Jordi Castells is a member of our esteemed international faculty and has been teaching at GBSB Global Business School in Barcelona over the past three academic years. As a Spanish national, Professor Castells speaks Catalan, Spanish and English fluently. He also has an intermediate proficiency in French and German. When it comes to being ambitious, his desire to learn languages converts into a greater determination to acquire new information and knowledge through advanced trainings, seeking to expand his learning across many disciplines.
Currently, Professor Castells is teaching two courses over the winter term at GBSB, Creativity and New Product Development and Creativity and Psychology of New Product Development. In the past, he has provided courses titled Strategic Marketing Simulation, Design Thinking and Business Models, and New Product Launch and Innovation Management.
Professor Castells is one of two professors at GBSB that is a certified facilitator of Lego Serious Play. Lego Serious Play® is a methodology that is used in innovative business education to encourage communication and problem-solving as a process where students are led through a series of questions, probing deeper in into the subject, and typically focused on business development for the purposes of study at GBSB Global Business School.
Professor Castells’ research background encompasses many fields covering the startup environment, lean startups, Design Thinking, Lego Serious Play® applications, and digital transformations. His professional experience also ranges across many sectors of business.
Professor Castells founded CLIMB21, a Creative Loft Institute for Motivating Businesses in the 21st century. It is an initiative targeted at companies and professionals that is project oriented, flexible, dynamic, and creative. The word CLIMB in English inspires forward thinking, ascending, growth and rising to the top; since CLIMB21 activities promote personal and professional growth, the name CLIMB21 works to change management and foster creative problem solving using dynamic tools and mythologies to stimulate greater success. In addition to founding the company, Mr. Castells is responsible for innovation management and new product launches. He monitors organizational change and tutors startup programs at KauTIC, CreACCIO, and Sabadell.
Before embarking on his own endeavor, Mr. Castells was a Deputy Director at Technologika, a company whose mission is based on market research and business development for new companies, startups, and tech-transfers. Mr. Castells worked as the Head Officer of Information Services for ACC1Ó, a government agency working to create and manage services that foster innovation and international activities. These are only a handful of prestigious managerial and directorial roles Professor Castells has held during his professional career.
When asked to describe what personality traits and skills have equipped him for success in his career, he would say, his analytical skills, hands-on nature, ability to work in teams, problem solving, and a continuous passion for learning have given him the cutting edge. Professor Castells earned his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Telecommunication Engineering from Escola Tècnica Superior d'Enginyeria de Telecomunicació de Barcelona (ETSETB), a part of Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in 1994. He went onto complete another Master in Science in 2005 in Marketing and Market Research at Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC).
Professor Castells takes a fun and innovative approach to teaching. With ample work and education experience, GBSB Global Business School values his real-life knowledge and skills and his ability to engage students in the most creative methodologies available today. It is professors like Mr. Castells that make GBSB a business school that very few can compare to. With a global student body and an innovative curriculum, GBSB and its distinguished faculty will pave the way for business schools of tomorrow.
