balaguer, was IESE´s main promoter and first dean. The founder of Opus Dei had listened to businessmen from Madrid, the Basque Country and Catalonia who, led by the Madrid naval engineer Alejandro Crespo Calabria, had expressed their concern and desire for the education and training of business leaders with a Christian vision. Valero visited the École des Administrations des Affaires de Lille, run by an MBA from Harvard Business School (HBS), to get advice on the pedagogical model, the case method. IESE launched its first training project for entrepreneurs during the 1958-59 academic year. The first program, called Programa de Alta Dirección de Empresas (PADE), was aimed at business leaders with a decade of experience in senior management. The following academic programs were Programa de Dirección de Empresas (PDE) 1959–1960, and Programa de Desarrollo para Alta Dirección de Empresas (PDADE, later known as PDG) in 1961. In 1963, after consulting professors Ralph M. Hower and Steve Fuller, the Harvard-IESE Committee was set up, and IESE launched the Master in Business Administration and Economics (MED) in 1964. It was the first time the term "master's" was used in Europe; it later took on the standardized name of MBA. After almost two decades of collaboration with Harvard, the bilingual Spanish-English MBA was introduced in 1980, and collaboration was extended to other North American universities such as the University of Michigan Ross Business School, the MIT Sloan School of Management and NYU Stern School of Business. IESE began offering programs in Madrid in 1974, opening a campus there in 1991. The school completed an expansion project in 2021, which doubled the size of the Madrid campus. In 2007, after expansion and renovation, the new Barcelona campus was inaugurated. In the following years, the campuses in New York City (2010), Munich (2015), and São Paulo (in collaboration with ISE Business School), were consolidated and opened. Since its founding, IESE has created an ecosystem to support entrepreneurs, such as providing seed capital to graduates with promising start-up ideas. It was one of the first schools outside the United States to offer a course on search funds. In 2009, the Africa Initiative was created to provide research and teaching support to associated schools on the Continent. This has included faculty training, joint program development, exchange opportunities, conferences and the Africa-focused research and teaching materials. In 2021, the Institute for Sustainability Leadership (ISL) was established to foster cooperation between academia and business. ISL researches and measures environmental targets, governance systems for sustainable cities and financial instruments for their development. In 2023, IESE launched the Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Management Initiative to explore how AI is impacting management. It also prepares executives to put Al to use in their companies in an ethical and socially responsible way.

The institution is governed by the Executive Committee and the Supervisory Board, established in 2023 to oversee the Executive Committee and the dean in strategic planning, execution and key decision-making. The Executive Committee is responsible for the strategic development, faculty recruitment, program portfolio and operations of the school. The International Advisory Board (IAB) and the Executive Committee of the IESE Alumni Association provide strategic guidance to the school's management on its initiatives, governance, education programs, institutional development and corporate sponsorship. The International Advisory Board (IAB) analyses the global socio-economic context from the perspective of business, emerging trends, entrepreneurial and executive education needs and innovation in the field of management and leadership. IAB members are managers and academics from Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. Since 1963, the IESE-Harvard Business School Committee has met annually in the United States or Europe, mainly to advise on the development of international programs.

Given the importance of entrepreneurship, with 30% of students starting a business within five years of graduation, the entrepreneurial mindset is embedded across all programs through mentoring, networking, funding and research. The institution also promotes entrepreneurship through: Business Angels Network for investors and entrepreneurs and IESE 40under40 Awards.

IESE offers specialized master’s, MBAs and doctoral degree programs. During the 2024–25 academic year, these programs included approximately 1,700 participants. Master in Management The full-time Master in Management (MiM) offered on the Madrid campus is for recent university graduates. It includes general management foundation with courses marketing, finance, strategy, economics and ethics courses, with the option to specialize in strategy, finance or data. Master in Finance The Master in Finance (MiF) is a full-time program for recent university graduates and is offered on the Madrid campus. It covers finance, data analytics, valuation, sustainable finance, AI and leadership, and corporate responsibility. Students choose between three tracks: Corporate Finance; Capital Markets; and Banking and Financial Innovation. Full-Time MBA The Full-Time MBA is offered in two formats of 15 or 18 months on IESE´s Barcelona campus. Students choose from concentrations including areas such as finance, data analytics, entrepreneurship, international business, and sustainability. The program includes modules abroad and exchange opportunities with 29 partner institutions around the world. Executive MBA The Executive MBA (EMBA) is for experienced professionals and takes place over 18 months. The program has a modular format across several locations, including Madrid, Barcelona, São Paulo, and Munich. It includes elective content and options to study on several campuses. Global Executive MBA The Global Executive MBA (GEMBA) is a part-time program for senior executives that includes online instruction and on-campus modules in multiple international business hubs such as the United States, Germany, Singapore and Spain. PhD in Management The PhD in Management is based at IESE’s Barcelona campus, and includes the Master of Research in Management. PhD students can participate in academic seminars, conferences, and interdisciplinary research opportunities.

The business school offers executive management programs in Munich, New York and São Paulo and in the Spanish cities of Barcelona, Madrid, Santiago de Compostela, Valencia and Zaragoza. These programs include: the Programa de Desarrollo Directivo (PDD); the Program for Management Development; the Programa de Dirección General (PDG); the General Management Program; the C-Suite Pathway Program, offered jointly with New York University Stern School of Business; the Leadership Coaching Program; the Programa de Alta Dirección de Empresas (PADE); the Advanced Management Program; the Global CEO Program, offered jointly with the MIT Sloan School of Management; Value Creation for Effective Boards, offered jointly with Harvard Business School; and the High-Performance Board Member, offered jointly with the WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management. The institution also offers specialised programs in artificial intelligence, sustainability and strategic management; leadership for professionals in the public and healthcare sectors; coaching and specialised training for entrepreneurs through its School of Founders.

The school openly offers several massive open online courses on Coursera in corporate finance, marketing, scalability, operations, organisational behaviour, strategy and sustainability, as well as specialisations in communication, management, finance and design thinking. Over time, the institution has expanded blended teaching and learning in several of its executive training programs, combining online and face-to-face modules. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the programs offered in this format have grown and now include: the Program for Management Development (PMD), the Flexible Management Development Program (PDD Flex), the C-Suite Pathway Program, the Leadership Coaching Program and several specific programs.

Since the late 1950s, the institution has sent faculty members to doctoral programs in the United States and Europe. It has established long-term academic partnerships with Stanford, MIT and CEIBS. IESE also contributed to the founding of 15 business schools: IPADE (Mexico, 1967); UNIS (Guatemala City, 1977); IAE (Argentina, 1978); PAD (Peru, 1979); AESE (Portugal, 1980); INALDE (Colombia, 1985); IEEM (Uruguay, 1986); Lagos Business School (Nigeria, 1991); IDE (Ecuador, 1992); UA&P School of Business Administration (Philippines, 1995); ISE (Brazil, 1996); ESE (Chile, 1999); MDE Business School (Ivory Coast, 2003); and Strathmore Business School (Kenya, 2005), and the Timoney Leadership Institute (2019) in Ireland. The partner schools are independent and developed with local faculty and staff.

The Barcelona campus, where the School was founded, features more than a dozen buildings.The Barcelona campus is home to MBA programs and a wide range of Executive Education programs.

The Madrid campus was founded in 1974 and offers the Master in Management, Master in Finance, Executive MBA, several executive education programs and a special program for public sector managers. The campus is located in Aravaca, a northwestern suburb of Madrid..

IESE opened its mid-town Manhattan campus in 2007. The campus delivers custom programs for companies and general management programs for executives, including the C-Suite Pathway program.

The centrally located Munich campus, founded in 2015, focuses on Executive Education programs for companies and professionals in Germany and Central Europe. It offers the Executive MBA program and courses included in the MBA and Global Executive MBA programs, as well as the General Management Program (GMP).

Since 2000 IESE´s activity in Brazil has been carried out at ISE Business School in São Paulo. In addition to the general management programs for executives, it offers the Executive MBA. • Illustration — Barcelona • Illustration — Madrid • Illustration — New York • Illustration — Munich • Illustration — São Paulo

The research in particular business areas is conducted through chairs with leading companies and foundations, including Abertis, Alcatel-Lucent, Banco Sabadell, CaixaBank, Banco Santander, Indra, Nissan, SEAT, Puig, Schneider Electric, and Intent HQ. Research is also carried out in different centres, led by professors and with a team of researchers. Companies and specialised organisations collaborate with them: Center for Business in Society, Center for Corporate Governance, Center for Globalization and Strategy, Center for Innovation Marketing and Strategy (CIMS), Center for International Finance (CIF), Center for Public Leadership and Government, Center for Research in Healthcare Innovation Management, Entrepreneurship Innovation Center, Institute for Media and Entertainment, International Center for Logistics Research, International Center for Work and Family, and Public-Private Sector Research Center. Since 2025, IESE also began collaborating with the Eurofirms Foundation Research Fund in Leadership for Embracing Inclusion, specialized in recognition and connectedness in organizations. In 2021, the institution launched the Institute for Sustainability Leadership (ISL) to promote the exchange of knowledge and experience between the academic and business worlds. The ISL, led by Professor Fabrizio Ferraro, is generating knowledge on the monitoring and measurement of green targets, governance systems for sustainable cities and financial instruments for impact investment. In 2023, the Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Management Initiative was launched. It analyzes how artificial intelligence affects management and the ethical use of AI in companies. In 2025, IESE created the Business Leadership and the Future of Work Chair position sponsored by the Joaquim Molins Figueras Foundation. The same year, IESE became a founding member of Business Schools for Climate Leadership (BS4CL), together with other leading business schools in Europe. The alliance produces research and insights that prepare business leaders to face the climate transition and integrate environmentally-friendly practices into business. In March 2025, the institution inaugurated the IESE Sports Management Centre, which aims to promote global leadership and professionalisation in the sports industry. RCD Espanyol de Barcelona is a strategic partner in the project.

• Qsglobal — 10 • Ft — 3 • Qse — 5 • Fte — 2 • 2022 — 2023 — 2024 — 2025 • FT - Global MBA — 10 — 3 — 5 — 3 • QS - Executive EMBA — 1 — 2 — 2 — 3 • FT - Executive Education - Open — 3 — 1 — 2 — 3 • FT - Executive Education - Customized — 3 — 4 — 2 — 7

The first alumni chapter was that of Catalonia, created in 1961. Regional groups for Valencia (Levante), Mallorca (Balearic Islands) and Madrid were established soon after, followed by Aragon (1973), Andalucia (1975), and Galicia, La Rioja, the Basque Country and Navarre (1986). The Argentine-Uruguayan chapter became the first foreign chapter in 1986; the U.S. alumni chapter was set up in 1987. In Warsaw (Poland) the alumni chapter is very significant, with 643 members in 2024. In 2021, an alumni meeting held at the expanded Madrid campus was attended by more than 5000 executives and business people. In 2025, the Global Alumni Meeting, which was held at the Madrid campus, was focused on artificial intelligence and business and was attended by more than 1,800 executives.

• Ibukun Awosika, chairman, First Bank of Nigeria • Antonio Brufau Niubó, CEO and chairman of the multinational oil and gas company Repsol • Lucía Casanueva, founder and CEO of Proa Comunicación • Joan Clos, former mayor of Barcelona • Francisco García Paramés, former CEO of Bestinver • Cristina Garmendia, former Minister of Science and Innovation for the Spanish Government • Manel Guillen, businessman, lawyer and activist investor • Marek Kamiński, explorer, author and entrepreneur • Ana Maiques, CEO, Neuroelectrics • Janne Haaland Matláry, Norwegian political scientist, writer, and politician • Vicente Lopez Ibor Mayor, former commissioner of the Spanish National Energy Commission • Diana Mondino, Argentinian Foreign Minister in the elected government of Javier Milei • Jorge Moreira da Silva, ex-Minister of Environment, Territorial Planning and Energy in Portugal • Sheila Mwarangu, civil and structural engineer • Hans van der Noordaa, chairman and CEO of the Retail Division, ING Netherlands and ING Group N.V • Luis Enrique Yarur Rey, president, Banco de Crédito e Inversiones (BCI) • Miguel Sanz, General Management Program GMP - 1997, Navarre former president of the Government, Spain • Rafael Tamames, entrepreneur and author, founder of the customer and brand experience consultancy Findasense • Pablo Tovar, senior management coach, a fellow of Oxford Leadership • Cristina García-Orcoyen Tormo, politician • Camille Villar, politician, member of the Philippine House of Representatives • Louis Alphonse de Bourbon, CEO de Borvar • Juan Antonio Samaranch, former president of the International Olympic Committee • Juvencio Maeztu, CEO of IKEA • Toni Ruiz, CEO of Mango