International MBA (English)

The Pre-program

Taking place in the weeks preceding the MBA, the pre-program allows you to polish your quantitative skills before beginning the International MBA core. The pre-program’s online format allows you to prepare for the course without having to relocate until classes begin in November.

The MBA Program

The International MBA is divided into five teaching periods during which the subject matter becomes progressively more detailed and challenging. The program is taught exclusively in English although you may choose to take elective courses in Spanish during the third period should you wish to capitalize on the unique opportunity presented by pursuing an MBA in Madrid. Intensive Spanish language courses are available as an extra curricular activity from September through to May in order to prepare the Spanish novice for these electives should you wish to take them.

The first period aims to converge the skills of students from different academic backgrounds and equip you with the tools you will use throughout the program. This period also includes an introduction to entrepreneurial studies - a cornerstone of IE’s approach to business education.

The second period analyses ‘basic areas’: the foundations on which business activity rests. You will analyze the most advanced management techniques of modern business.

In this period, your ‘soft skills’ will continue to be developed upon through workshops on coaching, feedback and training, strategic communication, and networking as part of the ACCELERATE program. Feedback, peer- and self-assessment are essential for continuous personal and professional development, and ACCELERATE refines your capacity for observation, analysis, and active listening to become a more effective coach and leader.

Period three focuses on the implementation of actions and strategies in organizations from a global perspective, placing particular emphasis on the changes resulting from rapidly advancing information and communication technologies. Classes move into the ‘advanced areas’ of management as you study value creation from strategic sourcing all the way to customer acquisition and retention. The ACCELERATE program continues with a focus on powerful presentations and persuasive public speaking.

Concluding the MBA core, the fourth period helps you to develop a global vision of management, looking at the world through the eyes of general managers – internally with a focus on effective organization and change management, and externally by considering the role of business in society. In this period, you will also refine your negotiation skills – particularly in challenging cross-cultural settings – through a dedicated module on negotiation techniques.

After the summer holidays begins the fifth and final period. In this elective period, you will round up your academic experience by deepening your knowledge of particular areas or sampling from a broad selection of cutting-edge electives. With a choice of more than sixty electives you can freely mix courses in English and Spanish, turning your MBA into a fully bilingual program should you wish to and take advantage of IE’s unique location by gaining a command of the world’s second most important business language: Spanish. Should you prefer, you may continue your studies entirely in English. Regardless of the language, this period of specialization permits you to immerse yourself in the most innovative trends in all functional areas and a wide range of sectors.

Apart from the electives there are additional ways of personalizing the academic part of your MBA experience in the fifth period: you may participate in the IE Venture Lab to channel your entrepreneurial energy developing an independent, corporate, family, or social venture. The International MBA program also offers exchange programs, where you undertake part of your studies at partner institutions around the world including Tuck, Tufts, ESSEC, NUS, and IIM, to name but a few.

The International MBA currently offers two dual degree programs either in international affairs at the Fletcher School at Tufts University, or in Logistics and Supply Chain Management at either the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics in Cambridge, Massachusetts or at the MIT- Zaragoza Logistics Center in