On Tuesday, the School of Economics held the closing ceremony of the 2017 IESE Programme, on which a total of 51 students received classes at the Madrid campus of the business school for six months.

Ricardo Forcano, the Head of Talent and Culture at BBVA, gave the academic address at the ceremony, in which he mentioned approaches for dealing with a world that “is changing exponentially and could be completely different 10 years from now”. Forcano urged the students to embrace “curiosity, empathy and integrity” as approaches to life, and to get their hands on “a compass” to guide them for the future.

The speaker also encouraged the students to work with talent (“by seeing those around you as people who can contribute value”), excellence (“by always striving to do a good job and paying attention to the small details”), and balance (“between the personal, professional and social aspects of your lives: look after your body and your mind”).

Ignacio Ferrero, the Dean of the School, reminded the students, “This programme is the culmination of everything that you have learned in Pamplona in terms of knowledge, skills and values”. He also encouraged them to be thankful when looking back at their time at the University and stressed how important it is for them to live the present with enthusiasm and to look forward to the future with confidence while exploring it with their wealth of inner resources and with joy.

Juan Antonio Galán, Associate Director of IESE Madrid; Ignacio Ferrero, Dean of the School of Economics; and Ricardo Forcano, Head of Talent and Culture at BBVA, then handed out diplomas to the students who completed the IESE Programme.

Throughout the semester, students on the programme made contact with a total of 15 companies and attended 13 presentations by organizations from different industries, such as McKinsey, Oliver Wyman, PWC, Bain & Company, Arthur D Little, Accenture, Deloitte, Danone, Mondelez, BBVA, Abante Asesores, Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade (ICEX) Grants and Iberia. They also had the opportunity to visit the offices of AT Kearney and Boston Consulting Group.