The “ADVICE Business Success” Study, from the economic and business consultancy Advice Strategic Consultants, empirically identifies the most successful companies and business leaders in our country. In the case of entrepreneurs, the Study associates business success with 40 parameters, which have been empirically measured every six months since 2005. These factors act as business accelerators and the success of these companies, validating the contribution of the management of the leader to business success.
“The ADVICE Study pays special attention to the contribution to the success of the business of business leaders, through their management. The attributes associated with the main entrepreneurs and managers of our country are studied, essentially of the 400 largest Spanish companies, belonging to the economic sectors of activity that make up 90% of the Gross Domestic Product of Spain (GDP): Telecommunications and Information Technology (ICT), Banks, Mass Distribution, Tourism, Energy, Infrastructure Management, Construction, Food, Mass Consumption, etc”, asserts the general director of Advice Strategic Consultants, Jorge Díaz Cardiel.
An essential factor is the perception as a good manager/a that is held of the President and/or CEO by the opinion leaders. In 2021/2022, as a consequence of the pandemic and the consequent health, economic and social crises, two fundamental factors define the excellent business manager: “social commitment / corporate social responsibility and effective business management in times of crisis”: these factors are what have awarded, for the 5th consecutive year, to Isidre Fainé, the first place as the best business manager in Spain, in his double facet of RSE, as president of Fundación la Caixa and its Obra Social and for his gbusiness management (Leadership and drive of the merger by acquisition of CaixaBank to Bankia. In this case, the good image and reputation of José Ignacio Gorigolzarri and Gonzalo Gortázar (chairman and CEO of CaixaBank, respectively), have been strengthened. And for the leadership in defending the Spanishness of Naturgy against the takeover bid by the Australian fund IFM).
The Study also identifies as very important, among forty other parameters: that the leader be recognized “For his quality as a manager / quality of management; Because of the experience / knowledge / trajectory that he has; Because of the importance / weight that he has within the company; Successful management in a complicated situation / problem solving / Social Commitment and Attributes of Corporate Social Responsibility; Corporate Strategy / or because of the contact he maintains with the media, analysts and other Stakeholder Groups,… ”, affirms Jorge Díaz Cardiel, General Managing Partner of the consulting firm that prepares the Study, Advice Strategic Consultants.
“This -continues Díaz Cardiel-, is not a ranking of power or influence, nor of image or reputation (although success generates a good image and reputation for these entrepreneurs) but of efficiency: it identifies those business leaders who generate greater value tangible for their companies, the result of excellence in their work and, with it, contributing decisively to the success of their companies: obtaining good results and social commitment. Throughout these 17 years of studies and measurements, Advice Strategic Consultants has empirically shown that “An excellent business manager can contribute up to 64% to the success of the company.”
The top five business leaders who stand out for these criteria (40) are: Isidre Fainé (La Caixa Foundation) with 84%, Pablo Isla, (Inditex), with 82%, Ana Botin (Santander Bank)with 81%, Marta Alvarez (The English Court)with 80% Y José María Álvarez-Pallete (Telefónica), with 80%. It is the third time that two women have been among the five most important businesspeople in Spain and, for the third time, Marta Álvarez (El Corte Inglés) also repeats in the top-5 of the ranking prepared by Advice Strategic Consultants.
Isidre Fainepresident of the “La Caixa” Banking Foundation, is recognized not only for his “excellence in business management and its successful track record”but “its authority, prestige, reputation, good image and social responsibility”, which includes and transcends the banking world from which he comes, since he is president of the La Caixa Foundation (CaixaBank, Criteria Caixa, Obra Social La Caixa), has been president of the energy company Naturgy (Gas Natural Fenosa) and has a strong social commitment through the Social Work of La Caixa. Fainé obtains high positive recognition by being identified with the La Caixa Foundation or, simply “La Caixa” (the first foundation in Europe), CaixaBank (the first bank in Spain) and the investee companies grouped in Criteria Caixa (Naturgy, Cellnex Telecom, Agbar , etc).
Paul Island, first sword of Inditex, continues to be among the top three executive managers and is increasingly identified with Inditex, although he will leave his position in April 2022, passing the baton to Marta Ortega, daughter of Amancio Ortega, founder of Inditex. Isla and its worldwide online sales business model have made Inditex/Zara one of the most recognized Spanish brands in the world. In the business world it is associated with Inditex and in the consumer world, with Zara. This is also a recognition by Spanish businessmen and managers of the career of Pablo Isla, the creator of much of Inditex’s global success.
Ana Botin continues with the internationalization of Santander Bank and, in 2021 “navigating Brexit in the United Kingdom”. Santander continues to deliver good financial results and its efforts are focused on improving the value of the share and embarking on the Digitization that CaixaBank has already achieved so successfully”.
Marta Álvarez, president of El Corte Inglésis the first woman to assume the position in the company’s history and has surrounded herself with a solid team of managers in what interpreted as a commitment to the professionalization of management of the first Large Distribution chain in Spain. The 2021-2026 Strategic Plan that will implement the CEO, Victor del Pozo it involves digital transformation, commitment to omnichannel, e-commerce and business diversification: travel, insurance, telecommunications, energy, etc. Purchases from Sánchez Romero Supermarkets and from the online travel agency Logitravel confirm this.
To the Chairman of Telefónica, José María Álvarez-PalleteI know associated with the strong reduction of the debt of the telecommunications operator. Also with the creation of several companies that reflect its new business model, among which Telefónica Tech stands out, leading digitization service system integrator in Europe and Latin America and Brazil. It has the widest range of digital transformation, cybersecurity, big data, cloud computing, Internet of Things and Blockchain. It is run by a successful entrepreneur, José Cerdán Ibáñez, who leads the ranking of entrepreneurs/managers in the ICT-Digital Sector.
2022, “belongs”, for the third year, to women entrepreneurs and managers: Two women stand out among the top-5 Spanish entrepreneurs: Ana Botín (Santander) and Marta Álvarez (El Corte Inglés). It is the third time since 2005 and 32 semiannual waves, that two women occupy the first positions.
Of the Top 25 business managers in Spain, 13 are women, having made a lot of progress in gender equality in the last three years. In the top 25 there are also high-level managers and businesswomen, such as Esther Alcocer Koplowitz (Chairwoman of FCC), María Dolores Dancausa (Bankinter), Beatriz Corredor Sierra (Red Eléctrica), Belén Garijo (World CEO of Merck Serono laboratories), Sol Daurella (Chairwoman of Coca-Cola European Partners), Helena Revoredo Delvecchio (President of Prosegur), Helena Herrero (VP of HP South Europe), Pilar López Álvarez (VP of Microsoft Europe), Mariangela Marseglia (Amazon), Ángeles Delgado (Fujitsu), Irene Cano (Facebook) or Fuencisla Clemares (Google ), among other successful women in banking, services, distribution and ICT.
The results correspond to the winter wave of 2021/22, from the ADVICE Study of “Business Success”. Other parameters that have made these entrepreneurs successful are, among the forty analyzed, the following: “Due to the management/resolution of problems with shareholders; For business communication; Because of the relevance / influence it has on the rest of the sectors / companies / in Spain; and Because of how recognized / well-regarded he is / for being a social benchmark”.
Grades
Advice Strategic Consultants methodology is empirical, patented and based on an economic theory called “Business success, with or without crisis”. Based on market research based on a quantitative survey, with very large and representative samples of the universes under study; includes both the general population and opinion leaders (businessmen, managers, politicians, academics, economists, journalists, third sector, influencers on the Internet, market and financial analysts). The Study has a statistical confidence index of 95.5% and a margin of error of +-1.8%, statistical parameters with which the electoral result could be ascertained in the case of general elections in Spain, for example.
The sample of Opinion Leaders is made up of 1,800 people: 400 press, radio, TV and Internet journalists; 200 financial analysts who cover the sectors represented in the IBEX-35; 600 entrepreneurs and managers; 100 politicians; 200 economists; 200 business opinion leaders on the Internet (“influencers”) and 100 representatives of the Third Sector (NGOs, Foundations, Unions). The interviews -among opinion leaders- have been carried out in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Bilbao and Seville.
The sample of the General Population residing in Spain is made up of 2,400 interviews with the general population, following segmentation criteria by demographic and socioeconomic variables of the INE and the CIS (statistical confidence index of 95.5% and margin of error of +-1.8 %). The interviews have been by telephone (25% by mobile phone) and the survey period lasted from November 2021 to January 2022: 3 months, in total.
