Launch Of The FT|IE Corporate Learning Alliance (FT|IE CLA)

On Wednesday 10 December,  Santiago Iñiguez,  Dean of IE Business School and President of IE University, announced the launch of the FT|IE Corporate Learning Alliance (FT|IE CLA), a 50/50 joint venture (JV) created by  IE Business School and the Financial Times Group to design and implement in-company programmes, executive development programmes and customised education for companies. We expect the FT|IE CLA to become a benchmark in the field within the next five years.

The FT|IE CLA has several unique and distinguishing features:

– The combination of IE’s academic strength and the FT’s presence in the corporate global sphere, coupled with the reputation and prestige of both brands.

-IE’s experience and leadership in the blended programmes sector, where we hold the leading positions in major international rankings. Blended programmes for companies will combine high-quality online courses with face-to-face learning. The FT|IE CLA will run a significant number of its courses using this blended methodology given the ever growing demand among companies for this type of program.

-The collaboration of some of the most important business schools in the world who will participate as partners in the FT|IE CLA in the design and teaching of courses, contributing local knowledge and relationships with stakeholders in their respective regions, as well as facilitating the distribution of courses in several languages, including English, Spanish, Mandarin and Portuguese. Partner business schools include Yale School of Management (US), Fundaçao Getulio Vargas (Brazil), Tec de Monterrey (Mexico), Jiao Tong University Business School (China), Renmin University Business School (China), Centrum (Peru), Universidad de San Andrés (Argentina), PUC-Universidad Católica (Chile) and Singapore Management University (Singapore).

-A carefully selected faculty team with the types of profile required by client companies for in-company programmes. The team will comprise IE professors, associate and adjunct professors hired by the JV, consultants specialised in executive development, and renowned thought leaders from the FT.

– Programme content developed in various formats aimed at leveraging IE’s multimedia content and the editorial resources provided by the FT and the rest of the companies owned by the Pearson Group (Prentice Hall, Random House, etc.).

The FT|IE CLA will have its headquarters in London, marking a further step in the internationalisation of IE with the opening of a campus that will offer education services in one of the most important education hubs in the world. Furthermore, there will be a subsidiary in Spain to which the pre-existing custom programmes unit of IE will be transferred. The plan is for FT|IE CLA to have subsidiaries and operational units in every continent over time.

The creation of the FT|IE CLA represents a further decisive step in the international development of IE, particularly in the area of custom programmes for companies and in our relationship with corporate clients. It also represents an opportunity for IE professors, who will now have access to new executive training programmes around the globe. In the sphere of educational technology it will permit IE to take the next major step toward consolidating its pioneering advantage in blended programmes. Furthermore, IE will further consolidate its presence as a global leader in the area of management education programmes.

The CEO of the FT|IE CLA will be Vandyck Silveira, who has extensive experience of executive education from his time at Duke Corporate Education as well as from his work here at IE. The Chairman of the Board will be Tas Viglatzis, Managing Director of Pearson English and CFO of the FT. The remaining members of the board will be James Lamont, Managing Editor of the FT, Angela Mackay, Publisher of the FT and Professional Education in Asia Pacific, Santiago iñiguez, Dean of IE Business School and President of IE University, Diego Alcázar Benjumea, Vice President of IE, Arantza Areilza, Dean of IE School of International Relations.