Cristina Simón

Cristina Simón is an Associate Professor of the Human Resources and Organizational Behavior Department, and currently acts as Academic Director of the IEBrown EXMBA program at IE University.

Cristina got her BA in Psychology at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain), and is a PhD of the School of Technology of the Open University of the UK. After working as Project Manager for EU R&D projects at the Rectorate of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid she joined Ernst & Young, for which was a Senior Manager for 6 years. In 2000 she joined IE Business School. She has also been Visiting Scholar at the Open University and at the Sloan School of Management of MIT (USA), and has lectured courses in different institutions such as the University of Fudan in Shanghai and Brown University. She is the author of 2 books and her work has been published in top academic journals such as Journal of Management, Human Resource Management, and The International Journal of HRM. She also contributes regularly with international business and economic media.

Between 2010 and 2020 Prof. Simón headed a Chair in People Management by Inditex, the top fashion retailer with Zara as its flagship brand. Financial Times described her role as ‘embedded academic’ at the company as she acted as an “an idea provider“, alerting the company to HR trends and offering context about what is going on in other industries and sectors.

Academic Experience

Associate Professor, Human Resources and Organizational Behavior Department, IE University, Spain, IE University, 2000—present
Academic Director, IEBrown ExMBA, IE University, Spain, 2012—2024
Inditex Chair in People Management, 2010—2020
Visiting researcher, Boston College, 2012
Dean of IE School of Psychology, IE University, Spain, 2008—2010
Director of Human Resources Center, IE University, Spain, 2003—2008
Visiting Scholar, Sloan School of Management, Massachussets Institute of Technology, 2006
Head of the Organisational Behaviour Department, IE University, Spain, 2003—2005
Vice Dean for Faculty, IE University, Spain, 2000—2002