Looking back at 2018 at EAE: analysis and trends
28 de December de 2018
28 de December de 2018
The financial system and new technologies, leadership and value-based management, trends in Human Resources, relational marketing, new consumer demands, neuromarketing and entrepreneurship were the key areas addressed in the Focused Programs and conferences led by expects in the field.
Relational marketing, consumption habits and neuromarketing
The lecturer on digital strategy and speaker on EAE's Focused Program, Gustavo Rojas, spoke about the capacity of neuromarketing for generating value in companies' actions from the perspective of the relationship between the organization and the consumer. In Gustavo's opinion, neuromarketing involves optimizing the efficiency in consumption to create real experiences. To do so, it is important to really know the consumer and design digital experiences with the power to generate positive emotional traces with respect to the brand.
Eduardo Correa, a lecturer on the Master in Marketing and Commercial Management, shared his insights into concepts such as relational marketing and building customer loyalty. The lecturer focused on customer retention through satisfaction. He also advised holding conversations and offering segmented differentiation: simplifying the decision-making process and communicating a value proposition simply and quickly. With respect to the objectives of relational marketing, Eduardo Correa emphasized one in particular above all others: selling. "We have to find mechanisms to attract customers and generate loyalty and, in turn, profitability".
Gema Requena, the founder of the company Nethunting, analysed consumer trends, habits and behaviours by looking at a number of macro-trends focusing on health and empathy with an increasingly reflective consumer. Requena discussed an economy of sustainability that enabled brands to enhance their credibility and values. In relation to digital trends, she explained the social impact of digital transformation and the changes it brings both in terms of our lives and how we perceive and present ourselves to others.
Trends in Human Resources: diversity management
Esther González Arnedo, the Director of Human Resources Programs at EAE Business School, and Verónica Platas from the Barcelona Campus analysed the main business trends in 2018. The topics covered included entrepreneurship and innovation, new methods of recruitment using Artificial Intelligence and Big Data, the changes experienced in a VUCA environment and the need to integrates culture within organizations. In a session of the Focused Program, Esther González discussed the importance of prioritizing people before companies and changing hierarchical structures to ensure that the employee is placed firmly at the centre of the company, as well as managing cultural diversity.
Leadership skills and value-based management
Leadership and communication capacity was topic addressed by Fátima Vila, a lecturer on the Master in Marketing and Commercial Management and Master in Corporate Communication Management, in as session focusing on communication as a key leadership skill. The lecturer defined three leadership types: strategic, executive and social or ethical. Leaders set themselves apart through their capacity to communicate their values. As such, a good leader is characterized by taking the initiative, generating confidence and respect, daring to innovate, managing their emotions, transforming reality and their ability to communicate all these values.
At EAE's Barcelona campus, Santiago Ávila gave us an overview of different leadership styles. Ávila acknowledged that leading is hard and most people adapt our leadership style based on each person's characteristics "with the aim of connecting with them more easily". In the opinion of the lecturer on behaviour, leadership is a mobile competence that requires motivation, character traits, a concept of oneself, knowledge and skills.
Antonia Arévalo, a lecturer on Talent Management, analysed aspects such as culture and values as intangible and defining elements of a successful organization. In a VUCA environment, the new dogma of organizations is based on aspects including Vision, Values and Mind Models. In the lecturer's opinion, value-based management represents a new paradigm in which the most competitive organizations operate at an internal level based on the interconnection of its constituent parts in order to achieve a final result as a whole. Within this interconnection, the enthusiasm and learning capacity of the organization's members plays a crucial role.
Marc Sansó, the director of the MIB, shared his insight in a session entitled" Executive competences in the Digital Age", focusing on a model of exponential non-linear development, that requires directors who are up to the challenge. Sansó discussed a "technology adoption" process in which we have increasing access to superior technology in a more economical way.
Jorge Serra, a lecturer on Marketing and Communication at EAE, explained the importance of introducing innovation within a business and the need to reinvent yourself. Dealing with a VUCA environment, Serra emphasized aspects such as catering for needs rather than developing products, as well as achieving Learning Agility, which is crucial when it comes to innovating. He also advised striving for continuous adaptability in response to changes in the environment and ensuring that the individual fits in well in the team.
Entrepreneurship and business competitiveness
Enric Bayó, the Director of Business Innovation at the Catalan Government's Acció Department, focused on the creation of innovation ecosystems. In the session, the expert highlighted the importance of identifying a real need to then achieve innovation through creativity. Enric also discussed working with multidisciplinary teams and shifting from a closed model to a collaborative one. The future will involve developing an experience of good customer service.
Responsible entrepreneurship was the topic of the session led by Manuel Juanes, the co-founder and COO at Smartmee and lecturer on the Master in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, in a workshop held at the Barcelona. He focused in different levels of the task of launching and heading an entrepreneurial venture, emphasizing the importance of responsibility to oneself, the team, the investors, the customer, society and, lastly, the plant. Starting from the bottom and working upwards, in short, this process involves applying common sense to entrepreneurial projects, In addition, Juanes advised using objectivity and data when making decisions, analysing customer experiences and focusing a large part of our efforts on achieving full customer satisfaction.
The financial system and new technologies
"Fintech, evolution or revolution" was the topic analysed by Jordi Carrillo Pujol, a lecturer at the School and associate consultant at Altria Corpo & Invest Services. In his analysis, the expert in financial services discussed the relationship between fintech and banking, as well as the added value they offer to other sectors. Moreover, he analysed the current situation and made some predictions for the future based on technology, access to consumers, cultural resistance and the lack of regulation.