Its MBA programme, which is taught in English, is consistently ranked among the best in the world.[10][11] The MBA has produced the second-most CEOs of the world's 500 largest companies, only behind Harvard Business School[12] and the sixth most billionaires.[13] Despite its relatively small size as a specialist, graduate-only university, INSEAD educated the second-most C-suite executives of listed companies in the world's 19 biggest economies, behind Harvard University.[14] INSEAD is among the top 20 universities globally that produced most of the world's ultra high-net-worth individuals.[14][15]
INSEAD admits no more than 12% of students of the same nationality[25] and requires each student to speak two languages on entry and three languages by graduation.[26]
Georges Doriot, a professor at Harvard Business School and a General in US Army during World War II, wanted an institution that would introduce business education to Europe and bring European businessmen together post-war. In 1955, he presented his idea of creating a new school of management and business administration to the Paris Chamber of Commerce, whose presidents, Jean Marcou and Philippe Dennis, not only funded the venture but also became first presidents of the school. The welcoming ceremony of the first promotion for the Master of Business Administration at the Château de Fontainebleau was held on 12 September 1959. Almost 110 candidates had applied, 62 were admitted and 57 attended the first course. The official inauguration took place on 9 October 1959, at the Château de Fontainebleau 5.
INSEAD emphasises international collaboration from day one. Therefore, the school imposes a quota on percentage of students with the same nationality. Proficiency in multiple languages is also considered a critical enabler for its objectives. Initial classes were taught in three languages: English, French and German, interchangeably. Until the 1990s, classes could still be taught in any of the three languages. As of now, all classes are taught in English, but the school still requires students to know any three languages for graduation.
In 2000, the school opened another campus in Singapore. In 2012, INSEAD became a founding member of the Sorbonne University Alliance, moving toward a merger with leading specialist institutions in other fields to create a top-tier multidisciplinary university.
1959: First MBA intake in Fontainebleau and first business school to offer a one-year MBA programme
1967: Opening of the school's first campus on the edge of the Forest of Fontainebleau (now called the 'Europe Campus')
1968: First Executive Education programme
1976: Launch of the INSEAD Alumni Fund
1989: Launch of the PhD programme
1995: Launch of the first INSEAD Development Campaign,[31] which raised funds for permanently endowed chairs and research
2000: First business school with full campuses on multiple continents, with the Asia Campus opening in Singapore[32]
2001: Announcement of the INSEAD-Wharton Alliance[33] and first MBA participant exchanges
2003: Launch of the Executive MBA programme
2007: INSEAD Centre opened in Abu Dhabi, primarily for research and executive education; launch of a dual degree Executive MBA with Tsinghua University in China[34]
2013: MBA participant exchange agreement with CEIBS launched[35]
2015: Inauguration of the Leadership Development Center in Singapore[36]
2016: First and only business school to achieve a ‘triple first’ in rankings – MBA, Executive MBA (Tsinghua-INSEAD EMBA) and Single School Executive MBA (INSEAD GEMBA) in the Financial Times 2016 rankings
2018: Launch of the Hoffmann Global Institute for Business and Society[37][38]
2020: Opening of the INSEAD San Francisco Hub for Business Innovation and launch of the Master in Management Programme
2023: Launch of the INSEAD Learning Hub
2023: Europe Campus Re-imagining
Campuses
The original campus (the INSEAD Europe Campus) is located in Fontainebleau, near Paris, France. INSEAD's second campus (the INSEAD Asia Campus) is in the one-north district of the city-state of Singapore next to one-north MRT station. The third campus (the INSEAD Middle East Campus) is located in Abu Dhabi. INSEAD expanded its presence to North America in 2020 with the opening of the INSEAD San Francisco Hub for Business Innovation. INSEAD follows the US model of a business school.[39] INSEAD has been a pioneer in setting up a multi-campus business school as a way to increase the global presence and nature of its faculty and curriculum and to reflect the global diversity of its international student and participant population.[40][41] A Harvard Business School case study, for instance, explores its approach to business education in a global context and how it functions with a multi-campus setting.[42]
Grande École System
INSEAD is a Grande école, a French institution of higher education that is separate from, but parallel and connected to the main framework of the French public university system. Similar to the Ivy League in the United States, Oxbridge in the UK, and the C9 League in China, Grandes Écoles are elite academic institutions that admit students through an extremely competitive process.[43][44][45] Alums go on to occupy elite positions within government, administration, and corporate firms in France.[46][47]
The Master in Management programme is targeted to younger individuals with 0–2 years of experience and consists of coursework in both the Europe and Asia Campuses, with optional field trips to China, Abu Dhabi, and San Francisco. The programme ranked 4th in the 2022 QS Business Masters Rankings for Management.[51]
MBA programme
INSEAD MBA participants can take the MBA core courses at either or both of its Europe and Asia Campuses[52] (as well as an MBA period at its Middle East Campus). They follow the same core courses in parallel regardless of campus, and there are faculty who teach on both the Europe and Asia Campuses as well as permanent faculty at each of the three campuses who live and work in the respective regions.[53] Approximately 20% of the class entered the MBA programme with other graduate or professional degrees; including medical doctors, lawyers, and PhDs.
INSEAD offers two MBA schedules per year: one starting in September which takes ten months to complete, and a 12-month promotion starting in January for students who want to complete a summer internship.[54]
INSEAD has two Executive MBA programmes. The Global Executive MBA (GEMBA)[56] and the Tsinghua INSEAD EMBA (TIEMBA).[57] Both EMBA programmes are master-level degree programmes that take place on a part-time, modular basis.
The programmes offer experienced business executives an intensive 14–17-month modular course that takes place in modular periods (approximately every six to seven weeks). Each period on campus is between one and two weeks' duration. For the GEMBA programme the physical time on campus represents 12 weeks in total with participants going to all three campuses (Fontainebleau (France), Abu Dhabi and Singapore). For the TIEMBA programme the physical time on campus represents 12 weeks in total with participants alternating between Tsinghua's campus in Beijing, China[58] and the INSEAD campus in Singapore.
Both the GEMBA and TIEMBA programmes include a schedule of group coaching, 360-degree assessments and team activities designed to develop a leadership style, called the Leadership Development Programme.[59]
Executive Master in Change (EMC)
The Executive Master in Change is a specialised master's degree. It provides a grounding in basic drivers of human behavior and the hidden dynamics of organisations.[60]
Master in Finance
INSEAD Master in Finance (EMFin) teaches participants finance and accounting skills on a par with those taught in an MBA programme, and also offers leadership and management perspectives. The programme is offered in a modular format over a 20-month period to allow professionals to study while continuing to work. Participants take time off from work for each of the six modules (two–three weeks each) to take classes on campus and continue working in between.[61]
PhD programme
The INSEAD PhD in Management is a doctoral degree in business to prepare students for a career in academia. It requires four to five years of full-time study – the first two years devoted to coursework, while from the third and fourth (or sometimes fifth) years dedicated to research and dissertation.[62] Students have the option to start their studies on either the Asia (Singapore) or Europe (France) Campus[63] and do an exchange in North America (USA) through the INSEAD-Wharton Alliance.[64] There are eight areas of specialisation: Accounting, Decision Sciences, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Marketing, Organisational Behavior, Strategy, and Technology and Operations Management.[65] INSEAD offers fellowships, whereby students receive full tuition fee waiver, annual stipend and research support funding.[66]
Business Foundations programme
INSEAD in collaboration with Sorbonne Université offers the dual degree: Business Foundations (BFC) programme which is one of INSEAD's most selective degrees. "BFC" is tailored for recent master or PhD graduates from the sciences, medicine, humanities, engineering and law. Both universities offer fellowships to selected students.[citation needed]
Executive Education
INSEAD holds both company/firm specific and open enrolment executive education programmes at its locations in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North America, as well as in partnership with corporate universities. The school offers programmes in-person, online, and virtually. Participants usually come from senior or top management, with many years of experience within their company or industry and younger 'high-potentials' identified as being key in succession strategies within their companies. Approximately 12,000 executives of around 130 nationalities undertake courses or programmes at INSEAD each year.[67]
Since the establishment of its executive education programmes in 1967, 195,000 participants have undertaken a programme at INSEAD.[citation needed]
In 2011, INSEAD launched an Executive Certificate in Global Management which is a formal recognition awarded to participants who complete at least three INSEAD global management and leadership programmes within a four-year period.[68]
Open Programmes
The INSEAD Executive Education Open Programmes, include more than 60 offerings, covering all business disciplines as well as specific industries and world regions.[citation needed]
Customised Programmes
Certificates
INSEAD offers six certificates: The Certificate in Global Management, the Certificate in Negotiation, two Certificates in Corporate Governance, the INSEAD Online Certificate: Leading in a Transforming World and the new INSEAD LEAD Certificate.[citation needed]
The INSEAD MBA programme ranked first in 2021, 2017 and 2016 in the Financial Times Global MBA Ranking.[77] The dual degree Executive MBA with Tsinghua University is consistently ranked in the top ten by the Financial Times.[78]
The school has a strong reputation for entrepreneurship. In 2021, INSEAD was ranked fourth globally in PitchBook's ranking of MBA programmes for founders and seventh for female founders. Approximately 700 alumni of the school founded more than 600 companies, which in total raised $23 billion.[79] As of 2022, 15% of European unicorns were founded by an INSEAD alumnus, making the school the #1 unicorn producing university in the continent.[80] As of 2022, Harvard University, Stanford University, and INSEAD are the only three universities ever to top Poets and Quants’s list of most-funded startup by MBA students. [81] Notable companies founded by INSEAD alumni include Admiral Group,[82]Wise,[83]Nubank,[84]MongoDB,[85]Asklepios Kliniken,[86]L’Occitane,[87]Gorillas, Blablacar,[88]Tudou,[89] Ecovadis[90] and Business Insider.
Sorbonne University (created in 2012 with INSEAD as a founding partner).[93] As part of Sorbonne University Association, INSEAD collaborate with other institutions on research and academic activities. Most notably are:
INSEAD has research centres conducting research in different business and geographical areas.[citation needed]
Case studies
The case method is largely used in the classroom as a teaching method. Business case studies authored by INSEAD professors are the second most widely used in classrooms by business schools globally, after Harvard Business School's case studies.[citation needed]
The business cases that have been designed at INSEAD have received many awards,[106][better source needed] are made available in case clearing houses and are used by many other business schools.
Business simulation games
Business simulation games are used by INSEAD. Many of them have been designed by INSEAD faculties, and used in many institutions, including:[107]
A lot of research and initiatives are conducted at INSEAD to incorporate innovative learning approaches.
Centrse conduct research in learning technologies and approaches such as:
INSEAD CALT (the Centre of Advanced Learning Technologies)[110] has been involved in many research projects, and in particular projects funded by the research programmes from the European Commission on approaches such as business simulations, or learning communities.
INSEAD Learning Innovation Centre[111] was funded to managing innovation in INSEAD programme design and delivery. For instance, INSEAD Learning Innovation Centre has introduced the use of the Second Life virtual world as an education tool.[112]
INSEAD VR Immersive Learning Initiative is pioneering new approaches to learning and research for management and business. The Initiative uses immersive experiences to educate future business leaders. VR technology is also used in the annual Master Strategist day at INSEAD.
^Kaplan, Andreas (2018). "Andreas Kaplan, 2018, A school is "a building that has four walls…with tomorrow inside": Toward the reinvention of the business school, Business Horizons". Business Horizons. 61 (4): 599–608. doi:10.1016/j.bushor.2018.03.010. S2CID158794290.
^Monique de Saint-Martin, « Les recherches sociologiques sur les grandes écoles : de la reproduction à la recherche de justice », Éducation et sociétés 1/2008 (No. 21), p. 95-103. lire en ligne sur Cairn.info
