International MBA - The Program

Reinvent the World

DEEP-DIVE INTO THE INTERNATIONAL MBA

The International MBA is an intensive program made up of a group of talented game changers from over 75 countries who come together to experience a life-changing year.

This exciting learning journey takes place over four periods, each with its own unique focus, and continues far beyond graduation. It is an immersion in the real-world of business that will boost your learning and facilitate profound experiences. Our customizable learning approach will boost your entrepreneurial mindset, give you the tools to become a transformational leader and open a new horizon of career opportunities.

It helps you act upon your ideas, providing ongoing feedback that focuses on you and your individual career aspirations, and emphasizes the use of essential skills for tomorrow’s leaders, such as leading high-performance teams, authentic communication, creating a leader vision and leading through emotions.

WANT TO KNOW MORE?

PROGRAM STRUCTURE

Around 50% of the program can be tailored to your needs. During the Core Period, you will choose between the Business Impact Lab, Start-up Lab, Tech Lab, Social Impact Lab or an intership. In the 3rd term, you will continue to customize your program during the Elective Period where we 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.

11 MONTHS
Duration	CORE PERIOD			LAB PERIOD	ELECTIVE PERIOD		PROGRAM EXTENSION
Duration		6 MONTHS		1 MONTH	4 MONTH		6 MONTHS
Location	MADRID		MADRID	GLOBAL
Subject	Pre-Program	Developing An Entrepreneurial Mindset Integrating General Management Perspectives	Mastering Business Fundamentals Learning Leadership in a Highly Diverse Environment	Choose from: Social Impact Lab Business Impact Lab Start-Up Lab Tech Lab Internship	Choose From: Elective Courses 9 Concentration Areas Short/Long Exchange Venture Lab Global Network Week	Interactive Exercise + Graduation	Optional: International Exchange Internship Electives Or Concentration
		Transformational Leadership Program

THE INTERNATIONAL MBA LANGUAGE OPTIONS

The IMBA is all about personalization

Choosing your preferred languages throughout the program will offer a level of personalization that will bring you closer to your professional and personal goals. You have 2 options: you can do the program entirely in English, or you can choose to mix English and Spanish courses for a bilingual experience. Here’s how it works:

ALL-ENGLISH OPTION

You can choose to do the entire program in English, from your core period up to your final electives.

START IN ENGLISH AND FINISH IN SPANISH

You can do your Core Period and Lab of choice in English and follow it with Spanish electives. You’ll be primed for the world of work, where business is carried out in different languages, different countries and across different cultures.

START IN SPANISH AND FINISH IN ENGLISH

You can do your Core Period in Spanish, your Lab of choice in English and end with a mix of English and Spanish Electives. Some of the world’s most established multinationals—such as Google, BBVA, MercedesBenz and Accenture—require their professionals to be bilingual.

GET SUPPORT ALONG THE WAY

In order to prepare you for your courses, we offer English and Spanish language classes throughout the entire program, so you can improve your language skills. Additionally, we offer a free 6-month subscription to Bussu, the world’s largest language-learning social network, to get the extra support you need.

BROADEN YOUR NETWORK

A program with the degree of language customization doesn’t only enhance your skill set, but it also broadens your network. Understanding industries and markets in more than one language and building strong cultural awareness gives you greater ability to expand your opportunities.

Explore the IMBA Curriculum

1. Pre-Program & Launch

Pre-Program
1 Pre-Program
Pre-Program
Designed to ensure that all students in the cohort are on the same page when they arrive. At this time, students can also sign up for optional Spanish classes to get them ready for their landing in Madrid.

Accounting

Quantitative Methods

Finance

Ethics
Launch Week
1 Launch Week
Launch Week
Just before the Core Period starts and after the Opening Day Ceremony, you will participate in a week-long program orientation – an exciting experience that provides a fun, useful and outside-the-box way to start building your network and find out everything you have to know about IE. There are also some foundational classes that focus on innovation, ideation, communication and entrepreneurial skills.

During Launch Week, you will cover courses such as:

Case Method

Critical Thinking

Take the Stage

Intro to Transformational Leadership Program

Digital Playroom

Who Moved my Idea

Leveraging Diversity & Inclusion

Teambuilding

Intro to Careers

2. BUSINESS ACUMEN WITH A PLUS

The intensive Core Period ensures there are no gaps in the foundations, and covers all the areas of business acumen that must be present in an MBA degree. However, subjects such as Innovation in a Digital World, Business, Government & Sustainability, and Entrepreneurial Venturing will give you the edge over graduates of more traditional MBA programs.

Term 1

Financial Reporting & Analysis
Marketing Management
Entrepreneurial Mindset
Innovation in a Digital World
Leading People & Change
Data Analytics for Managers
Financial Markets

Term 2

Managerial Accounting
Managerial Economics
Strategy
Operations
Entrepreneurial Venturing
Business, Government & Sustainability
Career Program
Corporate Finance

3. IMMERSION LABS

Here’s when you can begin to customize your journey, building your unique IMBA as you start to develop your skills in a real world context. Students can choose from one of our four fully immersive labs or an internship – whatever your choice you will be fully immersed in the solving of real-world business challenges, equipping you with the experience you need to stand out from other candidates and land your dream role.

Our labs take students from a challenge to a business solution in 5 weeks. Students will form teams, learn about the challenge and meet their group, mentor & partner companies before diving deep into the 5-week practical experience. Teams then prepare their final presentations for the closing event and awards are received.

Start-up Lab

It reproduces an incubator-like atmosphere in which you collaborate with other peers who want to start their own venture. As all entrepreneurs know, a start-up is really a series of experiments leading to pivot, perish or persevere iterations. In this lab, we prepare you for this challenge in a hands on, inspiring and safe learning environment that serves as a catalyst to help you excel later in the Venture Lab or in launching your own start-up after the program.

This carefully designed experience is taught through the following courses:

Going viral
Analytics for creators
Design thinking: creating, prototyping & testing your mvp
Funding your start-up
Generating market traction
Lean start-up & customer validation
Critical legal instruments
Ramping up
Pitching bootcamp
New corporate governance
Tech- primer for non-tech creators

For those with an entrepreneurial drive, you will have the opportunity to continue on to the the Venture Lab, which will allow you to continue your business idea and take it to the next level so that it’s ready for investment. Among other things, Venture Lab teams receive training, mentorship and access to IE’s Area 31 co-working space.

Business Impact Lab

In the Business Impact Lab, you focus on developing your integrative skills and cross-disciplinary management perspective to be ready to create a real impact from day one in any organization you will join post-MBA.

Working with the real problems facing top organizations such as ING, Microsoft, Iberia and Dufry, you will acquire the tools needed to be a positive disruptive influence and to implement transformational ideas in a corporate setting via modules within the following knowledge streams:

Running the Design Spring
Business Innovation Models
Corporate Innovation Models
Big Data & Business Analytics
Digital Transformation
Corporate Governance Practice
Disruptive Strategy
Financial Analysis for Business
Consulting Frameworks

Social Impact Lab

Provides an international consulting experience while also allowing students to work with nonprofits and social enterprises in different countries, such as Peru, Brazil, or South Africa.

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 our 6 to 8 week consulting program, students receive training in Human-Centered Consulting principles that directly apply to social impact projects with leading NGO or social enterprises in the different locations.

TechLab

The five intense weeks of the TechLab will sharpen your business skills as you are immersed in the world of technology. After completing the Tech Partner’s corporate challenge, you will be ready to hold up your end of high-level conversations about technology as it relates to business, as well as having the knowledge needed to put the latest technology solutions into practice after discovering the most disruptive trends and applying them to strategic decision making.

Partners in previous Labs include Oracle, Santander & IBM, Telefónica and Nokia. The TechLab covers these knowledge streams:

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

Internship

You can also choose to participate in a 7-11 week Internship (depending on your intake) that will take place in lieu of your lab period during Feb/March for the September intake students and Jun/July for the January class.

This option has been created for those who wish to gain specific real-world experience that will support their career change to another industry, sector, region and/or role. Students may perform an internship anywhere in the world, earning credit towards their IMBA for the associated academic deliverables.

Students who choose to do the IMBA Extension will have the option of applying for internships in different periods throughout the year to suit their professional needs.

4. ELECTIVE PERIOD & CONCENTRATIONS

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 a concentration area, allowing you to use electives to customize and complement your IMBA core courses and pave the way to your dream job. Take half of your electives in a particular area, choosing the remaining courses from the academic areas that best fit your career objectives. Upon completion of your IMBA, the concentration area you have chosen will be reflected on your transcript.

Below are the 9 concentration areas that you can choose to focus on:

Finance

From core principles of private equity finance to practical experience in managing investment portfolios, this concentration can help students enter fields such as financial services, banking and risk management, and or prepare students for corporate finance positions.

Marketing

A concentration in marketing provides a deep understanding of marketing strategy. From local to international environments, from B2B to B2C, students will learn to map the optimum customer journey and design strategies to match. It can help a student build a career in marketing analysis, digital marketing, brand management or E-commerce.

Technology & Innovation

This concentration will provide students the necessary knowledge about the technology ecosystem and emerging technologies. These foundations will help students find exciting positions within technology firms or pursue a career in technology management and innovation, data-driven strategy, IT consultancy and digital transformation.

Entrepreneurship

This concentration exposes students to the practical realities of being an entrepreneur. From business models, to framing and validating new ventures, this concentration presents practical tools to start and grow a business, and to invest in different kinds of enterprises, including social ventures. Students can also use this concentration to take a venture idea one step closer to reality.

IE Dual Degree — Master in finance and Master in Business Analytics Big Data

Economics

This concentration will help students understand how the world works in terms of business and economics. Transferable skills in economics are sought after by a range of industries in positions such as market research analyst, stockbroker or economic consultant.

Operations

Expertise in operations makes better managers. This concentration will deep dive into operations models to increase productivity, create optimum performance levels at the workplace and forecast the behavior of the market, the customer, or the supply chain. This concentration is designed for future project managers, supply chain specialists, or operations analysts.

Strategy

In this concentration, students will learn to take executive decisions from the perspective of a general manager. Students will learn how to build competitive advantage at the business and corporate levels while navigating uncertainty in a (global) business environment. Skills in strategy are highly sought after in consultancy and strategic management positions.

Accounting

A concentration in accounting can help students gain a better understanding of the language of a company, becoming fluent in financial analysis, financial control, management control and managerial accounting.

Organization Behavior & Leadership Skills

This concentration will focus on the skillset needed in human resource management, leadership in changing environments, conflict resolution, and the art of negotiation and effective communication. It will delve deeper into strategic approaches to manage the firm’s most important asset: its people.

5. FINAL INTEGRATIVE EXERCISE

Your learning culminates in a Final Integrative Exercise in front of a faculty jury. You may choose between a Capstone Project, an Impact Project with a company, a Final Challenge or a Venture Lab Business Plan.

You may choose between the following options:

1. IMPACT PROJECT

It consists of offering a business solution to a real company. It's a great opportunity to personalize your IMBA experience, during a period of 2 months, through doing a consulting project for a company of your choice or for one of the companies on offer.

2. VENTURE PROJECT

Offered only to students enrolled in the Venture Lab or Knowledge Incubator electives, students can take their entrepreneurial ideas one step further and develop a business plan for their start-up. The Venture Project has a duration of 3 months and runs in parallel with the elective courses.

3. FINAL CHALLENGE

It is designed exclusively for Dual Degree and Long Exchange students, that consists of providing consultancy for a business challenge. Students work on a business case during a period of 1 month, applying their MBA toolkit, to make recommendations to the client.

Transformational Leadership Program

The Transformational Leadership Program (TLP) is carried out within your IMBA journey and is designed to transform experienced managers into business leaders who can design, drive and manage change by expanding their mindsets and skills. It focuses on your needs and takes you on a path of personal growth to develop these skills. Leading change in an organization requires a deep understanding of oneself first before addressing the individual team member, the broader team, and finally achieving a full transformation of the organization.

TLP begins with a pre-program assessment on your leadership style and finishes with a personalized 6-month action plan created by you to keep you accountable and increase your success. During the 6-month program, you will be assigned a Leadership Coach who will accompany you throughout the Core Period, ensuring you come out the other side of the IMBA fully equipped with the essential transformational leadership skills you need to thrive in the VUCA world.

The Transformational Leadership Journey:

Before the MBA program starts, the TLP Team connects with students to kickstart their journey with the important first steps of raising self-awareness through the use of a narrative and a self-assessment leadership questionnaire.

Period 1:

Leading High Performance Teams

Explore how teams accelerate trust and shared purpose while creating synergies by leveraging their similarities and differences while identifying each individual’s role within your work group.

Authentic Communication

The objective of this course is to teach students the elements of effective and persuasive communication to enable them to achieve concise, effective communication in all modes, especially public speaking and presentations.

Assessment and Development

Designed to give students the opportunity to grow as team players and team leaders. With the support of their learning teams, students are encouraged to initiate a learning process in which they will become more aware of their strengths and areas for development when working in teams.

Critical Thinking

Period 2:

Creating a Leader Vision

In their effort to catalyze change, transformational leaders must be able to create and communicate visions for the future state of their organizations. This workshop is designed to cultivate this understanding and to provide you with the tools and skills necessary to develop deliver and implement a vision throughout future organizations, divisions, and teams.

Leading through emotions

Leading through emotions is crucial to be successful, not only in leadership roles, but also in teamwork settings and when influencing with or without authority.

Agile Thinking

This course looks at the benefits of adopting an Agile mindset, and it gives you the best practices and practical tools to start thinking and act like an agile leader.

Managing Complexity

MAKE THE BEST OF YOUR IMBA

You can make the best of your IMBA through a series of optional international travel opportunities and exchanges.

SHORT EXCHANGE WEEK with Singapore Management University (SMU)

Spice up your Electives Period by participating in a Short Exchange Week:
• September intake students can participate in a short exchange program in late May with Singapore Management University, combining class sessions on business trends in Asia with company visits and networking with local IE alumni and SMU students.

• January intake students can apply for Global Network Week in mid-October at a number of business schools who form part of the Global Network of Advanced Management (GNAM). Institutions such as Yale, University of California Berkeley, SDA Bocconi School of Management, and Fudan University School of Management host weeklong courses on different management-related topics, allowing participants to study in a different context and network with students from other top business schools.
SOCIAL INNOVATION TREKS (September intake)

For the same Short Exchange week in late May, September intake students may also apply to take part in a Social Innovation Trek led by Emzingo, the same IMBA alumni-led organization behind the Social Impact Lab. Through Social Innovation Treks, students get to know the landscape of social entrepreneurship and innovation in a selected city through company visits, academic sessions, and cultural activities. Past destinations have included Johannesburg, New York, and Amsterdam.
INTERNATIONAL LONG EXCHANGE OPTION

Broaden your perspective by spending your Elective Period on an International Long Exchange at one of our world-class partner schools. Over the course of three months, IMBA students on exchange add both range and depth to their academic knowledge, gain another dimension of international experience, and widen their professional networks. While available schools vary according to the timing of the Electives Period—April-June or September-November—the IMBA maintains exchange agreements with partners such as London Business School, Yale University, CEIBS, HEC Paris, and National University of Singapore, among many others.

SCHOOL PARTNERS FOR YOUR LONG EXCHANGE

all
EUROPE
- Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University
  
  Netherlands
  
  Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, 3062 PA Rotterdam, Netherlands
- HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management
  
  Germany
  
  Jahnallee 59, 04109 Leipzig, Germany
- HEC Paris
  
  France
  
  1 Rue de la Libération, 78350 Jouy-en-Josas, France
- London Business School
  
  England
  
  Sussex Pl 26, Marylebone, London NW1 4SA, UK
- Università Bocconi
  
  Italy
  
  Via Roberto Sarfatti, 25, 20100 Milano MI, Italy
- University of St. Gallen (HSG)
  
  Switzerland
  
  Dufourstrasse 50, 9000 St. Gallen, Switzerland
- WHU (Otto Beisheim School of Management)
  
  Germany
  
  Burgpl. 2, 56179 Vallendar, Germany
- ESSEC Business School
  
  France
  
  Avenue Bernard Hirsch 3, 95000 Cergy, France
USA & CANADA
- Yale School of Management
  
  United States
  
  165 Whitney Ave, New Haven, CT 06511, United States
- NYU Stern, New York University
  
  United States
  
  44 West 4th Street, New York, NY 10012, United States
- Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
  
  Canada
  
  105 St George St, Toronto, ON M5S 3E6, Canada
- Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University
  
  United States
  
  Sage Hall, 106 East Ave, Ithaca, NY 14853, United States
- Chicago Booth School of Business, The University of Chicago
  
  United States
  
  5807 S Woodlawn Ave, Chicago, IL 60637, United States
- Babson Olin Graduate School of Business, Babson College
  
  USA
  
  231 Forest St, Babson Park, MA 02457, USA
- Foster School of Business (University of Washington)
  
  USA
  
  PACCAR Hall, 4273 E Stevens Way NE, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Miami Herbert Business School, University of Miami
  
  USA
  
  1320 S Dixie Hwy, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USA
ASIA PACIFIC
- The University of Queensland
  
  Australia
  
  5391 Warrego Hwy, Gatton QLD 4343, Australia
- Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM), University of New South Wales
  
  Australia
  
  AGSM Building (G27), Gate 11, Botany St, UNSW Sydney Campus, Botany St, Kensington NSW 2052, Australia
- Indian Institute of Management (IIMA), Ahmedabad
  
  India
  
  Sargam Marg, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380015, India
- HKUST Business School, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
  
  China
  
  Rm 1501- 02, 15/F, Hong Kong Club Building, 3A Chater Rd, Central, Hong Kong
- China Europe International Business School (CEIBS)
  
  China
  
  699 Hongfeng Rd, Pudong, Shanghai, China
- Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, Shanghai
  
  China
  
  2419 Hongqiao Rd, Changning District, Shanghai, China
LATIN AMERICA
- Fundacion Getulio Vargas São Paulo
  
  Brazil
  
  Rodovia Raposo Tavares, 3412 - Jardim Pinheiros, São Paulo - SP, 05577-000, Brazil
- University of Melbourne
  
  Australia
  
  Parkville Victoria 3010, Australia
- The COPPEAD Graduate School of Business (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro)
  
  Brazil
  
  Rua Pascoal Lemme, 355 - Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro - RJ, 21941-616, Brazil
- Universidad de San Andres
  
  Argentina
  
  Vito Dumas 284, B1644BID Victoria, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
  
  Chile
  
  Av Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins 340, Santiago, Región Metropolitana, Chile
MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA
- Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)
  
  26 Melville Rd, Illovo, Johannesburg, 2196, South Africa

Extension Options

Long Exchanges

Complement your learning with a 3-month exchange at one of our partner schools around the world. Please keep in mind that the January intake usually offers a greater variety of exchange options.

Internships

Have the space to apply for and complete an internship. Fill in the experience you are missing and propel your career. Gain specific hands-on experience that will support your career change in an industry, sector, region and/or role. Students may perform an internship anywhere in the world.

Second Concentration option

Gain an additional concentration, you decide whether it’s time to narrow your focus or whether you want to continue exploring. Cluster your electives based on your individual interests and career focus, choose between 9 different concentration areas, allowing you to complement your MBA and pave the way to your dream job.

IE INTERNATIONAL MBA Rankings

Get to know more about our International MBA placement in international rankings.

6th

WORLDWIDE

International MBA

Forbes 2019
6th

NON-US SCHOOLS

for Entrepreneurship

BLOOMBERG 2018
5th

WORLDWIDE

International MBA

TOP TEN P&Q INTERNATIONAL MBA PROGRAMS OF THE DECADE

INTERNATIONAL MBA BROCHURE

The big picture

Discover more about the program

Admissions, Fees and Funding

International MBA - The Program

DEEP-DIVE INTO THE INTERNATIONAL MBA

PROGRAM STRUCTURE

THE INTERNATIONAL MBA LANGUAGE OPTIONS

The IMBA is all about personalization

ALL-ENGLISH OPTION

START IN ENGLISH AND FINISH IN SPANISH

START IN SPANISH AND FINISH IN ENGLISH

GET SUPPORT ALONG THE WAY

BROADEN YOUR NETWORK

YOUR INTERNATIONAL MBA CURRICULUM

Pre-Program & Launch

BUSINESS ACUMEN WITH A PLUS

IMMERSION LABS

ELECTIVE PERIOD

FINAL INTEGRATIVE EXERCISE

1. Pre-Program & Launch

Pre-Program

Launch Week

2. BUSINESS ACUMEN WITH A PLUS

Term 1

Term 2

3. IMMERSION LABS

Start-up Lab

Business Impact Lab

Social Impact Lab

TechLab

Internship

4. ELECTIVE PERIOD & CONCENTRATIONS

Finance

Marketing

Technology & Innovation

Entrepreneurship

Economics

Operations

Strategy

Accounting

Organization Behavior & Leadership Skills

5. FINAL INTEGRATIVE EXERCISE

1. IMPACT PROJECT

2. VENTURE PROJECT

3. FINAL CHALLENGE

Transformational Leadership Program

Period 1:

Period 2:

MAKE THE BEST OF YOUR IMBA

You can make the best of your IMBA through a series of optional international travel opportunities and exchanges.

SHORT EXCHANGE WEEK with Singapore Management University (SMU)

SOCIAL INNOVATION TREKS (September intake)

INTERNATIONAL LONG EXCHANGE OPTION

SCHOOL PARTNERS FOR YOUR LONG EXCHANGE

EUROPE

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University

HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management

HEC Paris

London Business School

Università Bocconi

University of St. Gallen (HSG)

WHU (Otto Beisheim School of Management)

ESSEC Business School

USA & CANADA

Yale School of Management

NYU Stern, New York University

Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto

Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University

Chicago Booth School of Business, The University of Chicago

Babson Olin Graduate School of Business, Babson College

Foster School of Business (University of Washington)

Miami Herbert Business School, University of Miami

ASIA PACIFIC

The University of Queensland

Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM), University of New South Wales

Indian Institute of Management (IIMA), Ahmedabad

HKUST Business School, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

China Europe International Business School (CEIBS)

Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, Shanghai

LATIN AMERICA

Fundacion Getulio Vargas São Paulo

University of Melbourne

The COPPEAD Graduate School of Business (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro)