Fred Pattje, Amazon CEO: "The human factor will never go away no matter how much technology you can have on a business".

"The human factor will never disappear, no matter how much technology you may have on your business". This is what Fred Pattje, director of Amazon Customer Fulfillment in France, Italy and Spain, said at the University of Navarra. His words are part of the lecture that he offered to the students of the Degree in Applied Management-management Aplicada, on the occasion of the presentation of the final projects of semester and the celebration of the day of their patron saint, St. Elizabeth of Hungary.

Of Dutch origin and based in Spain for thirty years, Fred Pattje has been working at Amazon since 2011 and was responsible for setting up the first logistics centre of group in Spain. Today, the multinational has more than thirty operations centres throughout the country. 

Under the degree scroll "The Amazon network: fast & sustainable" he gave an overview of how Amazon works and how the multinational is committed to sustainability. In this respect, Pattje pointed out that group has a solar panel farm in Seville in Spain and that they plan to create another one in Aragon. "We are on track to use 100% renewable energy in our global operations by 2025," he concluded.

"Motivating people in your team is easy, the hard part is getting their commitment".

The Amazon executive assures that, despite having a team of 50,000 people of 65 nationalities, of which he is manager, he feels very calm when he is away from his office. He explained that core topic is all about building a good team and taking care of them: "Motivating the people who work with you is easy, the hard part is getting their commitment, but if you get the latter, it's easier to keep them on your team".

For Pattje, it is also essential to have a professional development plan within business for each employee and "to know the added value that each one can contribute". He also emphasised the need to train managers who are leaders, "who do not command, but coordinate" and who maintain a "continuous listening attitude" so as not to fall into accommodation. 

During lecture, Pattje recalled that before working at Amazon he had the opportunity to be an entrepreneur: "It was a complete failure, but you have to face things as they are and know how to react in time. Every problem you encounter along the way is an opportunity to improve.

"The difference is not in what you do, but in how you do it".

Antonio María Fernández, director of development of ISSA School of Applied Management, on behalf of the board Board of Directors and academic staff, congratulated the students and was in charge of introducing speaker and gave the floor to lecture with a few words in which he emphasised that the students should look at the multinational to be able to appreciate that "the difference is not in what you do, but in how you do it".

Ángela Jodar and María Victoria Pistilli, delegates of Degree and fourth-year students, put the finishing touch to the workshop de presentation Projects and celebration of the Patron Saint's Day by thanking their classmates and teachers for everything they had shared and learned throughout the degree program. They also encouraged students in lower years to make the most of and enjoy the University to the maximum: "Get involved as much as you can, make the most of every class, and let yourselves get involved in all the activities that the University offers, it's really worth it".