Teaching & Research

IE University is an international axis for scholarship, teaching, and research. Our community is rich with faculty and students pursuing degrees and conducting studies that explore sustainability through diverse lenses. 

At IE University, we ensure that all graduating students are trained as impactful leaders who can successfully embrace their role in building a sustainable world for all.

IE’s Sustainable Impact Teaching & Research principles

Central to IE University’s approach to sustainability is the idea that solutions to the world’s most pressing problems will require an interdisciplinary effort. Today, our curricula, labs, research centers, and student clubs at IE University are working to solve the most urgent challenges facing humanity, from sustainable cities and food security to responsible consumption and production and climate action. 

Driven by a pioneering, entrepreneurial spirit and a dedication to having a positive impact on society, IE University is well positioned to seek solutions that create a more sustainable planet and educate generations of business and policy leaders equal to that challenge. 

OUR SCHOOLS

Across campus, IE University’s schools incorporate sustainability into research and academic programs. All of our schools offer a wide range of sustainability-related content, certificates and research opportunities as well as workshops, seminars and conferences for teachers, staff and students.

IE BUSINESS SCHOOL

IE LAW SCHOOL

IE SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN

IE SCHOOL OF GLOBAL AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS 

IE SCHOOL OF HUMAN SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY

IE EXPONENTIAL LEARNING 

SUSTAINABILITY RELATED PROGRAMS

POSTGRADUATE PROGRAMS

MASTER IN INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

IE’s School of Global and Public Affairs and the United Nations System Staff College have partnered to provide world-class training for professionals who want to tackle the complex challenges associated with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

MASTER IN INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

THE WORLD OF TOMORROW

The World of Tomorrow (WoT) is a unique, highly transformative and impact-oriented training program designed to introduce senior executives to the main trends in technological and social disruption, and to help them to transform those trends into new opportunities for their businesses.

THE WORLD OF TOMORROW

FUTURE TRENDS

This program is designed as a deep-dive into new technologies and their impact on the economic, political and social realms. For five days, participants meet top scholars, practitioners and experts in relevant fields and gain cutting-edge knowledge that will help them and their organizations navigate change and remain competitive in the digital era.

FUTURE TRENDS

MASTER IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (MIR) SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP CHALLENGE

This course of study allows students to understand the working and intricacies of social entrepreneurship, turning their ideas into realities with consultation support from Third Half Soccer, the Moringa Project and Alma Nativa.

MASTER IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

MASTER IN GLOBAL CORPORATE COMPLIANCE (LL.M./MSL.)

This program prepares students to manage the new and complex regulatory global demands and to implement a compliance-based ethics program.

MASTER IN GLOBAL CORPORATE COMPLIANCE (LL.M./MSL.)

MASTER IN VISUAL DIGITAL MEDIA

IE’s Master in Visual and Digital Media trains students to create and lead innovative visual and digital media projects for companies worldwide. A key component of this course is the Master Capstone Project done in collaboration with Fundación Llorente & Cuenca, during which students develop a comprehensive strategy for a specific NGO by developing content for social impact.

MASTER IN VISUAL DIGITAL MEDIA

Executive education

Sustainability: Your Competitive Advantage Program

Executive Program on Corporate Social Responsibility

Transformation with Purpose Bootcamp

Hacking Growth with Purpose Program with YPO

Strategic Leadership for Humanitarian Security Program

Women on Boards, Africa with Wimbiz

International Program for Financial Institutions’ Executives: Development Banks in the New Normal with ICO

Global Advanced Management Program and Global Senior Management Program – Sustainability Module

Women in Leadership Program

The Global Renewable Energy Business Program

IE Alumni Appreciation Event: Sustainability at the Core

Luxury, Communications, and Real Estate Programs – Sustainability Module

Talent Management in the Digital Era Program – “The Green World” Challenge: Sustainable Job Environment

IMPACT LEARNING EXPERIENCES

Among other projects, IE University students work on initiatives related to sustainability and social impact such as:

  1. Social Impact Lab

    Offers students the opportunity to support social enterprises in South Africa or Spain through a consulting project.

  2. Slow fashion Lab

    Students receive practical and inspiring training in the fashion industry. They will meet professionals across the sector, enhancing the values and the positive impact of their future career aligned with sustainability, whether in the fashion industry or not.

  3. Social Impact Trek MBA

    Offers training periods in cities such as Amsterdam, Johannesburg, New York, or Rio de Janeiro, with projects focused on sustainability, CSR, impact investing and interactions with entrepreneurs/social enterprises.

  4. Startup Lab

    Focuses on projects with impact on the SDGs.

  5. Student projects

    Offer pro-bono consulting, projects with social impact investment funds, legal clinics.

  6. Financiers Without Borders (FsF)

    An NGO run by students and professors at IE Business School to promote financial inclusion in Africa as a development tool.

  7. Emzingo Consulting

    Helps companies create social transformational leadership programs.

  8. Impact Project (MBA)

    Students develop social innovation projects with the aim of making a positive impact on the company, community and society.

  9. Micro-entrepreneurs and student-driven NGOs

    Helix Social Impact Project, Solar Now in Uganda.

  10. Global Village

    Led by students from IE University's Net Impact Club, it features an annual multicultural event where participants share their history, culture, traditions, cuisine, etc. The funds collected are used for a social project.

  11. WWF's '100 Companies for the Forests' project

    This is part of the WWF initiative to repopulate the forests of the Doñana Natural Park (Huelva, Spain), which is home to a unique biodiversity ecosystem under threat.

  12. Legal Clinic

Research

Sustainable development research enables individuals to reflect on their own actions by considering current and future social and environmental impacts from a global perspective.

RESEARCH CENTERS

IE CENTER FOR THE GOVERNANCE OF CHANGE
IE CENTER FOR DIVERSITY
IE CENTER FOR SOCIAL INNOVATION
IE CENTER FOR AFRICA
IE CENTER FOR TRANSPORT ECONOMICS & INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT
SAUDI-SPANISH CENTER FOR ISLAMIC ECONOMICS AND FINANCE
IE FAMILIES IN BUSINESS CENTER
ie center for health well-being & happiness
ie hr center
ie center for sustainable cities

PUBLICATIONS

In the last 5 years more than 70 articles related to sustainability were published by the IE University community. Of these we highlight:

Can luxury brands be ethical? Reducing the sophistication liability of luxury brands

DiegoCosta Pinto, Márcia MaurerHerter, DilneyGonçalves, EdaSayin Can luxury brands be ethical? Reducing the sophistication liability of luxury brands, Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume 233, 1 October 2019, Pages 1366-1376.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.06.094. This article demonstrates how luxury consumption and ethical consumption can be compatible. Sophisticated luxury brands can do a CSR oriented to their customers, compared to others that make a CSR more oriented to society.

Safety crises and R&D outsourcing alliances: Which governance mode minimizes negative spillovers?

Diestre, L. (2018). Safety crises and R&D outsourcing alliances: Which governance mode minimizes negative spillovers? Research Policy, Vol. 47(10): 1904-1917. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2018.06.019. This study examines how R&D alliance governance affects both the probability and magnitude of negative spillovers triggered by a partner’s safety crisis. 

Unethical behavior under relative performance evaluation: Evidence and remedy

Konstantina Tzini, Kriti Jain. (2018). Unethical behavior under relative performance evaluation: Evidence and remedy. Human Resource Management, Vol. 57(6): 1399-1413. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21913. The article provides evidence of moral side effects of relative performance evaluation, when employees’ performance is evaluated relative to that of their peers.

Legal Origins, Corporate Governance, and Environmental Outcomes. Journal Business Ethics

Kock, C.J. & Min, B.S. Legal Origins, Corporate Governance, and Environmental Outcomes. Journal Business Ethics (2016) 138: 507. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2617-1. Environmental governance has emerged as a recent perspective to explain the link between corporate governance mechanisms and environmental outcomes, such as reducing pollution.

Notes from the editors: Ethical guidelines at Journal of Operations Management

Guide, Jr., V. D. R., & Ketokivi, M. (2016). Notes from the editors: Ethical guidelines at Journal of Operations Management. Journal of Operations Management, 42-43, 1-3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jom.2016.02.001. 

CASE STUDIES

At IE University we provide our students with an experience-based approach that can help bridge the gap between knowledge and action through remarkable case studies.
Loewe | IE Sostenibilidad

LOEWE Sustainability & Longlasting Luxury

Case Study
Mondelez | IE Sostenibilidad

Mondelez The Harmony Compromise

Case Study
Inditex | IE Sostenibilidad

INDITEX & the Emerging Role of Trade Unions in Globalisation

Case Study
Sacyr | IE Sostenibilidad

Sacyr

Case Study
Abb | IE Sostenibilidad

ABB & Galindo: Stretching Managerial Responsibility during Restructuring

Case Study

See all publications

Other academic articles related to sustainability, published in the last five years:

  • Arenas, A.; Hidalgo, A.; Urueña, A.  Arenas Sarmiento, A. Identifying capabilities in innovation projects: Evidences from eHealth 2016. JOURNAL OF BUSINESS RESEARCH. vol. 69, no.11, pp. 4843-4848.
  • Babita Bhatt, Israr Qureshi and Geoffrey Kistruck. 2016. The Enabling and Constraining Effects of Social Ties in the Process of Institutional Entrepreneurship. Organization Studies.
  • Babita Bhatt, Israr Qureshi and Suhaib Riaz. Challenges for social entrepreneurship in non-munificent institutional environments and implications for institutional work: Insights from an exploratory study in China. Forthcoming in Journal of Business Ethics.
  • Baroli, P., Imperatore, C., Locatelli, R., & Trombetta, M. (2014). “Evolución de las fundaciones bancarias italianas: de holding de sociedades bancarias a un modelo innovador de “beneficencia privada”. Cuadernos de Información Económica, Vol. 66:1-104.
  • Bonet, R., Cappelli, P. & Hamori, M. (2013). “Labor Market Intermediaries and the New Paradigm for Human Resources”. Academy of Management Annals, Vol.7(1): 341 – 392.
  • Cao, J. & Hamori, M. (2016). “The Impact of Management Development Practices on Organizational Commitment”. Human Resource Management. Volume 55, Issue 3. May/June 2016 Pages 499–517.
  • Carmona S., Ezzamel M., and Mogotocoro C., “Gender, Management Styles and Forms of Capital” Forthcoming in Journal of BusinessEthics.
  • Carmona, S. & Ezzamel, M. (2016). “Accounting and Lived Experience in Gendered Workplace”. Forthcoming in Accounting, Organizations and Society. Volume 49, February 2016, Pages 1-8.
  • Cortina, A. y Serra M. A. (Eds.). ¿Humanos o Posthumanos? Singularidad tecnológica y mejoramiento humano. Barcelona: Fragmenta Editorial. (2015). EU Climate Change Law: A Credible Example? In Werner Scholtz and Jonathan Verschuuren (Eds.). Regional Environmental Law– Transregional comparative lessons in pursuit of sustainable development: chapter 12. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
  • Cruz, C. & Moschieri, C. (2015). “Luces y sombras en el crecimiento de LEGO”. Harvard Business Review Deusto, Vol. 250: 66 – 75.
  • Cruz, C. & Moschieri, C. (2015). “Luces y sombras en el crecimiento de LEGO”. Harvard Business Review Deusto, Vol. 250: 66 – 75.
  • Cruz, C. & Nuñez, L. (2014). “El “Family Premium” en la Empresa Cotizada Europea, ¿Realmente Family?”. Banca March.
  • Cruz, C. & Nuñez, L. (2014). “El “Family Premium” en la Empresa Cotizada Europea, ¿Realmente Family?”. Banca March.
  • Cruz, C., Larraza Kintana, M., Garcés-Galdeano, L. & Berrone, P. (2014). “Are Family Firms More Socially Responsible?”. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Vol. 38(6): 1295-1316.
  • Daniel Fernández Kranz. El umbral del crecimiento para la creación de empleo en España: ¿que´sabemos y qué nos dicen los datos más recientes? 2016. CUADERNOS DE INFORMACIÓN ECONÓMICA. vol. no.253, pp. 15-25.
  • De Castro Campbell, Julio Orlando; Delgado- Marquez, L. ; Justo , R . Women Entrepreneurs in Community-Based Enterprises: Examining Gender Dynamics Within Entrepreneurial Teams. . 2017. WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND THE MYTH OF ‘UNDERPERFORMANCE’: A NEW LOOK ON WOMEN’S ENTREPRENEURSHIP RESEARCH. GOWER PUBLISHING.
  • De Castro, J., Khavul, S. & Bruton, G. (2014). “Shades of Grey: How do Informal Firms Navigate Between the Macro and Meso Institutional Environments?”. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Vol. 8(1): 75-94.
  • De Cendra de Larragán, Javier. The Paris Agreement, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Future of the Carbon Market 2016. NEWSLETTER OF THE INTERNATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION LEGAL PRACTICE DIVISION. vol. 12, no.1, pp. 25-30. (2015).
  • Diestre, L. & Rajagopalan, N. (2014). “Response to Mason and Drakeman’s Commentary on “Fishing for Sharks: Partner Selection in Biopharmaceutical R&D Alliances”. Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 35(10): 1566 – 1568.
  • Doadrio, L., Alvarado, M. & Carrera, N. (2015). “Reforma de la Normativa Contable Española: Análisis de su Entramado Institucional”. Revista de Contabilidad, Vol. 18(2):200-216.
  • Fernández-Kranz, D. (2015). “Ajuste Salarial en España Durante la Crisis Económica”. Cuadernos de Información Económica, Vol.240:47 – 57.
  • Fernández-Kranz, D., Rodríguez-Planas, N. & Paul, M. (2015). “Part-Time Work, Fixed-Term Contracts, and the Returns to Experience”. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 77(4): 512-541.
  • Fernández-Kranz, Daniel. (2015). Ajuste salarial en España durante la crisis económica. Cuadernos de Información Económica47 – 57.
  • Fernández-Kranz, Daniel. and Rodríguez-Planas, Núria. (2015). ¿Cuáles son las consecuencias de terminar los estudios en un contexto de crisis económica en España? Cuadernos de Información Económica1 – 10.
  • Firfiray, S. & Mayo, M. (2015). “The Lure of Work-Life Benefits: Perceived Person-Organization Fit as a Mechanism Explaining Job Seeker Attraction to Organizations”. Forthcoming in Human Resource Management.
  • García-Romero A., Escribano A., Tribó J., “The Impact of Health Research on Length of Stay in Spanish Public Hospitals” Research Policy Vol 46(3): 591-604.
  • Gelabert, L., Berrone, P., Fosfuri, A. Does greenwashing pay off? Uniderstanding the relationship between environmental actions and environmental legitimacy. Forthcoming in Journal of Business Ethics.
  • Gete, P. & Gómez, J.P. (2015). “Compensation Contracts and Fire Sales”. Journal of Financial Stability, Vol. 18: 154 – 171.
  • Illia, L. & Zamparini, A. “Legitimate Distinctiveness, Historical Bricolage and the Fortune of the Commons.” Journal of Management Inquiry. Vol 25, Issue 4, 2016.
  • Illia, L., Romenti, S. & Zyglidopolous, S. (2015): “Creating Effective dialogue about Corporate Social Responsibility”. MIT Sloan Management Review, Vol. 57(1):20-22.
  • Illia, L., Romenti, S., Rodriguez-Canovas, B., et al. (2015). “Exploring Corporations’s dialogue about CSR in the Digital Era.” Forthcoming in Journal of Business Ethics.
  • Israr Qureshi, Alison Konrad, Marc-David Seidel, Eiston Lo and Arjun Bhardwaj. 2016. “Variety, Dissimilarity, and Status Centrality in MBA Networks: Is the Minority or the Majority Most Likely to Network across Diversity? Academy of Management Learning and Education.
  • Israr Qureshi, Arjun Bhardwaj, Alison M. Konrad and Seung Hwan (Mark) Lee. 2016. “A Two-Wave Study of Self-Monitoring Personality, Social Network Churn, and In-Degree Centrality in Close Friendship and General Socialization Networks” Group & Organization Management. Vol 41, Issue 4, 2016.
  • Justo R. and Mehra R., (2016) “Kilisun: Under the same sun”, Special Issue on Social Entrepreneurship, Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies, 6(3), 1-20.
  • Justo, R., DeTienne, D. & Sieger P. (2015). “Failure or Voluntary Exit? Re-assessing the Female Underperformance Hypothesis”. Journal of Business Venturing, Vol. 30(6): 775-792.
  • Kennedy A., Elgar E. (2015). The Effectiveness of Instrument Mixes in Environmental Law: Insights from Ship-source Pollution, Paul Martin (ed),
    King-Bishof A.; Mehra R.; Justo, Rachida . Mapping Stakeholders and Developing Communication Strategies 2016. In N P. Miesing & M. Aggestam (Eds.), Educating Social Entrepreneurs: a workbook of cases, exercises, and commentaries, business expert press as part of the UNITED NATIONS PRME (Principles for Responsible Management Education) Book Collection.
  • Mahonen, T., Jasinskaja-Lahti, I. & Ketokivi, M. (2014). “Mapping the Individual-Level Dynamics of Perceived Discrimination and Attitudes toward Multiculturalism and Cultural Maintenance: A Pre-Post Study of Migration”. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Vol. 39(March): 124 – 135.
  • Marco Giarratana with A. Fosfuri and E. Roca “Social Business Hybrids: Demand Externalities, Competitive Advantage and Growth Through Diversification” Organization Science.
  • Marcos, F. “Damages claims in the Spanish Sugar cartel” Journal of Antitrust Enforcement-OUP, 2015, 3, 205–225.
  • Marcos, F. & Sánchez, A. (2014) “A Call for a Restriction of “Corporate Human Rights” In Competition Enforcement Procedures, and More Generally”. Competition Policy International: Antitrust Chronicle, Vol 1.
  • Marcos, F. (2015). “Indemnización de Daños y Perjuicios por Boicot a Raíz Cártel del Seguro de Daños Decenal (SDD): Notas a propósito de la Sentencia del Juzgado Mercantil no.12 de Madrid de 9 de mayo de 2014 (MUSAAT v. ASEFA, CASER y SCOR)”. Revista de derecho de la competencia y la distribución, Vol.16.
  • Marcos, F. (2015). Comentario artículo 4, revisado y actualizado2015, 4ª ed. 299-400, In Massaguer, Folguera, Gutierrez, Salas- 4. Ed. Civitas (Eds.). Comentarios a la Ley de Defensa de la Competencia, 4ª ed 2015: 299-400. Cizur Menor: Thomson Reuters Civitas.
  • Marcos, F. (2015). Compensación de daños provocados por el cártel del azúcar. Anuario de la Competencia, Vol.2014(): 185 – 200.
  • Marcos, F. (2015). Restricciones públicas a la competencia. Papeles de Economia Española2 – 10.
  • Marcos, F. and SANCHEZ, A. (2015). En contra del reconocimiento de «derechos humanos corporativos» en los procedimientos sancionadores en materia de defensa de la competencia. Diario La Ley11 – 17.
  • Marcos, F. and Sánchez, A. (2015). Estudios sobre la potestad sancionadora en Derecho de la Competencia, In Javier Guillén & Miguel cuerdo Eds (Eds.). En contra del reconocimiento de «derechos humanos corporativos» en los procedimientos sancionadores en materia de defensa de la competencia. Madrid: Thomson-Reuters Civitas.
  • Marcos, Francisco. Lecciones de la Revisión Judicial del Cártel del Seguro Decenal 2016. ACTAS DE DERECHO INDUSTRIAL Y DERECHO DE AUTOR. vol. 35, no., pp. 173-186.
  • Mayo M., Gomez-Mejia L., Shainaz Firfiray, Berrone P., Villena P., (2016) “Leader beliefs and CSR for employees: the case of telework provision”, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 37 Issue: 5, pp.609-634.
  • Mayo, M.; Van Knippenberg, D.; Guillen, L.; Firfiray, S. Team Diversity and Categorization Salience: Capturing Diversity-Blind, Intergroup-Biased, and Multicultural Perceptions 2016. ORGANIZATIONAL RESEARCH METHODS. vol. 19, no.3, pp. 433-474.
  • Milanov, H., Justo, R. & Bradley, S. (2015). “Making the Most of Group Relationships: The Role of Gender and Boundary Effects in Microfinance Groups”. Journal of Business Venturing, Vol. 30(6): 822-838.
  • Moschieri C. & Monteiro, F. (2014). “Qué Debería Preguntarse Antes de Decidir Internacionalizarse y Cómo Hacerlo”. Harvard Business Review Deusto, Vol.239: 44 – 54.
  • Moschieri, C., Salvaj, E. & Blake, D. (2014). “La Complejidad del Cambio: cómo Enfrentarse a las Desinversiones”. Harvard Deusto Business Review, Vol.231: 36 – 47.
  • Olivier Bertrand. Marie-Ann Betschinger. Caterina Moschieri. M&A transfronterizas en países emergentes El camino seguro hacia el éxito en los acuerdos. Harvard Deusto Business Review, Vol. 260.
  • Pallaskorpi, Sanna ; Suominen, Kirsi ; Ketokivi, Mikko ; Valtonen, Hanna ; Arvilommi, Petri ; Mantere, Outi ; Leppämäki, Sami ; Isometsä, Erkki . Incidence and Predictors of Suicide Attempts in Bipolar I and II Disorders: A Five-Year Follow-Up 2016. Bipolar Disorders. 2017 Feb;19(1):13-22.
  • Renko M.; Ingram A.; Terjesen S.; Hechavarría D.; Justo, Rachida. Taking Care of Business: The Impact of Culture and Gender on Entrepreneurs’ Blended Value Creation Goals 2016. Small Business Economics (SN/BN: 0921898X). vol. no., pp. 1-33.
  • Rousseau, Horacio; Massa Saluzzo, Federica; Berrone, Pascual; Gelabert, Liliana. Understanding community dynamics in the study of grand challenges: how nonprofits, institutional actors, and the community fabric interact to influence income inequality 2016. Academy of Management Journal. vol. 59, no.6, pp. 1940-1964.
  • Sanchez Graells, A. and Marcos, F. (2015). ‘Human Rights’ Protection for Corporate Antitrust Defendants: Are We Not Going Overboard? In Paul Nihoul; Tadeusz Skoczny. (Eds.). Procedural Fairness in Competition Proceedings: 84-107. cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
  • Santaló, J. & Socorro, Maria. (2015). “Competencia Aeroportuaria y Modelos de Privatización”. Estudios de Economía Española- FEDEA, Vol. 2015(9): 2-76
    Santaló, J. (2015). “El Impacto de la Nueva Regulación Aeroportuaria sobre las Tasas Aéreas y el Conflicto entre la Comisión Nacional de Mercados y Competencia (CNMC) y AENA a Cuenta de la Misma”. Papeles de Economía Española, Vol. 145: 180 – 196.
  • Seifert, M., Brockner, J. & Bianchi, E. (2015). “How Workplace Fairness Affects Employee Commitment”. MIT Sloan Management Review. Magazine: Winter 2016.
  • Slavova, K., Fosfuri, A. & De Castro J. (2015). “Learning by Hiring: The Effects of Scientists’ Inbound Mobility on Research Performance in Academia. Organization Science. 27(1):72-89.
  • Suhaib Riaz, Israr Qureshi, (2017), Emergence of a New Institutional Logic: Shaping the Institutionally Complex Field of Community Radio in India, in Marc-David L. Seidel, Henrich R. Greve (ed.) Emergence (Research in the Sociology of Organizations, Volume 50) Emerald Publishing Limited, pp.383 – 418.