The IESE Business School and the automotive company SEAT have renewed their collaboration agreement to promote research in areas related to innovation, applied both to new projects and to different business management models. With the agreement, both institutions have reaffirmed their commitment to greater interaction between the academic and business worlds to bring both realities closer together.
The collaboration, which applies to this academic year, will include studies and research under the SEAT Innovation Chair, directed by IESE Professor Toni Dávila, practical case studies related to SEAT and the company’s participation in conferences and sessions organised by IESE.
At the signing of the agreement at SEAT’s headquarters in Martorell, SEAT Vice-president for Human Resources Xavier Ros and IESE General Manager Franz Heukamp agreed on the importance of research and disseminating new knowledge between the two entities.
“For SEAT, innovation is a mindset that applies to all areas of the company. The agreement with IESE is a catalyst between talent and innovation, laying the foundations for tomorrow’s managers to always strive to go one step further in the way they manage their projects and teams”, said Ros.
Furthermore, Heukamp explained that this agreement “confirms the support that the business world, and in this case a company as innovative as SEAT, gives to IESE by placing its trust in the research carried out by our professors.”
Committed to talent
Following the agreement, SEAT executives will participate as speakers in conferences for IESE alumni, and company employees will be able to take part in some online sessions and conferences. Likewise, both SEAT’s Talent Acquisition and IESE’s Career Services departments will collaborate to identify synergies.
SEAT is committed to promoting talent and preparing future professionals for the challenges that the working environment will bring. As well as being a benchmark in dual vocational training with the Apprentice School, SEAT has agreements with other universities and business schools to give students the chance to learn first-hand about the workings of Spain’s leading automotive company. In addition, the company has several training programmes to qualify its workers for the transformation of the automotive sector and to prepare them for the new needs of their jobs.
