Celebrating 50 years of the IMD MBA

Among the reasons cited by alumni for choosing an MBA at IMD, or one of its two predecessor institutions, were the diverse intake and global outlook.

One alumnus chose the Geneva-based IMI in part because of a one-page advertisement he saw in The Economist, with the headline: “The most interesting year of your life? An MBA with IMI-Geneva”. He applied, was accepted and the following year his own class featured in the ad! He still has a copy of it.

Project work is a significant part of the MBA program, whether that is on International Consulting Projects or Team Initiated Enterprise (TIE). In a few examples they can be life-changing.

One alumnus and his colleagues on the TIE consulting project in 1996 devised a plan for a social enterprise in South Africa, using internet technology to expand learning opportunities for people on low incomes. His subsequent career has been dedicated to the region, and to combining digital technology and a positive social purpose.

His full story makes a fascinating read in 50 for 50.

Why is it that every alumni claims to belong to the most active class when it comes to reunions and staying in touch? That almost every class member turns up? That the class WhatsApp is the one that’s buzzing all the time, that their families are now also connected, and the next generation is meeting up as friends in their own right?

The stories often go something like this:

“The last reunion we had, we had 20 teenagers and young adults in attendance. They were children, children. And so our children have already started to benefit from this network that we have, and we’ve had a reunion every year since we finished school, which is incredibly maintained. We never thought about it 25 years ago, but our children are now benefiting from those connections.”

The significance and leanings from the International Consulting Projects (ICP) were a recurring theme in almost every alumni story.

In his first years as CEO in the family enterprise, one alumnus arranged for MBA course participants to take part in an ICP, with the objective to give an analysis and recommendations on the way of working in the company. “There was not too much confidence that a group of MBA students could be of much value in a company with a highly specialised set of activities,” he says.

“The outcome was striking. Nobody in the company ever thought that outsiders, after a couple of weeks interviewing company staff members, as well as researching the competitive forces that dominate the industry and its key players, could pinpoint so accurately the strength and weaknesses of our way of working. A number of valuable recommendations were given and addressed.”

Find out more about the win-win-win ICPs at IMD in 50 for 50.

Switzerland is noted for its punctuality – and the same applies to IMD. Turn up late for an early morning MBA class and you may well find the door locked. And there’s no point in trying to climb in through an open window without being noticed. You will probably be cold-called, as this MBA recalls.

“We had one classroom in what today is the administrative building. When we had the first class in the morning, there were always a few students who came late. What the professor did was to lower the blackboard down to the bottom over the entrance and he left the large vertical windows only open marginally. You had to sneak in on your on your chest, under the blackboard or window. So we all knew it was uncomfortable to come late. And the professor cold-called if you were late.”

There are three things you can change in your career: industry, geography, and role. When you take on a new job (or after your MBA), don’t change all three things. Sound advice from a dean – but which one was it? Find out in 50 for 50.

Looking back, one MBA alumna recalls writing in her application to IMD that she “wanted to develop the skills to end up doing something with significant positive social impact.”  And she has done just that.

Today, she heads a non-profit organization that works with the media industry to give charities, marginalized groups, and young people a stronger voice. What’s more, she also serves on the board of the UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commission, the UK’s national human rights institution.

There’s a lot more to her story – find out why in 50 for 50.

What are the chances of meeting one of your classmates from 30 years ago on an airplane during a trip to China? Quite high, it seems, if you are an IMD MBA graduate.

In the late 1990s, a few years after graduating from IMD, one MBA was on vacation with his family, taking an internal flight in China to visit the Terracotta Army at Xi’an. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice calling his name. He looked up to see his friend and fellow IMD alumnus calling him. They greeted each other and arranged to meet for a meal once they were back in Beijing.

In any part of the global village, IMD alumni may encounter one another. And when they do, the reconnection tends to be both deep and instant.

Discover which two classmates met on that plane in 50 for 50.

When the MBA discovery trip turns into a business that improves lives.

On a study trip to Kenya at the mid-point of his MBA course, an alumnus began entertaining an idea that was to become one of his most impactful business ventures.

The serial entrepreneur reflected that it ought to be possible for a tropical, lower income country to bypass the need for an expensive infrastructure to ensure that the population had access to electricity. The idea came to him during an excursion to Lake Naivasha, a wildlife haven an hour’s drive or so from Nairobi.

After graduation, he set about establishing the company, which now supplies solar-powered electricity to homes throughout east Africa.

“I was trying to apply the lessons from IMD in terms of thinking of how do you approach this market opportunity –and that’s how it came about.”

This and other success stories can be found in 50 for 50.

Jean’s (the gardener’s) wife Janine was the restaurant manager, and she would insist that the MBAs order their desserts in French. Curiously, the most common request early in the MBA program became “la même chose”, as many tamely opted for the same dish as the previous individual. By year end, all were fluent in the art of recognizing Janine’s treats in various accents of French.

As founder of a company providing cybersecurity solutions for critical infrastructure, this alumna appreciated the practical focus at IMD.

The value of much of the personal leadership preparation, which she describes as “foundational”, became apparent some years later, especially in disciplines such as self-awareness, and building a team.

“At IMD, everything is around the team dynamics. How do you work as part of the team? How do you lead the team? What is the feedback that you’re getting?”

To set up her company, she built a team first – strong on technical skills, with complementary abilities.

What happened next and what now fuels her career can be discovered in 50 for 50.

One MBA graduate highlighted the “clever use of cognitive surprise” by the faculty.

“You would have a case, and it would start out as an accounting case – the accounting professor would come and do the numbers and so on. Then suddenly it pivots, and the organizational behavior professor walks in and says, “These were the numbers, now look at the dynamics between the people who are trying to agree on the numbers. What is really going on in their heads?”

Studying for the MBA at IMD is more of an immersive experience than just a course. Without doubt, the character, knowledge and charisma of faculty have been dominant factors enabling a deeply enriching learning experience.

One alumna has a vivid memory of the then Program Director Juan Rada gesticulating animatedly during a lecture on the global economy, pointing at different sections of the whiteboard when addressing different aspects of trade and capital flows, yet with the board remaining blank throughout the whole talk.

“I just had the sense of him using the whiteboard with his hand. I always remember that.”

The MBA training offered both depth and breadth, covering team building and strategy in addition to core disciplines, one alumna told us, when she discovered how aspects of the learning still come into their element many years after graduation. In her case, building a brand in healthcare some 20 years after her MBA was her first direct experience in a business-to-consumer industry.

“I started to think about how to build loyalty amongst end users. So in a way I started to think about what we learned at IMEDE in order to build the good relationship, good partnership, good loyalty with your customers.”

The lasting impact: 36 years after your MBA you search through a trunk and…

“I went back and rummaged through an old trunk that had some of my stuff going back to the MBA school days. I found the actual thesis that I wrote 36 years ago with Juan Rada on the international capital markets in the semiconductor industries. I was asked to stay for a month after the MBA ended and prepare the manuscript for publication by the what was then the IMI Technical Institute.”