Dubai, UAE; February 22, 2011: The world is changing. So is the MBA programme by IMD, one of the top ranked business schools worldwide. The IMD MBA programme, which is an intensive, international one year leadership and general management programme held in Lausanne, Switzerland; is limited to 90 experienced participants. This year's class represents 45 different nationalities; and according to IMD's MBA office, the school has witnessed a huge increase in applications from the Middle East -173% up compared to the 2010 intake and the trend is upwards since 2007.  

Consistently ranked among the top programmes by international publications, the IMD MBA programme will be introducing a number of innovations in its 2012 programme design with a particular emphasis on integrated classroom and real world learning and leadership throughout.

Developed and enhanced based on input from recruiters, alumni and academic research, the new IMD MBA programme incorporates a pioneering new continuous action learning cycle approach” through the careful integration of classes, live business cases and projects to allow participants to apply what they have learned in the classroom to real leadership situations. This begins from day one.

The new programme has three specific innovations:

1) Programme content that directly integrates classroom work, live cases and real world projects (with start-up companies, SMEs and multinationals) together throughout the year.

2) Personalized learning and individual coaching, including a personal learning plan, an individual project and electives sequenced through the year.

3) Structured pre-program preparation through IMD-guided online learning, reading or a pre-program immersion to achieve a basic understanding of accounting, finance and statistics before the program starts.

These innovations are being introduced based on comprehensive research demonstrating how the world has changed and so have today's learners.

"In designing this new program, we conducted considerable research with a broad spectrum of stakeholders," said IMD Professor Martha Maznevski, IMD MBA Program Director. "Tomorrow's leaders must have three linked skill sets. They must be able to operate an organization based on classic business fundamentals, to lead themselves and their organizations, and to navigate through the uncertain and complex waters of today's global environment. Developing the intuition and judgement to act with impact requires an approach where participants can learn, test and reflect in rapid, real world learning cycles."

She added: "The new programme design will better equip learners to compare and contrast their different experiences, developing the ability to read situations and draw from a repertoire of responses. It will in essence mean ‘guided on the job leadership training. Our small class size and deep connections with business make this revolutionary approach possible."

IMD's comprehensive leadership stream remains an important foundation for the programme. The leadership stream includes high-intensity outdoor exercises and group work, peer reviews of personal strengths and weaknesses, and a unique personal development elective, all thoroughly integrated with the rest of the curriculum.

"The world today is more complex and turbulent than ever, and tomorrow's business leaders will need new skills in addition to the traditional ones to lead us responsibly through this century," noted Professor Maznevski. “"We saw this first-hand in the most recent financial crisis, also a crisis of naiveté as many managers failed to understand how their decisions impacted other functional areas and parts of the world.  We believe carefully combining knowledge-building, action and reflection in multiple contexts is the only effective way to develop judgement as well as the ability to take effective action." “

The IMD MBA 2011 progamme will benefit from some of these new program innovations.The IMD MBA experience retains the elements that have made it a trademark throughout the decades: business fundamentals, contextual learning and a leadership focus. 

-Ends-

About IMD
Based in Switzerland, IMD is consistently top-ranked among business schools worldwide. With more than 60 years experience, IMD takes a real world, real learning approach to executive education. IMD offers pioneering and collaborative solutions to address clients challenges. Our perspective is international we understand the complexity of the global environment. Real-impact executive learning and leadership development at IMD enables participants to learn more, deliver more and be more. (www.imd.ch).

Learn more about the IMD MBA programme- www.imd.ch/mba.

Are MBA programs becoming obsolete? Read Professor Maznevski's analysis in her latest Tomorrow's Challenge article: http://www.imd.org/research/challenges/TC010-11.cfm

Access Professor Maznevski's bio - www.imd.ch/maznevski and blog - http://blogs.imd.ch/mbaprogramdirector/default.aspx. 

Download print-quality high resolution photographs of IMD campus at www.imd.ch/image-gallery.

For further information, please contact Lisa George/ Deema Khader, Iris PR, Dubai, UAE. Mob: 050 871 8561/056 628 5066. E-mail: lisa@irispr.net/deema@irispr.net

© Press Release 2011