Trade is one of the sectors that has suffered the most from the consequences of the pandemic, especially that which was most linked to tourism and has seen its customers disappear completely. The coronavirus has also boosted the digitalization of the activity of small businesses, which have had to adapt to this new modality after experiencing months of standstill during the hardest moments of confinement. The transformation that trade is experiencing and that it will have to face once the crisis is overcome will be one of the axes of the new chair created by the UPF Barcelona School of Management (UPF-BSM) in collaboration with the Departament d'Empresa i Coneixement, Foment del Treball and Pimec.
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The Chair of Future Scenarios of retail will serve to articulate a new space for reflection and research on retail trade, which will allow producing reports and organizing debates, and attracting university talent to this sector, jointly with the three partners that have promoted it. Directed by professor and doctor in Communication Josep-Francesc Valls, the new chair is the first to achieve the participation of the main Catalan employers' associations and the Generalitat. "This chair is a clear example of what can be done with public-private collaboration," defended the dean of the UPF-BSM, Oriol Amat, in its presentation.
For Amat, the new chair must serve to generate knowledge that reaches society on an issue that allows cohesive towns and cities, and define their physiognomy, in addition to contributing 12% of GDP in Catalonia. "A lot of knowledge and talent is needed for the trade sector to continue being essential," said Amat, who believes that the covid-19 crisis has placed it in a position of risk.
The Chair of Future Scenarios of retail will serve to articulate a new space for reflection and research on retail trade, which will allow attracting university talent to this sectorIn this sense, the Minister of Business and Knowledge of the Generalitat, Ramon Tremosa, has asked the retail sector to resist a little longer, hoping that activity will fully resumeand be able to spend all the savings accumulated during these months. With an eye on this recovery, Tremosa has advocated for retail trade not to be left out of the digital revolution that is taking place in other sectors and to embrace new trends such as e-commerce and digital markets.
On the other hand, the president of Foment del Treball, Josep Sánchez Llibre, has highlighted the value of commerce as a structuring element in Catalonia, not only for its contribution to GDP, but also for the jobs it generates and its multiplier effect. Sánchez Llibre has pointed out that the chair will serve to bring the academic sector closer to the commercial sector and seek new synergies. Along the same lines, the president of Pimec, Josep González, has opted to promote local commerce, in addition to explaining that the new collaboration with UPF-BSM will serve to strengthen the work done by the employers' association's observatory, exchanging information and methodologies, and delving into the trends that are occurring in commerce.
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UPF-BSM obtains AMBA accreditation
The Barcelona School of Management has recently obtained AMBA accreditation, a seal that is only available to 286 schools globally, six in all of Spain, and three in the city of Barcelona. This recognition, granted by the international association of Masters in Business Administration (AMBAs & BGA), is one of the three internationally recognized and prestigious accreditations, dubbed the triple crown, which only a hundred schools in the world have and which UPF-BSM aspires to obtain.
"This accreditation will help us on our journey to become a management school of international scope and social impact," explains its dean, Oriol Amat. In addition to the international leap that AMBA represents, the seal will allow UPF-BSM to participate in international rankings such as the QS Business Masters Ranking.
The UK-based association AMBAs & BGA has valued UPF-BSM for its EMBA and Master of Science in Management programs. Likewise, it has highlighted as strong points its brand link with Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), the change strategy and the multiple initiatives proposed by its dean, advances in research and the focus on applied research, commitment to culture and planetary well-being, the offer in Executive Education, the quality of international relations and double degree options, and the school's commitment to international and accreditation networks.