What does it mean to train "the best managers for the world?" [Show summary]

Judith Puigbo, Associate Director of MBA Admissions, explores how to get into ESADE, a top MBA program based in Barcelona committed to doing good.

Learn about ESADE's unique MBA program [Show notes]

Judith Puigbo is the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at ESADE, responsible for MBA admissions in Switzerland and the Middle East. Let’s learn more directly from our guest.

Can you give us an overview of ESADE's highly ranked full-time MBA program, focusing on what’s distinctive about it? [2:06]

We were the first business school founded in Spain, in 1958. Spain was a very closed society, and we were always looking at what was going on in the U.S. So a group of entrepreneurs (well, now we called them entrepreneurs; in that period, we were calling them family businesses) thought, “Listen, we need to establish a management school, a business school here in Spain.” We had very good engineering schools and economics schools but not management.

So that’s why a group of managers from family businesses decided to create a business school together with the Jesuits because they thought, “Well, we know about management. We have no idea about education.” So that’s why they wanted to partner with the Jesuits. (Georgetown in Washington, for example, was founded by Jesuits.) The Jesuits had a very large tradition of creating schools and universities all over the world, because they believe that it’s better to empower emerging countries through education rather than just doing charity. So that’s why they had the very large tradition of creating schools and universities.

I know this is a very “grandma” story about where we come from, but it explains the DNA of the school. We were founded by entrepreneurs, so we have this entrepreneurial spirit, but also we were founded by the Jesuits, so we have this collaborative environment as well.

And regarding the full-time MBA, I want you to remember the word “flexibility.” I think that’s one of the main assets, the flexibility of the program, because you can do it in 12, 15, or 18 months, and there are many moments in the year where you can tailor the experience through electives, language courses, student clubs, the career examination programs, different tracks, and study tours. So you can ask many people about their experiences, and they would all say something different because there are never two MBAs that are exactly the same. And of course our location is also an asset.

How do you address potential concerns about Barcelona not being a major business hub (like London, New York, or Hong Kong) if you want to pursue business studies? [4:54]

I don't agree totally with that because Barcelona is very well-known in the startup environment. For example, we have the Mobile World Congress every year here. (Not this year; it had to be postponed due to the situation.) But there are many startups here because it’s a location where it’s easy to attract talent. So it is an important hub for startups. Many technological companies also have a subsidiary here. It’s true that compared to Madrid, they would have more headquarters, big corporations. That’s true. But Barcelona has always had this entrepreneurial spirit.