24th International Symposium on Ethics, Business and Society
Barcelona · June 21-22, 2027
Person-centered Management and Leadership in an Age of Disruption
The 24rd IESE International Symposium on Ethics, Business, and Society, titled “Person-centered Management and Leadership in an Age of Disruption,”
Contemporary organisations operate in an age of accelerating disruption—digital transformation, AI and algorithmic management, automation, volatile markets, and shifting social expectations. These forces often intensify a technoeconomic rationality that privileges speed, efficiency, predictability, and control. While such rationality can deliver performance gains, it also tends to reduce persons to measurable outputs, adaptable resources, or replaceable components, thereby weakening dignity, agency, meaningful work, and the relational goods that sustain organisational life and legitimate organisational authority.
This conference proposes a robust anthropological and normative framework for rethinking management and leadership under these conditions. Grounded in a philosophical anthropology that understands the human person as possessing intrinsic dignity and as rational, free and responsible, relational, embodied, and capable of development, moral growth, and self-transcendence, this framework places the person at the center of organizational life. The conference invites scholarship that clarifies conceptual foundations, articulates ethical principles (respect for dignity; favouring meaningful work and human flourishing; contribution to the common good), explores the role of practical wisdom and virtues, and develops organisational and technological practices capable of humanising the company without rejecting innovation.
The conference seeks to advance interdisciplinary dialogue among business ethics, leadership studies, organisation theory, philosophy, and related fields, encouraging contributions that are theoretically rigorous, empirically informed, and practically relevant for organisations navigating disruption.
Burgos, J. M. 2022. Personalist anthropology: a philosophical guide to life. Wilmington, DE: Vernon Press.
Sisón, A. J. G. & Fontrodona, J. 2012. ‘The Common Good of the Firm in the Aristotelian-Thomistic Tradition.’ Business Ethics Quarterly, 31:2, 211-46.
Gallo, I. & Melé, D. 2025. ‘Work Integration of People with Mental Disorders Through Social Enterprise: A Humanistic-Personalist Framework and Case Study.’ Journal of Business Ethics, 199, 693–713. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-024-05853-2.
Melé, D. 2024. The Humanistic Person-centered Company. Conceptual Foundations. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
June 21 (08:45 a.m. – 10:30 p.m.)
08:45 – 09:30 a.m.: Registration
09:30 – 10:00 a.m.: Welcome Addresses and Introduction
- Franz Heukamp, Dean of IESE Business School
- Joan Fontrodona, Chair of the Symposium. Professor and Head of Business Ethics Department, IESE Business School
10:00 – 11:15 a.m.: Plenary Session I: FOUNDATIONS FOR HUMANISTIC PERSONALIST MANAGEMENT
Anthropological Foundations of Humanistic Personalist Management
- Juan M. Burgos, President of Ibero American Association of Personalism
Dignity, Personal Growth and the Common Good: An integrative approach
- Joan Fontrodona, Chair of the Symposium. Professor and Head of Business Ethics Department, IESE Business School
Moderator: Ricardo Calleja, Lecturer of Bussiness Ethics, IESE Business School
11:15 – 11:45 a.m.: Coffee Break
11:45 – 1:00 p.m.: Concurrent Sessions I
1:00 – 2:00 p.m.: Lunch
2:00 – 3:45 p.m.: Concurrent Sessions II
3:45 – 4:00 p.m.: Break
4:00 – 5:45 p.m.: Plenary Session II: CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND LEADERSHIP WITH A HUMANISTIC PERSONALIST ETHOS
Corporate Governance and Humanistic-based Companies: The Role of Purpose
- Jordi Canals, Professor of Strategic Management and Chair of Corporate Governance, IESE Business School
Responsible Leadership: A Humanistic-Personalist Approach
- Thomas Maak, Professor of Leadership, University of Queensland Business School, Australia and former President of the International Society for Business and Economic Ethics
Moderator: Nichola Pless, Former Vice President Leadership Development. Holder of the Chair of Positive Business at Adelaide University.
8:30 – 10:30 p.m.: Conference Dinner
June 22 (9:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.)
9:00 – 10:15 a.m.: Plenary Session III. HUMANISTIC-PERSONALIST MANAGEMENT IN BUSINESS ACTIVITY
Managing Finances for the Common Good
- K.J. Martijn Cremers,Martin J. Gillen Dean and Bernard J. Hank Professor of Finance at the University of Notre Dame
Marketing as Respectful and Authentic Service to Persons
- Julián Villanueva, Professor of Marketing, IESE Business School
- Pablo García Ruíz, Professor of Sociology, University of Zaragoza
Moderator: Mireia las Heras, Professor of Managing People in Organizations, IESE Business School
10:15 – 10:45 a.m.: Coffee Break
10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.: Concurrent Sessions III
12:15 – 12:30 p.m.: Break
12:30 – 1:45 p.m.: Plenary Session IV: Pannel: HORIZONS IN HUMANISTIC- PERSONALIST MANAGEMENT
Research in Humanistic Management: Evolution and Horizons
- Domènec Melé, Professor Emeritus Bussiness Ethics, IESE Business School
Humanistic–Personalist Management in Teaching
- Miguel Angel Ariño, Professor in the Managerial Decision Sciences Department, IESE Business School
Personalist Humanistic Management in Practice: The Mondragon Experience
- Leire San-Jose, Full Professor at the University of the Basque Country and Chairperson of the Appointments Committee of Laboral Kutxa of Mondragón.
Moderator: Pablo Sanz, Business Ethics, IESE Business School
1:45 – 2:45 p.m.: Farewell Lunch
Esther Ribes
Events Manager, IESE Research Events Unit
This symposium aims to foster an inclusive and interdisciplinary dialogue that bridges the gap between theory and practice. By bringing together diverse perspectives, we are confident we can enhance our understanding of how ethical management practices contribute to a society that upholds human dignity. We encourage submissions from scholars, practitioners, and policymakers who are committed to exploring the transformative potential of justice, care, and service in contemporary management.
These suggested topics cover a comprehensive range of topics that align with the principles of justice, caring, and service, while emphasizing the integration of ethics into various functional areas and disciplines. Additionally, we welcome other topics related to the symposium’s main theme.
- Philosophical and anthropological foundations of personalist humanism for management
- The human person in management and organisational thought
- Personalist humanism and resistance to instrumentalism in organisations
- Catholic Social Teaching and personalist humanistic management
- Personalist humanism within the Humanistic Management movement
- Personalist humanistic management in dialogue with adjacent approaches (virtue ethics, care ethics, capability approach, stakeholder theory, integrity and compliance programmes)
- Human dignity and the ethical limits of managerial power (including surveillance and algorithmic control)
- Meaningful work, vocation, and human flourishing
- Practical wisdom (phronēsis) and other virtues in person-centred management and leadership
- Organisations and firms as communities of persons
- Relational goods at work: recognition, belonging, benevolence, and friendship
- Corporate purpose, strategy, and governance in a personalist and humanistic perspective
- Humanistic, person-centred leadership and ethical agency
- Humanising technology and ethical transformation under disruption (AI, automation, digital monitoring)
- Organisational culture as moral ecology: developing humanistic, person-centred cultures
- Implementation and practice: organisational frameworks, tools, and case studies
- Personalist humanism in business and leadership education
- Harmonising work, business activity, and personal and family life
December 15, 2026: Extended abstract (1000-1500 words), including aim or research question, methodology, expected findings, contribution, and basic bibliography.
February 1, 2027: Answer of acceptance
June 1, 2027: Full papers (6000-9000 words, with an abstract of 150-200 words and 3-5 keywords)
- The official language of the Symposium is English.
- Send proposals using the paper submission platform.
- For full papers to be submitted to the Humanistic Management Journal please follow the submission guidelines of the Humanistic Management Journal.
We welcome a variety of contributions, including:
- Full papers (for peer review, conference presentation and possible subsequent publication)
- Extended abstracts (research-in-progress)
- Panel proposals (3–5 participants)
- Practitioner-oriented cases
- Doctoral research (proposal and research in progress)
Further Inquiries
Logistical questions about this conference can be addressed to Esther Ribes (eribes@iese.edu), and academic questions to Professors Joan Fontrodona (Chair of the Conference, jfontrodona@iese.edu) and Domènec Melé (Head of Scientific Committee, dmele@iese.edu).
Conference email:
| Early bird fee | Regular fee | |
| January. 3 – March. 31 | April. 1 – June. 18 | |
| Standard | €470 | €520 |
| IESE Alumni member / Presenter | €370 | €420 |
| Doctoral students | €200 | €320 |
Location
The 24rd International Symposium on Ethics, Business and Society will take place on the Barcelona North Campus of IESE Business School.
C/ Arnús i Gari 3-7
08034 Barcelona
+34 93 253 42 00
Accomodation
IESE is a dynamic community of scholars and practitioners who will welcome you to Barcelona, a traditional and welcoming Mediterranean city. It is a city with a great number of tourist attractions and a friendly atmosphere that will offer conference participants and their families plenty of opportunities to enjoy their stay here, over and above the academic program we are preparing for you. Accommodations options near IESE:
Sansi Pedralbes → 5-minute walk from IESE
Av. Pearson 1-3, 08034 Barcelona
Torre Girona Residence Halls → 10-minute walk from IESE
Passeig dels Til·lers, 19 , 08034 Barcelona
AC Victoria Suites → 15-minute walk from IESE
C/ Beltrán i Ròzpide, 7-9 (before Av. Pedralbes, 16), 08034 Barcelona
Abba Garden Hotel → 20-minute walk from IESE
C/ Santa Rosa, 33 , 08950 Esplugues de Llobregat, Barcelona
Upper Diagonal → 15-minute walk from IESE
Passeig de Manuel Girona, 7, 08034 Barcelona
Arenas Atiram → 11-minute car from IESE
C/ Capitán Arenas, 20, 08035 Barcelona