Leading Business through the Desert: The Curious Success of Spanish Business Schools

Spain tops no one’s list of the world’s best places to do business. With the exception of Inditex (Zara), none of the country’s major corporations is an innovator emulated by others. Spanish universities share a similarly undistinguished pedigree; not a single one features on anyone’s list of the world’s great institutions of higher learning. Yet, the country boasts three of Europe’s leading business schools. This paper explores the origins and trajectories of these three institutions and, particularly, their ability to sidestep the administrative obstacles to excellence that have thwarted the efforts of leading public universities in Spain to consolidate higher positions in international rankings.