"IE International MBA was the perfect tool to allow me to make a huge career change. The international students board and the high-class faculty has contributed to my professional growth and professionalism in entrepreneurship in just one year, and as a result I have moved from an oil and gas consultant to a Portfolio Manager of an investment group."
International MBA - The Program
An MBA Out Of the Ordinary
THE INTERNATIONAL MBA, A HOTHOUSE FOR UNCONVENTIONAL THINKING
The International MBA is a one-year intensive MBA Program that takes place in Madrid. Every year, we bring in students from over 75 nationalities and push them to succeed as they experience one of the most intense yet gratifying years of their lives.
The program is divided into 2 periods, it starts with a Core Business Period which is complemented with 5 disruptive Lab options, and once you are ready to turn knowledge into action, the Elective Period begins where you will have the opportunity to sharpen your career focus by choosing a cluster of courses with over ten Concentration areas.
Our International MBA works like a hothouse: we deliver an environment designed for those who can think outside the box and challenge conventional thinking. In just one year, the program helps you act upon your ideas, providing ongoing feedback that focuses on you and your individual career aspirations.
Alongside this, the program emphasizes the use of important universal skills, such as critical thinking, communication, interpersonal skills and collaboration.
The program is divided into 2 periods, it starts with a Core Business Period which is complemented with 5 disruptive Lab options, and once you are ready to turn knowledge into action, the Elective Period begins where you will have the opportunity to sharpen your career focus by choosing a cluster of courses with over ten Concentration areas.
Our International MBA works like a hothouse: we deliver an environment designed for those who can think outside the box and challenge conventional thinking. In just one year, the program helps you act upon your ideas, providing ongoing feedback that focuses on you and your individual career aspirations.
Alongside this, the program emphasizes the use of important universal skills, such as critical thinking, communication, interpersonal skills and collaboration.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
The International MBA Structure
Not a one-size-fits-all approach.
Around 45% of the program content can be tailored to your needs. During the Core Business Period, you will choose between the Business Impact Lab, Start-up Lab, Tech Lab, Social Impact Lab and the International MBA in Practice. You will continue to customize your program during the Elective Period where we now offer the possibility to choose a Concentration area. This means that besides acquiring a 360º vision of the business world, you will have the opportunity to sharpen your career focus by choosing a cluster of courses from a specific academic area.
Around 45% of the program content can be tailored to your needs. During the Core Business Period, you will choose between the Business Impact Lab, Start-up Lab, Tech Lab, Social Impact Lab and the International MBA in Practice. You will continue to customize your program during the Elective Period where we now offer the possibility to choose a Concentration area. This means that besides acquiring a 360º vision of the business world, you will have the opportunity to sharpen your career focus by choosing a cluster of courses from a specific academic area.
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11 MONTHS 
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Duration |
NOT YOUR AVERAGE CORE |
ELECTIVE PERIOD + CONCENTRATIONS |
OPTIONAL: PROGRAM EXTENSION | |||
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6 MONTHS |
1 MONTH |
4 MONTHS |
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Location |
MADRID |
MADRID |
GLOBAL |
MADRID | GLOBAL | |
Subject |
PRE-PROGRAM + LAUNCH DEVELOPING AN ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET MASTERING BUSINESS FUNDAMENTALS INTEGRATING GENERAL MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVES THINKING BEYOND BUSINESS |
LAB PERIOD: BUSINESS IMPACT LAB START-UP LAB TECH LAB SOCIAL IMPACT LAB IMBA IN PRACTICE |
120 DIFFERENT INITIAL ELECTIVE COURSES* SOCIAL INNOVATION TREK LONG EXCHANGE VENTURE LAB |
IMMERSION WEEK |
INTERACTIVE EXERCISE | OPTIONAL: INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE INTERNSHIP SECOND CONCENTRATION |
IE INTERNATIONAL MBA Rankings
Get to know more about our International MBA placement in international rankings.
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6thWORLDWIDE
International MBA
Forbes 20193rdIN EUROPEBest Business School
FINANCIAL TIMES 20176thKnow moreNON-US SCHOOLSfor Entrepreneurship
BLOOMBERG 2018CURRICULUM
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Not Your Average
Core PeriodDuring the streamlined Core Period courses focus on the cornerstones of business management and build a solid foundation for the in-depth exploration of the business organization as a whole, not just as a sum of its parts. In addition, subjects such as Innovation, Critical Thinking, and Entrepreneurship, give you an edge over other MBA graduates.- Financial Reporting & Analysis
- Marketing Management
- Entrepreneurial Mindset
- Entrepreneurial Mindset (Coaching)
- Entrepreneurial Mindset (E-day)
- Innovation in a Digital World
- Leading People & Change
- Data Analytics for Managers
- Critical Thinking I
- Transformational Leadership Program 1
- Excel for Managers
- Career Fitness
- Corporate Finance
- Financial Markets
- Managerial Accounting
- Managerial Economics
- Strategy
- Operations
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Managing Complexity
- Entrepreneurial Venturing
- Business, Government & Sustainability
- Transformational Leadership program 2
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Not Your Average
LabsDuring the Core Period, students can choose from one of our four labs. Our highly innovative Labs mark a disruptive approach to business education by fostering integrative thinking and experiential, project-based learning. The idea is to enrich the core curriculum with uniquely packaged, relevant and hands-on material not commonly found in an MBA curriculum.In the Business Impact Lab, you focus on developing your integrative skills and cross-disciplinary management perspective to be ready to create real impact from day one in any organization you will join post-mba. You will acquire the tools needed to question the status quo and to implement transformational ideas in a corporate setting via the modules within the following knowledge streams:
- Running the Design Spring
- Business Innovation Models
- Corporate Innovation Models
- Big Data & Business Analytics
- Digital Transformation
- Corporate Governance Parctice
- Disruptive Strategy
- Financial Analysis for Business
- Consulting Frameworks
In the Start-up Lab, you will be immersed in an incubator-like atmosphere together with other peers who want to start their own venture. Real entrepreneurs know that a start-up consists of a series of experiments, which lead to pivot, perish or persevere iterations. In this lab, we prepare you for this challenge in a handson, inspiring and safe learning environment that serves as a catalyst to help you excel later in the venture lab or in launching your start-up after the program. This carefully designed experience is taught through the following knowledge streams:
- Going viral
- Analytics for creators
- Design thinking: creating, prototyping & testing your mvp
- Funding your start-up
- Generating market traction
- Lean start-up & customer validation
- Critcal legal instruments
- Ramping up
- Pitching bootcamp
- New corporate governace
- Tech- primer for non-tech creators
In the Social Impact Lab, you will gain hands on international consulting experience while also developing personal and professional leadership skills. This option is powered by emzingo, a company founded by imba students in 2008, whose mission is to provide individuals with transformational leadership experiences that focus on creating positive social impact..
During the five intense weeks of the TechLab you will sharpen your business skills as you immerse yourself in the world of technology. After completing the TechLab not only will you be able to have high-level conversations about technology as it relates to business, but also truly be able to put the latest technology solutions into practice. You will discover the most disruptive trends and apply them to strategic decision making.
The TechLab will cover these critical aspects:
- 3 D Printing
- Analytics
- Blockchain
- Digital Transformation
- Quantum Computing
- Robotics Process Automation
- Technology Deep Dive
- Legal Challenges To Technology Adoption
- Developing Tech Future
- Understanding Tech Trends
- Tech-Focused Pitching & Storytelling
- Design Thinking, Creativity And Ideation
- Product Management Toolkit
- Digital Leadership
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Elective
PeriodDo you want to keep studying or do you want to act?
Do you want to keep working on an inner transformation or do you want to keep exploring?The elective period offers a wealth of options and opportunities to further customize your IMBA, with an initial choice from more than 120 Elective Courses to explore based on your individual interests and career focus. Alternatively, you can opt to take your IMBA experience global by joining our International Exchange program with one of our world-class university partners.
The 3-month elective period also offers you the opportunity to sharpen your career focus by choosing to cluster your courses within 9 Concentration areas:
- Finance
- Marketing
- Technology & Innovation
- Entrepreneurship
- Economics
- Operations
- Strategy
- Accounting
- Organization Behavior & Leadership Skills
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Additional Program Elements
Pre-Program
The pre-program will be available online about one month before the program starts. Pre-program courses include Careers, Financial Accounting and Quantitative Methods.
Spanish Classes
You have the option to attend a free, four-week intensive Spanish course just before the program, and you may continue with optional language classes throughout the program.
Integrative Exercise
Your learning culminates in a final Integrative Exercise in front of a faculty jury. You may choose between a final case study, an Impact Project with a company or your Venture Lab Project.
MOLD THE LEADER IN YOU: EMBRACING A TRANSFORMATIONAL MINDSET
In this age of permanent instability, when the future of work is defined by VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity), a rapidly changing business environment needs flexible and resilient leaders. Disruption is the new mantra, and to survive and thrive in this new environment a new leadership style is vital. Business leaders and their teams need to foresee risks and seize new opportunities, transforming their businesses and preparing for exponential change. Transformational leaders have to be able to turn on their heads and think differently about how they provide services and value. Our Transformational Leadership Program is designed to transform experienced managers into business leaders who can design, drive and manage change by expanding their mindsets and skills in this liquid context.
These humanist threads weave throughout the program, providing a clear differentiation from graduates of other MBA programs. This is the vital element that will equip you to lead the future – moving from a transactional to an open, transformational mindset will enable you to transcend disruption and achieve exponential growth. Transformational leaders design liquid organizations, encourage new ways of working, guide the transformation and help foster an entrepreneurial mindset through a culture of exploration and experimentation to help the business evolve as its ecosystem changes.Entrepreneurial Thinking
The program is recognized for its focus on entrepreneurship, and for bringing together a truly diverse cohort of individuals. Our out-of-the-ordinary students are unconventional thinkers that have gone through a rigorous admissions process to join our star program. During their time in the program students will discover their shared values and collective strengths as a global community by embracing unconventional thinking.
Entrepreneurial Thinking is the combination of action, passion and vision—values that are necessary for dynamic leaders, whether that means creating a new company or creating change in an existing one. At the end of the program, our students will know how to connect these principles and find the right balance in any situation.
What are entrepreneurial minds like? They…
ACTION
… seize opportunities
… sacrifice in order to solve problems
… manage risks with disciplineVISION
… imagine possibilities
… see business as a fluid and adaptable process
… want to expand their worldPASSION
… love what they do
… strive for self-actualization
… desire to make a differenceWomen in Tech Mentoring Program
We launched a leadership online mentoring program to accelerate our emerging International MBA digital leaders’ development.
During these sessions the mentor, usually executive digital female leaders, acts as a sounding board, catalyst and role model with the objective to train participants in areas such as:
- Career Planning & Preparation for Target Companies
- Resume Development
- Interview Training
- Networking Skills
- Professional Use of Social Media Outlets
FAQs about our International MBA
Q: Is the International MBA recognized by the Bologna Agreement?
A: Yes, the International MBA is recognized by the European Framework of Education and students will acquire 90 ECTS credits.
Q: Are there fewer internship opportunities in the September/January intake?
A: No, it will depend on the sector in which you would like to do the internship. Please keep in mind that different sectors have different timings and some of them take summer internships very seriously. You will need to be aware of these deadlines and timings so you know which intake would benefit you most. Take into account that in the September intake the internship during the program will take place approximately between February to April and in the January intake from August to October. There is also the option of doing post academic internships (after the program).
Q: Is it possible to take part in the Venture Lab and also to do an internship?
A: The Academic Department will inform you about all the options available at the beginning of the program. As it is a very intense 1 year program some opportunities will overlap so you will have to decide what your priorities are, what you want to get out of the masters, and what you want to focus on in career and you will need to take decisions that will help you to achieve your goals.
Q: When do I choose my Lab? When do I decide on how I will customize my Elective Period?
A: You will get the chance to choose your Lab during the core period. During the Elective period there are many customization options available (international exchange programs, dual degrees etc.) and so this is something you should start thinking about as soon as you start the program from the Academic Team.
Q: Can I customize my International MBA?
A: Around 45% of the program content can be tailored to your needs. Customizing your program begins with the Lab Period where you will choose between the Business Impact Lab, Start-up Lab, Tech Lab, Social Impact Lab and the IMBA in Practice. You will continue to customize your program during the Elective Period, where you will have a wide range of options to choose from, such as elective courses focusing on specific trends, exchange programs, internships, the Venture Lab, etc.
Q: Do the same professors teach in the International MBA Spanish track and English track?
A: The faculty is assigned according to functional area not by language tracks or programs, therefore, it will depend on the area they teach but professors tend to be the same in many occasions. Please note that more than 50% of our faculty is bilingual.
Q: How is the September intake different from the January intake?
A: The programs are designed to deliver exactly the same content, meaning it’s the same program for both intakes. The main difference lies in the elective options available. Please make sure you ask your admissions advisor or regional representative about the differences in timings on specific elective options if you have any doubts.
Not sure about which MBA to study? Have a look at all our MBAs
DiscoverInternational MBA + Master in Business Analytics and Big Data
Across the business world, a data-driven revolution is emerging.While this may seem obvious, it is only recently that companies have begun to invest deeply in understanding how to capture value through Big Data and analytics. What companies need are dynamic and specialized professionals from different backgrounds such as business, engineering, technology, economics, mathematics, or applied sciences who are able to identify, collect, analyze, interpret and use data to drive value and innovation.
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