“Management is about embracing risks, and this is where the right choice has a lot to do with experience”

Interview with Josep Maria Galí, professor of the course “Digital Marketing” in the Executive MBA at UPF-BSM

The UPF Barcelona School of Management (UPF-BSM) has redesigned its Executive MBA with a program adapted to new market demands and the latest trends. The Academic Director of the Executive MBA, Katharine D’Amico, is joined by a teaching team that combines academic excellence, PhDs, and extensive professional experience across multiple sectors.

As part of this interview series called UPF-BSM Faculty Feature, we speak with the main professors of the new EMBA. In this third episode, we talk with Josep Maria Galí, who teaches the Digital Marketing course.

“For me, the relationship between the theoretical world and reality is very important. That’s why I believe that, as professors, we must share good theory, since it’s the best way to understand what’s happening and to see things others don’t—simply because they don’t recognize them,” explains the expert. “I want to make a case not only for sharing case studies—which are always useful because they illustrate real market situations—but also for being aware that many theoretical paradigms can help us understand what’s happening in the market,” he adds.

Regarding the challenges in the field of marketing, Professor Galí believes that the great disruptive phenomenon the sector is currently facing is the technological revolution. “It’s difficult to predict what implications AI will have on our work in 10 or 15 years. That’s why it’s important to follow the virtue of prudence and manage timing wisely,” he explains. “What’s happening today in our field with the emergence of AI is that it’s changing how people search for information—and it’s already doing so. In fact, it’s worth asking: what implications does this have for concrete management practices, in specific ways, in specific markets?”

According to the professor, in the world of management there is often a somewhat “engineering-like” mindset, one that seeks formulas for everything. “I think this is something we must counter, because the world of business management, by definition, operates in specific contexts and companies, each with very different goals. Therefore, it’s impossible to have all the information needed to make the perfect decision. If we did, it wouldn’t be management, because there would be no risk,” Galí explains. “Management is about embracing risks, and this is where the right choice has a lot to do with experience and with learning from past situations.”