INSEAD Gets In The Master In Management Game

The crowded European Master in Management market is about to lose a little elbow room. INSEAD, one of Europe’s premier business schools, announced Thursday (May 23) the launch of a 10-month, €47,500 ($53,107) MiM to stand alongside the school’s famously compact 10-month MBA and trio of executive offerings — a move that one school official says makes INSEAD’s educational portfolio “complete.” The first cohort of about 80 students will enter the MiM program in fall 2020.

In recent years, The Financial Times‘ MiM rankings have become a bit stagnant, with the same duo — No. 1 University of St. Gallen and No. 2 HEC Paris — at the top for the last five years. St. Gallen, in fact, has been FT‘s top Master in Management for eight years straight. But with INSEAD’s announcement, along with IESE Business School’s MiM program on its Madrid campus, that may be about to change (see IESE: Where Small Global Classes & Case Studies Are A Beautiful Thing).

“The INSEAD MIM students will be immersed in a truly global experience alongside international classmates and faculty, travel across continents, and gain access to top recruiters and diverse roles in a broad range of industries,” says Katy Montgomery, associate dean of degree program at INSEAD, in a news release. “Our graduates will be part of an unparalleled alumni network of more than 58,000 influential alumni working in 176 countries across the world.”

PART OF SCHOOL’S MISSION TO CHANGE THE WORLD

INSEAD is based in Fontainebleau, France, about 40 minutes southeast of Paris by train. The school also has campuses in Singapore and Abu Dhabi. In addition to its MBA and executive MBA, the school offers executive master’s degrees in finance and “change,” the latter an 18-month program that examines “the basic drivers of human behavior and the hidden dynamics of organizations.”

INSEAD’s flagship program, its MBA, has been ranked among the best in the world for several years now, from its No. 1 in The Financial Times in 2017 to its current No. 3 in that ranking. (The school has also suffered its share of scandal.) Along the way, INSEAD has become a leader in the global movement toward business making positive social impact — acting as “a force for good” — an equal motivator with profit. As Dean Ilian Mihov told Poets&Quants in 2018, “We want to change the way that people think about business. The mission of the school is very simple: train people to be the best intrapreneurs, leaders, managers that can change the world.”

INSEAD’s leaders appear convinced that a Master in Management degree, which typically attracts younger students than an MBA, will do wonders to further that mission. Citing rapid changes in the business landscape and the need for people who can” innovate, create, and disrupt,” the school says its new MiM will create young professionals who are comfortable at the forefront of innovation in management education, and who can navigate the dynamics of a rapidly evolving business landscape.

“By engaging talented young people, the MIM will contribute to the INSEAD mission to develop responsible business leaders who transform business and society,” says Urs Peyer, dean of degree programs at INSEAD. “Our current master programs are designed for experienced global professionals — from MBAs and participants in our Executive Master in Finance to senior executives in our Executive MBA and Executive Master in Change. The MIM will make the INSEAD educational offering complete by equipping a new group of post-graduate, pre-experience learners with the most relevant knowledge and skills to succeed in today’s complex world and move it in new and exciting directions.”

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CUTTING-EDGE ELECTIVES & SKILLS THAT ARE IN HIGH DEMAND

INSEAD’s MiM will feature a core of key management disciplines and experiential visits and treks, and electives in such topics du jour as social media analytics, fintech, and blockchain. According to a school news release, MiM students “will experience classes that deliver cutting-edge knowledge and learn to apply theory to real-life business situations. Students will acquire relevant skills that currently see high demand by employers, including integrated problem solving, effective communications and project management, and coding.”

Students also will get international exposure: The MiM will be split between INSEAD’s Fontainebleau and Singapore campuses, providing the program with a baseline of international perspectives. Students also will take field trips to Abu Dhabi, China, or the United States that will “inform a cross-cultural capstone experience that further enhances the learning journey.”

“Making an impact on the world can be daunting,” says Thibault Séguret, program director of the INSEAD Master in Management. “The INSEAD MiM will provide our students with the right tools and experience to go where they want to go and do what they want to do. It will be a challenging, enriching and confidence-building experience academically, personally, and culturally.”

SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE FOR INSEAD MiM

Those interested in applying must submit an online application, including an essay, answers to questions, and supporting recommendations. Applicants will receive a link to record a video interview — a new recruitment concept that involves making a one-minute recording of the candidate and his or her responses to a series of randomized questions.

If selected, they will then be interviewed by Skype or face-to-face. Applicants should expect an official answer four to five weeks after they submit their online application.

INSEAD scholarships are available, as well, in the forms of Financial Fellowship, Achievement Scholarship, and Diversity Scholarship. To learn more, click here.

DON’T MISS U.S. PROGRAMS MISSING FROM FT’S MASTER IN MANAGEMENT RANKING and INSEAD LEADS A NEW TOP FIVE OF MBA PROGRAMS OUTSIDE THE U.S.