[5] Antonio Valero Vicente, commissioned by Jose María Escriva de Balaguer, was its main promoter and first dean.

In 1963, after consulting professors Ralph M. Hower and Steve Fuller, the Harvard-IESE Committee was set up,[9] and IESE launched the Master in Business Administration and Economics (MED) in 1964.

[14] In the following years, the campuses in New York City (2010),[15] Munich (2015),[16] and São Paulo (in collaboration with IESE Business School), were consolidated and opened.

ISL researches and measures environmental targets, governance systems for sustainable cities and financial instruments for their development.

In 2019 it introduced the Master in Management (MiM) programme[21] The campus is located in Aravaca, on Cerro del Águila in front of Casa de Campo, a northwestern suburb of the Spanish capital.

[24] The activities have been held since 2000 at the ISE Business School in the Bela Vista district of São Paulo, home to several educational and financial institutions.

The Board of Directors is responsible for the strategic development, faculty recruitment, programme portfolio and operations of the school.

[30] The International Advisory Board (IAB) and the Executive Committee of the IESE Alumni Association provide strategic guidance to the school's management on its initiatives, governance, education programmes, institutional development and corporate sponsorship.

[31] Since 1963, the IESE-Harvard Business School Committee has met annually in the United States or Europe, mainly to advise on the development of international programmes.

[32] The International Advisory Board (IAB) analyses the global socio-economic context from the perspective of business, emerging trends, entrepreneurial and executive education needs and innovation in the field of management and leadership.

Appointed by IESE's dean, they meet regularly to assess humanistic and management issues, as well as the emergence of new challenges and opportunities.

The ISL, led by Professor Fabrizio Ferraro, is generating knowledge on the monitoring and measurement of green targets, governance systems for sustainable cities and financial instruments for impact investment.

Regional groups for Valencia (Levante), Mallorca (Balearic Islands) and Madrid were established soon after, followed by Aragon (1973), Andalucia (1975), and Galicia, La Rioja, Basque Country and Navarre (1986).