Archive for March/2011

IE finance professor Ignacio de la Torre challenged the conventional methods of economic forecasting during two thought-provoking Master Classes in Zurich and Geneva, Switzerland this month. The talks by de la Torre, who is also Academic Director of the Master in Finance programs at IE, served as an introduction to a new Global Master in Finance program that IE is launching in Fall 2011.

During the events, de la Torre offered several fresh perspectives on what factors can help predict global GDP, ranging from changes in geopolitics to education trends. With an audience of over 60 people between the two cities, Professor De La Torre led a thought-provoking and engaging discussion.

The audience included both IE alumni currently working in Switzerland, candidates interested in IE Master and MBA programs, and executives from the Swiss business community. The events were a wonderful opportunity for networking and both events were followed by an informal cocktail where attendees had the chance to mingle and continue the lively debate from the Master Classes. Thanks to everyone who attended and a special thanks to Ignacio de la Torre…. Let’s see if his financial predictions for the year come true!

IE was once again in London this month to attend the QS Grad School Tour, QS  WMBA and QS Ex MBAT fair which took place in Central Hall Westminster and the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre (QEIICC) respectively, in the heart of the city. Our special thanks to Herika Hegedus and Ruzy Chishty who explained their  personal IE experience to a diverse group of  well-prepared candidates.

After years of visiting London and organizing IE events in such a cosmopolitan city, IE  will establish a permanent presence by opening a new office there in April. With such a launch, it’s only appropriate to include a picture of the London Eye. We hope the new London office evokes the level of excitement as experienced on the iconic ride :)

IE Business School Professor Pino Bethencourt says women need to take risks to be successful in business. During an interview with London-based web publication BusinessBecause.com, the expert on organizational behavior said women can’t expect to change the corporate world as outsiders. Instead, they need to work their way into top leadership positions where they can really have an impact.

In the meantime, women should not neccessarily expect to be accomodated in the workplace. That can mean challenges when it comes to balancing family life.  “I think women need to be sure that they want to be ambitious and successful, and then they will find the tactical ways to organize famlies,” she said.

For more on the interview, watch the video above or read the full article. The video was filmed at the offices of BusinessBecause in London.

IE was invited to the AIESEC International Event near Turin on March 4th. AIESEC, which has a presence in more than 100 countries, is the world’s largest student-driven organization. The objective of the event was to educate 150 delegates develop their leadership and soft skills.

Sally Averill, Country manager for IE UK, took care of the “Authentic Leadership” and “Self Branding” workshops, while Pier Francesco Verlato, IE Alumnus and founder of the company “Treeminds”, specialized in Edutainment, covered the topic of “Self Awareness”.

The event was a tremendous success, giving students a glimpse of the soft skills taught at IE. It also displayed the continuous cooperation between IE and the AIESEC student community.

On March 10th, IE Business School participated in the ”Women in Business Career & MBA” event organised for 50 Ukrainian women by MBA Strategy.

Irina Polovneva, the IE Country representative for Russia and Ukraine, shared her MBA experience and answered questions on how to get into an MBA program and the challenges that women face after the graduation. As usual, the audience was very active and enthusiastic.