Dorronsoro Plazaola, Iñaki

Iñaki Dorronsoro Plazaola (Ataun, 1947) lives in Beasain. He is married and has a daughter and a son.

He completed his Industrial Engineering studies at the Higher Technical School of Engineering of Bilbao in 1973 and began to work in the Ampo cooperative company. He took over the design and production concept of a new business, valves for large industrial processes.

He moved to Arrasate in 1983, where he worked as director of the Promotion of New Cooperatives Department of the Mondragón Cooperative Group. His duties consisted of pursuing ideas to create new cooperative businesses, finding members to promote them and creating new cooperatives with financial support from Caja Laboral Popular. In 1989, he was one of the founders of the LKS group, where he was named director of the consultancy division in 1991 and director general of the LKS group in 1992.

In 1998, he took over responsibility for education, the research site and corporative management model of Mondragón Corporation. He was a member of Mondragon University (where he was part of the Governing Board), Ikerlan, Ideko and METC. He participated in the formulation and monitoring of the Science and Technology Plans of Mondragon Corporation. He also participated in the development of the Mondragon University Strategic Plans.

In the year 2000, he was one of the founders of the Knowledge Cluster alongside other institutions and companies, as well as one of the members of its first Board of Directors. He was also a promoter of the MIK centre (Mondragon Ikerketa Kudeaketan) in 2002, chairman in 2003 and director in 2005.

Alongside practising the management of cooperative companies, he has cultivated many areas of knowledge: sociology, economics, history, philosophy of science and anthropology, applying them to business and regional management. The main subjects of reflection have been strategy, competitiveness, organisation, innovation, entrepreneurship, business and management models. As examples, one can point to The Management Model of Successful Basque SMEs and Enpresa Kudeaketa Aurreratua Hiztegia, published under the umbrella of the Knowledge Cluster. Among his unpublished works are NECORP–a new collaboration-based business group model– Tool for the Generation of Scenarios, Company Growth Strategies through Diversification, Territory Growth Strategies through Diversification and Tool for the Strategic Planning of the Multi-business Company.

He has been associate professor of the University of Deusto, University of Lancaster and Mondragon University.

Iñaki Dorronsoro was chairman of Eusko Ikaskuntza between 2013 and 2020. He was elected an honorary member of Jakiunde on 23 April 2021.