The Right Path

Business schools in Ecuador are increasingly developing their curriculum, not only in terms of teaching management but also strategy as a combination of analytic techniques focused on competitiveness. Higher education in general in the country has been a pillar for the government; in the last seven years the government has invested $9.445 million in the sector, which stands for 2.12% of the GDP. In 2014, Ecuador was positioned as the country with highest public spending in higher education in the whole Latin American region, before Bolivia, Argentina, and Uruguay.

There is a wide array of business schools in the country that are part of public universities as well as private ones, each with its own specialized offering. Some of the most renowned business schools in Ecuador are IDE Business School, ESPAE Graduate School of Management, and USFQ Business School.

ESPAE was established in 1983, becoming the first business school in Ecuador. It was created with a focus on leadership, innovation, business development, and information technology and its application to business. These have allowed the school to be a pioneer in different fields. In economy and finance, ESPAE is executing relevant projects such as the study of the impact of FTAs in the Ecuadorian economy and the Burkenroad Reports in Latin America. In entrepreneurship, it is leading the Entrepreneurs’ Development Program of ESPOL with its Entrepreneurship Development Centre, and it has been part of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor in the study of Ecuador. ESPAE offers MBAs and EMBAs for more experienced executives, advanced Master’s, and executive training. It also created the first Master’s in Taxation in 2003 and it also designed specific programs like the Advance Program in Health Services Management and the Master in Hospital Management. The school has partnerships with different universities across North America, Latin America, and Europe, like Tulane University, UQAM, Universidad de Gante, ICESI, and ESAN, among others.

IDE Business School was created in 1992 as an initiative from a group of Ecuadorian businessmen to boost business training with a humanist and ethics focus in the Universidad de los Hemisferios. Its strengths are its teaching stuff, research, and teaching excellence. The main objective of the school is to give a new strategic and decision-making vision with a humanist focus in the company. IDE Business School bases its training in Christian values from the Opus Dei, and uses the Case Method in its academic program. This method facilitates executives with the necessary abilities to confront different situations in which a strategic vision is essential for decision-making. The school teaches the method by setting real problems to student, in conditions of simulated experience under the teacher’s guidance. IDE offers a Master’s in Business Management, as well as specific management programs, advance programs and an Executive Program in Finance. It also belongs to a business school network associated to IESE Business School in Spain, which includes 17 schools in four continents.

USFQ Business School was ranked the number one business school in Ecuador according to the MBAs Ranking from América Economí­a. It was ranked based on academic strength (40%), knowledge production (15%), internationalization (20%), and network power (25%). Santiago Gangotena, Chencellor of Universidad San Francisco de Quito said, “Our prestigious business school is ranked 18 in Latin America and the only one in Ecuador by America Economí­a. We have over 200 students in the areas of business and marketing.“ The school has a highly competitive team conformed by 300 full-time teachers and more that 400 part-time. It also counts with the collaboration of various assessors and business directors with high experience in their fields. The offer two types of programs, Open and In-Company. The latter uses improvement opportunity analysis and an alignment with organizational objectives. It allows the developing of business training programs that contemplate academic and non-academic initiatives, suitable to the client’s particularities. The Open Programs are available for all the community in different modalities, in-person, semi-in-person and online. The certificates have a duration of 75 to 100 hours over three to four months.