- The new methodology of UEmpresa studies applies to the degree in Business Administration and Management and to the two Professional Campus’s training cycles in the field of business.
- The new UEmpresa building has been completely remodelled and has an agora for holding discussions with students and rooms for carrying out simulation activities.
Transform the person to transform society, and train committed professionals who want to innovate in companies and thus make positive contributions to the environment and its people. This is the objective of the new methodological model that the Manresa Campus has begun to apply in all its business studies, including the bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Management, the advanced vocational training cycles (CFGS) in Administration and Finance, and International Trade, and specialized continuing education in business management. To be able to put this new methodology into practice, UEmpresa now has a new building in the old FUB2, which has been completely refurbished to meet the training requirements of an educational model that is designed to be a transformative experience in the personal and social areas.
"We want all the people who train at UManresa as business professionals to receive as good a preparation as possible to face the current challenges of business management and direction, and to be people who want to change things to create a better society," stated Marc Bernadich Màrquez, PhD in Business Administration and Management and director of business studies at UManresa.
"We want all the people who train at UManresa as business professionals to receive as good a preparation as possible to face the current challenges of business management and direction, and to be people who want to change things to create a better society"
Integration of university and business
One of the basic characteristics of the new model is the integration between university and business. "It is essential that the company is within the University, that we cooperate, that we are twinned," explained Bernadich. Therefore, the aim of this new model is for businesses to perceive the University as their own, to feel part of the University and to contribute by sharing their knowledge of day-to-day business management. In the long run, this benefits everyone, since the company can attract talent, contribute to drawing up the profile of employee that it needs, and take advantage of the potential of corporate managerial training offered by the University to keep up to date with new trends and innovation in management.
For this reason, the remodelling of the FUB2 building incorporates spaces that make it easier for the University to become a true meeting point between academia and the business world, where research, consultancy, business idea acceleration platforms and specialized training coexist. In academic year 2022-2023, the permeability was seen in the Employment Opportunities Fair, which brings together companies and students interested in internships. The meeting took place in one of the new spaces of the UEmpresa building, the Àgora, which was designed precisely for this role as meeting point.
An innovative methodology
Based on extensive experience training company directors and managers, the new UManresa team has developed innovative methodology so that the student experience is completely transformative. The idea is for each student to have their own Student Journey Map, a personal and professional development guide, which will have an impact beyond their university stage and will be useful to them in the future, when they join the world of work.
The idea is for each student to have their own Student Journey Map, a personal and professional development guide, which will have an impact beyond their university stage and will be useful to them in the future, when they join the world of work
"What we want," explained Marc Bernadich, "is for the student to take a journey from the world of ideas and self-reflection to professional practice." On this journey, UEmpresa students will find memorable lectures, read documents selected by the University and the business sector, and participate in debates. They will learn through simulation, work to solve real cases of companies in the territory, assess the competencies that anyone who wants to work in business administration and management must have, and benefit from the advantages of growing professionally and personally by participating in an international exchange.
Lectures with meaning, reading material and discussions to assimilate knowledge
Theoretical knowledge is now available to everyone. For this reason, UEmpresa’s methodology is based on the premise that any lecture given in a course must be meaningful and leave an impression on the student. Lectures are short classes, which leave a foundation of knowledge and curiosity. This encourages students to continue learning based on the teachers’ instructions.
Reading is another of the knowledge-generating foundations used in business studies at UEmpresa. Each subject has an assignment of reading a book that is then discussed in the classroom using different methodologies. Discussion, in different formats and with classmates, makes the knowledge acquired through reading go further and represents growth in the learning achieved. At the same time, compulsory reading gives students a new responsibility for independent work at home and forces them to concentrate on concepts that will subsequently be developed in the classroom. To carry out these discussions, UEmpresa has the Ágora space, an open, multi-purpose classroom, which allows students to work in different arrangements and includes an agora-shaped stand for this type of activity.
Simulation in the business field, a good formula for meaningful learning
If there is a teaching methodology that identifies UManresa, it is simulation. In business studies, its use has been extended to the degree in Business Administration and Management and to advanced vocational training on the Professional Campus in Administration and Finance, and International Trade. In all these studies, real cases are simulated for training in professional skills. This is not a new element: business studies have been applying this methodology for years. The innovation lies in the fact that the new UEmpresa building has a space created expressly for this type of activity, in which the simulation of real cases allows training in the professional skills that are essential to anyone who wants to work in business management.
The new UEmpresa building has a space created expressly for the simulation of real cases, which allows training in the professional skills that are essential to anyone who wants to work in business management
In this space for simulation, a classroom where the simulation takes place is separated by glass from another space for observation. The facility is equipped with technology for recording and reviewing performance. Students must tackle specific situations that they will most likely have to resolve or face when they join the world of work. This methodology allows students to work on the application of theoretical content to practical cases.
What are known as "cold simulations" are also carried out. In this case, instead of interacting with actors, business administration and management students interact with software created expressly for the development of skills that business graduates must have. Cold simulation takes place in the computer room.
Assessment of skills and abilities
Taking the example of Objective and Structured Clinical Assessment (ACOES) in the field of Medicine, innovation has been introduced in the degree in Business Administration and Management at UManresa. From this academic year, the skills that anyone who has completed the degree in Business Administration and Management must have will be assessed before they join the world of work. Before this assessment was implemented, those responsible for the studies, with the collaboration of companies, identified the skills that future company managers and directors must have to meet a company’s day-to-day management needs. Unlike simulation, which refers to real situations, this other assessment is much more concrete, much more day-to-day. We could talk, for example, about knowing how to draw up a payroll, settle taxes or attend a tax inspection.
In total, up to a hundred skills are assessed that will have to be passed one by one. Marc Bernadich explained, "we think it's a very interesting tool because it brings us closer to the world of work, on the one hand, and it makes the learning done by students more objective and gives them the confidence to apply it in a real environment, on the other hand. Notably, this skills assessment is another example of university/company integration, as it has been designed jointly between the teaching staff and the business world.
If the company enters the university, the university also goes to the company
This pairing and integration is also evident in another of UEmpresa’s methodological areas, which is case resolution. This activity is carried out in the classroom, working on practical cases of companies in the territory, which are basically companies that collaborate in the Premium programme. Unlike other business case resolution experiences, in the UEmpresa methodology, the final problem-solving is undertaken outside the classroom at the companies’ headquarters. In this way, work done in the classroom can be checked on-site and with the participation of company managers.
Internships and courses abroad
With the aim of student learning going beyond the classroom, the UEmpresa model is committed to promoting international exchanges and stays in European universities with which UManresa has agreements of its own or as part of the Erasmus programme.
To make this model and this university/company connection possible, 39 partner companies are involved in the UManresa Premium Programme, an example of good university practice that has been selected by the Catalan University Quality Assurance Agency (AQU).
Thirty-nine partner companies are involved in UManresa’s Premium Programme, an example of good university practice that has been selected by the Catalan University Quality Assurance Agency (AQU)
These 39 companies, which are involved in the selection of the students’ reading material and in the definition of the skills they must gain, make a financial contribution to the training of UManresa students in languages and digital skills, which are crucial for anyone who wants to work in business direction and management. These same companies offer most of the places for the paid internships that Business Administration and Management students can undertake from the second year onwards.
All of this, explained the director of studies, Marc Bernadich, "reflects a desire to ensure that business students’ passage through UManresa also involves a humanistic, integral transformation of the person, which makes them gain in a critical and reflective sense and in all the capacities and qualities that are expected of a great professional, so that they have an impact on the territory, a positive impact that can transform society for the better."