The Cornell SC Johnson College of Business is set to become the first US business school to join the CEMS Global Alliance. As a result, students in ESADE’s CEMS Master in Management (MIM) programme will be able to apply for the chance to complete a portion of their coursework at this prestigious Ivy League university. This collaboration is expected to generate numerous opportunities for mutual learning, foster a better understanding of the US market, and provide a unique opportunity for American companies to get involved in the programme with a view to recruiting and developing talent. ESADE is the only Spanish business school that offers the CEMS MIM, which is designed for university graduates in the early stages of their career.

Negotiations with the alliance’s newest member culminated in the public signing of an agreement by ESADE Professor Eugenia Bieto, chair of the CEMS Global Alliance, and Joe Thomas, dean of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, at the annual graduation ceremony for the more than 700 students in the CEMS MIM programme, which took place in Malta over the weekend.

The successful negotiations to add the first US business school to the CEMS Global Alliance coincided with the end of Prof. Bieto’s tenure as chair. Besides being a member of the ESADE faculty, Prof. Bieto served as director general of the institution from 2010 to 2018.

The CEMS Global Alliance is the world’s largest alliance of top business schools, with 33 member schools across the globe offering the CEMS MIM programme. ESADE is one of the four founding members of the alliance, which this year celebrates its 30th anniversary. More than 15,000 students have completed the CEMS MIM programme, and the alliance enjoys the support of nearly 80 companies and organisations.

Prof. Bieto was the first woman to lead the CEMS Global Alliance in the organisation’s 30-year history. The incoming CEMS chair is Gregory Whitwell, dean of the University of Sydney Business School.

During her farewell remarks, Prof. Bieto stressed the importance of “educating the leaders of tomorrow” by encouraging “critical thinking, an ambitious willingness to accept challenges, the ability to make decisions in situations of constant uncertainty, and a commitment to building a fairer society for everyone”.