08 Management

27.10.2015

Companies need leaders

Jordi de Falguera

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 be fundamentally adaptable to change, because change is now furious, and what is now a competitive advantage tomorrow will no longer be. For this reason organizations require generating and maintaining a flexible and creative environment based on trust in people, commitment and teamwork. An organization that is able to adapt and manage continuous changes with little trauma, is less volatile and more credible to investors. Business models are not eternal; knowing how to change them requires developing new business skills.

As various authors related to management state, efficiency is absolutely necessary, but now this is not enough; we need resilience, to be creative and know how to manage constant change. The definition of resilience offered by Wikipedia indicates that it is the ability of a person or group to recover from adversity to continue projecting the future. This is to allow the development of resources that were latent and that the manager was unaware of until that time. In business culture it is understood as the ability of the businessman to confront situations that complicate the generation and development of the business plan or project to be undertaken, generating synergy with partners or collaborators to purposefully emerge unscathed, based on the risk forecast. The companies themselves detect deficiencies to manage the keys of change. In this sense, it also highlights the value of innovation as a factor of economic progress.

Therefore, as shown in the study by a group of authors led by Professor Oriol Amat on high-growth and gazelle companies, a good leader must have the following qualities: passion, vision, communication, humility, ability to learn, austerity, empathy, flexibility, proactivity. Successful managers always see beyond what others see. They are passionate and like to innovate. They love their work and perform with body and soul. They live intensely every day and put all their efforts into everything they do. Running a business requires a strong command of emotions. Managers should be calm in difficult times and in times of uncertainty. A good leader is able to make decisions rationally although the situation is totally out of control. The new management requires leadership that brings together all of the above which promotes constant experimentation.

Pompeu Fabra University offers a new, redesigned and reformed MBA this year, from an innovative value perspective, created to prepare professionals to provide innovative solutions to society, the economy, or to the needs of their own company. Learning through projects improves skills and capabilities, both in the field of communication and problem solving. We understand communication as a key skill in a manager. We work with storytelling techniques to help professionals to successfully convey their ideas. We train and deepen the impact presentation and interpersonal communication, personal branding and the digital identity.

Our challenge is that participants obtain a balance between the acquisition of knowledge and the development of managerial skills. Sharing and cooperation is the best way to grow professionally. Throughout the Executive MBA you will work on a professional challenge, a project that is defined from the start under the supervision of a mentor who will help identify the key skills that should be acquired throughout the course. The mentor helps identify experts, businesses or activities that can enrich the project through the latest trends in education. On this basis, you will learn to be a multifunctional manager who can undertake transverse projects, develop leadership, communication, decision making, creativity and innovation skills, increase confidence to lead new projects and take on new challenges.

We find that each participant has different training needs depending on their training, experience or natural abilities. Therefore, while some need to go in depth into finance or marketing, others require more strategic negotiation skills, communication or creativity. Clearly the training would not be the same for an e-commerce project, which requires greater training in digital marketing, than an internationalization project, which will need greater training on logistics or foreign markets. The project is the central pillar to the learning process and will help develop analytical and diagnostic aptitudes and the necessary skills for Business Management. Therefore, you will work on a specific project, but the process is designed so that each student will work on and develop the necessary management skills and expertise to implement any project of a personal or professional nature, including management and teamwork, and project confrontation.

Thus, the business idea, the strategy to be applied, the analysis of the competitive environment, the international analysis, organizational and structural needs, the marketing plan, the financial plan and the project feasibility are gradually analysed. Thus, the professional skills that UPF Barcelona School of Management has identified as key for 21st century managers are assimilated: Leadership, communication, cooperation, adaptive thinking and independent learning.

Jordi de Falguera

Jordi de Falguera

Executive MBA Director, UPF Barcelona School of Management

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