Dean of the reputed business school, The European Institute of Business Administration (INSEAD) in Fountainebleau, France, briefed business leaders on the role being played by INSEAD in rpeparing executives for the global business perspective.

The well-received briefing by Mr. Antonio Borges came at a luncheon at The Club, hosted by Mid Ocean Reinsurance Company Ltd. and its president and CEO, Mr. Michael Butt.

Mr. Butt, who himself spent a year at Fountainebleau, remarked: "As Bermuda globalises itself, as our markets become as much Beijing as they become New York or London, it is important that the (human) infrastructure here is built to cope with that. And I can think of no better place to help us all achieve that for Bermuda than INSEAD.

"The investment in the past in Bermuda's human infrastructure is one of the reasons that a company like ours (Mid Ocean Re) can be here. That is an on-going process. Our world is changing. I only hope that the Island can continue to invest in its people to maintain the extraordinary success that it already is.'' The school was created 35 years ago to mould executives into flexible, competent managers capable of combining general management perspective and the international experience of being open to cultural diversity.

"From the beginning we have emphasised leadership, competence and an open international outlook,'' said Mr. Borges.

"I think that we can take some pride in arguing that we have been leaders in many of the innovations that are now being adopted in other top business schools in the world.'' INSEAD is a private institution offering an MBA programme, executive education, a PhD programme, and, research and development. It has managed to attract some of the top business minds, since its inception.

The unique business school has managed to work with corporate institutions to keep it on the cutting edge of business learning. There are some tailor made programmes that provide industry-specific learning, programmes mounted in combination with corporate partners.

Mr. Borges said: "We have always been market driven and responsive to the market. We're an independent school. We are not attached to any large organisation. We are not dependent on any particular government and receive no support from any Government funds.

"It is a purely independent school run on its own revenues with the support of a certain number of companies and alumni.'' The school has to be responsive to market trends and flexible enough to absorb the lessons of such trends. It has a network of advisory councils comprising senior business people around the world in 16 countries.

It attracts students from business centres worldwide and in fact, are beginning to attract so much interest from North America that they must deliberately take steps to maintain the balance of the international flavour the school has thrived on since its inception.

Mr. Borges said: "We were among the very first to understand the importance of a strong presence in Asia.'' INSEAD made a move to establish a sphere of educational influence (The Euro-Asia Centre) in the 1970s, creating a centre that brings together Asian companies with an interest in Europe, and European companies with an interest in Asia, offering a high level and sophisticated management education programme in Asia.

"More recently we're looking at Brazil, Argentina and South Africa and other emerging countries,'' he said. "Our MBA programme is now being copied more and more around the world.

"Harvard is now offering a new MBA programme to replace their traditional one, that looks like a carbon copy of what INSEAD has been doing for the last 35 years. It is a one year programme with emphasis on group work, experienced students and the international connection.''