Antonio Valero Chair of Business Management

The Antonio Valero Chair of Business Management is held by the dean of IESE. It was created in honor of the school’s first ever dean, Antonio Valero, who had a very innovative vision for the school and its management. Professor Valero created a policy model, based on observation and working alongside company CEOs, always striving for a balance between efficiency and fairness in the decision-making process. He outlined two key areas of responsibility which the management should assume in order to carry out the school’s goals:

• Designing the organizational structure and choosing its constituents by way of a three-step process — defining, monitoring and taking action — when carrying out managerial responsibilities.
• Creating procedures that favor a harmonious and professional way of operating among all members of the organization: setting objectives, carrying out evaluations, planning remuneration, offering ongoing training, reporting to others and various other ways of working together.

As such, the chair is always in tune with optimal ways to manage a business organization, and also teaches about how to structure the company’s way of governing. In addition, the chair is entrusted with imparting knowledge on ways to institutionalize the company and to work together harmoniously. The chair must always carry out these roles in a dignified, open-minded and capable manner, at all times acting responsibly and with autonomy.

It follows that one of the Chair’s major responsibilities is to ensure that individuals are trained in the role of the school’s top management. The Chair should constantly question new ways to make the business a success, while ensuring professional harmony among employees and making both professional and strong moral conduct a high priority.

Research areas.

The Chair’s research areas should overlap with the mission outlined above, and have the overarching goal of gaining insight into topics that are relevant to the school’s management.

Chair.

Franz Heukamp has been IESE Dean since September 2016, as well as Holder of the Antonio Valero Chair of Business Management and a professor of Managerial Decision Sciences. He started at IESE in 2002, was Secretary General from 2009 to 2012 and subsequently Associate Dean for MBA Programs.

He holds a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, specializing in behavioral decision-making and Neuroeconomics. Prior to this he obtained Engineering degrees at the Technische Universität München in Germany and at the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris.