Coren hosted the ‘Desafío CEO’ business encounter focusing on the challenges faced by executives nowadays

• Coren’s president, Manuel Gómez Franqueira, was the honour host of the session, organised by Improven and the business circle

• Leading managers from companies such as Vegalsa-Eroski, Copasa, Exlabesa, Ribera Salud, Inasus and Vinos y Bodegas Gallegas reflect on the ‘recipe’ to face an ‘uncertain’ context turning the crisis into an opportunity

• Profitability, common goals, committed teams and decision-making as short-term solutions and pillars in the long run, these are the keys being dealt with by entrepreneurs

Companies are facing a critical situation in which they find themselves having to make ever faster urgent decisions that not always are aligned with a well thought-out strategy, thus increasing the risk of making mistakes. In this volatile context, refreshing the business goals and sharing them with the proper internal and external talent allows for an essential long-term vision aimed at knowing how to manage the short run.

These have been one of the main conclusions in the Desafío CEO business encounter, an initiative by Improven and the Galician Business Circle, which was this time celebrated at the Coren Group’s headquarters in Santa Cruz de Arrabaldo (Ourense), being hosted by Coren’s president, Manuel Gómez Franqueira, and managing director, Emilio Rial.

The purpose of the Desafíos CEOs 2023 session was to jointly discuss the current challenges faced by managerial positions in an uncertain global context, having the spotlight on Sergio Gordillo’s speech, acting as Improven’s managing partner.

As a matter of fact, Improven’s leading manager explained that this situation affects everybody and that ‘only those who make good decisions will improve their competitive positioning. That is why it is very important for CEOs to be surrounded by critical talent challenging them to rethink the key questions of their business and helping them take and implement consistent decisions’.

To weather the ‘perfect storm’ the war and the energy and supply crisis are provoking, Improven’s managing partner highlighted the need to ‘take decisions in a turbulent and dynamic environment, facing the everyday challenges, being surrounded by the adequate talent and having a clear long-term vision. Now more than ever, business goals are an essential guide for decision-making’.

‘We have to cast our concern aside and take action’, claimed Gordillo, who thinks it is crucial to face business management ‘bifocally’, that is to say ‘keeping an eye on the short and long run, being up to date and being on the lookout for business-transforming challenges’.

Moreover, following Coren’s example, he reminded to never forget every company’s founding purpose, with a clear social responsibility, and aim for excellence so as to grow and use resources efficiently.

The business circle president calls for ‘bravery’

In the presentation of the encounter, the circle’s and Rodman Group’s president, Manuel Rodríguez, analysed the economic situation ‘in which Spain is resisting more and better than other surrounding countries’, and encouraged the attendees to consider the crisis as ‘an opportunity for which we must be brave and spur talent for our companies’ progress’.

In this regard, he agreed with Coren’s president, Manuel Gómez Franqueira, who emphasised ‘the team value, which must be goal-oriented’ to generate wealth in the whole region.

This event hosted notable company managers from the health, agri-food, infrastructure and construction sectors, who shared their point of view in the Desafío CEO debate, chaired by Improven associate Andrés Alonso Seisdedos.

Joaquín González, CEO at Vegalsa-Eroski, Alfredo Blanco, managing director at Copasa, Xabier García, general manager at Inasus, Manuel Vázquez, general manager at Vinos y Bodegas Gallegas, Elisa Tarazona, managing director at Ribera Salud, and Francisco Quintá, CEO at Exlabesa, participated in the discussion.

All of them agreed on the need to ‘anticipate’, a fundamental learning process acquired during the pandemic, to be surrounded by talent ‘knowing how to respond to the challenges posed by the new professionals, who look for flexibility’ and to turn the crisis into ‘an opportunity’ to stand out among competitors and innovate in a global and digital context.

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