Introduction

Welcome to the MBA Programme

We invite you to learn more about how INSEAD can help you achieve your desired success.

With three fully-integrated campuses in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, and over 80 different nationalities in the classroom, no other business school offers such a multicultural experience. The accelerated 10-month curriculum develops successful, thoughtful leaders and entrepreneurs who create value for their organisations and their communities. Our alumni often say that their year at INSEAD was life-changing.

Learning Methodology
The INSEAD MBA programme requires a high level of engagement from our participants under the expert leadership of our professors. In fact, it is the vast diversity of experiences brought by our students to campus that makes the programme unique.
Diverse study groups

As an MBA participant you will initially join a study group of 5 to 6 students, selected to maximise diversity in terms of age, gender, nationality, experience, previous education and professional background. During most of the core courses of the programme, your group will become the focal point for your work as you complete assignments and solve problems together.
Lively classroom exchange

In the classroom, INSEAD professors aim to bring out the best in each of you, so that you learn from each other’s experiences as well as from their own cutting-edge research. Their objective is to tease out different perspectives in order to orchestrate a multi-faceted debate and challenge everyone’s assumptions.
Multiple teaching methods

There is no single preferred teaching method at INSEAD. Our faculty is free to choose the method they believe fits best with the content of the session. You will, therefore, experience a wide variety of teaching styles and techniques, including case studies, computer simulations, role-plays, project work and study tours. What matters to INSEAD is not the method chosen but the result: the effectiveness of your learning experience.

Group Experience
Learning how to work effectively in diverse groups is a crucial part of the MBA programme, and at INSEAD we take special care to craft groups that are diverse not only in terms of nationality, but also industry background and professional expertise. The aim is to ensure that each group member will bring a unique perspective and a unique set of strengths and weaknesses to both learn from and contribute to the team.

Study groups consist of 5 to 6 members and are fixed for the core curriculum of the programme. During these first four months, you will complete a total of about 50 group assignments, spread across 11 different subjects. Preparation time may vary from a few minutes to many hours or even days, and to facilitate easy interaction you will sit together during classes as well. Each group tends to have its own dynamics, driven by differences in temperament, teamwork and leadership styles. Of course, conflicts may arise, but courses such as Organisational Behaviour will give you tools to analyse different behavioural patterns and experiment with new and modified ways of influencing, motivating and negotiating with others.

Once you have completed the core curriculum, you will move on to choose electives from different areas of interest, so you will form new groups with new people in each course. However, the many days (and sometimes nights) you spent studying, debating and bonding with your first study group often lead to close friendships that stay on long beyond you have earned your MBA. So when you meet with current students or Alumni, be sure to ask them about their study group because it is bound to be one of your key experiences at INSEAD.

Campus Exchange
Learning to lead across different cultures and geographies is critical to success in this global world. Our two fully-fledged campuses, in France and Singapore, as well as our partnerships with Wharton and Kellogg in the US, offer you as many opportunities as possible to broaden your horizons.

While each of our campuses have a distinctly different feel, both have permanent faculty that live and work in the region. INSEAD offers the same core courses and most of the same electives with many faculty members regularly teaching on both campuses. And just as important, you will find the same calibre of students on both campuses. As we often say, “one school, one MBA programme, two campuses”.

Course Curriculum
The 10-month MBA programme includes five periods, each lasting eight weeks. At the end
of every period, there is an assessment (exam, essay or project) and a short break. The first half of the programme is built around 14 core courses, which provide you with a solid understanding of the key management disciplines.

During the second half of the programme, INSEAD offers you an unparalleled range of innovative electives, all taught from an international perspective. You can tailor the programme to meet your specific needs and career objectives by choosing 11 electives from a selection of more than 75 courses (offered across both campuses). While some students prefer to concentrate on certain disciplines, such as entrepreneurship and strategy, others choose to take courses in a wider variety of subjects to prepare for a career in general management.

Fees & Funding