_HOW MUCH DOES ESADE INVEST IN RESEARCH?

ESADE invests  over 4 million euros in research, which translates into 30,000 hours of teaching and accounts for 7% of the school’s overall budget. This percentage is an indicator of our research activity.

_HOW DOES THIS COMPARE WITH ESADE’S COMPETITORS?

It’s difficult to judge... not all our competitors spend time and resources on research. But to ESADE it is a key component. In a rapidly changing world in which management trends evolve so quickly, the top business schools are expected to anticipate those changes and generate new knowledge and tools accordingly. We’re already coming up with these answers. But to make an even greater contribution, ESADE should ideally spend 10% of its total budget on research.

_IS RESEARCH PROFITABLE? AND FOR WHOM?

Research is always highly profitable. Otherwise, how could we teach?
We are teaching the Global Executive MBA today because we invested in research yesterday. It’s like infrastructure. We all know that for a country to move forward, investing in ports, airports and roads is fundamental. Research is ESADE’s cerebral infrastructure, it is what allows us to create intellectual capital: It adds value in the classrooms to help students develop; it brings knowledge to businesses so that they can introduce innovations into their processes and products; and it is profitable for academics themselves. Research is like poetry: If you don’t write poetry you don’t understand other people’s poems, you merely graze their surface. For ESADE’s faculty, such mental gymnastics is indispensable.

_IF RESEARCH IS PART OF FACULTY MEMBER’S WORK, WHY IS IT SO EXPENSIVE?

It is expensive because it is an intangible investment. In a project, you know what resources you need, and what the deadlines and the milestones are. In research, however, it is hard to predict when results will be obtained. Furthermore, faculty members are an expensive resource because there are so few of them, and because they are extremely varied and difficult to replace.

_HOW DOES ESADE FINANCE RESEARCH?

Endowments, both from businesses and from private individuals, are indispensable to ensure that research at ESADE is constant and, therefore, competitive and profitable. It is telling that only 5% of US universities dedicate themselves to research. Others merely dedicate themselves to teaching. But the reality is this: Either you are within this 5% or you are simply out of the market. The top school, the leader, takes it all. There’s no second place. Research and the social investors that make it possible are two key elements at ESADE.

_WHAT DOES ESADE NOT CURRENTLY DO BUT WOULD IF IT HAD MORE MONEY?

We would carry out long-term projects, with an 8-year timescale. At the moment we depend on capital income or current research trends more than we would like. With steady resources we’d be able to set our own objectives and establish research lines and teams. This is why the endowment method is so interesting: Because it allows us to be independent from the market. It gives us freedom and enables us to carry out long-term projects.

_CAN I GET RICH BY INVESTING IN KNOWLEDGE THROUGH ESADE?

No, you won’t get rich by investing in knowledge. But you will help many others prosper, from all ESADE’s students to businesses and society as a whole, which will benefit from talent development. And you will enjoy watching it happen with a smile on your face. Let me assure you: It’s worth it.

ALFONS SAUQUET
Dean of ESADE Business School

Married with one child. A great lover of literature. On Sunday you discover that Shostakovich’s quartets have actually been there all the time. On Wednesday you suddenly understand a phenomenon that had eluded you for a long time; an emotion finally makes sense to you... and you almost understand a verse. Meanwhile, you try to help make things a little better. Life is a fascinating learning experience and ESADE is an inexhaustible talent factory full of great people.

“RESEARCH IS ESADE’S CEREBRAL INFRASTRUCTURE, IT IS WHAT ALLOWS US TO CREATE INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL.”

“ENDOWMENTS, BOTH FROM BUSINESSES AND FROM PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS, ARE INDISPENSABLE TO ENSURE THAT RESEARCH AT ESADE IS CONSTANT; AND COMPETITIVE AND PROFITABLE AS A RESULT.”

“RESEARCH IS ALWAYS HIGHLY PROFITABLE. OTHERWISE, HOW COULD WE TEACH? WE ARE TEACHING THE GLOBAL EXECUTIVE MBA TODAY BECAUSE WE INVESTED IN RESEARCH YESTERDAY.”