MBA
Partners
Academic Program2023-2024
Managing Cultural, Socialand Career Transitions

1. Introduction
This course adopts a personal and professional approach to the development ofpartners of current MBA students at IESE.
From a personal point of view, the course addresses potential issues partners may
face during the process of adjusting to life in a new cultural and social environment.
At the professional level, the course aims to develop a set of skills that can help
partners to grow and benefit from the stay in Barcelona in terms of changing careeror identifying new career opportunities.

2MBA Partners - Academic Program, 2023-2024

2. Program Structure
The sessions are based on a mix of exercises, case discussions, self-assessment
tools and lectures. They will be spread out between Term I and Term II, from
September 2023 through to March 2024.
The course is free for partners of current MBA students at IESE.
For any queries you can send an email to Stephanie Tait: stait@iese.edu

3MBA Partners - Academic Program, 2023-2024

3. Program Outline
Term IDateSession

Tuesday
Sep 5th
11.30-14.00
G-302

Families & Partners Partners are welcomed on Campus and will review
Club Welcome and the calendar of activities together with the MBA
Orientation
Office and the Partners Club leadership team.
Wim den Tuinder,
Stephanie Tait(MBA Program)& Partners Club
Leadership Team

This session will be followed by a welcome cocktail.

TuesdaySep 12th
14:30-15:45
G-302

CourseIntroduction &CulturalAdjustment

This first session will provide an overview of thecourse. Any move to a new cultural environment
entails a variety of challenges that need to be
overcome to make the most out of this stay. Throughexercises, we will therefore discuss how tounderstand, deal with, and adjust to culturaldifferences while also developing awareness about
our respective culture-of-origin.

Prof. Sebastian
Reiche4TuesdaySept 19th
12:45-14:00
G-302

Self-Knowledge
and PersonalDevelopment

Tuesday
Sept 19th
12:45-14:00
G-302

Panel Discussion:
Managing Your
CareerWednesday
Oct 4th
15:00-16:15
OnlineBuilding aneffective CV

Prof. Sebastian
ReicheProf. Sebastian
ReicheMelissa Afonso
Career Development
CenterDescription

We will discuss the importance of self-knowledge inour personal development and in our life in general.
We will use a specific tool to help you obtaindeeper self-knowledge. Further, we will discuss theimplications of such knowledge in various life andwork contexts.
We will bring together a group of second-year
partners to discuss and learn from their experiencesin adapting their professional career to the Barcelonaexperience.

CVs are an essential part of most job applications.
This session will focus on the purpose of these
documents, who tends to read them and how to build
them to make your application stand out.

MBA Partners - Academic Program, 2023-2024

5Wednesday
Oct 25th
15:00-16:15
OnlineLinkedIn ProfileOptimization

Tuesday
Nov 29th
15:00-16:15
G-302

A Case on Sagrada This session related to Sagrada Familia aims toFamilia
facilitate reflection of an experiential learning journeythat help participants learn leadership related to theProf. Yih-Teen Lee
following questions: How was a building like La
Sagrada Familia made possible? What made Gaudí’svision so strong and compelling that it managed toconvince thousands to build a church like none that
had been built before, using techniques that at thetime didn’t yet exist? How has the project been able topersist through the struggles it had to face? Andmoreover, how is Gaudí’s vision still guiding hissuccessors a hundred years after his death?
Participants will obtain leadership insights from thisinspiring experience, and be encouraged to apply
learning into their leadership role.

Tuesday
Dec 12th
15:00-16:15
G-302

A Case inMarketing
Management

Melissa Afonso
Career Development
CenterProf. Vardit
LandmsanIn one short session, you’ll find out how to make yourLinkedIn profile ‘pop’ and work for you by turning it
into a magnet that attracts the right recruiters with thebest jobs for you!

The session will be a typical IESE class that MBAs
live every day. During the session, we will discuss acase for which you are to assume the role ofcompany managers and make several marketing
decisions.
The case will be provided before the session. You
will have to read it previously.

MBA Partners - Academic Program, 2023-2024

Term II
DateSession

Description

ThursdayFeb 15th
11:00-12:15
G-302

DesignThinking

Design Thinking is an approach to creatively solve
human-centered problems that integrates the needsof users with the possibilities of technology and theinterests of an organization. The approach is gaining
a lot of interest in many areas, not only in businessbut also in social and public innovation. Even more, it
has clear lessons for how we can improve problemsolving at the individual level. During the session,
participants will develop a basic understanding of
Design Thinking and see various examples of its
application to different contexts. However, in dealing
with today’s unstructured problems and fuzzycontexts, some people, even business managers,
experience confusion and frustration when dealing
with design for the first time. Since a design
approach can make them feel uncomfortable, they
may reject it. The session will conclude with somewarnings for Design Thinking to be accepted at theindividual and team level, so that it can deliver at its
greatest potential.

MondayMarch 4th
15:00-16:
G-302

New Venture
Opportunities

Prof. Joaquim VilàProf. Jeroen
Neckebrouck

Who wants to be an entrepreneur? In a nutshell, wewill discuss and shed light on the essence ofentrepreneurship: what does it take to beentrepreneurial, where do new business
opportunities come from and how to evaluate new
business ideas.
Format: Interactive Lecture

ThursdayMarch 18th
14:00-17:00
G-302

Engaging
Communication
Prof. Mireia
Las Heras

These sessions focus on the practice of engaging
presentations. The sessions will focus on
preparation, content, and delivery. It conceptualizes
every presentation as an organized conversation
between a speaker and an audience and an
opportunity to create intellectual, emotional as well
as social connections.
Each presentation is a communicative interaction,
which requires effective emotion management andthe ability to self-disclose strategically. Thus, thesessions will emphasize the importance of audience
analysis. From a practical perspective, the course
aims to develop skills in (1) analyzing one’s own andothers’ verbal and nonverbal communication; (2)giving and receiving constructive feedback and feedforward; and (3) being aware (and manage) nonverbal communication.
*may be subject to change

6MBA Partners - Academic Program, 2023-2024

4. Families & Partners Club TeamWim den Tuinder & Stephanie Tait

MBA Program Team for Families and Partner´s Club

Families and Partner’s Club Leadership Team:

7MBA Partners - Academic Program, 2023-2024

5. Faculty
Sebastian Reiche

Professor and Department Chair of Managing People inOrganizations

Ph.D. in Management, University of Melbourne, Australia
B.A. / Master´s in Economics and Business Administration,
University of Hannover, Germany

Melissa Afonso

Associate Director Career Development Center

Melissa is Associate Director in the IESE Career
Development Center (CDC). As part of the Career
Management team, provides general career support andcoaching to MIM, MBA, and EMBA students. Director
responsible for the recruitment of Full Time

Vardit Landsman

Visiting Professor of Marketing

Ph. D. in Marketing, Tel Aviv UniversityMSC in Operations and Decision Research, Tel Aviv
University.
Visiting Professor from the Erasmus School ofEconomics in Rotterdam (Netherlands)

Yih.teen Lee

Professor of Managing People in Organizations

Ph.D. in Management, HEC, University of Lausanne
Master´s in International Business, National Taiwan University
Bachelor´s in International Trade, National Taiwan University

8MBA Partners - Academic Program, 2023-2024

Joaquim Vilà

Professor of Strategic Management, Innovation and Design
Thinking

Ph. D. in Strategic Management, Wharton School, Universityof Pennsylvania
Master´s in Organization and Strategy, Wharton School,University of Pennsylvania
Industrial Engineer, Universitat Politècnica de Barcelona
Business Administration, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Certified Design Thinking, IDEO and Experience Point
IAP-Harvard Business School on Design Thinking

Mireia Las Heras

Associate Professor of Managing People in Organizations

Ph. D. in Business Administration, Boston University
Master´s in Business Administration, IESE, University ofNavarra
Degree in Industrial Engineering (Industrial Organization),
Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya

Jeroen Neckebrouck

Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship

Ph. D. in Business Economics, Vlerick Business SchoolM. Sc., Industrial Management, Ghent University
M. Sc., Business Economics, Ghent University
M. Sc, Civil Engineering, Ghent University
B. Sc., Civil Engineering, Ghent University9MBA Partners - Academic Program, 2023-2024