Marta
Elvira

Marta Elvira is a professor in IESE’s Departments of Strategic Management and Managing People in Organizations and a member of the IESE Supervisory Board. She formerly served as holder of the Chair in Family-Owned Business, the Puig Chaired Professor of Global Leadership Development and the associate dean of IESE’s Research and PhD program.

Prof. Elvira studies work and organizations through two primary research interests. The first centers on the field of social inequality and human capital development, where she analyzes the political and economic processes involved in the design of organizational reward structures and the dual impact of incentive pay and promotion systems on employee earnings and performance. Her current research leverages linked countrywide data on employers and employees to better understand the role of organizations and occupations in labor market outcomes across countries. Her second research stream focuses on how family-owned businesses act as economic drivers through their environmental, social and governance processes, with an emphasis on employment, diversity, and digitalization. Prof. Elvira has received grants from the European Commission Marie Curie Program, the Spanish Ministry of Innovation, STI Foundation, and Caser Foundation among others, in support of these projects.

Prof. Elvira brings a distinctive multi-cultural perspective to all of her teaching and research, which has been published in prominent general science journals (Nature Human Behavior), management journals  (Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, Journal of Business Ethics, International Journal of Human Resource Management),  and sociology journals (American Journal of Sociology, Industrial & Labor Relations Review, Work & Occupations). She is the author of numerous book chapters and co-editor of three books including Understanding Organizations in Complex Environments and Best Human Resource Management Practices in Latin America. Her work has also been featured in leadership podcasts and multiple media outlets (e.g., BusinessWeek, Forbes, Financial Times, Expansion, El Pais).

Before joining IESE, Prof. Elvira served as the academic dean at Lexington College in Chicago and as a tenured professor of organizational behavior at the University of California-Irvine Graduate School of Management and INSEAD. Her international experience also includes posts as a visiting scholar at Tecnológico de Monterrey and MIT Sloan. She received her PhD in Organizational Behavior and Industrial Relations from UC Berkeley.

Among her many awards and distinctions, Prof. Elvira has served for a decade on the jury of the Princess of Asturias Social Science Award and the Board of Trustees of IESE’s New York campus. She has received several Best Teaching Awards, was an ascendant scholar at the Western Academy of Management and an executive board member of Women in Leadership in Latin America, Complutense University of Madrid’s Colegio Universitario Villanueva, and Illinois Hotel and Lodging Association Educational Foundation.

Prof. Elvira teaches in all of IESE’s flagship offerings, from the PhD, MBA and MiM programs to customized offerings in global companies including Airbus, Allergan, BBVA, Citi, Dow, IBM, Intel, Marriott, PepsiCo, Samsung, Santander Swire, and the United Nations Development Programme.