For decades we have been witnessing an interesting development of the relationships between the university institution and the business that we trust can become a thriving factor of social improvement and economic development . The types of relationship have increased in issue and typology and have varied with the evolution of society, the multiplication of university centers and the increase in the size and outsourcing of Spanish companies.

Asked about the reasons for this trend, many business leaders point to reasons of convenience, tax or image; and although, fortunately, there is also a growing conviction that there is a mutual benefit, there is still a certain tinge of patronage, channeled within the much in vogue corporate social responsibility. Thus, in this relationship, the monetary flow from business to the university is emphasized, but not its return.

The anthropocentric conception of business and the necessary opening of the university to the world of organizations are two current and convergent trends that favor the central role of the human person in the social scenario. Certainly, the university and business are called to understand and appreciate each other. The former contains the main source of knowledge; the latter, experience. knowledge and experience are two indispensable components of progress, and we must not forget that their relationship is synergistic. The more they grow together, the more robust, rapid and effective the march towards progress will be.

The university's function is to train people of integrity. It must be at the forefront of knowledge. Not of a mere pragmatic knowledge , but of one that deepens in the search for truth and that attends to the development of the person and his dignity. The business produces by seeking to permanently break the limits imposed by the market and circumstances, innovating and changing. Some have thought that these two goals are incompatible, when, in fact, they are complementary.

Volkswagen Navarra and the University of Navarra are offering a real example of this complementarity, through a jointly financed and managed Chair of business, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. We work on projects designed and developed jointly, with the same Philosophy of excellence and each contributing what is ours, without trying to give what cannot be given, convinced that working with is much more efficient than working for or with the money of.

In these difficult times, the University and business (in this case, Volkswagen Navarra and the University of Navarra) have the responsibility to cooperate with an attitude of full confidence to seek solutions capable of opening new paths for growth.