The IE Brown Student Blog

Dear readers:

Here’s a  letter from Isabelle Swiderski, IE Brown EMBA Class of 2014, who has already sprinted through two months of her MBA experience- and is still going strong!

It all happened rather fast.

Seven years after starting my own consultancy and thirteen years after graduating from a Masters in Design, here I was, listening to one of my employees describe the programmes her friends were recommending she apply to. Studies in global innovation, design thinking & business; topics I had been eyeing with interest for years. So I took a look online—as you do—out of curiosity.

It became obvious that the “Business Practices for Designers” course I had considered recently as a possible fill-in-the-gaps-whilst-you-run-a-business—a great choice, no doubt, and at Yale, no less—was just not for me. A two-week intensive felt like putting a Band-Aid on a gaping wound.

The business of design is still an oxymoron.

I am a creative type: branding. Incurable, they say.

I’m kidding of course. It isn’t that bad, really, this misunderstanding between creatives, “tree-huggers” and those that get things done by respecting the market, whatever its (ir)rational behaviour.  Then again, maybe it is.

Maybe it’s about who wins: the right side or the left side of the brain. Does design thinking have the edge or does business practice? Does mastering one negate the ability to leverage the other? How do we move forward without a single approach having to lead? Does rooting for the greater good hinder the competitive spirit?

Enter IE Brown with its Beyond Business mantra. I took the plunge.

Thanks to Vani, Ulrike, Halley, Pat and Katie, I found myself immersed in an eclectic mix of exceptional students, staff and professors hailing from countless backgrounds, sectors, time zones, languages, religions and political views. So began an intense introduction to a different EMBA punctuated with varied stories (thank you, Igor), experiences, and outfits (miss you, Noor).

In two weeks of team-building on the venerable grounds of Brown University, we engaged in exercises, in-class exchanges, homework and—let’s face it—a smidgen of leisure (but honestly very little if you’re running a business or are as insanely over-achieving as this bunch) discovering the hospitality of Providence and coming to terms with the fact we had 25 new friends. Can you imagine? Like that. 25 in two weeks. Prof. Marco from Financial Accounting might agree this is a respectable ratio.

I love apartés. There’s always more than meets the eye, don’t you think?

We are benefiting from the experience and support of amazing mentors in fields some of us have never grappled with before. We are studying and questioning together; we are broadening our outlooks through the contributions of others. As we carry on, we’ll succeed, struggle and perhaps even falter at times. We’ll juggle family and work and yearn for long-lost social lives.

If the truism is true then nothing in life is free; the price you pay just comes in different currencies. So we’ll pay physically, emotionally and financially for the privilege to progress. But I’ve no doubt it will be clear then, as it is now, that the value of what we are reaping can’t be measured with currency after all.

Thank you all for the gift.

Isabelle

IE Brown EMBA Class of 2014

By Igor – Moscow, Russia 

Current participant in the IE Brown Executive MBA

I like the quote from Ichak Adizes, which goes something like this (translated from Russian):

It is a good decision when later on you recognize that you made the right decision.

I didn’t choose between several MBA programs. I just liked the IE Brown concept of combining a traditional MBA with creative stuff. Not only would I get a traditional MBA, but more. I watched a number of videos about the IE Brown EMBA program and interviews with past students and became emotionally attached to the program. Of course, prior to starting, I was still somewhat concerned that my high expectations and investment may not be realized ……

Prior to the Class of 2014 meeting for the first time in Providence, the IE and Brown staff introduced us to the Online Campus. In the “virtual cafe” I started to learn about my new classmates. My first reaction was:  

Oh, boy! Such interesting people, I would like to be part of this team… wait a minute, I AM already! Can’t wait to meet everybody in Providence!

I flew to New York from Moscow and changed out of my Russian winter “space-suit” to regular spring clothes. I was surprised by the weather in New York. Even in March, it was so warm that I had to take off my sweater and raincoat. But by the time my train approached Providence I started seeing snow…. ‘Why our classes aren’t in Miami?’ I wondered.

Our first IE Brown face to face ‘working weekend’ started with the official opening ceremony, a Brown University campus walking tour and the Welcome Dinner. Although we were ‘students’ again, we hadn’t forgotten that we were also executives – so there were lots of ties and suits. Contrary to diplomatic protocol, over dinner we started to break the ice.

The following day we launched into team building exercises. This was so successful that even now, when far away from my classmates in Russia, I read their online posts and recall their voices and intonations. The text is not faceless anymore. The face-to-face sessions in Providence connected us ‘people to people’. Our class became friends who care about each other. I was really impressed at how much effort was made by IE and Brown program administration to make our class a TEAM, not an easy task when individually we were clearly all natural leaders!

Each day of the two week face-to-face period was intense. Beer or dinner with my new friends sacrificed my ability to do the readings or the homework for the next day. So, we used all opportunities, whether in the morning or afternoon tea breaks or lunchtime to simply catch-up. Strategy, economics, financial accounting, case method and entrepreneurial management courses were mixed with innovation and creativity classes, communication, decision making and ethnography. Unbelievably, even after all of that, we survived the days to wake up with enthusiasm the following day to “act and reflect” on what we had learnt!

Some people say time cannot be compressed or extended… Obviously those people have never studied the IE Brown Executive MBA. Every week was worth a month. Reflecting now as I sit here at home in Moscow, thousands of kilometers from Providence and most of my classmates, I often describe things as ‘yesterday’ when they in fact happened during the day. The IE Brown Executive MBA continues to give me so many new, interesting things and insights in a single day that it feels as though I am condensing weeks into days…

Based on the quote above by Adizes, I absolutely feel that I have made the ‘right decision’ to undertake the IE Brown EMBA. So therefore, it’s all good!

Meet the wonderful Peggy ‘superwoman’ Onwu. From Lagos, Nigeria, Peggy is a successful banker, mother of 4 and an outstanding student from our class of 2013.

Peggy recorded this interview halfway through her IE Brown experience. Hear about her personal learning experience, her classmates, her professors and her views on the added value of an Executive MBA that goes beyond business. You want to make an impact on society – this could be the program for you!

Thank you Peggy!

Current IE Brown Executive MBA student Gregorie Perez heads up a social enterprise in Manila, the Philippines.

Hear what Gregorie has to say about the uniqueness of this special program, why she chose the IE Brown Executive MBA and why this program is the right fit for her. If you’re interested in making an impact beyond ‘the bottom line’ then click on the video below and prepare to be inspired!

The final video in our ‘IE Brown Executive MBA from end to end’ series: Recent graduate Bill Reich checks-in with us at three different points in the program (beginning, middle and  at graduation), to update us on his IE Brown learning experience.

Bill reports on how the program has transformed his ability to think critically and he reflects on how this unique Executive MBA has made an impact to his organization, his clients and his life….be inspired!

 Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the fastest developing regions in the world. The IMF forecasts sustained growth across the region, despite global uncertainty.

South Africa is one of the countries leading this transformation, as well as serving as an interface between Africa and the rest of the world. IE Business School and Brown University believe that the African continent is increasingly important for the business community, and that in line with the forward-thinking nature of the program the IE Brown Executive MBA should have a presence there.

We are delighted to announce that the next IE Brown Executive MBA Class (starting March 2013) will travel to South Africa. The program’s blended structure (combining face-to-face interaction with interactive, online learning) will include a one-week immersion experience centered in the area of Cape Town.

IE Brown Executive MBA: Madrid, Providence, Cape Town & online.

Next program starts March 2013.

Want to learn more about the IE Brown experience directly from someone who lived and breathed it for 15 months?

In the next in our series of graduate interviews, hear about Myah’s experience as we accompany her on her IE Brown EMBA journey. We check in with her at the beginning, middle and end of the program, where the blend of the Liberal Arts and Business, the flexibility of the program’s blended format and diversity of her class are recurring highlights for her.

 Mostly importantly, find out how the program changed the way that she views the world.

Mary Pan, a graduate of the very first Cohort of the IE Brown Executive MBA, shares her perspectives on the program, via reflection points at the beginning, middle and end of the her 15-month experience. Join Mary on her IE Brown journey and find out more about how her program and her classmates have made a difference to her.

On Friday, June 8th, the 23 members of the IE Brown Executive MBA Class of 2012 walked across the stage to receive their diplomas amidst resounding applause from family, friends, professors and institutional representatives from around the world.  The program’s first Commencement Ceremony took place at the Santa Cruz la Real Campus at IE University in Segovia.

The event featured inspiring speeches deliverd by the Dean of IE Business School Santiago Íñiguez, the Vice-President of International Relations at Brown University Matthew Gutmann, and keynote speaker David Suarez, Vice-President and Partner at Booz & Co.  The class was not only congratulated on their achievement in receiving their MBA, but also for striving to go beyond conventional ideas about the world of business, as evidenced by their participation in the unique program.  Both IE Business School and Brown University are honored to send off this first group of incredible graduates and look forward to their future accomplishments!

Make sure to check out the video of the first IE Brown Graduation here:

Top-ranked IE Executive MBA again joined together with the Liberal Arts of Brown University, a prestigious Ivy League school, to welcome the second class of their partnership program, the IE Brown EMBA, at the Opening Ceremony, held on March 4^th in Providence, Rhode Island.

The program participants hold various roles from industries around the globe and are united by their interest in going “beyond business” to develop new insights about the best way to take on the global issues of today’s complex world.  “By weaving the Humanities into MBA training, I hope to make decisions with a greater awareness of their impact beyond the obvious and to be able to communicate that type of decision-making to my colleagues” said Lisha Cole, the Director of Worldwide Regulatory Strategy for Pfizer.

The class is comprised of 29 equally impressive profiles, 28% of whom are women, hoping to make their own impact. They span 20 nationalities based in over 15 different countries of residence, creating a truly diverse learning community.  René Klose who is a Program Manager for Siemens, a German citizen now living in Brazil, expressed his excitement about the upcoming months saying “in the corporate world, we often encounter mentalities very similar to our own and this incredible diversity allows us to revitalize our perspective.”