Proposed Graduate Program • Madrid, Spain

Master of Business
Administration
Business & Sustainability

A full-function MBA training students in the functional areas of business. The Business and Sustainability concentration enhances the professional profile of every graduate.

Sustainability is a fundamental socio-economic aspect of doing business in Europe and the Americas.

10
Graduate Courses
30 / 60
Credits / Proposed ECTS
14 Weeks
Per Course
Madrid
Focus University Institute

Program Overview

This is a Master of Business Administration: a graduate business degree that trains students across the functional areas of business, including accounting, finance, economics, strategy, entrepreneurship, marketing, customer analytics, operations and value chains, governance, risk, cybersecurity, leadership, human resources, organizational transformation, and the responsible use of artificial intelligence.

The Concentration in Business and Sustainability enhances the professional profile of students. Sustainability is a fundamental socio-economic aspect of doing business in Europe and the Americas: it shapes strategy, finance, reporting obligations, supply networks, innovation, and stakeholder trust. Graduates integrate sustainability across business functions and strategic decisions rather than treating it as an isolated specialty.

The curriculum combines a six-course MBA common trunk, three advanced concentration courses, and the Integrating Business and Sustainability Capstone. Every course uses applied projects, a Week 7 midterm, and a Week 14 project with oral defence in place of a conventional final examination.

Full-Function MBA Sustainability Concentration AI-Enabled Learning Applied Projects & Oral Defence Madrid, Spain

Program Structure

Phase 1: MBA Common Trunk
Six integrated courses covering the principal functions of business administration, each with explicit sustainability outcomes
Phase 2: Sustainability Concentration
Ecological Economics for Business, Business and Sustainability, and Sustainability Reporting and Business Accountability
Phase 3: Integrating Capstone
Applied research on a consequential organizational challenge, with executive presentation and individual oral defence
3 + 6
Credits + ECTS / Course
Week 7
Midterm Exam
Week 14
Project + Oral Defence

Vision, Mission & Values

The program identity guiding curriculum, assessment, teaching, partnerships, and public communication.

Vision

To advance a future in which business creates enduring prosperity while enabling people, communities, and the living world to flourish across generations.

Mission

To prepare globally minded business leaders who combine strategic, financial, analytical, technological, and managerial expertise with sustainability principles to build competitive, resilient, and responsible enterprises in complex international markets.

Program Values

Integrated Business Excellence Sustainable Value Creation Systems Thinking & Evidence Ethics, Governance & Transparency Purposeful Innovation Human-Centred Technology Ecological Integrity Intergenerational Stewardship Justice, Inclusion & Global Collaboration Leadership & Continuous Learning

What Business and Sustainability Means Here

Within this MBA, business and sustainability means the critical study and responsible practice of managing viable organizations within interconnected economic, ecological, social, technological, and institutional systems. It asks how enterprises can create durable value, manage material dependencies and impacts, strengthen resilience, contribute to sustainable development, and remain accountable for their decisions and claims.

Sustainability is not treated as a marketing label, an automatic property of any product or technology, or a substitute for sound business judgment. Students connect sustainability ambition to financial and operational viability, governance, implementation, measurement, reporting, and assurance.

What You Will Achieve

Six program learning outcomes, each developed and directly assessed across the common trunk, concentration courses, and capstone.

1

Integrated Business Strategy & Value Creation

Integrate economics, strategy, finance, accounting, marketing, operations, supply networks, entrepreneurship, leadership, people, technology, and international context to formulate and implement coherent business strategies that create durable enterprise and stakeholder value.

2

Evidence, Financial & Analytical Decision-Making

Critically acquire, evaluate, model, and communicate quantitative and qualitative evidence; apply financial, accounting, economic, research, scenario, and analytical methods; and make defensible decisions under uncertainty.

3

Digital, AI, Innovation & Entrepreneurial Capability

Evaluate and design responsible digital, data, AI, innovation, and entrepreneurial solutions that improve organizational capability and value creation while addressing lifecycle impacts, human oversight, security, inclusion, and implementation risk.

4

Sustainability & Social-Ecological Value

Diagnose business activity within social-ecological systems and design financially and operationally credible strategies that address climate, nature, resources, circularity, equity, human well-being, resilience, just transition, and long-term stakeholder outcomes.

5

Governance, Ethics, Risk & Accountability

Exercise ethical and legally aware managerial judgment through integrated governance, enterprise risk, cybersecurity, stakeholder and rights-holder responsibility, sustainability reporting, internal control, assurance readiness, transparency, and accountable decision processes.

6

Leadership, Implementation & Professional Communication

Lead diverse people and organizational transformation; translate strategy into governance, resources, capabilities, projects, measures, learning, and change; and communicate evidence and recommendations persuasively to executive, professional, stakeholder, and intercultural audiences.

The MBA Common Trunk

Six integrated graduate courses covering the principal functions of business administration. Every trunk course carries explicit sustainability outcomes and incorporates responsible AI where educationally appropriate.

Builds digital capability, business analytics, and human-AI decision support. Generative AI is treated as a probabilistic collaborator, not an authoritative source: students formulate tasks, verify claims, recognize bias, protect sensitive information, and document AI use. The final project designs, tests, governs, and communicates an AI-enabled workflow that preserves human judgment and measurable value.

3 Credits / 6 ECTS 14 Weeks Week 14 Project + Oral Defence
Download Course Outline (PDF)

Managerial accounting, financial reporting, finance, quantitative analysis, and capital-allocation decisions. Students interpret financial statements, apply budgeting, variance analysis, and capital-investment methods, with IFRS and cross-border contexts supporting globally informed judgment. Spreadsheet models, scenario analysis, and approved AI tools support, never replace, professional judgment. Final: an integrated financial decision case with oral defence.

3 Credits / 6 ECTS 14 Weeks Week 14 Project + Oral Defence
Download Course Outline (PDF)

Global economics, competitive and corporate strategy, digital business models, entrepreneurship, and international growth. Students evaluate platforms, ecosystems, network effects, and AI value logic, and connect strategy to trade, investment, regulation, supply networks, energy, and geopolitical fragmentation using evidence and scenarios. Final: a board-level briefing defending an internationally responsive digital-business strategy.

3 Credits / 6 ECTS 14 Weeks Week 14 Project + Oral Defence
Download Course Outline (PDF)

Marketing strategy, consumer and organizational markets, branding, pricing, channels, and digital growth, connected to evidence through customer analytics: conversion, retention, churn, acquisition cost, contribution, and customer lifetime value. Digital and AI-enabled marketing is evaluated through customer value, privacy, fairness, inclusion, sustainability, and claims integrity. Final: the Customer Analytics and Responsible Growth Project.

3 Credits / 6 ECTS 14 Weeks Week 14 Project + Oral Defence
Download Course Outline (PDF)

Responsible management, operations and value-chain governance, enterprise risk, cybersecurity, accountability, and sustainability assurance. NIST, EU, OECD, and UNESCO resources are treated as adaptable frameworks; attention is given to trustworthy AI, data governance, privacy, third-party risk, incident response, climate dependencies, disclosure quality, and greenwashing. Final: an Integrated Governance, Cybersecurity, and Sustainability Assurance Plan.

3 Credits / 6 ECTS 14 Weeks Week 14 Project + Oral Defence
Download Course Outline (PDF)

Executive leadership, human-resource management, organizational behaviour, change, workforce strategy, and the future of work. Students diagnose strategy, culture, capabilities, and readiness, and design feasible transformation architectures. Attention is given to inclusive leadership, psychological safety, human-AI work design, hybrid work, skills transitions, worker voice, and well-being. Final: a Leadership and Organizational Transformation Portfolio with oral defence.

3 Credits / 6 ECTS 14 Weeks Week 14 Project + Oral Defence
Download Course Outline (PDF)

Every trunk course contains five course learning outcomes, including at least two explicit sustainability-oriented outcomes, mapped directly to assessment evidence.

The Sustainability Concentration

Three advanced courses building the analytical, strategic, and accountability capabilities that distinguish the concentration. Completion of the six-course common trunk is the prerequisite.

C7

Ecological Economics for Business

Examines business activity as embedded within finite, interdependent social-ecological systems. Systems thinking, externality and cost-shifting analysis, natural capital, plural valuation, planetary boundaries, resilience, and just transition, applied to organizational and value-chain challenges. Signature assessment: a Regenerative Business Transition Plan with executive presentation and oral defence.

Download Outline (PDF)
C8

Business and Sustainability

How businesses integrate sustainability, responsibility, resilience, and regenerative ambition into enterprise purpose, competitive strategy, governance, and value creation. Students examine trade-offs, rebound effects, burden shifting, and greenwashing across functions and value chains. Signature assessment: an implementation-ready Integrated Business Sustainability Strategy.

Download Outline (PDF)
C9

Sustainability Reporting & Business Accountability

The managerial capability to identify, measure, control, report, substantiate, and improve sustainability performance: data architecture, baselines, materiality, controls, evidence trails, and environmental-management-system principles, with assurance readiness and claims integrity throughout. Signature assessment: a Sustainability Reporting, Accountability, and Environmental-Management Portfolio.

Download Outline (PDF)

Integrating Business & Sustainability Capstone

The culminating course, where the full MBA comes together on a real, consequential challenge.

Students address a consequential organizational, sector, value-chain, community, or place-based challenge through independent applied research and integrated managerial judgment. The capstone brings together the six-course common trunk with ecological economics, business sustainability, and sustainability reporting and accountability.

Students frame an actionable problem, build an ethical and feasible evidence protocol, integrate the full range of business disciplines with ecological constraints and stakeholder responsibilities, and compare credible alternatives under uncertainty. The work must demonstrate original graduate-level synthesis while respecting confidentiality, research ethics, professional boundaries, and transparent AI use.

3 Credits / 6 ECTS 14 Weeks Prereq: Six-Course Common Trunk
Download Capstone Outline (PDF)

The Week 14 Signature Assessment

1
Capstone Portfolio
An implementation-ready Integrating Business and Sustainability Capstone Portfolio
2
Executive Presentation
Evidence and recommendations communicated persuasively to a professional audience
3
Individual Oral Defence
Original graduate-level synthesis defended individually, with transparent AI use

Graduates leave with a portfolio of defensible work: an integrated business and financial analysis, an ecological-economic diagnosis, a credible sustainability strategy, a reporting and assurance-readiness portfolio, and the capstone itself.

Career Pathways

Illustrative roles for which graduates may prepare, aligned with the curriculum and the six program learning outcomes.

Experienced Professionals

The MBA is designed principally for experienced professionals seeking advancement into middle-management, specialist-lead, business-partner, advisory, project-leadership, and cross-functional sustainability-transformation roles.

Illustrative roles: Sustainability Manager, Sustainability Reporting Manager, Responsible Sourcing Manager, Climate Strategy Manager, Circular Economy Manager, ESG Governance Manager, Sustainability Transformation Manager.

Entry & Early-Career Pathway

Graduates without substantial work experience normally target analyst, coordinator, associate, trainee, junior-consultant, project-support, or graduate-development roles, building the experience required for later managerial responsibility.

Illustrative roles: Sustainability Analyst, ESG Data Analyst, Sustainability Reporting Analyst, Sustainable Supply Chain Analyst, Climate Analyst, Circular Economy Analyst, Sustainability Project Coordinator.

Aligned Career Families

Sustainability Strategy & Transformation
Analyst to Sustainability Manager or Business Partner
Reporting, Measurement & Accountability
ESG Data Analyst to Reporting or Disclosure Manager
Circular Economy & Ecological Economics
Resource Efficiency Analyst to Circular Economy Manager
Sustainable Operations & Supply Networks
Supply Chain Analyst to Responsible Sourcing Manager
Climate, Energy, Carbon & Transition
Climate Analyst to Climate Strategy or Decarbonization Manager
Sustainable Finance, ESG & Impact
Sustainable Finance Analyst to ESG Investment Manager
Responsible Innovation & Business Models
Innovation Analyst to Responsible Product Manager
Governance, Ethics, Risk & Human Rights
ESG Governance Analyst to Sustainability Risk Manager
Sustainability Consulting & Change
Consulting Analyst to Sustainability Consulting Manager
Stakeholder Partnerships & Social Impact
Social Impact Analyst to Partnerships Manager
Sustainability Data & Responsible AI
Sustainability Systems Analyst to Analytics Manager
Public Policy & Sustainable Development
Policy Analyst to Sustainable Development Program Manager

Career alignment means the MBA develops knowledge and capabilities relevant to a role family. It does not guarantee employment, promotion, compensation, or professional licensure. Hiring also depends on prior experience, language capability, local labour-market conditions, work authorization, and employer or regulatory requirements.

Download Full Career Profile (PDF)

Program Documents

Download course outlines, the program identity framework, learning outcomes, and the career profile.

Vision, Mission & Values
.pdf
PLO / CLO Assessment & Assurance Map
.pdf
Career Profile & Professional Pathways
.pdf
Institutional Learning Outcomes Statement
.docx
C1
AI Literacy & Human-AI Collaboration
.pdf
C2
Finance, Accounting & AI-Enabled Decisions
.pdf
C3
Global Strategy & Geoeconomics
.pdf
C4
Strategic Marketing & Customer Analytics
.pdf
C5
Responsible AI, Governance & Cybersecurity
.pdf
C6
Leadership & the Future of Work
.pdf
C7
Ecological Economics for Business
.pdf
C8
Business and Sustainability
.pdf
C9
Sustainability Reporting & Accountability
.pdf
C10
Integrating Business & Sustainability Capstone
.pdf

Madrid, Spain

Focus University Institute is based in Madrid: a leading European business capital where sustainability shapes strategy, regulation, and investment.

European Business Hub

Madrid is a leading European business center with a growing innovation ecosystem, multinational headquarters, and a strong sustainability and ESG professional market.

Invest in Madrid

Explore Madrid

World-class museums, parks, neighborhoods, and gastronomy in one of Europe's most livable capitals, through the city's official tourism portal.

Visit esmadrid.com

Discover Spain

From Barcelona to Seville, Spain offers an extraordinary range of cultural, historical, and natural experiences for international students and visitors.

Visit spain.info

Program Developer

Luis Fernando (Lou) Villalba, PhD., EdD.

Program Developer

In partnership with Alluvion Games

THIS MOCK WEBSITE IS FOR DEMO PURPOSES ONLY • THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL WEBSITE.

This landing page is for discussions and comments on a possible / proposed program.