Author: Borja Igual

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to a crisis in which family businesses will play a key role given their importance in the economy. They account for 88% of all private companies, contribute 69% of Gross Added Value (GAV) and generate 76% of private jobs.

“The State of Alarm highlighted the importance of empowering, nurturing and supporting responsible companies, which generate environments of trust, are committed to employment and the environment, and are aimed at business continuity,” explains Fernando Álvarez, Deputy Director of the Chair in Family Business and Business Creation at the Abat Oliba CEU University, one of the five University Chairs sponsored by the ASCEF in Catalonia. “It is no coincidence that these are the most common characteristics of family businesses.”

With the State of Alarm having concluded, but with the Covid-19 situation prevailing, Mr Álvarez says that “the key to business continuity will be to address the uncertain future that awaits us, with the ability to convey to stakeholders a sense of confidence and control of the situation”.

Mr Álvarez adds that companies must know how to “generate and communicate experiences to consumers; have committed work teams; and possess sufficient liquidity for the remainder of the year, with reduced borrowing or without the need to generate new borrowing”.

Given the current situation, it will also be essential for companies to possess “the ability to adapt to circumstances and the regulatory changes introduced, through management with a visionary, empathetic leadership.”

In this situation, Mr Álvarez believes that “universities must continue to generate and share knowledge aimed at improving society and train new generations in how to make decisions in uncertain situations.”

“The important role that companies play in job creation and social cohesion should be highlighted; together with the essential role assigned to the public sector in establishing the rules of the game that achieve competitive and inclusive growth of its economy. The public and the private sector need each other and should improve their understanding”.

“The future depends on the need to promote a responsible and sustainable business fabric, which provides answers to an increasingly aware and demanding consumer. We are facing a paradigm shift that needs to receive a response and universities have much to say in this regard”, Mr Álvarez concludes.

Amat Immobiliaris is a family business with a solid footing in the property sector. Backed by over 70 years’ experience and now under its third generation of owners, it is also one of the driving forces behind the #DamosLaCara (We show our resolve) movement. The President of the property group member of the Catalan Association of Family Business (ASCEF), Imma Amat, has used a video to explain the company’s experience of the Covid-19 situation.

“Our strategic plan envisaged that demand would grow for over two years,” Ms Amat says, “and in 24 hours you discover that the market has gone to zero. We decided not to let anyone leave, not to reduce the sales teams; we took risks because we were able to do so and because we thought that this was how we would carve out a better future for ourselves”.

“We should thank the team because they have made a great effort for hours and done so safely too. During this time, we were able to do sixty title deeds; and it’s possible to write a short novel on each one: persuading the bank to come, the clients etc. It has been a real saga”, explains Ms Amat, who acknowledges that the current period in which restrictions are being eased “has surprised us a bit because there is more activity than we imagined“.

The story of Amat Immobiliaris, narrated by its President, is that of a company that has had to overcome adverse situations from the outset, such as having a woman in charge: “My mother was very young, and female. For many years, she renounced her name: she signed as “Amat’s Widow”. We have learned how difficult it is to be a woman in a highly male-dominated sector. For this reason, and to demonstrate that women can succeed in the real estate sector, we decided to hire only women and we implemented a lot of conciliation measures; and just before the Parity Law came into force, and we started to hire men, we had more than 50 women,” she explains to #DamosLaCara.

The #DamosLaCara (We show our resolve) platform is a citizens’ movement promoted by employees and employers from all over Spain. It demonstrates the commitment of employees and employers to society as a whole and publicises the endeavour and important work undertaken by family businesses in the country through their economic and social contributions.

The member companies of the Catalan Association of Family Businesses (ASCEF) are part of the group of employees and employers in Spain promoting the #DamosLaCara (We show our resolve) movement. Ausa is a global manufacturer of compact off-road commercial vehicles for loading and moving materials. Boasting more than 60 years of experience, it is another example of this collaboration. CEO Ramon Carbonell has used a video to explain how the company has been affected by the situation produced by the health and economic crisis.

“We had to close due to force majeure since we were unable to do any production because we did not receive the parts,” Mr Carbonell says. “However, the R&D department has been able to work so that while the factory was closed, work has continued here on new product and that means it will reach the market as soon as possible.” The Ausa CEO has underlined this department’s importance because “a company that exports 80% in international markets, is one that either innovates or dies“.

Mr Carbonell adds that “nobody could have forged ahead alone; we have had to support each other a lot. We all have shortcomings and we are all imperfect but together we are much better.”

“Teleworking, in specific cases, may continue to be a good tool,” he says. “But it’s also true that there is a lot of magic in the corridors, where things come into your head and you see someone and say ‘Hey, I had to tell you about this; how would you do it?’ You get more of this collaboration when you are face to face”.

The Ausa CEO adds that “the best moment of the crisis was the day we started up the factory again because there were signs that the supply chain was about to start and then we witnessed a demonstration of a great capacity for commitment from the people here”. Looking to the immediate future, “we are improving each day; we are exceeding all the forecasts we made”.

The #DamosLaCara (We show our resolve) platform is a citizens’ movement promoted by employees and employers from all over Spain. It demonstrates the commitment of employees and employers to society as a whole and publicises the endeavour and important work undertaken by family businesses in the country through their economic and social contributions.

Xavier Ferràs, Professor of Operations Management, Innovation and Data Sciences at ESADE, gave a virtual lecture on June 26 to the members of the Forum of the Catalan Association of Family Business (ASCEF) under the title “Apocalypse or oasis? Opportunities in an uncertain world. The post-pandemic path”. In this, he discussed industry, innovation and competitiveness in the post-Covid era and also offered advice for family businesses faced with the new reality.

“With COVID-19, nothing new will happen but we will see an acceleration of many trends that were already incubating in the system,” Prof. Ferràs began. He described the pandemic as a “Sputnik moment”, referring to the United States’ response to the launch of the USSR’s satellite in 1958, in which it placed science and technology at the heart.

“Many things are happening in the scientific field that will make a big impact. Some are now highly embryonic but they will open up spectacular business fields,” the ESADE professor added at the conference for the ASCEF Forum.

Prof. Ferràs also stressed the importance of increasing investment in R+D+i, recalling that in the European Union “the target is an investment of 3% of the budget but in Catalonia it is now 1.5%. We have to double our investment, but doing the numbers is not that difficult, because the foundations have already been laid”.

“The future is about technological warfare. We do not have this awareness, but many countries, corporations, are building, guiding, generating around different technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence,” he added before warning that “Europe has no data strategy: our data is now in the hands of American companies”. In a world “where the China-US rivalry will intensify, the EU urgently needs to position itself in this bipolar world.”

Prof. Ferràs said that the COVID-19 pandemic will strengthen the technology industry as we have been placed in an increasingly digitised world: “The pandemic has made us realise how important it is to have some strategic industries, or strategic technologies, such as 3D printing.”

Prof. Ferràs also had a message for young Catalan entrepreneurs: “Your challenge is to ensure that Catalonia is at this ‘high-end’ level of competitiveness. With this, we can contemplate a welfare state that is also ‘high-end’“.

Prof. Ferràs concluded with some pieces of advice for family businesses faced with this new post-pandemic scenario: “It is important to prepare companies; they must be nimble in decision-making, attract and retain talent, and possess a certain innovation process”. He added that “it is important to protect and operate the ‘core business’ with a high level of excellence, but also to devote a small proportion to exploring the ecosystem in the long term, which may now be embryonic of the business model of the future“.

The lecture formed part of the Forum, the group within ASCEF that comprises over 190 members of business families of between 18 and 45 years of age. It aims to bring the Association closer to younger people, paying special attention to the issues that concern them.

The President of the Catalan Association of Family Businesses (ASCEF), Amadeu Jori, and Jaume Alisa, the Secretary of the ASCEF Board, were interviewed by Crónica Global to discuss #DamosLaCara (We show our resolve). This is a citizens’ initiative promoted by employees and employers from all over Spain that enhances the engagement of employees and employers with the whole of society, in addition to publicising the effort and important work that family businesses are undertaking throughout the country through their economic and social contributions.

“Family businesses are committed to the country’s recovery from the pandemic. We want to make ourselves visible and press the different public administrations into taking us into account at the present time and implementing strategies that activate the world of work,” Mr Jori said.

He added that “90% of Spain’s business community are SMEs and this 90% provides 76% employment in Catalonia“.

For his part, Mr Alsina told the newspaper that “it is important for things to be made easy so that SMEs can grow because many laws do the opposite.” He expressed his support for public-private collaboration, and for its projects not to be linked to a “four-year horizon“. “If we extend the vision to beyond one parliamentary term, we will be making great progress,” he added.

ASCEF is an entity established in 1998 and comprising over 100 companies representing the Catalan business community. Its members play an important role in the country’s economy as they are committed to wealth creation, employment, the region and sustainability. The COVID-19 crisis has only reinforced this commitment to employment, sustainability and the well-being of society.

You can read the full news item using this link: bit.ly/2B8g9A6.

Encofrados Alsina is a family business dedicated to offering formwork solutions for concrete structures. Currently run by its third generation, it is one of the companies promoting the #DamosLaCara (We show our resolve) movement. A member of the Catalan Association of Family Businesses (ASCEF), its CEO, Jaume Alsina, has used a video to explain the company’s experience of the current health and economic crisis.

“I was a little incredulous about whether we would be able to react. But really we had a company that was better prepared to undertake telework than I had believed,” Mr Alsina says. “This has made us trust in our teams even more.”

“We have plugged the hole, we have staunched the bleeding a little and the challenge we have as a company is how we face up to the next 24 months,” says Mr Alsina, who provides his recipe for the future: “I believe greatly in public-private partnerships. The idea is to mix the best of both worlds but not so as to duplicate, but the opposite: to multiply. And here family businesses, with this medium-term vision, again play an important role to achieve profitability but, at the same time, to be sustainable and enjoy a much better future in a world that is so volatile, uncertain, complex and so global. ”

“We have to raise our sights and support each other; let’s see ourselves as part of the solution and not the problem, trusting each other, which is what society is asking of us,” Mr Alsina says. “Let’s create a society that can work, where a good living can be earned, where we can have decent wages and where the effect of all this, in the end, is to the good of everyone” he tells #DamosLaCara.

The #DamosLaCara platform is a citizens’ initiative promoted by employees and employers from all over Spain. It enhances the engagement of employees and employers with the whole of society, in addition to publicising the effort and important work that family businesses are undertaking throughout the country through their economic and social contributions.

The Carinsa Group, a member of the Catalan Association of Family Businesses (ASCEF), is an industrial group with a track record of over 25 years. It creates, produces and markets of flavours for food, drinks and animal feed together with fragrances for cosmetics, cleaning products and detergents. The company has participated in the #DamosLaCara (We show our resolve) movement, where it explains how it has experienced the current Covid-19 situation.

Vanesa Martínez and Denia Martínez, the CEO and vice-president respectively of the Carinsa Group, say that “it is really important for us that our employees feel that the company is supporting them at all times“. This is why, when the State of Alarm and the subsequent lockdown were announced, “we decided to ask all the families with children, one by one, if they needed someone to take care of their children at home. This was something that concerned us greatly because we were not only thinking about the company, but also that all our employees’ children needed to be cared for.”

They also emphasise that protecting the health of employees is vital for the company. At the onset of the health crisis, they chose to conduct PCR tests on all their employees to detect positive cases and avoid infections within the company. These tests have been conducted repeatedly in recent months, thereby creating a safe, virus-free environment at their facilities.

The Carinsa Group has also consolidated its position as a consistent partner because, despite the difficulties, it was able to anticipate the situation by equipping itself with raw materials. It also made shipments ahead of schedule so that they arrived on time, thereby ensuring that all its customers received their orders trouble-free.

“How can we contribute to society in the long term?” they asked themselves at the start of the health crisis. “By creating employment“, they replied. “Since March 14, we have added 12 new staff members and we need to incorporate more into the company.”

“At times of crisis you realise that people really are wonderful,” they say. “And we cannot fail, nor do we have any intention of failing. And we show our resolve so that no one loses heart. Together we can all support each other and we have to create value, make people happy. And everyone here must help in this together”, they conclude.

The #DamosLaCara platform is a citizens’ movement promoted by employees and employers from all over Spain. It is an initiative that shows the commitment of family businesses to overcoming the current health and economic crisis by taking into account their contribution to employment and the revival of the economy.

Employees and employers from all over Spain are promoting the #DamosLaCara (We show our resolve) movement, an initiative that shows the commitment of family businesses to overcoming the current health and economic crisis, while noting their contribution to employment and to the revival of the economy. The members of the Catalan Association of Family Businesses (ASCEF) are participating and collaborating with this platform, as in the case of Anudal, a Badalona company specialising in the manufacture of accessories for aluminium carpentry.

“The most difficult time was when you have to tell your parents: stay at home. Leave the company where you have spent every day for over 30 years and accept that control depends much more on the new generation”, explains Eva Hernámperez, the General Manager of Anudal.

However, the company began to buy masks and other personal protective equipment before the state of alarm was declared: “So, when the health crisis arrived, we already had all the material. We also gathered raw materials so we could be in control of all the elements of our production process. Our priority has been to maintain the jobs of the whole team that has been with us for over thirty years”, he says.

Anudal, which has collaborated out of solidarity with healthcare professionals and the Badalona Research Centre over past weeks, has also not forgotten its suppliers: “It is really important not to break the supplier payment chain; the most vulnerable should be paid in advance. It is really important for the companies that can to do so; let’s help the smaller ones: every supplier is necessary”, explains Ana Núñez, company manager.

The company knew how to adapt to the situation and, after assessing “what we can do“, in a few days “we were able to place on the market a stand for separating spaces with partitions,” says Marta Hernámperez, the Commercial Director of Anudal. “Despite the circumstances, we always try to battle through and this will not stop us,” she concludes.

Family businesses that form part of the Catalan Association of Family Businesses (ASCEF) are participating and explaining their experience on the #DamosLaCara (We show our resolve) platform. This is a citizens’ movement that aims to enhance the engagement of employees and employers with society and publicise the important work and effort that they are undertaking throughout the country. One of the members collaborating is Torrons Vicens.

“We have been through good times and bad and we are still here“, they say at the company, which has a long tradition of making turrón, a Spanish sweet resembling nougat. “We are aware of our responsibilities; now is not the time to look away.”

At Torrons Vicens, they note that washing hands “is something that we do thoroughly, but that shouldn’t only involve the physical act. We must take care of ourselves in every aspect; we cannot allow this to stop. And yes, we wash our hands, but we can’t do this when it comes to jobs: it’s time to show our resolve.”

Jori Armengol & Asociados, an insurance brokerage that is a member of the Catalan Association of Family Businesses (ASCEF), has participated in #DamosLaCara (We show our resolve) iniciative. This is a citizens’ movement that enhances the engagement of employees and employers with society as a whole, in addition to publicising the effort and important work that family businesses are undertaking all over the country through their economic and social contributions.

The company’s CEO and Executive President, Ferran Jori, is very clear in his message with regard to the present situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic: “As a family business, we will come through this and emerge even stronger than before. In the long term, full steam ahead, let’s go for it.”

Mr Jori explains that the company, which was founded 130 years ago and now has its fifth generation at the helm, “has withstood wars, world wars, other pandemics etc. thanks to a very strong team.” Regarding this health crisis, he said that “the most difficult time for us was when three parents of our team members passed away. This affected the team badly; and human resources has provided great support and assistance”.

Looking forward, Mr Jori says that “an event like this causes people to worry. Now any activity, at any given time, can be halted by another pandemic and this generates financial and economic risks for which the insurance sector will have to find solutions“. However, he does not hesitate to underline that those in the family business “will show their resolve.“