The aim of the education system is to train students for the future. Based on this premise, we ask: for what future? We are living in a time of accelerated changes. Globalization, digitalization, robotization and countless other technological advances. We are living in a world that is changing so much we do not even know what the professions and needs of the future will be.
As the sociologist Zygmunt Bauman wrote in Education in Liquid Modernity, “The present change is not like past changes. At no turning-point in human history did educators face a challenge strictly comparable to the one presented by the current watershed. The art of living in a world oversaturated with information has still to be learned. And so has the yet more mindbogglingly difficult art of grooming human beings for such a life.”
The challenge is immense. New trends in education reveal a change in attitude. It is not enough to know, know-how is needed too. Knowledge is not en [...]
The voices
The voice of an expert in crisis communication

Teachers are the core of educational modelsJoan Francesc Cánovas
Director of the Master in Communication Management
I do not know of any good educational centre that does not have good teachers. It is increasingly clear to me that what makes a university, secondary school or primary [...]
The voice of the Dean of BSM

Disruptive changes in higher education tooOriol Amat
Dean of BSM - Pompeu Fabra University
Barcelona will host the World Social Forum of Transformative Economies, which will bring together more than 10,000 participants from every continent in 2020. We are living in times of profound [...]
The view of an expert in Political Communication

Love what you doToni Aira
Co-director of the Master in Political and Institutional Communication
The fact that universities never explain what “the real world” is like is a criticism that is often made. But like so many things in life, just because it is [...]
The voice of an artist

‘Universities can be a refuge for culture’Frederic Amat
Visual artist
Frederic Amat is a risk-taking artist, committed to subversive art and artistic freedom. So he does not like commissions. However, he admits he was flattered that an educational institution, a [...]
The voice of an expert in digital transformation

Educational transformationGenís Roca
Co-director of the Postgraduate Course in Digital Transformation of Organizations
When people speak about educational transformation, some of them put the evolution of teaching methodologies in the spotlight. This may involve technology to a greater or lesser degree, more or [...]
The voice of an academic director of economy and finances

From the responsibility of teaching to the responsibility of learningLuz Parrondo
Academic Director of the Postgraduate course in Blockchain and other DLT Technologies
Innovation and transformation are two terms that are very much in fashion and are in danger of being weakened by excessive use. Just like each year’s summer hits. Everyone these [...]
The voice of an expert in Editing

Quo Vadis, Emile?Javier Aparicio Maydeu
Culture delegate of the Pompeu Fabra University and Director of the Master’s in Publishing and editing
Where are you going, Emile? Where are those of us, who should know where you are heading, going? In Emile, or On Education Rousseau reflected on the best way of educating citizens. [...]
The voice of an expert in Educational Innovation

From the Shadow Revolution to the Corporeal Revolution … 20 years laterManel Jiménez
Professor of Communication
On 19 June it will be exactly 20 years since the Bologna Declaration was signed. A simple internet search for pictures from the occasion shows that the resulting visual documents [...]
Globalization, understood as a process of increasing integration on a worldwide scale, constitutes one of the most significant phenomena of recent decades, as well as the most capable of transforming the world around us. This integration process has made national borders disappear more and more, on all levels: economic, social, politician, cultural, in the field of information and knowledge, environmental…
The impact of globalization has spread even further with the so-called fourth industrial revolution. Technological innovation and its effects will determine our near future on a global level. The skills and education necessary for us to be able to respond in an innovative and sustainable way to the challenges presented by this global world are also transforming.
At the beginning of the 19th century, during the industrial revolution, the increased u [...]
The voices
The voice of the Vice dean of the UPF Barcelona School of Management

Education: the challenge of constant changeCarolina Luis
Vice dean of the UPF Barcelona School of Management
Every passing day, we hear and read about the vertiginous changes that organizations are facing as a result of the so-called fourth industrial revolution. Technology is quickly taking over areas [...]
The voice of an expert in Human Resources

Internationalization of hrMariano de las Heras
Professor at Master in Human Resources Management
Globalization has transformed the business world, causing an increased number of Business opportunities. Organizations should not let these opportunities go to waste; rather, they should determine the strategies necessary to [...]
The voice of an expert in Human Talent

The Chinese Dream. Opportunity or Challenge?Mercè Martin
Professor in Development and Talent at the UPF Barcelona School of Management
The first time that I stepped foot in China was in 2008. I was on an exploratory voyage of Tibet and Nepal. After being amazed by the view of the [...]
The voice of a tax expert

The challenges in the face of globalizationAlbert Sagués
Teacher of the Tax System Programmes, UPF Barcelona School of Management
Nobody living in today’s society can ignore the fact that we live in a globalized world. There are, of course, those Amazon tribes who live completely cut off from what [...]
The voice of a former student of the Executive MBA

Deus ex Machina: the new technological realityElena Antonijuan
Manager International Institutional Promotion Area at ACCIÓ
A few days ago, an article was published in The Economist stating that half of all jobs were vulnerable to automation. This news in itself is unsettling, to say the [...]
The voice of a professor of digital marketing

Professionals without an expiration dateAlbert Garcia Pujades
Professor of the Master in Direct and Digital Marketing, UPF Barcelona School of Management
Uncertainty about job loss due to technology grows every day. However, no matter how much we speculate in this regard, there is currently no certainty of how many jobs will [...]
The Voice of an International Event Organizer

Challenges of the Fourth Industrial RevolutionFrédéric Palazy
International Event Management Consultant
We stand at the forefront of a technological revolution that will increasingly affect every aspect of our existence in the years to come. Our professional lives will be impacted by [...]
The voice of an economist

The changes and globalization of the digital economyOscar Elvira
Director of the Master in Banking and Finance, UPF Barcelona School of Management
An economy based in digital technology, where the Internet has changed the way in which business is conducted, is known as a ‘Digital’ Economy. In this new economy, digital networks [...]
Recently, Oriol Amat, Professor of Financial Economics and Accounting at Pompeu Fabra University and professor at the UPF Barcelona School of Management, explained at the Frequently Asked Questions event that he knew of many successful entrepreneurs – understanding success as not having more money but achieving their objectives – and that what they had in common, was that they were all great readers and very educated. Is there a relationship between success and culture? Probably. There is no doubt that culture and art influence the development of societies and also that of people. Whatever your profession, your academic background, your personal or professional experience.
Because art and culture are elements of transformation that favour abstraction, disruption, emotion and critical thinking. And being disruptive, questioning what is established has preceded the great changes in the history of humanity: economic models, political systems, cultural organisations and social institutions. Disruption understood as a possibility to offer alternatives, to build new models, to plant new and better solutions.
The UPF Barcelona School of Management is committed to culture and education, as a successful binomial. And not in the strict sense of training, but in the broadest sense of growth and personal enrichment.
In this edition of the Quorum, some of our professors and experts from the UPF Barcelona School of Management reflect on the weight and value of the arts, culture and humanities in people, professionals and society in general.
The voices
The voice of an ex-student

Lutheran hammersLlorenç Bonet
Publisher and Ex-student of the Master’s in Publishing
It seems that universities are now required to train the workers of the future and, because of this, to be the place to acquire the necessary skills to efficiently develop [...]
The voice of an academic director of Publishing programmes

‘Culture’ understood as strata of knowledgeJavier Aparicio Maydeu
Culture delegate of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra and director of the Master’s in Publishing
The The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647) by the Jesuit Baltasar Gracián, a classic among the classics of Spanish literature and one of the most well-known and prestigious books of [...]
The voice of the dean of the UPF Barcelona Schoo of Management

Culture, a timely companionDaniel Serra
Dean of the UPF Barcelona School of Management
The UPF Barcelona School of Management has this year organised for the first time the Laberint festival, a cultural and free festival that has brought together different disciplines (literature, comics, [...]
The voice of an expert in Geography

Barcelona, a journey starting from geohumanitiesAntonio Luna
Professor of Geography at the UPF and director of the Laberint Festival routes
“Walking is to thinking what seeing is to Reading. Walk Barcelona, walk it with no sense of destination, let your imagination be tempted by the urban stroll” (Mauricio Tenorio, 2015) [...]
The voice of an expert in cinema

Live a work of artGonzalo de Lucas
Director of the postgraduate course in Audiovisual Montage
At the beginning of this year, the news of a study published by the Social Observatory of la Caixa on the relationship between the perception of well-being and cultural activities [...]
The voice of a writer

Culture: structure and filter of ideasJorge Carrión
Head of the Master in Literary Creation
Where do ideas come from? From the brain. From the memory. From the remix that our brain makes out of elements from it, from our memory. Therefore, where do ideas [...]
The voice of an expert in Storytelling

From what is useful to what is valuable. Notes on the lack of definition regarding the culture/education binomialManel Jiménez
Professor of Communication
Only if education and culture were two dissociable, dissonant and indissoluble terms, could one speak of that kind of space inside which knowledge would move as in an Escher staircase. [...]
The voice of a film director

Getting us ready for ‘what is real’Eva Vila
Film director and academic coordinator of the Master’s in Creative Documentary
Recently in the Master’s in Creative Documentary, Alan Bergalá, French filmmaker and critic, pioneer in the introduction of film education in the school education system, reminded us of the Lacanian [...]
Design thinking, the Dalí technique, innovation Hackathons, creative workshops, STEAM methodology (combining art and science)… every day we hear about new methods and techniques to develop creativity and to help to provide original solutions to the different challenges and problems that arise in our changing society. [...]
The voices
The voice of Economy and Financial expert

Creativity: key to business successOriol Amat
Professor of Economy and Financial Programmes, UPF Barcelona School of Management
Successful companies are those that achieve their goals, which are usually to grow and create value for their interested parties (partners, employees, society, etc.). When we study the distinguishing characteristics [...]
The voice of the dean of the UPF Barcelona Schoo of Management

On Creativity and metaheuristic techniqueDaniel Serra
Dean of the UPF Barcelona School of Management
The world of logistics and transportation can sound very arid in terms of creativity when it comes to solving problems and offering solutions. Images comes to mind of trucks full [...]
The voice of Innovation and Communication expert

Innovation is in the perspectiveXavier Marcet
Professor of the Master's in Communication Management
Some think that innovation is in technology. That is not true. Innovation is in the perspective. It lies in exploring, thinking of and implementing solutions that are born out of [...]
The voice of expert in Trends

Creativity, brands and creative capitalMònica Carbonell
Academic coordinator of the Master's in Strategy and Creative Brand Management
According to science, creativity is an innate ability in all human beings. We are born with it. It has to do with our ability to offer solutions to problems, to [...]
The voice of a company (Fundació per a la Creativació)

Education in Creativació®, an essential tool for an exponential worldMiquel Àngel Oliva i Sans
Managing Director of the Foundation for Creativació®
In a recent publication on “The future of employment”, the World Economic Forum (WEF) affirmed that many of today’s jobs will become obsolete in the coming years due to technological [...]
The voice of Digital Marketing expert

It’s time for the brave… or time to say goodbyeJosep-Maria Fàbregas
Director of the Master in Direct and Digital Marketing
When we relate the words ‘creativity’ and ‘marketing’, another word often comes to mind: ‘advertising’. That’s true, but it isn’t the whole truth. Of course, advertising requires high levels of [...]
The voice of a writer

Creativity and creationJorge Carrión
Head of the Master in Literary Creation
Creativity is a capacity that lies in all of us. We often express it through the term “idea”. Ideas appear above all when we drift around the physical or virtual [...]
The UPF Barcelona School of Management is one of the main collaborators for the international tour of David Bowie is, the major exhibition on David Bowie and his work appearing at the Design Museum of Barcelona.
A true icon of pop, David Bowie was a multi-disciplinary musician and artist who was passionate about literature and fashion, as well as an actor, the subject of documentary films, and a cultural reference point for multiple generations. His image in itself represents taking on challenges, constant questioning of the status quo, experimentation, freedom of expression in its broadest and most cross-cutting sense, creativity, and reaction to change. These are values that the UPF Barcelona School of Management consider our own, and we work hard to transmit them to our students. [...]
The voices
The voice of an expert of literature

Modern loves and sordid detailsRodrigo Fresán
Writter and professor of the Master in Literary Creation
It is a bit disturbing and incomprehensible to consider the fact that, among the many rockers who for a while now have been trying their rather variable luck at writing [...]
The voice of an expert of fashion

David Bowie, or When You Just Don’t Care About FashionPepa Bueno
Professor of the Postgraduate Course in Fashion Media and Journalism 3.0
Although it might seem otherwise, David Bowie was never interested in fashion. But does this matter when the time comes to analyze the work of someone considered to be one [...]
The voice of an expert of musical business

The Man Who Imagined the Music BusinessDavid Loscos
Director of the Postgraduate Course in Global Music Business Management
This summer it will have been 30 years since David Bowie arrived in Barcelona with his spectacular “Glass Spider Tour”. Viewed in retrospect, it was a tour that would fuel [...]
The voice of an academic director of Financial Markets

What is the common point of connection between David Bowie, knives, and junk mortgages? It is their ability to innovateXavier Brun
Director of the Master’s Course in Financial Markets, UPF Barcelona School of Management
According to the dictionary of the Spanish Royal Academy of Language, to innovate means to change or alter something, introducing novel aspects. This is a term fully applicable to David [...]
The voice of the dean of the UPF Barcelona Schoo of Management

Culture TransformsDaniel Serra
Dean of the UPF Barcelona School of Management
The UPF Barcelona School of Management, which is the graduate school of Pompeu Fabra University, has come together with the international touring exhibition entitled David Bowie is by means of [...]
The voice of an expert of cinema

Images for sound, sounds for a portraitAndrés Hispano
Professor of the Master in Creative Documentary
During the last few years there has been a proliferation of exhibitions focused on popular music: jazz, rock, and pop. It is easy enough to put objects on display from [...]
The voice of an expert of culture

An artist in motionLuis Hidalgo
Professor of the Master in Cultural Journalism
It’s impossible to take a snapshot. Or in other words, as a moment frozen in time, a snapshot would be the worst way to capture David Bowie. Pop is movement, [...]
The voice of an expert of branding

Call Me BowieOriol Costa
Professor of the Master in Brand Strategy and Creative Brand Management
In 1965 the musician David Robert Jones decided to call himself David Bowie. But although that’s how the story goes, that name change was not so simple. In reality, although [...]
We live in a world of constant, rapid changes, where new professions emerge or the old ones are reinvented. Companies, and society, require new competences from professionals: a greater ability to create new solutions to complex problems, work with data, think holistically, analytically and critically, etc. Today, professionalization not only responds to an interest to specialize in something or reuse acquired knowledge; there’s a desire to learn in order to respond to the new requirements of a changing reality. [...]
The voices
The voice of a Business Analytics expert

Unlearn, explore, experiment and resist!Manel Guerris
Industrial engineer and expert in Business Analytics. He teaches Evidence-based Big Data and Management at the UPF Barcelona School of Management
Continuing to train yourself, wanting to adapt to change and wishing to transform yourself into someone better is not an easy decision. It takes time and reflection. It entails thorough [...]
The voice of a professor of finances

Are you ready for change?Jordi Perramon
Academic director of the Master's Degree in Financial Management and Company Auditing at the UPF Barcelona School of Management
Historically, education has been a key variable for younger members of society to adapt to their environment and learn to bring value to it, being economically rewarded in exchange for [...]
The voice of an expert of video games

The challenge of transforming oneself in order to transformDaniel Sánchez-Crespo
Academic Director of Master in Creation of Video Games, UPF Barcelona School of Management
Transform yourself as a professional in order to transform your environment. This is the main idea that the UPF Barcelona School of Management wants to transmit to its students. The [...]
The voice of an expert of mediation

Teachers and students with a common objective: giving you the power!Maria Munné
Co-director of the Master's Degree in Professional Mediation at the UPF Barcelona School of Management
Learning, as a way of capturing and modifying knowledge, involves resistance. Going from what you know – a comfort zone – to something new, and thus something unknown until now [...]
The voice of an academic director of Creative Brand Strategy and Management

Generosity as a source of competitivenessJordi Torrents
Founder of CollaboraBrands and director of the Master's Degree in Strategic Management at the UPF Barcelona School of Management
In a world where everything moves quickly, very quickly, acts like this are particularly appreciated, where we stop for a moment and welcome you, telling you that your presence is [...]
The voice of a company (La Vanguardia)

Journalism in transformationEnric Sierra
Deputy director of Lavanguardia.comt
We journalists are always reflecting on the future of our profession. The last time was during the recent Journalism Conference organized by the Association of Catalan Journalists. The speed at [...]
The voice of an academic director of economy

The experience of learning and the effect that it can have on peopleLuz Parrondo
Professor of Economy and Finances at the UPF Barcelona School of Management
For me, it’s a pleasure to ‘celebrate’ this beginning phase with you. It is a new phase for us, but in particular, I hope it’s a new phase for you. [...]
All changes bring opportunities with them. In recent times we have experienced change at an accelerated pace: the data explosion, digital space, social networks, the multiplication of what is on offer, changes in systems of production and marketing and even in patterns of consumption and relations between people. The development of new information technologies has created an interconnected world where a huge amount of information is available. The information overload affects people’s ability to make decisions, as we receive more data than we are able to process. Consequently, personalisation is becoming a basic factor in connecting with people. Personalisation is affecting products and content, experiences and processes, politics, finance, health, education and many other fields and seems to be gaining ground in every sector.
In this new edition of Quorum, we want to deal with this tendency to personalisation through the opinions of academic experts in different fields of knowledge. We hope you enjoy it and invite you to participate and share your opinions.
The voices
The voice of a professor of documentaries

The unique spectatorJordi Balló
Director of the Master in Making Documentaries, UPF Barcelona School of Management
We can find two fundamentally different approaches to the cinema by its inventors: while the Lumière brothers imagined some kind of collective projection, Thomas Alva Edison envisaged individual showings with [...]
The voice of the dean of the UPF Barcelona Schoo of Management

The student at the center of educational innovationDaniel Serra
Dean of the UPF Barcelona School of Management
Today the University faces big challenges if it is to be socially useful and relevant to people, businesses and society. In the digital age, the responsibilities demanded of it have [...]
The voice of a company (Caixabank)

imaginBank: reinventing banking to serve the millennial generationDavid Urbano
Director of the project ImaginBank from CaixaBank
Some young people think they don’t need a bank: they don’t like going to branches. They also think that if they need something, they don’t have to go anywhere to [...]
The voice of a professor of journalism and communication

Celebrities or politicians?Carles Pont
Director of the Masters in Journalism and Communication, UPF Barcelona School of Management
Personification exists in all areas of life, but in politics and communication this dimension has enormous importance. When we talk about politics, people relate it to a type of leadership [...]
The voice of a professor in corporate finance

From Big Data in banking to personalizing serviceAlbert Banal
Director of the Master of Science in Corporate Finance and Banking, UPF Barcelona School of Management
Opinion by Albert Banal-Estañol, tenured lecturer at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra and academic director of the MSc in Corporate Finance and Banking at the UPF Barcelona School of Management In [...]
The voice of a professor of digital marketing

Personalized marketing: myths and realitiesAlbert Garcia Pujades
Professor of the Master in Direct and Digital Marketing, UPF Barcelona School of Management
What stands out in marketing is your abilty to create new concepts, practices and techniques. Your ability is infinite. Some of those concepts and techniques are basic; they form part [...]
The voice of a professor of Human Resources

The personalization of HR in managing the changeYolanda Portolés
Professor of the Master in Human Resources Management, UPF Barcelona School of Management
The economic process of recent years has demonstrated that single, standardized solutions are no longer valid for the smooth operation of most businesses. Most organizations require a general change of [...]
The voice of a professor of digital communication

Do you know your customers?Cristina Ribas
Director of the Master in Digital Companies, UPF Barcelona School of Management
Until recently organizations have related to their customers, or potential customers, only by indirect methods, such as market research, focus group surveys, website traffic and Google searches. The reliability of [...]
The word “management” is difficult to translate into other languages. Its meaning is ambiguous even in the Anglo-Saxon world, where it has its origins. The term is often used, in a broad sense, as a synonym for “administration”. Traditionally, management has consisted in defining the objectives of a company or institution and the lines of action to follow, in organizing and motivating human resources with the aim of using all material resources available to achieve the desired objectives. At UPF Barcelona School of Management we understand management as being an essential resource in the development of any profession, not uniquely associated with the business world or leadership roles. This broader and more inclusive perspective helps us forge closer ties with many types of industries and professions, and has prompted us to make “management” the subject of our Quorum monograph. [...]
The voices
The voice of an expert in health economy

Evaluation to give value to public health careJaume Puig-Junoy
Head of the Master in Health Economics and Pharmacoeconomics
Achieve improvements in the relationship between the quantity and quality of life gained and the resources used to obtain such gains requires appropriate health policies, but above all it is [...]
The voice of an expert in Human Resources

The opportunity for mediationJavier Wilhelm Wainsztein
Co-director of the Master in Professional Mediation, UPF-IDEC
Any space where people live is a place where disputes occur which can hinder relations: whether they are in a family, an organization, a neighbourhood or a school. Mediation offers [...]
The voice of a writer

Challenges for the writer in the 21st centuryJorge Carrión
Head of the Master in Literary Creation, UPF-IDEC
A writer should devote most of their time to reading and writing. Only by systematically reading and constantly writing can a writer find their voice, to shape their world, to [...]
The view of an expert in political communication

We cannot not communicateToni Aira
Co-director of the Master in Political and Institutional Communication, UPF-IDEC
In 1980, political scientist Sidney Blumenthal coined a concept that is still with us because it makes perfect sense. He began with another term that had crystallized in a different [...]
The voice of an expert in big data

The management of Big Data: a new strategic challengeCarles Martín
Head of the MSc in ICT Strategic Management, UPF Barcelona School of Management
If from the existence of computers, we create a brief history, we see that data collection was originally a matter of company workers. These data, in all honesty, were few [...]
The voice of an academic director of International Business programmes

Diversity in the WorkplaceMercè Roca
Director of MSc in International Business, UPF Barcelona School of Management Academic coordinator of ESCI-UPF
In today’s globalized, fast-changing world, effective teams are the key to a successful business. For this reason, professionals who have the ability to work as part of a team are [...]
The voice of a Doctor of Business Management and Administration

Companies need leadersJordi de Falguera
Executive MBA Director, UPF Barcelona School of Management
Businesses today state that their main concern is to have good leaders, able to manage in situations where the environment changes very quickly. In order to survive, companies need to [...]
The so-called “digital revolution” is different from those that have come before, as it has transformed not only our systems of communication, but also our very lives. We are living in the digital age, which has changed the ways in which knowledge is created, transferred and utilised. This has brought us a range of benefits, such as communication in real time and easy access to information. However, it also has a “dark side”, such as increased isolation, the diminishing of interpersonal relationships and the rise of digital fraud and piracy. In turn, this has raised a number of questions, such as: How have these changes affected society? Do companies benefit from using ICT? Is having access to information whenever and wherever we want it a positive development? [...]
The voices
The voice of an expert in crisis communication and spokesperson training

Long live the revolution!Joan Francesc Cánovas
Director of the Master en Communications Management, UPF-IDEC
Those of us who work in communications and journalism are well aware that the changes taking place in recent years in our environment are revolutionary. Never before have so many [...]
The voice of an expert in communication

Strategic communication in enlarged formatMònika Jiménez
Director of the Master’s Course in Protocol and Public Relations, UPF-IDEC
At the end of the 19th century, a press agent named Ivy Lee organised a journey from New York to San Francisco in order for a group of journalists and [...]
The voice of an expert in innovation

Challenge Garage: Solving real challenges in collaborationJoan Ras et al.
Teacher of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, UPF. Parthner and CEO, Induct
The society of the future will be based around talent. A society that is more competitive, more liquid, but which also offers more opportunities and flexibility to discover uncertain routes [...]
The voice of the academic director of the Continuing Education Institute Private Foundation

New Technologies: Impacting and Transforming Higher EducationDaniel Serra de la Figuera
Dean, Barcelona School of Management
The digital world, along with new information and communication technologies, is radically transforming the world we live in. It is clear that institutions of higher education have to transform themselves [...]
The voice of an expert in corporate finance

New technologies, the collaborative economy and regulationAlbert Banal
Director of the Master of Science in Corporate Finance and Banking, UPF Barcelona School of Management
The generalisation of Internet access through mobile devices has prompted the rise of many “collaborative economy platforms”. Airbnb, which offers users the possibility of renting rooms in private homes for [...]
The voice of an academic director of Financial Markets

The technological revolution has come to banking to stayXavier Brun
Director of the Master’s Course in Financial Markets, UPF Barcelona School of Management
The readers with most years behind them will recall what the banks used to be like – those places where people queued up to take out money, pay bills, open [...]
The voice of an expert in usability (UX)

Creating online experiencesMari-Carmen Marcos
Director of the Online Master’s Course University in UX: in Usability, Interaction Design and User Experience, UPF-IDEC
The experts in marketing have succeeded in reflecting in their campaigns and slogans what people want: to love “experiences.” Who has not bought or received as a gift an “experience [...]
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) encourages an active and voluntary contribution to social, economic and environmental improvement. The term CSR became popular in the mid 19th century in the United and was introduced into Europe during the 1990s as a response to the anti-globalisation movement. But, what motivates companies to become socially responsible? Is CSR really the driving force behind the internal culture of companies? Is it integrated into their management or is it merely an excuse to improve the competitiveness and the added value of a company? In other words, is CSR a question of ethics or aesthetics? The economic crisis has put CSR on the line. Its voluntary application permits many companies to eliminate it from their strategies during times of financial difficulties. But, are socially responsible companies more or less competitive? [...]
The voices
The voice of the Blood and Tissue Bank of Catalonia

Five hundred organizations each year set up blood donation campaignsVanessa Pleguezuelos
Coordinator of the Blood and Tissue Bank
UPF-IDEC and UPF Barcelona School of Management organized a blood donation campaign on 11 December 2014. For this initiative, the Foundation became one of the 500 organizations that each year [...]
The voice of a tax expert

Corporate social responsibility and taxesAlbert Sagués
Teacher of the Tax System Programmes, UPF Barcelona School of Management
The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility springs from an increasingly insistent claim on companies from Society. The result is now a certain degree of openness and transparency connected to corporate [...]
The voice of the Director of the National Art Museum of Catalonia

The National Art Museum of Cataluña and Corporate Social ResponsibilityJosep M. Carreté Nadal
Deputy Managing Director, MNAC and lecturer on the Postgraduate Course in Museum Management, UPF-IDEC
In 2012, coinciding with the development of the strategic plan that would be used to define new working models at the National Art Museum of Catalonia, it was decided that [...]
The voice of an economist

Are socially responsible companies more competitive or less so?Oscar Elvira
Director of the Master in Banking and Finance, UPF Barcelona School of Management
Within an economy, businesses as social partners that they are, play a crucial role in the society in which they operate. More advanced economies, in which there is greater social [...]
The voice of an expert in Human Resources

Integrating CSR into people managementTomàs Rubió
Director of the Master in Human Resource Management, UPF Barcelona School of Management
Incorporating CSR principles into human resource policy is not an easy task if these do not form an integral part of the company’s vision statement and are in line with [...]
The voice of the USR at UPF

Social Responsibility at UPFMònica Figueras et al.
Vice-Rector of Social Responsibility and Promotion of UPF
University is, for the majority of society, a synonym of advanced education and research. But beyond these two missions the universities around us believe more and more in, and are [...]
The voice of an academic director of Direct and Digital Marketing

In what ways do consumers value the actions taken for CSR and how much?Antonio Ladrón de Guevara
Head of the Master in Direct and Digital Marketing, UPF Barcelona School of Management
Recent studies in the fields of Business Ethics and Consumer Behaviour suggest that in the past few years, “Social Behaviour” within companies and, especially in well- known multinationals, has become [...]
The voice of a human resources student

Is CSR an essential policy within companies?Raquel del Árbol Fernández
Student on the Master in Human Resource Management, UPF Barcelona School of Management
According to J. M. Moneva and JL Lizcano, we understand Corporate Social Responsibility to be a company’s voluntary commitment to society and the environment, stemming from their social commitment and [...]
The voice of a creative strategy Director

3.0. brands. The new social responsibility. The rules of the game have changedAgnès Rovira
Head of the Postgraduate Programme in Brand Meaning Management 3.0, UPF-IDEC
Corporate Social Responsibility or CSR, has traditionally been associated with the corporate size of companies and less identified with brand management. Social responsibility and brands have lived in two separate [...]
Innovation is synonymous with the new and, in business, involves launching a new idea or product. Not for nothing do we now relate innovation to Research and Development: RDI. However, the globalized word that we now live in has given a new meaning to the word innovation: change. Innovation, fuelled by the creativity generated by extensive network connections, has become the engine of transformation. In a knowledge economy like the one that we live in, innovation has taken over from the industrial lever of the twentieth century. If the wealth of industrial society was manufactured capital, post-industrial society is based on knowledge, imagination and human capital. [...]
The voices
The voice of a Civil engineer at Railways of Catalonia

Cooperation between companies and universities: an opportunity for new perspectivesMiguel Ángel Dombriz
Civil engineer, Railways of Catalonia
Companies need to be constantly improving and in order to improve it is necessary to be innovative. Merely having efficient production processes is no longer enough to guarantee client fidelity, [...]
The voice of an academic director of Financial Markets

We can succeed in competing with AppleXavier Brun
Head of the Master in Financial Markets, UPF Barcelona School of Management
Can we ever compete with the likes of Apple, Intel, GlaxoSmithKline or Bayer? If we stop to think, probably not, and the reason is no other than their competitive advantage: [...]
The voice of an academic director of Direct and Digital Marketing

Creativity, innovation and market valueAntonio Ladrón de Guevara
Head of the Master in Direct and Digital Marketing, UPF Barcelona School of Management
Creativity, traditionally associated with culture and the arts, is also a source of innovation that allows companies to adapt, in a sustainable way, to an increasingly dynamic and competitive environment. [...]
The voice of the head of entrepreneurship at the UPF Business Shuttle!--:-->

UPF Innovation Unit Business ShuttleSusana Domingo
Director of Master of Science in Enterpreneurship, UPF Barcelona School of Management
The UPF Innovation Unit Business Shuttle encourages an entrepreneurial spirit amongst the UPF university community, making a set of resources and services available to entrepreneurs in order to help them [...]
The voice of an academic director of Digital Arts

Digital Arts: R&D&I in the Creative IndustriesRoc Parés
Co-Head of the University Master in Digital Arts, UPF-IDEC
In today’s world, beyond the divisions between scientific, technical, humanist and artistic knowledge, creativity has become a value in and of itself. Human knowledge has increased and become interconnected through [...]
The voice of a professor of Comunication

#UPF2020: Designing the University of the FutureCarlos A. Scolari
Teacher of the Postgraduate programme in Usability, UPF-IDEC
Interview with Carlos A. Scolari Between 2012-13, he coordinated an internal research project at Pompeu Fabra University funded by the Centre for Teaching Quality and Innovation (CQUID): #UPF2020 Designing the [...]
The voice of an academic director of Marketing

The role of restriction in the creative process: We can all be creativeMaria Galli
Head of the Master of Science in Management (Marketing), UPF Barcelona School of Management
The importance of creativity for business success is now widely recognised. To keep ahead of the pack a company needs to be creative both in its products and/or services and [...]
The voice of an academic director of branding

Creating emblematic brands: imagining new ways of lifeFrancesc Xavier Ruiz Collantes
Head of the Master in Strategy and Management Creative Brand, UPF-IDEC
To imagine a new leading brand is to imagine a new way of life. Innovating in creating brands is not just a question of giving a novel, great sounding brand-name [...]
The European Union was born on 25 March 1957, when Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg signed the Treaty Establishing the European Economic Community, more commonly known as the Treaty of Rome. These were the times of the Cold War, the clash of the Titans between democratic countries led by the USA, and the bloc of Communist nations grouped around the Soviet Union. Europe needed to find her own voice and face up to the threatening global climate of tension and division. This could only be achieved through unity. Year by year, treaty by treaty, the EU grew to 28 members and came to be a driving force admired by all, not just economically but for its spirit of freedom, cooperation, security and social welfare. However, after half a century of existence, the process of European construction has stalled. [...]
The voices
The voice of an academic director of International Business programmes

Europe at a crossroadsMercè Roca
Director of Master of Science in International Business, UPF Barcelona School of Management Academic coordinator of ESCI-UPF
With the eruption of the financial crisis the European integration project has been called into question. Founding members of the Union have taken up Eurosceptic positions, and adopted protectionist measures [...]
The voice of an academic director of Creative Brand Strategy and Management

Evaluating the Europe brandJordi Torrents
Codirector of Creative Brand Strategy and Management, UPF-IDEC
Towards the end of 2010 as I codirected a study on the Barcelona brand, my attention was caught by results demonstrating the deterioration of the Europe brand. For Asians and [...]
The voice of an academic codirector of Journalism Specializing in International Politics

Elections in a time of increasing EuroscepticismChristopher Tulloch
Codirector of Journalism Specializing in International Politics programmes, UPF-IDEC
One of the most interesting factors for analysis during the European elections of 25 May will be the translation –or not– of booming Euroscepticism affecting the polls. However, this lack [...]
The voice of an academic director in Sports Management

Sport and EuropeansCarles Murillo
Director of director of Sports Management programs, UPF Barcelona School of Management
From its beginning, the process of European construction has involved the productive, financial and social activities of the populations of Europe. From an institutional perspective, efforts have focused on creating [...]
The voice of the Head of the Department of Law and the Academic Council of the Master in Legal Practice

Unity in DiversityAlejandro Saiz Arnaiz
Professor of European Constitutional Law, UPF-IDEC
To avoid a new war that would devastate Europe. This was the ultimate aim of the European leaders who came up with the idea of supranational integration following two world [...]
The voice of a Public Policy Director

Reasons for the huge unemployment and low employment figures in the European UnionVicenç Navarro
Professor of Public Policy, UPF-IDEC
Something that is currently occurring in the European Union (in addition to the very worrying high unemployment figures) is a drop in employment, that it, in the number and percentage [...]
The voice of an academic director of Banking and Finance programmes

Banking union developmentsXavier Freixas
Director of Banking and Finance programmes, UPF Barcelona School of Management
The financial crisis has been an important lesson for Europe and its institutional and legal structures. The good news is that a European banking union has been created due to [...]
The voice of a student, UPF Barcelona School of Management

Reshoring of businesses and the effect on job creation in the European UnionLena Raps
Talent Scholarship-holder, Master of Science in International Business, UPF Barcelona School of Management
As nearly graduates, we all come across this topic at one point or another – the difficult job situation in Europe. The unemployment rate in Spain of 25,6 % in [...]
Are we laying the Welfare State to rest? Has its end really come? The crisis which has scourged Europe over recent years, and in particular countries such as Spain, has highlighted the weakness of States in protecting and maintaining public services which are essential for a society registering continuous demographic growth. Public finance systems are buckling, revealing their inability to support the administration of rights such as social security, health care, education, pensions and care for the disabled. States’ coffers are running low, and day by day we see more social rights fall by the wayside, more public services die off, and a new lost generation come into being. But do we know what is truly at stake? [...]
The voices
The voice of an academic director of Tax System programmes

Taxes and public SpendingAntoni Duran-Sindreu Buxadé
Director of Tax System Programmes, Barcelona School of Management
Taxes, as the Constitution states, are the technical instrument necessary to cover public spending. The main action undertaken by the Government therefore has to be focused on spending, or even [...]
The voice of an academic director of Health Economics programmes

Putting affairs in order to give value to Public HealthcareJaume Puig-Junoy
Director of Health Economics programmes, Barcelona School of Management
Despite the still relatively robust condition of public health care in Spain, provided that the axe of budgetary cutbacks does not ultimately destabilise it in the short term, the medium-term [...]
The voice of the company by VidaCaixa

On the starting lineJosé Antonio Iglesias
Marketing and Business Development director of VidaCaixa
The moments right before the horns blast indicating the start of a regatta are always exciting. There is a certain confusion, there are mixed strategies, sudden changes due to the [...]
The voice of a Public Policy Director

In Defence of the Welfare StateVicenç Navarro
Professor of Public Policy, IDEC-Pompeu Fabra University
One of the great victories of progressive forces in the Western world has been the establishment of the Welfare State, which includes those public transfers (such as, for example, retirement [...]
The voice of Economy and Financial expert

Is the current welfare state sustainable?Oriol Amat
Professor of Economy and Financial Programmes, Barcelona School of Management
The welfare state essentially comprises such provisions as pensions, unemployment benefit and services including healthcare, education, care for dependent people and other social services. There is a broad consensus that [...]
VÍDEO: The voice of a trader
The voice of MBA student

Without the heart, the person is never presentCarlos Casanova
Architect and former MBA student at Barcelona School of Management
As human beings we are born with different levels of evolution in terms of the three innate capacities we enjoy: thinking, feeling and acting, and while one of these may [...]
The voice of an academic director of Publishing programmes

What place does culture hold in a welfare society?Javier Aparicio Maydeu
Director of Publishing programmes at IDEC-UPF
Many may feel, and not without reason, that it should supplement the creation of citizenship, contribute to our emotional balance, distract us from the stress caused by our work, increase [...]
Ever since the invention of the Internet we have been living in a state of constant change; in how we communicate, in how we relate to other people, and even in how we work. New technologies have favoured collaborative projects: Wikipedia, open-source communities, blogs, social networks, etc. The application of all these tools to world of work and business offers infinite opportunities. Collaboration has become a competitive advantage in many areas: between company and businesses, between company and supplier, between company and university, and even between company and competitors. As a result, society and the world are moving towards a more Co universe; cooperative, collaborative, cocreative. It’s about challenging and coordinating effort, promoting creativity and the generation of ideas, optimising resources and fostering innovation. [...]
The voices
The voice of an professor of Economy, Financial and Business

Cooperatives: a business model for the present and the futureRamon Bastida
Professor of the Barcelona School of Management and member of the Roca i Galès Foundation
In Catalonia there are currently 4,130 cooperatives, with 15% of the population linked to one of these companies: 38,000 direct jobs, 42,000 members of service cooperatives, 100,000 farmers linked to [...]
The voice of an academic director in Personal and Executive Coaching

Is a Collaborative Approach the Key to Withstanding the Economic Crisis?Jordi López Mercadé
Director of Coaching Programmes, Barcelona School of Management
What does collaborating or cooperating together mean? The term “dependence” implies the subordination or subjection of one person or thing to another; in other words, to depend on someone or [...]
The voice of the President of an innovation services company

The future is co-Alfons Cornella
Founder, Infonomia & co-Society
The future of business is collaboration. The future of capitalism is co-capitalism. The problem is that we don’t know what we really mean when we speak of co-business, and we just don’t [...]
The voice of an academic director of Business Comunication

Together or separately?Joan-Francesc Cànovas
Professor of business communication and Communication Direction and Digital Journalism, IDEC-UPF
According to the most recent published data, there are more than 2,400 million Internet users worldwide, 2,200 million email accounts, over 1,000 million Youtube or Facebook users, almost 700 million [...]
The voice of a ex-student, Barcelona School of Management

Towards a New “Co-World”?Filippo Montesi
Talent Scholarship-holder, Master of Science in International Business, Barcelona School of Management
The prefix “co-” has become a very trendy expression, widely used the fields of technology and innovation and gradually becoming adopted by the world of business and organisations. At present, [...]
The voice of an academic director of Digital Comunication

Give a fish, teach to fish, or teach how to teach to fish?Cristòfol Rovira
Head of the Masters in Digital Documentation and Search Engines IDEC-UPF
There is a well-known Chinese proverb that says: “Give a man a fish and you’ll feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you’ll feed him for [...]
Continuing education is still an essential element of competitiveness. The current economic situation and globalisation make companies, professionals and students invest in education in order to grow, enter or progress in a borderless labour market marked by the new information technologies. “The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay”. This is the categorical statement made by Henry Ford at the beginning of the last century. One hundred years later, his declaration is still fully valid. [...]
The voices
The voice of a director of a program of a multinational group

Business training: such an intangible added value?Pablo Furnari
Executive Director, Gas Natural Fenosa Foundation (Argentina), First Export Programme
“What’s worse than training your staff and then losing them? Not training them and keeping them!” Some time ago, at a conference where I was speaking about the importance of [...]
The voice of a ex-student form Peru

Internet, a complement to my educationSilvia Becerra
Talent Scholarship-holder, Master in Sports Management and Direction 2013, Barcelona School of Management
No one doubts that the internet and the other “virtual” social networks occupy an important space in our daily life. It is easy to see that they are almost indispensable [...]
The voice of an academic director of Banking and Finance programmes

In what way are the railway, Terra and online education alike?Xavier Puig
Director of Banking and Finance programmes, Barcelona School of Management
The world’s first stock market index, created in 1884 by Charles Dow and Edward Jones, founders of the Wall Street Journal, consisted of eleven shares, of which nine were in [...]
The voice of the academic director of the Continuing Education Institute Private Foundation

The R&D Funding Crisis in SpainDaniel Serra
Academic Manager, Continuing Education Institute Private Foundation. Director of the MSc in Management, Barcelona School of Management
Research in Spain has also been greatly affected by the crisis. The austerity measures and the widespread cuts to public spending, both by the central Government and by regional authorities, [...]
The voice of an academic director of video game creation

Is it worth going to university?Dani Sánchez-Crespo
Director, Master in Creation of Video Games, IDEC-UPF. CEO and co-founder, Novarama
No, seriously… Is it worth going to university? And, while we’re at it, is it worth going to school? The answer is obviously “yes”. Without school, without university, we would [...]
The voice of an academic director of making documentaries

Focus on the projectJordi Balló
Director of the Master in Making Documentaries, IDEC-UPF
The work methodology of the Master in Making Documentaries starts from a central idea. Each participant contributes their own project, which they develop during the master’s degree programme. The theoretical [...]
The voice of the Rector of the Pompeu Fabra University

The importance of university education and its impactJaume Casals
Rector of the Pompeu Fabra University
The latest report of the Catalan Association of Public Universities (ACUP, December 2012) “Research and Innovation Indicators of Catalan Public Universities” reveals the repercussion of the Catalan university system on [...]