Knowledge Development at IESE

In today’s knowledge economy, world-class research is imperative for any business school that seeks to be a leader. What approach to research is taken at IESE? How has research evolved over the years? What challenges lie ahead? We posed these questions to various IESE professors, many of whom have won awards or who lead the school’s research centers and chairs.

Executive Summary

IESE’s emphasis on research goes back to its university roots. As the graduate business school of the University of Navarra, which is located in Pamplona, Spain, IESE has had strong ties to research since its foundation in 1958.
“In a university setting, generating ideas, and thus research, is critically important,” stresses Prof. Joan Fontrodona, academic director of the Center for Business in Society and director of IESE’s Department of Business Ethics.
But what role does scientific inquiry play at a business school?
Research is “part of IESE’s mission,” says Prof. Antonio Dávila, director of the doctoral program and author of the article “Good Research Matters, for Business Schools and Society,” featured in this edition of the IESE Alumni Magazine.
Research is not more important than teaching, Dávila points out. But it’s crucial because without research, “all you are doing is repeating what other people have said.”
This idea is echoed by Prof. José Manuel Campa, assistant director of faculty and research and holder of the Grupo Santander Chair in Corporate Governance and Financial Institutions. “To be a leader, you have to generate ideas and not just communicate them, and the only way to do this is through research.”
What makes certain schools stand head and shoulders above the others “is precisely this ability to generate new ideas,” says Prof. Xavier Vives, director of IESE’s Public-Private Sector Research Center, “and new ideas can’t be generated if there is no relevant research being conducted in different fields.”