Good news for executive education. The Financial Times Executive Education 2023 global ranking, published this week, includes five Portuguese schools among the best in the world. Four are even in the Top 50. This performance reflects the strategy and work carried out by the schools over the years and consolidates Portugal's reputation as a benchmark destination for those abroad looking for excellent executive education. It also highlights the role of a country that wants to be an exporter of higher education. The Financial Times Executive Education global ranking is an aggregate ranking based on two components: open rank programs and custom rank programs. Schools are evaluated on the basis of teaching methodologies, faculty qualifications, contribution to new skills and learning and return on investment for participants. In 2023, Nova School of Business and Economics (Nova SBE), Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics, Porto Business School, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management and ISCTE Executive Education will be shining in the spotlight. Nova SBE has risen to 18th place in the world, the best ever achieved by a Portuguese school in this ranking. "The results consolidate our leadership in Portugal, both in Open and Customized programs, and reveal that we are on the right path towards creating a community of talent and knowledge with an impact on the world," says Pedro Oliveira, dean of Nova SBE. In the Open programs, the Carcavelos School is 29th in the world, standing out in the "International Participants" indicator, which reflects the strong commitment to the internationalization of the programs. In the Customized segment, it is 16th and stands out in the "Partnerships with Other Schools" indicator, which mainly reflects the level of its partner organizations. Places and strategies On the executive education world map, Católica Lisbon School of Business & Economics is now 24th. The best position ever, after rising 26 places in just two years. The overall results are mainly due to the 41 positions achieved in the Open programs over this period. Filipe Santos, dean of Católica-Lisbon, explains the performance based on the "strong commitment to the talent of our teachers, pedagogical innovation and adaptation to the needs of companies". He adds that the school was one of the three in the world "with the best progression in the rankings" and that "this trajectory and recognition" only increases the responsibility to "better serve the training needs of the professionals of the future, accelerating their careers and creating value for companies". Porto Business School continues to stand out in the ranking, where it has been since 2011. The University of Porto Business School is ranked 34th overall in 2023, up six places on the previous year. "In a society in constant transformation, particularly with regard to digital and technological innovation and sustainability, we continue, year after year, to be an international benchmark in the area of management training and to respond to the current needs of executives," says José Esteves, dean of PBS. ISEG Executive Education completes the national presence in the Top 50, taking 47th place in the FT table. João Duque, president of ISEG, says that the executive training at the century-old Quelhas School is "coherently inserted in an organizational perspective where the creation of business value takes precedence over individual success, although it doesn't detract from it". And he points out: "This way of looking at the growth of training in the organizational context is recognized by the market and therefore by the FT ranking." Iscte Executive Education is in the group of the 40 highest-scoring schools in Europe (Top 40 in Europe) and the 75 highest-scoring schools in the world (Top 75 in the World). "This is the year of confirmation of the strategy we have been following. Internationalization has taken its rightful place and we have been duly rewarded. If it was already the beacon, now it's the beacon's turn to shine even brighter," says José Crespo de Carvalho, president of Iscte Executive Education. "If there were any doubts, the path is clear. We will therefore continue to strengthen our international commitment to executive training. We want to be global and reach at least 50% international students by the end of 2024," he reveals. The world executive training podium is occupied by the French business school HEC Paris. Silver goes to Spain's IESE Business School, with campuses in Spain, the USA, Germany and Brazil. The podium is completed by France's Insead, with campuses in Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. Almerinda Romeira