News© Institutional Communication, 05/20/2008

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Monsignor Javier Echevarría inaugurated the 15th International Symposium on Ethics at the IESE

- The Chancellor of the University of Navarra and Prelate of Opus Dei visited the campus of the Business School in Barcelona

The Chancellor of the University of Navarra and Prelate of Opus Dei, Monsignor Javier Echevarría, accompanied by the President of the University of Navarra, Ángel J. Gómez-Montoro, and the General Director of the IESE, Jordi Canals, inaugurated the 15th International Symposium on Ethics, Business and Society with the discussion paper ‘Christian Humanism in Business and Management’.

"Christian humanism offers a complete vision of the person, whom it considers from both the individual and social perspective,” stated Monsignor Echevarría, “so that the Christian message is not separated from the life of the human person on the Earth. It presents a new model for understanding the person and what it means to be human.”

In addition, he affirmed that “in business, executives and workers form a community where there must exist relationships of reciprocity, and where there can and must also exist channels for mutual giving, for service in the best sense of the word.”

In his view, a business is above all “a community of free and responsible persons who associate in order to carry out a common project, within which they work, provide resources, develop themselves in their humanity and contribute effectively to the production of goods and services." Nevertheless, he indicated that, beyond the structural dimension of organizations, “Christian humanism must above all express itself in those persons who promote and manage businesses. Their work requires formation, experience, technical capacities, and -not least- the exercise of the virtues.”

“The virtues enrich them not only as persons, but also as executives,” explained the Chancellor, who referred concretely to the necessity to love and serve others. “To love other persons requires that one discover each individual in his or her singularity, and to never consider a person as a simple resource. As for the spirit of service, it begins with preparing oneself properly for the exercise of one’s chosen profession, and continues with discovering the real needs of others and doing all that is possible to attend to those needs,” he emphasized.

On the other hand, he mentioned personal coherence as another feature of Christian humanism: “This implies a simple yet strong unity of life, in which all of our actions are joined and interpenetrate.”

"The IESE, via its educational work, is called to contribute to this beautiful ideal, so that it becomes a reality in many men and women,” concluded Monsignor Echevarría.

Towards more human theory and practice

The sessions of the 15th International Symposium on Ethics, Business and Society, which this year were entitled "Business and Management: Towards More Human Models and Practice,” were held on the Barcelona campus of the IESE. Directed by Professor Domènec Melé, the Symposium’s objective was the promotion of business models with a greater human orientation, in addition to creating discussion spaces about possible business models from a conceptual point of view, and finally to reflect on practical methods for making it easier for employees to encounter the human meaning of their work; in a word, making the business world a more human place.

In the symposium there participated various experts in round tables, plenary sessions and practical working sessions. Among these experts, there stood out Jeffrey Pfeffer, Professor of the University of Stanford; Michael Hoffman, of Bentley College; Peter Koslowski, of the Free University of Amsterdam; Carrie R. Leana, of the University of Pittsburg; Enrique Sendagorta, President of the Institute of Business and Humanism of the University of Navarra; and the professors of the IESE Antonio Argandoña, Josep Maria Rosanas and Joan Fontrodona.