IBS – ISCTE Business School, Lisbon, Portugal

Age: 36.

History: IBS – ISCTE Business School was the first institute in Portugal to launch an undergraduate course in management. Since its inception, it has been a management-only school, in contrast to all the other top Portuguese schools, which is reflected in IBS's academic approach and relationship with the corporate world. Two decades ago, IBS created INDEG/ISCTE, a unique non-profit organisation made up of eight Portuguese corporate entities, and pioneered the school's long standing association with the business world and executive education.

Address: In spite of being in the centre of hectic Lisbon, the ISCTE campus has plenty of open space and retains a calm atmosphere.

Ambience: "The multicultural environment provides an atmosphere of global relationships in a challenging academic environment," says the school.

Vital statistics: The executive MBA is a part-time programme with classes on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings. It's a general management programme that provides the knowledge and skills for its students, who want to develop their general management skills and further their management concepts, knowledge and application of tools in the corporate world. There is a strong focus on leadership, including the only leadership programme offered by a Portuguese business school in the form of the Navy's Leadership School.

Added value: ISCTE's executive MBA is the only AMBA-accredited course of its kind in Portugal – and it achieved this after only three classes of students had passed though.

Easy to get into? Candidates must have an undergraduate degree, a good academic record and a minimum of six years of work experience. Students will have to get through a personal interview. English is essential.

Glittering alumni: The executive MBA has only had four complete student intakes, but already boasts several notable alumni. Miguel Cabaça is the CEO of Bank Cetelem and Paulo Sérgio Monginho is a board member of Goodyear Dunlop Iberia.

International connections: As well as the international faculty members, students have a residential stay in Barcelona, Spain.

Student profile: The age range varies between 30 and 50 years. Around a quarter of students have engineering backgrounds, and in the last intake a third of them were female.

Cost: The executive MBA is currently €14,250 (£11,875).

Return on investment: Graduates from the executive course will have covered their costs within 18 months of leaving.

Who's the boss? Professor António Gomes Mota is the dean, and Pedro Fontes Falcão is the director of the executive MBA.

Prospectus: +351 21 782 6100; http://indeg.org//cursos/emba; sonia.sa@iscte.pt