"Society needs companies to move forward and change things". This was stated by José Ángel Preciados, CEO of Ilunion Hotels, during the lecture he gave at the University of Navarra on the occasion of the celebration of the patron saint of ISSA School of Applied Management and the defense of the final projects of semester of the students of Degree in management Applied.

In his discussion paper, entitled 'Welcome to a different world', he explained that today there are more than 1,700 people working in this division of group ONCE, half of whom are people with disabilities. He stressed that now that this model of business in the tourism sector is implemented, "it is necessary to go out and tell about it" because "we have shown that things can be done differently".

He recalled that, when he was presented with model in the midst of the 2008 crisis, he was skeptical at first: "This seems easy today, but either we could prove it or we couldn't do anything. We had to become a company in the tourism sector, aligned with the values of the business: we had to be both economically profitable and socially committed. And so it happened, an initial prototype was created and later deployed, creating a magical model . Today we have 29 'all-inclusive' hotels".

As an introduction to Preciados' lecture , Antonio María Fernández, director of development at ISSA School of Applied Management, stressed the importance of purpose in organizations and the positive impact that unique business models such as Ilunion's have on society.

45 projects defended

Alba Zabalza and María Vaquero, as representatives of committee of 4th year students, closed the workshop of presentation of Projects and celebration of the Patron Saint's Day. Excited by everything they had experienced, they assured that "it is difficult to assimilate that we are not going to return to the University, except to defend the TFG and to take the exams". In their words, they thanked the professors for everything they had shared and learned throughout the degree program. They also encouraged the undergraduate students to "always keep in mind" the reasons that led them to study this Degree and reminded them that "success always depends on oneself, academically and humanly".  

The workshop started early in the morning with the defense of the first papers. Presented in a public hearing in the hall of Amigos Building, a total of 45 projects were evaluated by the professors of Degree in Applied Management: 18 first, 10 second, 8 third and 9 fourth. 

First year students have studied a specific process of a business, this time the University of Navarra Museum. Applying the lean methodology, they have made proposals for improvement.

The project of the students of Segundo has consisted in the implementation of a quality guide , based on the rules and regulations ISO 9001 of 2015, in a business of the sports sector.

Based on the analysis of a real business , on this occasion Aceites Artajo, the third year students have sought solutions for stocking materials and improving communication by applying different tools from management and communication.

Fourth grade students have carried out the process of internationalization of a business, which includes the commercial and supply strategy, considering the particularities of each market and product.