Executive MBA Class of 2005
Mission Accomplished

The most recent IESE Executive MBA class graduated in July in Madrid, with 69 students receiving their diplomas.

This year’s class comprised students with an average of seven years' work experience from various industries. 52.8% came from engineering, 36% from economics, 6.9% from law and 4.2% from other backgrounds. The average participant age of this year’s class was 32.

Leopold Rodés, Chairman of Media Planning and Vice-chairman of Havas Advertising, delivered the keynote speech at the ceremony. Also presiding over the event were José Maria Bastero, President of the University of Navarra, Jordi Canals, Dean of IESE, and José Ramón Pin, Executive MBA Director.

In his speech, Rodés explained what prompted the foundation of the Family Business Institution in 1992. Rodés serves as honorary president of the organization.

“We at the Institute believed that family businesses were being forgotten by public administration and the media,” he said, stressing that family businesses provide critical support for the economy and, in many advanced countries, represent 70% to 75% of the GDP.

In his remarks, the president of the University encouraged the students to strive to distinguish between what is important and what is “accessory,” to live life vigorously.

Meanwhile, Dean Canals said that self-knowledge is necessary to fully understand how companies are “principally groups of people whose contribution is critical for the organization’s survival, that goals must always be shared and that success is never found in the destination, but the journey.”

Prof. Pin highlighted the important achievement that the class had undertaken, given that they had to combine their studies with their professional careers. He also mentioned a new aspect of the program to the curriculum: a residential module in Shanghai.

Since its founding in 1981, over 1,600 students have completed the Executive MBA program. Participants benefit from the shared professional experience of students, academic diversity and star faculty. The program also features residential modules in the United States and China.

“The Executive MBA provides benefits on many levels,” said Professor Pin. “It presents the latest management concepts and gives participants the opportunity to gain critical skills and attitudes for being a successful leader.”

PDF Full version