Professor Cosimo Chiesa de Negri Receives IESE’s Silver Medal
University of Navarra Honors Professor Cosimo Chiesa

Dean Jordi Canals presented the award in recognition of his 25 years of service.

IESE Marketing Professor Cosimo Chiesa de Negri was awarded the University of Navarra’s Silver Medal, in recognition of his 25 years of service to IESE. Jordi Canals, Dean of IESE and Professor of Economics and General Management, presented Chiesa with the medal on behalf of the school’s rector, José Maria Bastero, at a faculty meeting held in Barcelona on December 23, 2003.

“Today is a great day for me. I have completed my first 25 years at IESE,” Chiesa said. The Italian-born professor discovered IESE accidentally in 1974. He signed up for the Advanced Management Program (PADE) in 1974, “more out of curiosity than necessity.” Chiesa remembered that, in those days, case studies and class notes were spartan, but the teachers’ technical understanding of the cases impressed him.

The marketing professor explained his evolution from executive and PADE student to member of the IESE faculty. “Gregorio Azcárate talked me into being a monitor … then Juan Farrán asked me to write one case, then another, then another. Next, he introduced me to Vicente Font, who was my main point of contact within IESE during the nine years that I spent juggling a demanding career in management with teaching. My professional obligations to companies El Doble Caldo, Nocilla, Martini and William Lawson left me with little time to dedicate to teaching,” he said.

Despite the pressure on Chiesa’s time, the Bocconi University graduate became increasingly involved in IESE. “Back then, IESE wasn’t a business school yet but it was great fun to be a part of it,” the professor said. “In 1985, I decided to become a consultant and that made it easier to fit teaching into my schedule.”

In his 18 years at the blackboard, Professor Chiesa has taught the Advanced Management Program, the General Management Program and the Management Development Program at both the Barcelona and Madrid campuses. During the last six years, Chiesa has taught marketing in the MBA program, based on a syllabus which he designed and tries to improve every year. “The MBA program keeps me young because it is a constant challenge to improve and it allows me to build greater relationships with the students,” he said.

IESE Madrid Expands
IESE’s Madrid Campus New Wing

The new facility features the latest multimedia technologies.

IESE Business School recently opened the doors of its state-of-the-art new wing at the Madrid campus. The new facility was created to accommodate increasing demand for executive education and Executive MBA programs, as well as provide additional office space for IESE’s growing faculty and staff.

The new wing features innovative learning technologies and a contemporary design that fosters a sense of community and interactive learning.

The facility was designed by architect José Manuel Fernandez-Plaza, who created the original building in 1991. The two structures, old and new, are joined by passageways, which create the sensation of a single building.

The new four-story wing includes a 285-square meter auditorium that seats 220 people; a 190-square meter library with reading room; 14 workrooms; lecture halls; and a 650-square meter terrace garden for receptions and graduation ceremonies.

The firm Ferrovial-Agroman was in charge of the project, which also includes an underground parking facility for 200 vehicles. IESE’s Dean Jordi Canals and Ferrovial-Agroman’s president, Rafael del Pino, inaugurated the parking facility last summer. Program participants will be issued swipe cards for easy parking during programs.

Another highlight of the new campus structure is the incorporation of the latest multimedia technologies, designed to enhance interactive learning and communication between the Barcelona and Madrid campuses. The building is equipped with wireless and high-speed Internet connections, facilities for simultaneous translation and a closed-circuit television network.

Via the Internet, students at the Madrid campus are also able to fully access all the resources in IESE’s main library facility in Barcelona.

The main floor will serve as the building’s new hub of activity for students and faculty. This central meeting point includes a cafeteria and dining room, as well as two lecture halls that seat 84 people each.
Larisa Tatge

IESE MBA and Executive MBA Students Show Solidarity at Christmas
The Value of a Smile

The objective was simple: to bring about as many smiles as possible over the Christmas holiday. IESE students and participants got to work in Barcelona and Madrid and proved, once again, that economy and solidarity are not mutually exclusive.

Christmas Hampers in Madrid

In Madrid, “A Smile for Christmas” was organized by the NGO Cooperación Internacional (CI). This organization has more than 1,400 volunteers scattered among 50 different groups which collaborate in various social programs.

IESE’s EMBA students joined forces with CI to distribute Christmas baskets to needy families. Said Antonio Núñez (EMBA ’02), “It was a very positive experience. We gave out 32 hampers, with teams from both the 1st and 2nd years working with alumni who had completed the program last year and even two years ago.”

Now a tradition among EMBA students, the campaign ultimately benefits the students themselves. “Corporate social responsibility begins with a truly personal approach by company managers, demonstrated by deeds rather than words. As a consequence of these activities, more and more alumni work together on social projects,” said Núñez.

Another volunteer learned a valuable lesson. “When you see this type of situation and the capacity that these people have, among all their problems, to find joy in the smallest of things, you question the values and priorities that you have.”

“It has served to remind me of the short gap between the so-called First World and ‘other worlds’,” said another student.
A Tree in Barcelona

The campaign carried out by students in Barcelona also provoked smiles. Emilio Klappenbach, MBA student and one of the people behind the campaign, was full of praise. “This year the Christmas tree was full of presents for families.”

The University of Navarra´s
Kilo Campaign

The University of Navarra also organized Christmas charity campaigns. The University’s Asociación Universitarios por la Ayuda Social (UAS) began with its traditional “Kilo Campaign.” Said UAS Coordinator, Teresa Martín, “It was a success. We collected 1,090 kilos of provisions, 500 more than last year, and 180 liters of olive oil.” Volunteers also collected toys for children in the hospital throughout the month of December. They put on the musical, “Aladdin,” for disabled and sick children and sponsored a soccer match with inmates of the Pamplona jail.

Yet, solidarity does not end with Christmas. In February, Club Solidario joined the University of Navarra’s initiative to support a medical center for children in Africa. The center is currently helping more than 300,000 people in Kinshasa, in the Republic of Congo.

IESE MBA Ranked #13 in World and #4 in Europe
IESE, Number Four in Europe According to the Financial Times

The Financial Times has ranked IESE as the number four business school in Europe, after INSEAD (France), LBS (United Kingdom) and IMD (Switzerland). The ranking analyzes the world’s 100 top business schools, based on two questionnaires: one sent to the business schools and the other to graduates.

In the overall rankings, IESE moved up from 18th to 13th in the world, overtaking McDonough (Georgetown), Darden (Virginia), Fuqua (Duke), Yale School of Management and Haas (Berkeley). Of European schools, 62 percent improved their ranking positions, though the top three are from the United States. The list is headed by Wharton (Pennsylvania), closely followed by Harvard and Columbia.

European Leader in Salary Increases

IESE leads Europe in salary increases (187 percent), research and the percentage of professors holding doctorates. IESE graduates are also the world leaders in finding employment within three months of graduation. It is also significant to note that IESE’s average position during the last three years has risen from 23 to 19, demonstrating that IESE’s reputation as one of the best and most prestigious business schools in the world is growing.

IESE’s EQUIS Accreditation Renewed

IESE’s EQUIS (European Quality Improvement System) accreditation has been renewed for the next five years. EQUIS is an international system aimed at ensuring quality and promoting the improvement of European educational institutions. This quality system, first awarded to IESE in 1998, was created in 1987 by the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD). Accreditation has been awarded to more than 60 business schools in Europe and the rest of the world.

The purpose of the certification is not to standardize business schools, but rather to encourage diversity. Schools must demonstrate not only an extraordinary level of quality in all aspects of their activity, but also a high level of internationalization, the factor that plays the most important role in the EQUIS certificate.

EFMD carefully evaluates each institution's post-graduate programs and other activities, such as research, e-learning, executive education and internationalization. The institutions must be mainly dedicated to business management, though they don’t have to be private; many of the institutions awarded EQUIS accreditation are public universities with large first degree programs.

To be accredited, schools must display the following characteristics: they must be recognized by the authorities in their country of origin; they must be properly organized and have a substantial post-graduate presence; they must offer executive training; they must have a defined strategy and the necessary resources to provide high-quality teaching; their faculty members must be sufficiently qualified and they must follow an exhaustive selection process for new students.

EFMD is a European body comprising educational institutions, companies and individuals. It was founded in 1971, and its aim is to identify new challenges in the business world and to develop and implement new business methods. EFMD currently has 400 members from 40 different countries.