INSEAD is a graduate business school with campuses in Europe (Fontainebleau), Asia (Singapore), and the Middle East (Abu Dhabi). The name "INSEAD" originated as an acronym of Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires (French for "European Institute of Business Administration").

INSEAD is consistently ranked among the best business schools in the world.^[4][5] Financial Times ranked it first across all full-time MBA programmes in 2016 and 2017, and second in 2018.^[6] In 2018, still for its MBA programs, the institute is ranked one of the best business schools in the world by QS and Bloomberg.^[7]

INSEAD offers a full-time MBA program, an Executive MBA (EMBA) program, a Master in Finance program, a PhD in management program, a Master in Management^[8] program and a variety of executive education programs.

INSEAD was founded in 1957 by venture capitalist Georges Doriot (the "father of venture capitalism")^[9] along with Claude Janssen and Olivier Giscard d'Estaing. Original seed money was provided by the Paris Chamber of Commerce.^[10] The school was originally based in the Château de Fontainebleau, before moving to its current Europe campus in 1967.^[11]

The original campus (Europe campus) is located in Fontainebleau, near Paris, France. INSEAD's second campus (Asia campus) is in the Buona Vista district of the city-state of Singapore. The third and newest campus (Middle East campus) is located in Abu Dhabi. Although located in Europe and Asia, INSEAD pursues the US model of a business school.^[20] INSEAD has been a pioneer in setting up a multi-campus business school as a way to increase the global presence and nature of its faculty and curriculum.^[21][22] A Harvard Business School case study, for instance, explores its approach to business education in a global context and how it functions with a multi-campus setting.^[23]

INSEAD's MBA participants can take the MBA's core courses at either or both of its Europe and Asia campuses^[24] (as well as an elective MBA module at its Middle East campus).^[25] They follow the same core courses in parallel regardless of campus, and there are faculty who teach on both the Europe and Asia campuses as well as permanent faculty at each of the three campuses who live and work in the respective regions.^[26] Approximately 20% of the class entered the MBA program with other graduate or professional degrees; including medical doctors, lawyers, and Ph.Ds.

INSEAD offers two MBA schedules per year: one starting in September which takes ten months to complete, and a 12-month promotion starting in January for students who want to complete a summer internship.^[27]

The INSEAD MBA curriculum comprises required core courses and electives. The core covers traditional management disciplines including finance, economics, organizational behavior, accounting, ethics, marketing, statistics, operations management, international political analysis, supply chain management, leadership and corporate strategy. There are 75 electives on offer^[28] in areas such as accounting and control, decision sciences, economics and political science, entrepreneurship and family enterprise, finance, and organisational, strategy, marketing, technology and operations management. Students are required to speak two languages upon entry and a third by graduation.

INSEAD has two EMBA Executive MBA programmes. The Global Executive MBA (GEMBA),^[29] and the Tsinghua INSEAD EMBA (TIEMBA).^[30] Both EMBA programmes are master's-level degree programmes that take place on a part-time, modular basis.

The programmes offer experienced business executives an intensive 14–17-month modular course that takes place in modular periods (approximately every six to seven weeks). Each period on campus is between one and two weeks' duration. For the GEMBA programme the physical time on campus represents 12 weeks in total with participants going to all three campuses (Fontainebleau, France, Abu Dhabi, and Singapore). For the TIEMBA programme the physical time on campus represents 12 weeks in total with participants alternating between Tsinghua's campus in Beijing, China,^[31] and INSEAD's campus in Singapore.

Both the GEMBA and TIEMBA programmes include a schedule of group coaching, 360-degree assessments and team activities designed to develop a leadership style, called the Leadership Development Programme.^[32]

The Executive Master in Coaching and Consulting for Change is a specialized master's degree. It provides a grounding in basic drivers of human behavior and the hidden dynamics of organizations. Integrating business education with a range of psychological disciplines, the programme enables participants to understand themselves and others at a fundamental level, which prepares them to assume roles in organisations, individual and organizational development and change management.^[33][34]

The INSEAD PhD in Management is a doctoral degree in business to prepare students for a career in academia. It requires four to five years of full-time study - the first two years devoted to coursework, while from the third and fourth (or sometimes fifth) years dedicated to research and dissertation.^[35] Students have the option to start their studies on either the Asia (Singapore) or Europe (France) campus,^[36] and do an exchange in North America (USA) through the INSEAD-Wharton Alliance.^[37] There are eight areas of specialization: Accounting, Decision Sciences, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Marketing, Organisational Behavior, Strategy, and Technology and Operations Management.^[38] INSEAD offers fellowships, whereby students receive full tuition fee waiver, annual stipend and research support funding.^[39]

INSEAD's Master in Finance (MFin) teaches participants finance and accounting skills on a par with those taught in an MBA programme, and also offers leadership and management perspectives. The program is offered in a modular format over a 20-month period to allow professionals to study while continuing to work. Participants take time off from work for each of the five modules (2–3 weeks each) to take classes on campus, and continue working in between.^[40]

INSEAD holds both company/firm specific and open enrolment executive education programmes at its campuses in Europe and Asia and the Middle East, as well as in partnership with corporate universities. Participants usually come from senior or top management, with many years of experience within their company or industry and younger 'high-potentials' identified as being key in succession strategies within their companies. Approximately 12,000 executives from over 125 countries undertake courses or programmes at INSEAD each year.^[41]

In 2011, INSEAD launched an Executive Certificate in Global Management which is a formal recognition awarded to participants who complete at least three INSEAD global management and leadership programmes within a four-year period.^[42]

INSEAD is consistently ranked among the world's top business schools. Its MBA program has been ranked first globally in 2016 and 2017 in the Financial Times Global MBA Ranking, and second in the 2018 ranking.^[47] The dual degree Executive MBA with Tsinghua University is ranked first globally by the Financial Times. Moreover, INSEAD's standalone Global Executive MBA is ranked seventh in the same ranking.^[48] INSEAD is ranked first globally in the CEO World Magazine 2017 ranking of the Best Business Schools in the World.

INSEAD has the second highest number of MBA alumni holding Chief Executive Officer positions in 2015 in the Financial Times Global 500, which is composed of the world's largest companies by market capitalization.^[49]

In 2015, PitchBook Data ranked INSEAD first outside the US and fifth globally for the number of MBA alumni receiving venture capital funding, with over $6.1B raised. And, in 2016, the school's MBA program was ranked fifth worldwide for social and environmental impact by Corporate Knights magazine.^[50]

In April 2019, INSEAD was furthermore ranked as best global business school by CEOWORLD magazine.^[51]

INSEAD has exchange programmes with:

INSEAD has 15 research centres conducting research in different business and geographical areas. These include:

Teaching methods at INSEAD include case studies, lectures, peer-to-peer learning, tutorials, group work, simulations and role-plays.

The case method is largely used in the classroom as a teaching method. Business case studies authored by INSEAD professors are the second most widely used in classrooms by business schools globally, after Harvard Business School's case studies.^[75]

The business cases that have been designed at INSEAD have received many awards,^[75] are made available in case clearing houses, and are used by many other business schools.

Business simulation games are used by INSEAD. Many of them have been designed by INSEAD faculties, and used in many institutions, including:^[76]

A number of researches and initiatives are conducted at INSEAD to incorporate innovative learning approaches.

Centers conduct research in learning technologies and approaches such as:

INSEAD currently has nine FT500 leaders.^[83] The Alumni Association was founded by a group of alumni in 1961, and works in close partnership with INSEAD to provide services to the global INSEAD alumni community of 46,000+ members in 171 countries.^[84] Many are members of the INSEAD International Alumni Association, which has 46 national alumni associations.^[85]

In addition to the national associations, INSEAD alumni have formed clubs and groups dedicated to specific industries and activities.^[86] These include the Hubert Society, Energy Club,^[87] INSEAD Healthcare Alumni Network^[88] and Salamander Golf Society.^[89]