Ten recommendations for Sant Jordi: books by ESADE faculty members

As usual, the books recommended for Sant Jordi (World Book Day) this year cover a wide variety of topics – and those written by ESADE faculty members are no exception.

In addition to books about economics – such as the critically acclaimed El libro prohibido de la economía [“The prohibited economics book”], winner of the 32nd Espasa Award, written by Prof. Fernando Trias de Bes, and The World Economy of the Early 21st Century, by Prof. Fernando Ballabriga, which analyses the macroeconomic performance of various countries – there are also books about geopolitics, including De Walmart a Al Qaeda: Una lectura interdisciplinar de la globalización [“From Wal-Mart to Al Qaeda: an interdisciplinary interpretation of globalisation”], by Lecturer David Murillo, and about marketing, such as Las decisiones estratégicas [“Strategic decisions”] by Prof. Marcel Planellas and Anna Muní. And then there’s Administración pública con valores: Instrumentos para una gobernanza ética [“Public administration with values: instruments for ethical governance”], by Prof. Francisco Longo and Adrià Albareda, both of whom are affiliated with ESADE’s Institute for Public Governance and Management.

Thanks to new technologies, it’s also possible to celebrate World Book Day with e-books, including The Global Context: How Politics, Investment, and Institutions Impact European Businesses, one chapter of which was written by ESADEgeo President Javier Solana.

Leadership and social innovation

Other hot topics include those covered by Liderazgo, dirección y coaching por valores (“Leadership, management and coaching by values”] – in which Simon Dolan, Professor in the Department of People Management and Organisation at ESADE, presents his “10 commandments for managing people in the 21st century” – and by Colaboraciones ONG y empresa que transforman la sociedad [“NGO-business collaborations that are transforming society”], written by several faculty members from ESADE’s Institute for Social Innovation.

Another example of new technologies is Worldreader, an NGO born at ESADE that has received an award from the prestigious Schwab Foundation for its work using mobile technologies and e-book readers to encourage reading in some of the world’s poorest communities. Since its founding, Worldreader has provided its 30,000-title digital library to readers in 69 countries at a cost of US$2 per person.

Friendship and art

Another ESADE faculty member, José María Álvarez de Lara, recently wrote a book entitled Barcelona. Ciutat de l’amistat – City of Friendship – Ciudad de la Amistad – Ville de l’Amitié, which features illustrations by architect and artist Jean Pattou. And Álex Fernández de Castro wrote La masía. Un Miró para Mrs. Hemingway, which describes Ernest Hemingway’s relationship with the Catalan artist and explores what the painting meant to the writer, who purchased it in 1925 and brought it with him to several countries.