The one year full-time MBA program at the Lausanne, Switzerland-based IMD attracts students from diverse geographies and professions. Here we provide details of the current cohort.

IMD’s MBA Class of 2019 – Full Stats

The full-time MBA Class of 2019 comprises 90 students representing 39 nationalities. Women form 28%. The average age at entry is 31 (minimum 25). The average years of work experience of the cohort is 7 years (minimum 3). The average GMAT score is 680. The program with one intake runs from January to December.

In terms of International diversity, Asia has the biggest share of 34 % followed by Western & Southern Europe with 32 %, Central Eastern Europe 18 %, Latin America 11 %, North America 3 %, the Middle East / Africa 2 %.

The Nationalities represented are Albania, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Georgia, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Monaco, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, UK and the US.

In terms of Leadership and responsibilities, 51% had managed teams of 10+ prior to their MBA. In Digital experience, 56% have been involved in digital transformation. In Entrepreneurial experience, 39% have had start-up experience.

Industry background

The majority of 42% students have work experience in Manufacturing followed by 22% in Service, 13% Financial Services, 10% Consulting, 7% Telecom/High-Tech and 6% Public Sector/Non-Profit.

Functional Diversity

Marketing & Sales and Project Management make up 20% each, followed by Finance (16%), Operations (12%), Business Development (10%), Strategy & Planning (9%), General Management (7%), HR / Legal / Corporate Affairs and IT / R&D (3% each).

Student Profiles

Among the students, Spanish-Argentinian Ezequiel Abachian Alvarez has 9 years’ experience in manufacturing management, continuous improvement, product development and sales in industrial companies. In his last held position as Key Account Manager, Ceratizit, Luxembourg, he had managed an international sales team that outperformed revenue targets by 20%, through the development and introduction of customized products fulfilling market demands.

Dutch national Syed Aamir Ahmad has 5 years’ international experience in strategy, project management, business development, and transformation across financial services, start-ups, and the food & agriculture industry. As Project Manager, Cargill, the Netherlands, he had managed seven cross-functional transformation and continuous improvement projects, with teams of 10+ members, to support change management and drive customer satisfaction.

Perwez Akhtar from India has 9 years’ international experience in product development, process improvement and change management in the automotive industry. As Technical Specialist, Cummins Inc., USA, he led a cross-functional team across two business units to develop a novel product validation process, reducing development time by ~10%. He also steered programs to select engine architecture that met customer and environmental requirements, mitigating potential legal liabilities and downtime costs of ~$10m.

Swati Dalal from India has 9 years’ business development, growth strategy and team leading experience across the steel, hospitality and retail sectors. She was Senior Manager – Business Development, Trent Limited (Tata Group), India. She headed franchise operations for Westside-flagship fashion brand of Tata group, led a team of eight executives and managed all existing (40) and future franchisees. She also led 100% growth in a number of stores, bringing in incremental investments of over $10m.

Uzair Fahmi from India has 7 years’ international experience in global pharmaceuticals and market-shaping programs in public healthcare. As Independent Consultant, Clinton Health Access Initiative, India, he led consumer and provider research to identify opportunities in the private sector for increasing pregnancy supplements and presented recommendations to the Gates Foundation. He also secured a $1.2m external grant to improve price points and access to cancer drugs by developing a proposal of the pooled procurement strategy. https://www.imd.org/mba/one-year-mba-program/