What have been some recent major developments?

Juan Federico Ospina EUDE has been in Colombia since 2006. Almost all the business schools from Spain got their start being represented by one person who sells the school or university and receives a commission. When we saw the potential in Colombia and elsewhere such as Peru, Ecuador, and Mexico, we decided to open this office. We opened the Colombia branch in 2012 and started opening new deals and agreements with universities and enterprises because we wanted to bring students from throughout Colombia to Spain for our e-learning and presidential programs. The core line of business for us are the online programs. We have agreements with different organizations so their workers come and study with us at preferential rates. We are the first business school with virtual programs in Colombia, which now represent 30-40% of our students.

Luis Fernando Jaramillo Several Colombian businessmen who were influenced by the IESE business School In Spain created Inalde with the support of Universidad de la Sabana. At the time, the institution was led by Guillermo Pardo, who recently passed away. The first program was launched in 1985, and some of the most important executives in Colombia attended it. However, the program was at times interrupted as a result of security concerns related to the violence in the 1980s. In 1991, we launched an executive MBA program called MEDEX. We also created new tailor-made programs for companies based on the needs of their executives. We teach finance and marketing, though that is not our focus. Our goal is to provide CEOs with an overview of the organization. However, the most important thing is to manage people. Today, the market segment for our programs is to bring more SMEs into a corporate culture, which is something that many Colombian companies lack.

What are some of your competitive advantages?

JFO Our business school was created to bring enterprises together with the education sector. To enable this alliance, we used the Harvard methodology or case study, and our teachers are entrepreneurs with deep knowledge about 21st century needs. Since most universities in Colombia use theory rather than practice, we have a special advantage. Also, if you are a business entity located in Bogotá and make an agreement with a domestic university, you will bring benefits just for the workers in your location—but what of those in other cities? With EUDE, no matter where you are you can always find an answer for studying. Finally, our prices are the most competitive in the market; we offer good balance between high quality and a reasonable tuition scale. We offer different benefits and products since enterprises usually want online products. It does not matter if you are in Bogotá or Medellí­n, you can do it remotely with EUDE. This is important because companies can see the importance of encouraging new forms of studying. We work with companies and their annual goals, delivering conferences and inside training, innovation, customer service, marketing, or whatever issue a given company needs to resolve.

LFJ The worldview we teach executives to have is extremely important insofar as it is rich, broad, and expansive. Second, we approach an organization from a people-centric point of view, namely that people are the center of an organization. Thus, we must make executives understand the importance of staff in an organization. We challenge them to take control of their professional lives to achieve the goals they want to reach, which we are doing extremely well. Many people are transformed during the MBA; people actually say their lives have changed when the program is completed. It truly influences them moving forward. Another methodology we teach is prudence, which helps people make the best decisions. We teach people not be motivated by money or fame. We use the so-called Harvard method, but with a Colombian flair. We are one of the few institutions with two advisory committees. We have Harvard professors who advise us every two years, as well as an agreement with IPADE, a business school in Mexico, and IESE in Spain. We also have ongoing internationalization programs and are constantly broadening our international reach.