There's a not a massive gap in the quality of the students of the outcomes. IESE is generally ranked slightly above HEC but, for example, this year HEC is higher. However, IESE is way harder and heavier than HEC. Generally, it's very hard to get into the grandes ecoles, and when you are there it's taken for granted that you are smart. Your role there is to accelerate, acclimatize, contextualise, specialize and network. IESE is harder work, and the students can't avoid their weaknesses, be that quant work or group work. In different ways, that different is also one of managerial cultures between their countries. However, it also reflects the division of labour between IESE and ESADE which is reflective of the difference between those schools owners, Opus Dei and the Society of Jesus.
Indeed, the long programme at IESE is the traditional format and is the better one for changers, those who are shifting country, role, industry. The track without an internship is better for those who are accelerating on the same path. That's true everywhere, of course. The longer the format, the more chances you have to make a transition. 
In a nutshell - Generally, IESE is a better school for finance. http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/top-mbas-for-finance-2018 

HEC is a grande école so it teaches like one. You don't need to have visited HEC as often as me to Inuit that. I'm not really sure what you are asking. 

Thank you, Duncan. Intuition was the word I was looking for - and my question really was how do you intuit things like "HEC is a grande école so it teaches like one" for other schools as well, especially for some of the UK B Schools that are attached to mammoth parent universities, such as Oxbridge, Imperial, Warwick, Manchester, etc.

If you were not familiar with the national of a grande ecole then you could not guess it. However, if you knew that HEC was one of the five top grandes ecoles, and knowing the isomorphism of Frech society, it's not surprising that it would be similar to others. 
Sadly, I know what I know from dozens of years teaching in, studying in and advising on schools. It's not all guessable. But, I think if you get the idea of a grande ecole, and understand how assimlationist French culture is, then you should not be surprised that a top French school works the way other top French schools do. 

Sadly, I know what I know from dozens of years teaching in, studying in and advising on schools. It's not all guessable.

I remember that ESSEC did this and I think Furtwangen did too: putting a lot of classes online helps to set expectations and show the reality.

Duncan, I've been doing some digging around, and what's most interesting to me are the following stats (all taken from respective employment reports):

HEC:
Class of 2018: 39% triple jump, international mobility rank (per FT): 3
Class of 2019: 39% triple jump, international mobility rank (per FT): 7

IESE:
Class of 2018: 23% triple jump (with 36% sponsored visas), international mobility rank (per FT): 13
Class of 2019: 21% triple jump (with 38% sponsored visas), international mobility rank (per FT): 14
Here's what's stated for sponsored visas: "At IESE, many students target markets that they do not have the passport (or authorization) to work in. In total, many successfully navigate this issue to employment."

So while IESE is ranked better consistently, I wonder if certain nationalities/demographic are better suited to really harness what the school offers. Any thoughts on this, and the gulf between the respective triple jump stats?

Thanks!

[Edited by ravi24 on May 06, 2020]

Complex factors. My experience, have studied at a Grande Ecole and then a French university, is that people who study in France are also highly motivated to move to France. People who study at IESE might want to return to their Latin American base.

Thank you, Duncan - the employment reports do reflect that. On a separate note, I found this Coursera MOOC run by HEC (https://www.coursera.org/specializations/inspirational-leadership), and was wondering if you could comment on how closely the MBA program at HEC follows this.

Thank you!

This course is not a microcosm of the MBA, but MBAs do address these issues, along many others.

Complex factors. My experience, have studied at a Grande Ecole and then a French university, is that people who study in France are also highly motivated to move to France. People who study at IESE might want to return to their Latin American base.

Duncan, this is probably a very naive question, but how exactly does one classify MBA programs based on their duration? I mean, is HEC's 16-month MBA program really a two-year program? Forbes ranked the school in the Two Year MBA category, and others too that are not necessarily 'full' two year programs. What's the threshold? Thanks!

This is a question for Forbes but I guess four semesters versus two semesters. 

Just curious to know Duncan as to why you rate Esade so highly ? Is it comparable to IESE and HEC in terms of outcomes and employment for non-EU citizens ?

Do I rate it highly? I just think it's fairly ranked. It is exactly comparable to HEC for employment and international mobility: http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/global-mba-ranking-2020 Of course, it recruits slightly less senior students than HEC and IESE. 

Thanks. Asked cause I'm joining Esade and wanted to know your view on the institute. I chose Esade over Hec since I believe it aligns better with my long term goals of Entrepreneurship. 
Had a query related to the short term though. Do you know if exchange students to top MBA colleges at US/ UK. get any support from the careers department ? Are there any colleges where you find exchange students getting employment through on campus fairs/ recruitment activity ? ( Speaking as an Indian, native English speaker ).

I think my experience at Tuck was typical: exchange students are lowest priority for both career services and employers. 

Thanks. Asked cause I'm joining Esade and wanted to know your view on the institute. I chose Esade over Hec since I believe it aligns better with my long term goals of Entrepreneurship. 
Had a query related to the short term though. Do you know if exchange students to top MBA colleges at US/ UK. get any support from the careers department ? Are there any colleges where you find exchange students getting employment through on campus fairs/ recruitment activity ? ( Speaking as an Indian, native English speaker ).

Thanks. Asked cause I'm joining Esade and wanted to know your view on the institute. I chose Esade over Hec since I believe it aligns better with my long term goals of Entrepreneurship. 
Had a query related to the short term though. Do you know if exchange students to top MBA colleges at US/ UK. get any support from the careers department ? Are there any colleges where you find exchange students getting employment through on campus fairs/ recruitment activity ? ( Speaking as an Indian, native English speaker ).

My feeling is that this - international students landing jobs in the country where they do exchanges - doesn't happen very often. Your school will have much stronger services in the country where it is located. And host schools for exchanges have very little incentive to provide you with career services. 

As a rule of thumb, schools discourage students from taking an exchange if they need to find a job. That's one reason why the exchange generally happens after the summer internship: students with offers can take the exchange, leaving the careers team to focus on fewer people. Very few schools (Chicago, Insead, Harvard etc) have careers staff focussed on supporting job hunts in other countries. On my exchange, I found the careers team were polite but always put their own students first. I got a great review of my resume. I was able to access the alumni database while a student. I could attend most, but not all, events organized by the careers team (often only when not enough of the home-school students wanted to attend). 
You also have to consider the visa situation and the domestic market. Canada loves foreign talent because it can be paid a discount. The USA doesn't. UK recruiters know what an MBA is; many French ones don't. 

[Edited by StuartHE on May 14, 2020]