285 students from the IE International MBA program travelled today from IEâ??s main campus in Madrid to the schoolâ??s Santa Cruz la Real de Segovia campus to celebrate the official inauguration of the program.IE Business School opted to inaugurate one of its flagship programs in Segovia as part of a series of events designed to integrate the new campus into the schoolâ??s activities following the acquisition of the university in Segovia earlier this year. David Bach, Vice Dean of MBA programs at IE sees the magnificent Campus de Santa Cruz la Real Campus as the perfect place to inaugurate the schoolâ??s intense IMBA program. â??We wanted to take our future leaders somewhere special, where they could think about their objectives and priorities for the coming year. In our changing environment itâ??s important to make room for reflection; the Segovia campus is steeped in history and is the ideal place both for deep thought and for sharing knowledgeâ?.

With a student body comprised of 91% non-Spanish students, IEâ??s one-year International MBA combines in-depth training in the functional areas of management, such as marketing, finance, human resources, and strategy, with the development of soft skills such as leadership, communication, and cross-cultural teamwork. Rather than using the conventional university lecture format, the programâ??s methodology is based on the analysis of real business case studies in interactive group discussions. Moreover, IEâ??s international faculty comprises 100 full-time and 200 part-time professors, all experts in different areas of business management, who combine teaching with applied research and consulting services. The results of the schoolâ??s international research projects are published in specialised communication channels and specialised journals.

The inaugural session featured addresses by the Dean of IE, Dr. Santiago Iñiguez, IE directors and professors, and David Sifry, founder of Technorati, one of the largest internet search engines currently in existence. Sifry was key note speaker at this inaugural session of IE Business Schoolâ??s International MBA program.

Some more details about the IE International MBA profile 2008:

Nationalities: 57

Geographic Distribution: Europe (including Spain) 38%, Latin America 36%, Asia 14%, North America 8%, Africa & Middle East 4%

Age: Average 28.7 years, 80% range 25-33 years

Undergraduate Degrees: Business 29%, Engineering 25%, Economics 15%, Humanities 7%, Law 7%, Sciences 6%, Social Sciences 5%, Technology 2%, Others 5%

Work experience: Average 5.5 years

Industry backgrounds: Services 15%, Technology/Telecommunication 15%, Consumer Goods 14%, Manufacturing 14%, Financial Services 13%, Consulting 11%, Entertainment/Hospitality Management 8%, NGO/International Institutions/Public Sector 5%, Pharmaceutical/Biotech/Healthcare 3%, Law/Auditing/Tax 3%

The photo was contributed by Yutaka Yoshimoto, IMBA 2008. 

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