Un saludo muy cordial,
Santiago Iñiguez de Onzoño
Decano.

Technorati Tags: IE Business School, Instituto de Empresa, MBA blog, MBA, ExMBA , Santiago Iniguez

The global ranking is based on criteria that include the degree of internationalisation of the participating business schools, professional progress and salaries of graduates three years after graduation, international projection of the programmes, levels of diversity among the student body and faculty, and the extent to which students’ and corporate clients’ expectations are met.

IE Business School shapes leaders that promote innovation and change in organisations, equipping directors with an entrepreneurial mindset that generates employment, wealth and social wellbeing. Recognised as one of the world’s leading business schools, IE Business School has an urban campus in Madrid and a faculty of more than 400 professors who teach students from 73 countries on its master, PhD and executive education programs. IE students use innovative online and presential learning formats, including the IE Communities platform where they exchange knowledge and experiences with 35,000 IE graduates that currently hold management positions in some 85 countries.

While a number of business schools in India and across the Asia Pacific region will still accept students straight after their first degree, a growing proportion of top MBA programmes around the world insist on a significant level of hands-on experience in the workplace.
Melbourne Business School, Australia and Thunderbird, The Garvin School of International Management, USA, for example, look for a minimum of two years professional experience. IE Business School, Spain and Cass Business School, UK, specify three years, while at Ashridge, UK, the minimum specification is five years previous work experience.

One of the main reasons schools now insist on this level of experience, is the expressed preference of recruiters for individuals who can ‘hit the ground running’, as soon as they graduate from an MBA programme. According to the latest TopMBA.com research from the organisers of the QS World MBA Tour, which surveyed more than 500 employers in more than 30 countries, over 50% of potential employees of MBAs look for candidates with at least a year’s prior work experience. Only around 8% of organisations are willing to look at individuals who have clocked up less than a year’s experience before embarking on their MBA studies.

However, this pressure from recruiters is only part of the reason behind the drive for experienced students. Sandeep Gupta worked for major companies such as Cadbury Schweppes and Siemens before studying at Cranfield School of Management, UK. He believes prior work experience plays a key part in getting the most out of the MBA experience: “Sitting in the classroom, during a case study discussion, it’s easy to identify with the characters involved because, more often than not, you can see a similarity between what you have experienced in the past and what the case study depicts.” He continues, “However, since you are now sitting outside the workplace, you can see the situation with a more neutral perspective and can identify who could have done what to produce a different outcome. There’s also an element of glamour and awe associated with words such as ‘vision’, ‘strategy’ and the like, which are used liberally on an MBA programme. These words have little meaning unless you can fit them into the bigger picture. And the only way you can do that is through prior practical experience.”

Sandeep Gupta’s view is shared by another Indian MBA, Rajesh Kothari, who studied at IESE, Spain after six years working in the financial services sector at home. “I found my work experience was invaluable to me on the programme. Making a real contribution to classes is extremely important – this most certainly isn’t the sort of study where you just politely sit and listen. When you want to make a point in class it definitely helps if you can draw upon previous experience and if you don’t have it, it really shows. The case study approach offers a very practical form of learning and the ability to draw upon six years in the workplace was a major bonus.”

Source: www.TopMBA.com

Five months of networking, still no new job
You're doing all the right things to land a great position, but aren't getting anywhere. What's wrong?
By Anne Fisher, FORTUNE senior writer
May 17, 2006

(FORTUNE) - Dear Annie: Is it really true that senior-management jobs are more often found through networking than by any other means? I'm skeptical, because it just isn't working for me. I'm in charge of international marketing for a division of a large global company. In the aftermath of a merger last year, my job is less interesting than it used to be. I'm ready to move on, and since January I've been doing everything the networking experts recommend: going to conferences, heading up a trade-group committee, getting in touch with former colleagues and other acquaintances to hear the scuttlebutt about possible openings, etc. But so far, nada. What do you think?
-Net Zero

Dear NZ: I think you haven't given it enough time yet. Five months may seem like forever when you're anxious to make a change, but networking your way into a senior-management position may take longer.

A few statistics: ExecuNet, a career-services network for executives earning $100,000 a year or more, reported in its latest annual survey of the senior-management job market that 70% of human-resources chiefs say they rely heavily on referrals and other networking contacts to find candidates for executive job openings, which are almost never advertised anywhere (on job boards, for instance).

Doing all the right things, as you have been, puts you out ahead of most of your competition. The ExecuNet poll shows that, while 84% of senior managers agree that broad networks of personal and professional contacts are crucial to success, just 19% say their own networks are in "excellent" or "very good" shape.

"Networking is time-consuming," says ExecuNet president Mark Anderson. "But sooner or later, the payoff will be there, and probably when you least expect it."

Anderson recommends that everyone - not just people who are currently seeking a new job - spend at least one hour a week getting to know peers at other companies, going to work-related social events, or even meeting new people through volunteer work.

"Over the course of a year, just one hour a week adds up to a full workweek of effort, and you'll be amazed at how many new connections you've made," he says.

Anderson speaks from experience. Some years ago a friend from an old job told him about ExecuNet, and he started looking into it. Later the same year, Anderson went to a Stanford alumni luncheon and got to chatting with ExecuNet CEO Dave Opton. The two hit it off, and Opton eventually hired Anderson.

"I got this job through two different networking events that were six months apart. It's not always quick," he notes.

"People tend to attribute a promotion, or a great move to another company, to luck, or to being 'in the right place at the right time.' But far more often, it's the result of networking," Anderson adds. "The more people know who you are and what you're good at, the 'luckier' you're likely to be." So hang in there.

Madrid, April 2006. Students from the IE Business School International MBA programme have won first prize in “Cerebration 2006”, the international business plan competition organised by NUS National University of Singapore.

The winning team comprised Michael Cole from the US, Mohammed Al-Menifi from Kuwait, and Deepanjan Mukerjee and Kapil Jhindal from India, all currently studying the IE International MBA. Click here to see the team. Cerebration is an annual business plan competition, designed to promote the internationalisation of companies in Singapore.

This international success comes on top of last year’s achievements in Singapore, when a team of MBA students from IE were awarded second prize in “Cerebration 2005”, and IE students obtained the first and second prizes in the 2005 and 2006 editions of the “Innovation Challenge” organised by Thunderbird. “These international prizes evidence the high level of our MBA students as they compete against teams from the world’s leading business schools,” says Gonzalo Garland, Director of External Relations at IE.

“Cerebration 2006” attracted 641 teams of MBA students from 117 business schools and universities in 31 countries. The six finalists were from IE Business School(Spain), Kellogg School of Management (US), HEC Montreal (Canada), RSM Rotterdam (Netherlands), S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (India), IUJ Business School (Japan) and Sailesh J. Mehta School of Management (India).

The main objective of this international business plan competition is to foster the internationalisation of companies in Singapore. In order to achieve this, participants are required to resolve cases of Singaporean companies who are interested in expanding their business on an international scale. IE’s winning team developed a case study for Informatics, a supplier of online information and training programmes interested in penetrating the Kuwaiti market.

“We worked together in Madrid for three months to prepare the report and our proposal for international expansion, and the mere fact that we reached the final and got to travel to Singapore was reward enough for us”, say the winners. “Then, when we reached the final, it was amazing to see how the firm’s vice president got involved in the project, giving us feed-back on how to fine-tune our proposal to meet the company’s needs. Presenting our proposal to the senior management of Informatics was extremely gratifying”. They also recall how the judging panel congratulated them on presenting a proposal that was strategic rather than operational, for transmitting the right message in accordance with the profiles of the top directors present, and for taking maximum advantage of market synergies.

“Cerebration” offers an opportunity to build on and strengthen a worldwide MBA student network, and permits participants to put the knowledge and skills acquired during the program into practice. In the case of the IE team “All four of us have different backgrounds and experiences which brought out the best in each other. It’s a source of great pride to know that the directors at Informatics have begun to implement the measures we proposed,” said team member Michael Cole.

Focus on Entrepreneurship

This international success confirms IE’s strength in the field of entrepreneurship. Other IE initiatives include platforms like Iceved (International Center for Entrepreneurship and Ventures Development), a virtual portal that serves as an interface for 24 international schools and acts as an intermediary among entrepreneurs and investment funds. IE also coordinates the NETI Project in collaboration with Spanish telecom operator Amena, the Project’s mission being to promote the creation of innovative technology businesses. In recent years, these companies have created 900 direct and indirect jobs and have received over 3 million Euros from private investors. The NETI Project also runs a Business Angels School, where private investors offer specific training on funding start-ups and business plan analysis.

All MBA students at IE design business plans as part of the core program under the supervision of a team of over 200 external tutors. 25% of these plans go on to become businesses and more than 15% of graduates of the MBA programme set up their own firms. The IE Venture Lab, a platform that provides support for students’ business projects and the implementation process is another example of the school’s focus on entrepreneurship. Furthermore, IE is the Spanish arm of the GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor) report, an international observatory that assesses the levels and effects of entrepreneurship around the world.

More information on Cerebration 2006 at (http://www.nus.edu.sg/cerebration).

LONDRES, 10 abr (AFP) - "El Bulli", un restaurante del noreste de España fue elegido el mejor del mundo el último lunes, por la segunda vez, ganando el prémio de los 50 Mejores Restaurantes del Mundo, en ceremonia realizada en el Museo de Ciencias de Londres, que reunió la élite de la gastronomia mundial.

1 El Bulli, España (Ferran Adrià, foto)
2 The Fat Duck, Reino Unido
3 Pierre Gagnaire, Francia (Elegido por los chefs)
4 French Laundry, EUA (Mejor restaurante de las Américas)
5 Tetsuya, Austrália (Mejor restaurante de Austrália/Ásia)
6 Bras, Francia
7 Restaurant Le Louis XV, Mónaco
8 Per Se, Estados Unidos
9 Restaurante Arzak, España
10 Mugaritz, España
11 Can Fabes, España
12 Nobu, Reino Unido
13 Gambero Rosso, Itália
14 Gordon Ramsay, Reino Unido
15 Restaurant Alain Ducasse, Francia
16 Jean Georges, Estados Unidos
17 Le Cinq, Francia
18 Daniel, Estados Unidos
19 Oud Sluis, Holanda
20 Chez Panisse, Estados Unidos
21 El Celler de Can Roca, España
22 L'Astrance, Francia
23 Hof van Cleve, Bélgica
24 La Maison Troisgros, Francia
25 L'Atelier, Francia
26 Charlie Trotter's, Estados Unidos
27 Le Gavroche, Reino Unido
28 La Colombe, Sudáfrica (Mejor restaurante de Oriente Medio/África)
29 Enoteca Pinchiorri, Itália
30 Rockpool, Austrália
31 Le Calandre, Itália
32 Le Bernardin, Estados Unidos
33 Noma, Dinamarca
34 Restaurant Dieter Muller, Alemania
35 St John, Reino Unido
36 Hakkasan, Reino Unido
37 Martin Berasategui, España
38 Le Quartier Français, Sudáfrica
39 Chez Dominique, Finlandia
40 L'Ambroisie, Francia
41 Die Schwarzwaldstube, Alemania
42 Dal Pescatore, Itália
43 Bocuse, Francia
44 L'Arpège, Francia
45 Gramercy Tavern, Estados Unidos
46 Bukhara, Índia
47 De Karmeliet, Bélgica
48 Oaxen, Suécia
49 Comme Chez Soi, Bélgica
50 D.O.M., Brasil