Goirigolzarri encourages companies to take advantage of the opportunities presented by globalisation  
  
  “Companies must prepare themselves for change, they must transform themselves and continually adapt to new situations” 
“A company’s ability to adapt guarantees sustained value creation over time” 
“There are still very few Spanish companies that base their competitiveness on generating their own technology” 
José Ignacio Goirigolzarri, BBVA CEO, encouraged companies to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the globalisation process. During a talk at the 4th Gresol conference held today in Salou (Tarragona), Goirigolzarri stressed that in order to take advantage of the globalisation process, “companies must be prepared for change, they should transform themselves”,  and that a company’s capacity to adapt is what guarantees sustained value creation over time.

“Today we are living at a time of tremendous changes in all aspects of life – geopolitical, scientific, social and in the workplace…as well, of course, as in the economic and business worlds”, Goirigolzarri noted. He added that the real star in all these changes is technology. In his opinion, technology is one of the factors that can explain the globalisation process, given that it erases borders while increasing companies’ exposure in foreign markets – as well as breaking those companies’ traditional chains of value.

According to the BBVA CEO, “the combination of both factors – geographic aspects and the breaking of the chain of value – brings along a formidable challenge for companies…at the same time, it opens up new and distinct opportunities, depending on the sector.”

Goirigolzarri noted that the faster pace of change taking place in society is creating an environment of growth and robust wealth creation. He explained that “the moment of change we are currently living through, together with this period of growth, is having a substantial effect on world economic activity, creating new challenges along with new opportunities.” He singled out China as one example, “due to its large demand capacity.”

Internationalisation and diversification

Speaking before an auditorium filled with several hundred businessmen, the CEO of BBVA encouraged them to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the globalisation process. “In order to fully take advantage of the opportunities that globalisation is opening up, companies must be prepared for change, they must continually transform themselves and adapt to new situations as they arise.” Regarding this point, the COO wondered aloud why such adaptation was necessary, answering that it is “the element that guarantees sustained value creation over time – the creation of wealth.”

According to Goirigolzarri’s description, creating value over time implies two dimensions of activity: corporate positioning (understood as the potential of the markets in which a company is operating and its competitive position in each of them), and the business model. This business course of action should be guided by a basic idea – that of transformation – which can be specified in three actions:

Know oneself well, analyse the business models and discover the real competitive advantages 
Search out opportunities where one can fully leverage these advantages 
Export and exploit management capacities through internationalisation and diversification. 
Regarding internationalisation, the BBVA COO mentioned the addition of Eastern Europe into the European Union – a process that is not without its “threats”, in that it will force Spanish companies to increase their levels of productivity and competitiveness. Yet at the same time, this new situation is also full of opportunities.

The role of innovation

Goirigolzarri noted that when we talk about expanding companies’ capacities, we should also think about the opportunity to diversify income sources by offering new products and services. “Here, innovation plays an important role…this is an area where Spanish companies are still lagging behind,” he said, adding that “there are still too few Spanish companies that base their competitiveness on generating their own technology, which is one of the greatest advantages a firm can develop against competitors.”

Goirigolzarri used Spanish banking as an example of business transformation. This industry has undergone a process of convergence with Europe since the beginning of the 90’s, all within a context of intense adjustment to lower margins. The sector’s response to this “threat” was focused on three areas of activity: internationalisation in search of new markets, diversification of income sources, and an executive focus on efficiency and risk management.

“As a result of this, the Spanish banking industry has become an international reference in terms of profitability, efficiency, risk management and sales networks,” he noted, adding “If anything has characterised Spanish banking in recent years, it’s been the industry’s adaptation to change, and as a consequence of this, its ongoing ability to generate value.”