Have you just graduated or started your career in the recent past? Do you want to increase your knowledge with practical and innovative management tools to face the labor market with more confidence? Or are you a young professional that wants to boost his or her career to another level?

The list of questions could go on and on. However, the end result would always be the same: IE Business School would like to invite you to an exclusive event in which you can learn more about our Master in Management Program and the IE Experience of which it is part.

…just to name a few pit-stops during this great event.

Thus, if you want to enhance your studies or career register for this event by clicking on the link above or send us an email to jana.bezova@ie.edu with your name and telephone number. Bring your family and partners along and make sure you include their names on the registration. Unfortunately, places are limited so don’t miss this great opportunity and register soon.

We hope to see you on our Campus!!

¿Acabas de finalizar tus estudios o has empezado tu carrera recientemente? ¿Deseas complementar tu formación con herramientas de gestión prácticas e innovadoras para poder enfrentarte al mundo laboral con una mejor preparación? ¿O eres un joven profesional y deseas continuar avanzando en tu carrera profesional?

La lista de preguntas podría seguir y seguir. Sin embargo, el resultado final sería siempre el mismo: IE Business School quiere invitarte a un evento exclusivo en el que podrás conocer el Master in Management.

During the week in Madrid, we attended an “Opportunity Workshop” taught by Prof. Peter Bryant, from which we learned how to identify and create entrepreneurial opportunities while brainstorming on renewable energy problems and developing solutions for them. Although it was very useful and interesting, I am sure that during the last few minutes of the workshop, everybody had their minds set on the fancy flamenco dancers and the tasty plates of paella that were waiting for us in the evening. We indeed had a great time at the Las Tablas restaurant, but what left everyone speechless was the final dinner at Real Café - a first-class restaurant in the middle of the VIP area of Santiago Bernabeu, with the stunning, unimaginable view of the whole stadium. I am personally not a Real Madrid fan, but the level of excitement and importance I felt up there is hard to describe – the place is truly amazing! What was even more amazing was the food we ate and the open bar during dinner. We finished our Madrid part of the exchange with a big party at the newly opened Le Boutique nightclub.

Aleksandar Stojanovic - Current IE MIM student and article author

London was classy! We attended three excellent speeches. Michael Skapinker, FT editor with a weekly column on business and society, talked about his career development and about FT’s core values and principles. Helene Rey, currently one of the best economists in the world and a financial advisor to the French prime minister, made us aware of global macroeconomic issues countries are currently facing. Finally, professor and entrepreneur Eli Talmor presented his venture, SunRay (solar power) and gave a thorough description of renewable energy and private equity industries. And that was not all!

In the meantime, we visited EBRD headquarters and learned how such an important financial institution operates. We witnessed the London Metal Exchange closing madness – people

screaming, jumping and shouting on each other, communicating with the famous hand gestures and generating millions in profits or losses in just a couple of minutes. In the evening we tried to forget about all that professionalism by having drinks at the Proud Club (a former barn) in famous Camden Town – quite rare, but interesting experienceJ. The last day we visited the Southbank Center and attended the above-mentioned Eli Talmor’s presentation. The exchange ended with a private cocktail party in the special hall on the last floor of the Tate Modern Museum – wine, appetizers and the sunset view over the Themes River, Millennium Bridge, St. Paul’s cathedral and beautiful “City” of London.

In sum, the places we saw, the things we learned and the people we met during this exchange make it an unforgettable experience.

Check out last year’s exchange here!

The objective of this competition is to develop a viable strategy for positioning BOOSTER as a branding platform for luxury brands, keeping in mind that BOOSTER Space Industries´ vision is to enable a commercially robust spaceflight market.

Space travel has never been closer in the end!

Timeline

• May 14th Deadline to sign up
• Week of May 21st Proposal revision and feedback session (time and place TBC)
• June 18th Final Presentations (time and place TBC)

Deliverable:

• Presentation (PPT) 15 min in front of a panel + 5 min for questions

Team:

• Teams can be composed of three to four people from the February 2012 or September 2011 intakes
• As always, it is encouraged to work across intakes and sections in order to maximize networking opportunities and gain new perspectives

Prize:

• BOOSTER is arranging a unique experience related to the inside world of aviation and aerospace

Article author and current MIM exchange student Jan Oudeman

As an exchange student, coming from the Rotterdam School of Management, IE Business School provided me with an additional exchange opportunity – the London Business School exchange. How lucky can one be?

Before we went to London though, we first hosted the LBS students here at IE which has recently been considered one of the best business schools in the world in terms of entrepreneurship. Our free time with our new friends was filled with an authentic Spanish flamenco show, fun times at the Real Madrid stadium and unforgettable moments within Madrid’s vibrant night live.

Then IE went to see LBS in London!

During the exchange at LBS we got the chance to network and swap ideas with fellow students from another world-class and top-ranked business school.

As part of the program we were able to attend interesting lectures on Global Macro-Economics and Private Equity, and listen to a guest speaker from the Financial Times.  Moreover, we visited several well-known companies and (financial) institutions, such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, The South Bank Centre, and Z/YEN. One of the most interesting company visits I have ever been to was the visit to the London Metal Exchange; traders in action, lots of adrenaline; in short: a fantastic spectacle!

Besides the valuable insights that we received from the speakers and the interesting company visits, we went to superb restaurants and enjoyed the typical London pubs. Looking back at the exchange program I can say that I really got to enjoy the best of London in terms of academic excellence, great speakers, and young professionals that we met. It was a truly unique and international experience that will last a lifetime.

[..]…Education has been focused mostly on traditional, analytical intelligence. This is the way we admit students at Business Schools or in Academia in general. We use tests and admissions processes that are focused on IQ tests or other analytical skills; and we need to identify and assess better other forms of intelligences which include emotional, spatial, artistic, relational forms of intelligence that have to do more with success in real and professional life than traditional forms of intelligence. So we are no experimenting here for example at IE Business School …[…].

Check out the video below to get the full picture.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Roshni Dairy,” a project developed by IE November 2011 intake IMBA students Ranjana Sharma and Carlos Dominguez Estrabeu won the competition and will have direct access to the Venture Lab, IE’s startup accelerator program.  Over the course of the weekend, Ranjana and Carlos were teamed up with April 2012 intake IMBA students Tanya Shariff, Yakir Golan, and Rohit Ghan, and mentored by social business professionals, to further develop their idea. 

Roshni Dairy is a cooperative that seeks to provide millions of women who live in rural areas of Madhya Pradesh District, India, with economic empowerment through agricultural training, ownership of and employment in, a dairy that pays a living wage, and enabling investment in cattle. “Being born and brought up in rural area, I have closely seen the livelihood of women and their struggle for identity & self-respect. Through Roshni I would like to help them to be self-reliant and encourage them to be part of social welfare programs,” stated Ranjana. Expressing her satisfaction with the weekend’s activities, she added that Impact Weekend “gave me an accelerated path to achieve my goals. My mentors at Impact Weekend helped me a lot to fine tune my business plan and the whole team had put its best efforts to make a sound business plan.”

Furthermore, the top three teams—which, in addition to Roshni Dairy, include Greenvest, an environmental crowd-funding platform created by IMBA student Rachel Stern and Elements, a company that would sell Indian handcrafts for use as corporate gifts, paying fair-trade wages to artisans, created by MIM students Aman Goel and Gustavo Salinas—will have the opportunity to pitch their business plans to additional investors at an IE Venture Network event. 

Yvonne Krywyj (IMBA Nov-2011): Article author & one of the Impact Weekend organizers

Liz Fleming, Executive Director, IE Venture Lab, was one of the five investors that evaluated the final presentations, alongside representatives from Fondo Creas, Ashoka pain, Cabiedes & Partners, and THESYS.  

Q: Belén, congrats on the blog! My first reaction was how professional the photographs look. Do you spend a lot of time working the artistic look of the blog?

A: First, thank you for the opportunity to do this interview!! I started the blog with no knowledge at all, but with a bit of time and interest it´s been quite easy to design the it and spread the word through social media. I love taking pictures myself but sometimes use pics from the official sites if they are good.

Q: How do you choose what restaurants to review?

A: I love to go out and try new places, I like gastronomy and design, and I like to cook as well.  So, when I go out I need to find places where the food is good and the ambience is perfect. If I like a place that I´ve visited, I add it to a list. My friends are always asking me for recommendations which was one of the reason to start the blog in the first place.

Q: You write about the food, but also about the ambience, the décor and the entire experience of a restaurant. How important is the experience to you? Can it ever be as important as the food?

A: I think architecture, décor and ambience are all important. I’m from an architect´s family so it’s always on my mind. It’s not the same to go to a place that is buzzing with a cosmopolitan, well-heeled crowd than another that´s dirty and crowded and where you don’t feel comfortable. My aim is to find the best places to eat out in Madrid, London and around the world. This doesn’t necessarily mean the most expensive places or Michelin starred places.

Q: Are there any food trends here in Madrid or in London that you´re particularly excited about?

The trends in both cities tend toward gastronomic fusion and “creative” cuisine. In Madrid, the latest fashion is the eco-restaurant—there are more and more every day. They emphasize organic foods that are 100% fresh, without additives or preservatives, prepared on the spot. In London, there is one on every corner. The design reinforces the theme—these are generally small places simply and cozily decorated, often with a communal table where sitting with strangers becomes commonplace.

Also, there are places for breakfast and light lunches. Places that are a mix of café, deli, desert shop, and health food store, of the sort that are common in New York, London, and some Nordic countries. Bakeries are definitely all the rage, both in London and in Madrid. I´m constantly bowled over by the creativity I find in deserts and pastries. You can find some highlights in the blog.

Q: Finally, any plans for expansion of the blog to other cities?

A: Yes, of course! I would like to expand my blog as much as possible. I’m focusing in Madrid, London and the South of Spain because the places I usually go to. But the next cities will be Paris and New York. I´m planning to make a few improvements to the blog and translate it into English or perhaps another language.

Thanks to IE Business School, I have learned from the best entrepreneurs, and they have given me the inspiration to do it, to take risks and maybe in my next future start my own business. It’s my dream.

Hi Alexandre! Thank you very much for taking the time to share some of your IE experiences with us. Why don’t we start by you telling me a little bit about yourself as a small introduction?

Of course, no problem! So, my name is Alexandre Zinsli. I come from Lausanne, Switzerland and I have a bachelor degree in Engineering and Management from the University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland (HEIG-VD) with a specialization in manufacturing management. Before coming to IE I also worked as an assistant of the project manager in one of the major manufacturer and operator of railroad machines in Europe.

Great Alexandre! So, can I ask why chose to come to IE?

Well, there are different reasons that made me choose IE. Firstly, the “diversity” of the student body is impressive at IE. Indeed, we count 48 different nationalities only in our intake, which creates a truly unique atmosphere in class. Another aspect that was critical in my decision process was the size of the class. The fact that during my specialization period for instance we are only 24 students enables every student to participate and to learn in a much more efficient way. Finally, the opportunity to travel for one week to San Francisco and to visit companies and discuss with managers from Google, Facebook or even Skype is a great networking opportunity and a unique way to get a better understanding of these leading companies.

As I said, I am currently in my specialization period – I chose International Business. This specialization is extremely interesting, especially if you want to acquire a better understanding of companies’ interests and risks in a global economic market.  I am personally really interested in business strategy which is why my favorite courses are “Corporate Strategy” and “Business, Government and Society”.

Thank you Alexandre! So, how would you describe your IE Experience so far in general and what were some things that you will always remember or that stood out so far?

I will use two words to describe my experience here at IE: Rewarding and Intense. Rewarding in the way that I have not only increased my academic skills during these last 6 months, but also developed relationships that I will keep during all my life. This is why every minute I have spent in IE was worth it. Moreover IE is an intense experience. I wish sometimes that I would have more time to enjoy every single opportunity as during a standard week at IE you have the normal classes from 9am to 3pm plus the Executive Insight Series (conferences) plus other external conferences that you can follow plus some activities with the IE clubs; and all this is without taking into account the dozen of hours of group meetings. Everything combined makes your week very busy and as I said, you often wish that you would have more than 24 hours per day. This is probably also why this master is so exciting and makes time fly.

So Alexandre, looking back at the master at this point what would be some of the things you would recommend to prospective students?

I think the most important thing at IE is to be open-minded, to be receptive to other ideas and to try to build on them. The IE experience is more than simple courses given by excellent and very knowledgeable professors; it is a program which prepares you for the professional life. You will often meet colleagues who will talk to you about business ideas they have and ask for your advice and opinion. IE is a platform full of opportunities and it would be too bad to miss them.

Very good Alexandre! But what were some of the difficulties during your IE master?

Probably the most difficult part at IE is to manage your time. Since, as mentioned before, the program is very intense and demanding, sometimes it is difficult to have a balanced life. However everybody is so motivated that it creates such an atmosphere that makes you surpass your own limits and grow.

Last question, I promise. Alexandre, what are you up to now and how do you think what you have learned so far at IE will help you accomplish your future goals? 

One of the most important skills that I learned in this program is how to manage and to work within multicultural teams. During these last six months I have worked with two different groups of six students each. It was an amazing experience to work on so many different projects with them because I have learned a lot from every single person I have worked with. In addition, I now know better than ever where I want to work after graduation which is due to the insights I received through all the different company conferences that have been offered every week. To conclude, the Master in Management here at IE has enabled me to feel ready and well prepared to face the very demanding working life.

Learn more about the IE Fellows Program – a program that provides award recipients with the opportunity to supplement their full-time program by participating in an on-campus project. Fellowship applications are evaluated based on the knowledge and/or expertise a candidate may be able to bring to an open project, as well as whether or not the candidate will fit within the existing project team. Applications are primarily evaluated on merit, however proof of financial situation is a required part of the application process. Completing a Fellowship project provides financial assistance of up to 50% of tuition fees, and access to a privileged professional network, both within IE and externally.

Application and Awarding Process:

1) Send up to date CV, Letter of Intent and 3 most recent pay slips to financialaid@ie.edu

2) Preselected candidates will be contacted to set up an interview with a specific project coordinator

3) Candidates who successfully complete their interviews will formally be communicated the award

Click here to view the embedded video.

For more information, just watch the video above and visit our Financial Aid Website or our Financial Aid Blog.