Meet IESE Business School’s MBA Class Of 2022

IESE MBA Students

LOOKING FORWARD TO THE EXTRACURRICULARS

Outside of work and class, Chin-Hao Chang is busy mastering a fourth language to go along with his fluency in Mandarin, English, and Japanese. Growing up, Karina Ikhsan was a professional gymnast. By the same token, Michelle Marie Miranda Cua loves water sports like wakeboarding and diving and plans to take up sailing (which has a club dedicated to it at IESE). She is also looking forward to the program’s Overseas Module eventually taking place in Nairobi.

“This will allow me to broaden my perspective by seeing the opportunities and challenges encountered by local companies in Africa. I have never travelled to Africa before, and am looking forward to being immersed in their culture. This will probably be a once in a lifetime experience!

In contrast, Chin-Hao Chang can’t wait for the Executive Simulation (EXSIM). “[This is] a week-long “RPG” where people are assigned to a C-suite role and cope with banks, labor unions, etc.—as if you were running a real business! It’ll be a great testament to our business acumen, and to see if we can make difficult decisions under pressure as well as understanding our own management style.”

A TOP 5 BUSINESS SCHOOL

By the numbers, the full-time Class of 2022 features 366 students. They bring a 670 average GMAT to Barcelona. The class also includes representatives from 54 countries, with 30.5% of the class comprised of women. Academically, the largest of the class hold undergraduate degrees in Engineering (30%) – edging out Business by a point. The rest of the class majored in Economics (15%), Science (10%), Humanities (8%), and Law and Political Science (8%). When it comes to professional experience, more than half of the class is lumped into a catch-all “Industry” category. Financial Services (22%) and Consulting (18%) also comprise large segments of the class.

The year has started off with a bang for IESE. For the first time since 2009, the school ranked atop The Economist’s MBA ranking. A Top 10 stalwart, IESE’s high scores stem from high marks in several key categories. Notably, IESE notched the highest score from alumni and students surveyed about the caliber of its Culture and Classmates. In the same survey, IESE also ranked #1 for its Programme Content. All the while, it placed among the world’s ten-best for Faculty Quality, Post-MBA Salary, Geographic Diversity, and Breadth of Recruiters. By the same token, IESE climbed to #4 in this year’s Financial Times ranking. One reason: outcomes. New IESE grads enjoyed a 131% pay increase. In addition, the school ranked among the best in Career Services, Alumni Recommendations, and International Course Experience – not to mention being the top MBA program for Corporate Social Responsibility. More impressive: IESE scored a 9.84 on a 10-point scale for Student Satisfaction, besting all American and European schools alike.

What’s next for IESE? That’s one question that P&Q posed to Paula Amorim, the school’s MBA admissions director. From the school’s low student-to-faculty ratio to its academic demand, this is what MBAs can expect in the future at IESE.

AN INTERVIEW WITH PAULA AMORIM, MBA ADMISSIONS DIRECTOR

P&Q: What are the most exciting new developments at your program?

PA: “At the end of each term, we ask students to give feedback on the courses they took, so we can see where we can improve. Therefore, we are always making changes to guarantee an even better experience than we had before.

This year we will be offering students the possibility of obtaining concentrations by selecting a specific group of electives in the second year of the MBA. The concentrations will be on International Business, Data Analytics & Digital Business, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, and Finance. This work was developed alongside our Career Development Center and aims to signal potential employers that students are interested and knowledgeable in certain areas. Choosing a concentration will be optional, not mandatory.

On the career side, this year we implemented a new structure in reaction to the COVID crisis. We’ve granted students the flexibility to do an internship during any term after their first year.  This has improved the overall flexibility of the program and is something we will continue to offer for incoming students as well.  Having a flexible second year means students will be able to do their internships not only in the summer (when the great majority of companies offer jobs) but also in the fall and winter. It is important to notice that the summer internship will still be the most common option, but we decided to keep the flexibility in case students find internships at another period of the year.

As a last piece of exciting news, we will be launching a new course on innovation that involves projects with the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, exploring the entrepreneurial and innovative landscape that Barcelona has to offer.”

Paula Amorim

P&Q: What are the two most unique or differentiating features of your full-time program? How do they enrich the MBA experience?

PA: “IESE has one big differentiator, and that is the use of the case method in a very diverse environment, which enables the students to learn from each other more than from the professors themselves. A case is a real problem that happened within a real company and students have to analyze the situation, the numbers, and the graphs, choose what is relevant and make a decision. That decision will be first shared with their teams (a group of 8-9 students assigned in the beginning of the course), where the varied backgrounds and nationalities of the class really comes into play. Students usually leave the team meetings having learned to see the problem through different perspectives, widening their own view and making them even readier to go to the classroom and discuss with the rest of the class. Classes are interactive and extremely dynamic, where the professor acts more as a maestro than a “content deliverer.

This method and structure makes the learning experience not only more practical (since students are making connections with their own previous experience) but also more engaging and culturally exciting (since your cultural background turns out to be just one perspective in the whole landscape).

Students learn to work with people that are very different from them and to respect and listen to different opinions. That is the type of skill that is appreciated and can be taken into any professional (and personal) situation.”

P&Q: How has COVID-19 impacted your business school? 

PA: “The impact has been immense, as in most business schools. We recognize that while there were negative consequences, there were also positive outcomes from this situation too. It made us move fast in the use of technology in the classroom, where we have come up with an efficient and powerful hybrid model, enabling students to connect remotely when they cannot be on campus. IESE has also started creating executive education programs with content relevant for our students and alumni to handle the new normal.

Other than that, of course, we are now complying with the social distancing protocols and have implemented strict health control to access the campus and new arrangements of classrooms, team rooms and cafeterias.”

Barcelona campus

P&Q: IESE has a 4:1 student-to-faculty ratio. How does heavy personal attention work at IESE and how does it enhance the MBA experience?

PA: “At IESE we say that, more than an open door policy, we have a mentorship approach. Our staff and professors really expect our students to thrive, so they will go out of their way to help a student that is in need. This goes from the professor always staying to answer students’ questions after the class is finished, to students scheduling lunches or meetings with professors and staff members to ask for advice. Professors know students by their names and know their backgrounds.

As a personal example, I remember when I was a second year student involved in several different initiatives (many more than I could healthily handle.) One of my professors once called me and said “Paula, I can see you’re involved in too many things and you look tired. Make sure you’re really enjoying what you’re doing and not just doing because you have to.” This shows how our professors really see and notice students’ moments and care enough to try to help. At IESE, you really feel cared for and safe, and for the MBA experience, these are precious feelings, especially considering all the pressure students already have from different fronts.”

P&Q: IESE ranks among the most academically demanding programs. How does a heavier workload pay off when your graduates land jobs?

PA: “Being a graduate myself, I can agree with you that it is an extremely demanding program, and, although it can put a lot of pressure on students, it also teaches important skills that we take not only to our post MBA jobs, but also to life. The first one that comes to every student’s or alumni’s minds is prioritization, since we have many tasks to handle at the same time (job search, three cases a day, team meetings, final projects, social life, etc.). Learning to prioritize touches other points of development such as delegating, accepting you are not going to be perfect in everything you do, and learning to fail and be resilient. What is important to highlight is that, despite being a hard and tough process, it really teaches you the power of team work and how essential it is to collaborate with others in order to be successful (or sometimes in order to just survive the day). The spirit of service we have at IESE is crucial to build these skills in our students and make them stand out in their career. At the end of the day, we are teaching our students to work well in teams, understanding the complementarities among team members, learning to speak and to listen, and to be resilient.”

Barcelona Campus

10 REASONS TO CONSIDER IESE

What are the best parts of being an IESE MBA student? Here are some observations from the Class of 2022 and recent alumni (in no particular order):

1) Program Length: “Most European MBA programs are designed for only 1 year, which is too short. “Transformation takes time.” said the former IESE Admissions Director Pascal Michels in one of his interviews, and I can’t agree with him more. Throughout the 2-year program, you’ll be able to explore more possibilities, have a clearer idea of what you really want personally and professionally, and build stronger bonds with your cohort. In addition, IESE offers two exit points to cater to different needs—it’s always good to have more than one option.
Chin-Hao Chang (’22)

“I also prioritized IESE because of its 2-year program which would provide me with ample time to go on exchange overseas and do an internship because I plan to switch industries.”
Michelle Marie Miranda Cua (’22)

Page 3: In-depth profiles of 14 members of the Class of 2022

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