IESE extended its warmest welcome and profound thanks to 19 new Sponsoring Companies at the annual meeting earlier this year. The group of 19 companies encompasses firms in the finance, energy and service sectors including Accor Services, Air Liquide Medicinal, Banque Privée Edmond de Rothschild Europe, Carat, ING Car Lease, Social Trends Institute, Vestas, Vodafone and Zurich Financial Services.
Dean Jordi Canals offered his gratitude for the new and existing Sponsoring Companies’ support, which helps IESE continue in its mission to impact the management profession by offering high-quality learning to students and senior executives from around the world. In addition, IESE’s close relations with its Sponsoring Companies allow the school to monitor and respond to businesses’ needs.
The prognosis for the economy
Dean Canals took the opportunity to share details of IESE’s projects and plans with senior management representing the Sponsoring Companies. The dean also commented on the current climate of economic uncertainty.“The economy depends on how consumers and others behave so we have to avoid the formation of an all-pervading atmosphere of economic gloom,” he said.
Canals was joined at the meeting by IESE Prof. Pankaj Ghemawat and Prof. Jeffrey Pfeffer of Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. Pfeffer told the business leaders that, “what’s really important for a company is its culture and its people–management skills. A company’s size and sector are not as relevant as is often believed.”
Prof. Ghemawat warned the Sponsoring Companies’ representatives against believing all the hype about globalization and its impact in business. “There are bridges between countries but there are also barriers,” he said. For Ghemawat, business leaders need to have a clear understanding of globalization, the context and the facts.
Inestimable help
IESE’s Sponsoring Companies support a wide range of activities including research centers and the school’s academic chairs. The academic chairs advance business management knowledge in the areas of technology management, international strategy, entrepreneurship, finance, family business, labor relations, industrial policy, and economics and ethics.
The companies’ support also plays a vital role in the development of junior faculty by facilitating periods of study overseas. On top of that, Sponsoring Companies provide scholarships and their backing helps finance improvements and extensions to the school’s campuses in Barcelona and Madrid.
