[1][2] A full professor at Ramon Llull University and a lecturer at ESADE Business School in Barcelona,[3] Jordi Montaña holds a doctorate in industrial engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, a master's degree in Business Administration and Management from ESADE and a degree in industrial engineering from the School of Industrial Engineering of Barcelona.
From 1976 until his appointment as Rector of the University of Vic, he was a lecturer at ESADE, where he was head of the ESADE Design Management Chair, undertaking research into design and business, and their impact on the economy and society.
At the same time, he was a visiting lecturer at the École des Hautes Études Commerciales, the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, the WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management in Koblenz, the Art Center College of Design (Switzerland), the Copenhagen Business School and the Bocconi University in Milan.
He has always been associated with the world of industrial design, and was the founder and chief executive officer of Quod, Disseny i Marketing SA and Enginyeria Cultural SA; the founder and chief executive officer of the National Society for the Development of Design and Innovation (Spanish Ministry of Industry and Energy); and president of the board of Integral Design and Development SA; president of the ADI-FAD, and trustee and executive committee member of the Barcelona Design Centre Foundation.
During his career, he has taught extensively, while at the same time providing consultancy in strategies for marketing, innovation, product development, design management and corporate branding for companies (Manpower, Sony, La Española, Novartis, Nestlé, Samsung, Hewlett-Packard, Lexmark and others) and institutions, including the Spanish Institute for Small and Medium Enterprises (Ministry of Industry), the Ministry of Industry of Nicaragua, the Venezuelan Ministry of Public Works, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the Inter-American Development Bank and the European Commission.