ESADE - Escuela Superior de Administracion y Direccion de Empresas

The A-Z of Business schools

Age: 40

History: Set up in 1958 by a bunch of far-sighted Catalan businessmen who joined forces with the Jesuits to establish a business school in Barcelona. The idea was to modernise fast and create a class of trained managers and lawyers who were experts in management and would act ethically. MBA started in 1964.

Address: Three buildings in suburban Barcelona close to the Avenida Diagonal (business district).

Ambience: Swanky purpose-built accommodation gives students a total of eight computer rooms, a library specialising in management and law, a documentation centre linking to EU databases, a corporate information centre which searches for information on Spanish companies, a data processing centre and a group dynamics lab providing practical training for business execs. Each of the three buildings contains a restaurant or cafeteria. One building has a stunning view of the Mediterranean. No campus accommodation, so students share flats.

Vital statistics: A private, non-profit, Spanish university institution which is intensely international in outlook but grounded in Catalan heritage. Contains three schools: for business, law and languages. Plus a permanent centre for executive education in Madrid. The MBA, a 21-month programme, was redesigned in the 1990s. Students can opt for a Spanish or English version. Students are split into three streams: two Spanish, one English. Non-Spanish speakers in the English programme take Spanish lessons. Finance, marketing and international management are areas of expertise. Students can major in one topic. International management major includes a three- month business internship abroad.

Added value: ESADE's language school which has all the latest equipment - interactive learning areas, labs and computer rooms. Students who are fully fluent in English and Spanish may opt for French or German classes. Spanish and international placement service is unique in that it arranges students' internships, helps students find jobs and counsels alumni.

Easy to get into? You need a degree plus GMAT and one or two years' work experience for the full-time MBA.

Association of MBA's accreditation: Yes

Glittering alumni: German Castejon, ceo of Deutsche Bank in Spain; Enrique Seguel. governor of Banco de Chile; Antoni Hereu, vice-president of Warner Lambert Company-Adams, New Jersey; Ricardo Capella, ceo of United Distillers, Miami; Luis Bach, ceo of Bacardi-Martini, France.

International connections: Many and various. International network of student exchanges has been going since 1973. ESADE has permanent student exchange programmes with schools in 20 countries, including Cranfield, the LSE and Manchester Business School in Britain and 22 big-name schools in the US. Faculty and students come from all over and subjects are examined in international context.

Student profile: Average age on full-time MBA is 27; on part-time 30. Male female ratio 70:30.

Cost: 4,400,000 pesetas for full-time MBA (almost pounds 18,000) 3,700,000 pesetas for part-time MBA (pounds 15,000).

Return on Investment: International career opportunities.

Who's the boss? Robert Tornabell, expert on EMU.

Next week: European School of Management.