While she has the perspective of a psychologist, Cristina Simón believes that when teaching organisational behaviour and human resources management to MBA students, the subject must be closely related so the harder-edged side of business. Her years spent working for consultants such as Coopers & Lybrand and Ernst & Young have given her a distinct advantage in this respect. And she maintains her links with the corporate world through an HR benchmarking club, which meets regularly to share data and examples of best practice in linking HR with corporate performance.
A particularly exciting new line of research for the professor who in 2003 created the Centre for Human Resources at IE (where she is currently Academic Director) is the analysis of the employment relationship. Prof Simón is fascinated by the wide range of elements in the relationship between an employee and his/her employment context, including market value, the job market, macro-economic trends and the philosophy and values of companies and the society.
