“The World needs more Entrepreneurs”

Currently the so called BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are in big demand as they are viewed as the most promising economies. Are these “young” economies overrunning the “old” Europe in terms of MBA education?

According to the Graduate Management Admission Council that organizes the MBA admission test applications to European business schools have increased by 90 per cent since 2006. Europe may be old in terms of demographics but for MBA education it is the fastest growing region. Despite all the criticism, many applicants are attracted by Europe’s history, cultural legacy and diversity, different religions and visions. Europe is a mosaic of cultures and not a melting pot like the US and many applicants value these aspects. There is also a lot of innovation going on and we have high quality institutions that are still widely missing in most BRIC countries except for China.

IE Business School runs the International Center for Entrepreneurship and Ventures Development. Are you a hot spot for innovation?

We definitely want to be an international hub for business ideas. I believe that the world needs more entrepreneurs who run their own company. That’s why we have a network of tutors for students who work on their own business plan. We also have a venture lab where business angels and venture capitalists visit and students have the opportunity to meet those investors. We have been fostering entrepreneurship since the inception of our school in 1973. IE Business School itself was created by a group of entrepreneurs.

Is this your biggest strength at the school?

I would also point out our innovative spirit combined with our ability to respond to market trends quickly. When you visit our school and listen in on conversations you will quickly discover the entrepreneurial spirit that is visible everywhere. A few years ago, this was seen as improper – students were supposed to go into management consulting, investment banking and bigger corporations – but the financial crisis was the catalyst for more diversification. At IE Business School, we want our students to create the corporations and multinationals from tomorrow.

In April 2011 your school and busuu.com, a European online community for learning languages, conducted a survey on the future of languages. More than 16,000 people from over 150 countries took part in the survey. 52% believe that the language of the future is English, 23% chose Mandarin and 8% Spanish. The rest were split between languages that include French, Japanese, Arabic, and German. How important is language learning in your own opinion?

Learning another language does not only mean learning how to deal in another language. It is a cultural experience! Our European languages are also a sign for the richness of European culture. All our students speak at least two languages and many learn Spanish while they study with us. We are fostering the learning of new languages and run our own language courses. A language is not only a new skill, it is also a new way of seeing the world and I encourage all business people to learn another language. Speaking English allows us to communicate in a common language. English has been an instrument for globalisation and global people should be able to manage themselves in English but we should also learn a second and third language. In my opinion, the languages of the BRIC countries would be a good idea like Portuguese, Russian or Chinese for example.

One of your offers is the Global MBA - a blended online program that runs for 15 months and was much applauded by current rankings. What is your point of difference?

Our program is not a traditional online MBA. We actually combine face-to-face education with online modules of high quality. Our executive MBA students for example spend modules with us in Madrid and with our cooperation partner Brown University in Boston in the US. This methodology has proven to be the best one for executives who travel a lot and cannot participate in long programs. Our online programs have the same admission process and are run by the same faculty. We have found that the degree of satisfaction amongst the participants is much higher in these blended online programs than in the traditional programs.

How do you explain this?

The online groups are smaller and the resources are better. Intellectually the participants of an online class know each other better and the learning is often more effective than during a 1.5 hour session in a class room. Executives can attend from wherever they are based so it is very convenient for executives who travel around the globe.

Where do you see the future of your school?

We are in the process of developing a fully fledged university at the moment. We are the only business school developing a university and not the other way round. Everywhere else, business schools have developed from universities. We think that management skills are necessary in many professions and at our university management will be a necessary module for all degrees. It will help an architect for example to finish his projects on time and to stay within his allocated budget.

These are big and unique plans! Where do you see your biggest challenge in the next few years?

I think it will be challenging generating a philosophy for business managers in the next few years. We still need to develop economic science as this was only started about a hundred years ago. We need to learn how markets operate, how to reinvent capitalism, new methods of measuring success, ways to indentify talent, how to focus on long term and not only short term business and how to measure and predict new systems.

IE Business School’s dean Santiago Iñiguez de Onzoño is an expert in business and strategic management. Amongst many other fields, he has worked as a management consultant before becoming dean of IE Business School in 2004.

Facts and Figures IE Business School (Madrid)

Students: 2500 (32 % female, 68 % male students)
International students: 90 %
Length of program: 13 months
Cost MBA program: Resident: 57,200 Euro Non Resident: 57,200 Euro
Accreditation: IE Business School is situated in Madrid's financial district. IE is accredited by the three leading accreditation entities for business education: AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA.