DEAN’S EDITORIAL – BUILDING MOMENTUM AT INSEAD
Momentum is building at INSEAD. As we continue to track the school’s progress across multiple dimensions—from the academic calibre of our students to the strength of our thought leadership to the growth of our fundraising—it’s clear that we are progressively setting the bar higher for ourselves.
Consider our most recent data from the 2016/17 academic year, which speaks to the pace of our trajectory. During this year, we witnessed:
- Highest average GMAT score of incoming students (709)
- Highest percentage of female MBA entrants (36%)
- Largest-ever proportion of students with scholarships (28%)
- Highest amount raised in philanthropic gifts in a single year (€33.6M)
- Double-digit growth in revenues (€245M)
What’s driving this momentum? Our alumni, students, faculty and staff are closely aligned on the INSEAD mission and vision, enabling all of us to move forward with greater speed, precision and strength.
“We are united in our belief to use business as a force for good. We are committed to working together to develop leaders who put societal needs at the centre of value creation; who work fervently to protect the health of people and the planet; and who use their ingenuity and creativity to address critical problems on a global scale.”
Although we haven’t finished tracking all of our metrics for the 2017/18 academic year, it’s clear that the school’s momentum continues to increase. Recent examples include:
Tackling world-scale problems: An increasing number of students, alumni, faculty and staff are coming together to take on some of the most challenges issues of our day. New initiatives are forming in pursuit of goals such as reaching gender parity, driving sustainability, decreasing wealth inequality, making ethical decisions, promoting social impact and harnessing technology for students. For example, the Gender Initiativeand iW50 are helping us to build on recent successes, which include achieving the highest-ever percentage of female students (36%) in our MBA programme and achieving gender balance in our PhD programme (September 2016 intake).
Disseminating thought leadership: Our world-class faculty, who currently represent 41 nationalities, continue to earn recognition as influential thought leaders, talented researchers and accomplished authors. In 2015-17, the 11-most rigorous academic journals in management—covering strategy, operations, organisational behaviour and entrepreneurship—published more articles by INSEAD faculty than faculty from any other business school. With 102 articles, INSEAD is ranked #1 in the world, followed by Wharton (90 articles) and Harvard Business School (70 articles)*. On an individual level, four INSEAD faculty members were among The Case Centre’s 40 best-selling case authors for 2016/17: Professors Renée Mauborgne and W. Chan Kim (#8), Pierre Chandon (#10), and Ben M. Bensaou (#39). Professors Mauborgne and Kim also earned worldwide attention for Blue Ocean Shift: Beyond Competing, the highly anticipated follow up to Blue Ocean Strategy. To build on these successes, INSEAD recently established several new Centres of Excellence—bringing our total to 20—including the Gender Initiative and the James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Centre for the Study of Wealth Inequality.
Spotlighting esteemed women scholars: The celebration of 50 years of women at INSEAD continues with a new and innovative site for thought leadership: 50 Years, 50 Women, 50 Ideas showcasing 50 noteworthy women scholars from INSEAD—both faculty members and doctoral alumnae—and the powerful ideas they’ve developed through their research and insights. These ideas, which cover a diverse range of academic disciplines and geographic regions, speak to the significant impact that our women scholars continue to have on business and society.
Doubling the success of Giving Day: Our second-annual Giving Day was an incredible success, and I’m deeply grateful to those of you who contributed to this important effort. We raised €681,453 from 1,507 donors in 78 countries—doubling our participation rate and funds raised from last year—with the top three giving allocations dedicated to the Dean’s Innovation Fund, Robin Hood Scholarship and MBA Scholarships for Women. It’s wonderful to see this progress, especially on the heels of last year’s 41% increase in giving results.
Pursing greater operational efficiency. We recognise that the growth of INSEAD, in both size and complexity, is putting pressure on the structure of our organisation and our operations. To address this challenge, we have partnered with consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on a new project—aptly named “Momentum”—in which we’ll analyse how we work and identify areas for improvement. After this process is complete, we’ll work to implement a series of new strategies in order to optimise how we operate as an institution.
In the meantime, the pursuit of excellence continues across all aspects of our school. With your support, we can take this great institution to even greater heights.
Ilian Mihov
Dean, INSEAD
*The UTD Top 100 Business School Research Rankings™