Yaron Dahan, Expert Consultant and our Director of Business Development, had the chance to visit INSEAD’s Dean, Ilian Mihov, at the Fontainebleau campus to hear about INSEAD’s recent changes and plans for the future.
This is part 1/3 of the interview and includes:
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Since Ilian Mihov took the helm in 2013, INSEAD’s Career Development Center (CDC) has strengthened significantly. In addition to each student having a personal career advisor, the MBA curriculum was revamped as of 2018, putting a focus on business and society. Additionally, the Personal Leadership Development Program was introduced to help promote “personal and interpersonal awareness, as well as communication effectiveness”.
In the Executive MBA Education sphere, INSEAD is opening a facility in San Francisco, has grown its sections in Asia and Abu Dhabi, and introduced executive Master’s programs in Consulting and Coaching for Change.
Most impressive is the school’s biggest intellectual investment: The Hoffman Global Institute for Business and Society.
To mitigate the sometimes ugly truth that business can cause negative effects on society or the environment, the Hoffman Institute aims to bring awareness about the impact companies impart on society and the environment. INSEAD recognizes that the world is heading towards more conscious, environmentally- and social-impact-friendly behavior; they want to give students, faculty and the broader business community the tools to think about different business models and operations, in order to be a positive contributor to society.
As Dean Mihov explains, companies feel pressure from citizens and employees to act in a more mindful way. An increased number of business leaders are focusing on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and how to implement them into their strategy and operations.
“We want to change the mindset, not only of our students, we want to change what management education is all about.”
–Ilian Mihov, INSEAD Dean
A bold statement. But how is INSEAD taking this to heart?
Despite the fact that much large-scale environmental and societal change begins with regulators, INSEAD has upheld its motto, “business as a force for good” in different ways.
Dean Mihov explains that in order to accompany these types of business trends and uphold the exceptional INSEAD MBA value, the program must continually change and improve its curriculum. One way they have risen to this occasion is thorough teaching the right skills that are relevant to digital technologies.
To keep up with the rate that programs are evolving, INSEAD has several courses that promote a more agile MBA for the future. In addition to a required Digital Marketing course, the school runs a Data Science elective course, which draws in more than a third of students. This course is structured in three parts:
In addition to future-oriented courses in its MBA program, INSEAD recently launched its Master in Management (MiM) program. The MiM program helps individuals bridge the gap with their past academic path–whatever they may be–and business.
See also: Part 2: Who is INSEAD Admitting? and Part 3: Diversity in INSEAD’s MBA Class Profile