Faculty

For Fernando Bartolomé, time spent in the classroom with students is what he finds most exciting. “I’ve always been a teacher, and that’s what I like best,” he says. “It’s very dynamic – you ask provocative questions and get people to think and feel what they’re studying.”

Behind the dynamism of his teaching lies many years of research into issues such as the role of managers, leadership, stress and the changing relationship between the personal and professional life of Executives– the results of which have led him to challenge many of the conventional views of how to manage inter-personal interactions in the workplace. He is, for example, critical of management techniques such as 360-degree feedback. “Creating feedback systems encourages executives to rely on others to find out about themselves,” he says. “It’s better to develop people’s capacity for self assessment.”

As he studies in depth the emotional psychology and relationships behind workplace interactions, Prof Bartolomé is a realist who believes managers can only influence rather than alter behavioural patterns. “I don’t believe in changing people – I believe in developing them,” he says. And he adds: “This is much more than a semantic distinction, it reflects the kind of realistic observations that people appreciate in my teaching”.

This down to earth view is one Prof Bartolomé believes will help students both young MBA’s and seasoned executives manage more effectively in the real world. “Every manager has to cope with real human beings instead of cases,” he says. “So I’m trying to address things in a very realistic way and prepare people, MBA’s and Executives, to deal better with a world that is not an utopia but that often requires people to know how to muddle through.”

Academic Background

• DBA, Harvard University, USA
• MBA, Instituto de Estudios Superiores de la Empresa, IESE, Barcelona, Spain
• LLB Law, Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain

Academic Experience

• Professor of Management, Instituto de Empresa, 1996 to present
• Professor of Management, Bentley College, Waltham, MA, USA, 1983 to 1995
• Visiting Professor, Harvard Business School of Management, Boston, MA, USA, 1981 to 1983
• Professor of Management, INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France, 1972 to 1981
• Assistant Professor, Sir George William University of Management, Montreal, Canada, 1971 to 1972
• Visiting Professor, University de los Andes, Bogota, Colombia, 1969 to 1970