David Dinwoodie has been appointed as new director of ESADE Executive Education, a management position that forms part of the school’s Executive Committee. Dinwoodie, an expert in leadership and strategic management, until now held the position of vice-president of Global Leadership Solutions at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), the world’s main provider of leadership development over the last 50 years.

Dinwoodie’s main goals during his tenure are to strengthen the ties between ESADE Executive Education and the corporate environment as a leader in training for executives, to advance in the internationalisation of activity and prestige, and to innovate in digitalisation training in order to accompany executives in their professional growth through their different career stages.

New ESADE Executive Education director David Dinwoodie says that “business models are changing; digital transformation isn’t just about digitalising processes, but a need to reinvent how business is done. It’s necessary to adapt to these changes, and for that to happen there has to be an ongoing learning process in innovation, strategy and leadership.”

Digitalisation and internationalisation

To meet present-day needs of executives and companies, the Executive Education area of ESADE is undertaking renovation work, following a line of action linked to innovation in physical and technological environments, through the production of hybrid Executive Masters (IN/ON programmes) scheduled for the coming academic year. Some of its distinctive features include digitalisation of subject content, methodological reflection on online teaching, intensive use of technology and innovative dynamics.

In the 2017-2018 academic year, ESADE Executive Education had 4,830 participants and achieved a turnover of €35 million. That period was marked by the consolidation of the open programmes designed for the various stages of professional development and the launching of the first online programmes. Partnerships with international universities were also expanded. Two examples of this were Journey to Business Transformation, in partnership with Singularity University, California, taught in Mountain View (USA), and the MBA in partnership with Aalto University in Finland, which provide executives with the necessary tools to lead the transformation of their companies.

Expert in leadership strategies

David Dinwoodie has held senior management posts at Ernst & Young, BICC General Cable, Planeta deAgostini and Bristol-Myers Squibb. In the field of executive education, in addition to being vice-president of Global Leadership Solutions at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), he was responsible for the global portfolio of CCL’s offers in Open Enrollment Programs, Custom Corporate Solutions, Executive Coaching, Assessment Services and Learning Products on ten campuses in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, America and Asia-Pacific. David was a member of the Executive Team of CCL and designed custom leadership development solutions for corporate customers worldwide.

Prior to CCL, he was Director General of EADA Business School in Barcelona. He has been an active member of the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD), the Association of MBAs (AMBA), the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and the Consejo Latinoamericano de Escuelas de Administración or Latin American Council of Management Schools (CLADEA).

David Dinwoodie holds a Master of International Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and earned an MBA from ESADE Business School in Barcelona. His doctoral degree from Aston University was in organisational psychology. His research activities are centred on organisations engaged in internationalisation processes and leadership strategies for creating performance-oriented organisational culture. He has written the book Becoming a Strategic Leader: Your Role in Your Organization’s Enduring Success.

For over 20 years, David has combined management responsibilities with training activities and has taught courses in Strategic Management, Change Management, Leadership Development and Executive Coaching at institutions such as ESADE Business School, EADA Business School, Centrum Business School (Peru), Rosario University (Colombia) and the Centre for Creative Leadership (USA).