Spanish Business Research Articles

Strategic analysis of internationalization and insertion in the Brazilian Fast Food market: Simulative study from the Spanish company Cerveceria 100 Montaditos

The objective of this study is to analyze the internationalization and insertion of the Spanish business group Restalia, through the Cerveceria 100 Montaditos brand, in the Brazilian fast food market. It is a simulative panorama, via qualitative research, in a case study chosen by convenience and direct observation. The Pestel, Porter's Five Forces and SWOT analyses made it possible to map and identify critical success factors and threats. The results indicate that the self-service business model, with a variety of small snacks and beverages sold at low prices, has the potential to succeed in Brazil in cities with more than 200,000 inhabitants. This study lacks complementary research that involves detailing the Marketing and Logistics Plans, operational issues and economic feasibility, as well as contact with the company to verify the interest in operating in Brazil, considering that the business model undertaken exposes attractive characteristics, significantly applicable to the Brazilian reality.

Is “Something Else” Needed Before Establishing a Family Council? The Role of Communication in Business Familiesole of communication within business families

Establishing a family council can be beneficial for business families. However, determining the optimal circumstances to do so can be challenging. While some experts argue that a family council always provides long-term benefits, recent research on family councils suggests that there are certain prerequisites for successful family council implementation. This paper explores the nature of these prerequisites by examining communication dynamics within business families. Olson’s Circumplex Model is transferred from family therapy to the context of the family council by applying Habermas’s criteria for an ideal speech situation. Within this framework, a communication continuum on which to position business families is developed. This continuum is then applied to three Spanish business families. The findings suggest that a family council is functional only when minimum communication standards are met within the business family. Otherwise, the family council may have a minimal or even a negative impact. Families with an active family council should prioritise its use as a space for dialogue to enhance the business family’s functionality before tackling any other tasks or functions.

What makes a lobby successful? Understanding the capacity of Spanish business organizations to influence public decisions

What makes a lobby successful? Understanding the capacity of Spanish business organizations to influence public decisions

Development of Institutional Arbitration in Spain

INTRODUCTION. The development of the statuto­ry regulation of institutional arbitration in Spain has been briefly outlined at the present study. The legal status of arbitral institution, the legal nature of its rights, obligations and liabilities have been examined. The role of arbitral institutions at the current arbitra­tion situation in Spain has been briefly outlined.MATERIALS AND METHODS. The study has been based upon Spanish legislation, key judicial acts and works of Spanish and Latin American experts in the field. General scientific methods of knowledge – analy­sis, synthesis, induction and deduction – have been applied during the study. Special legal methods – for­mal-legal, technical-legal, the method of legal analogy, as well as the comparative legal method – have been also applied.RESEARCH RESULTS. The study demonstrates three factors which obstacle a full-scale development of institutional arbitration in Spain. The first factor is that the commercial arbitration itself has been a new phenomenon and it has been still unknown to the most of the Spanish population except a rather narrow community of professionals. As a consequence, the most of Spanish business community members put their best faith upon the judicial way of disputes reso­lution. As another consequence, confidentiality of pro­ceedings and absence of appellation remedy have been treated rather as weaknesses than advantages of arbi­tration. The second factor is that there has been a deep-rooted point of view across Spanish business and lawyers communities that an arbitrator is rather legal representative of the party he has been appointed by. Which provokes reasonable doubts regarding inde­pendence and impartiality not only of an arbitrator, but an arbitral institution as well. The both factors outcome a low number of arbitrations in Spain and activate the third one. The third factor is a rather low level of competence of arbitrators and arbitral institu­tions staff due to the lack of practice. The study dem­onstrates significant efforts of the leading Spanish ar­bitral institutions in order to eliminate the factors.DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS. The devel­opment of the statutory regulation of institutional ar­bitration in Spain has been briefly outlined. The legal status of arbitral institution, the legal nature of its rights, obligations and liabilities have been examined. The role of arbitral institutions at the current arbitra­tion situation in Spain has been briefly outlined. Based upon the results of the study, the author comes to the conclusion that despite a significant progress in im­proving of legal regulation of institutional arbitration and the commercial arbitration as a whole, Spain has still quite a long way to go in order to create an effi­cient system of commercial arbitration and to become an attractive jurisdiction for international commer­cial arbitration as well.

Dynamics of innovation over time: Evidence from the Spanish business elite

Although Spain was not a leading country in technology, it generated numerous innovations, which must be analyzed in order to understand its particular development trajectory. This paper makes a contribution in this line by quantifying the innovation activity of the country's business elite between c. 1870 and 1970. In addition, we have sought to verify whether some of the well-known debated dynamics of innovation over time are fulfilled in this case. First with a descriptive analysis and then through the VAR technique, it has been found that innovation occurred in waves, as Schumpeter pointed out despite Kuznets; major innovations were followed by incremental advances; process innovations predominated in the early stages of modern development and product innovations gained preponderance later; and that indigenous innovation favored the importation of technology. A structural break test has identified sharp fluctuations in innovation, apparently related to institutional factors and relevant changes in the economy.

Political and Business Negotiations in Spain: Socio-cultural and Linguistic features.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the specifics and structure of negotiations and discourse in politics and business, some speech techniques and phrases, as well as important details of national and cultural specifics that need to be studied in order to avoid conflicts and misunderstandings. The objectives of this work are to identify the ethno-cultural features of business communication in Spanish during negotiations, to analyze some lexical units and speech structures of the Spanish business language and to describe situations that can lead to conflicts in business communication.The material of the article was scientific culturological works of russian and foreign authors, interviews of political figures and businessmen. The research methodology includes analytical, descriptive, interpretive, classification methods.The scientific novelty of this work consists in identifying and systematizing common verbal and nonverbal features of political and business negotiations in Spain, as well as the linguistic techniques used. It should be concluded that Spaniards definitely prefer verbal communication to non-verbal, try not to focus on audiovisual material and presentations. Analysis of the way of life of Spaniards, national values, traditions, holidays, shows that in Spain there is a huge number of events, festivals which reflects the expressive and creative nature of the Spanish people. Ignorance of the fundamental elements of the Spanish national culture can lead to disagreement in official business relations, so they should be thoroughly studied before negotiations begin.

Spanish economy on the trajectory of the modernisation process

The experience of Spain indicates that in the actual conditions of decomposition of global and European economic growth, the promotion of modernisation processes involves reforming and structural rebooting of the economy, highlighting and systemic support for high-tech sectors of the economy. These and other problems of modernization are solved on the basis of the existing scientific and technical potential and international competitive advantages of Spanish business leaders in certain sectors of the world economy. As an example, the article demonstrates that in the changing European environment Madrid has tried to seize the initiative in the critical energy field. In this regard, the Spanish authorities predictably focused on relations with neighboring countries: Portugal and France, the creation of an energy system's interconnectivity, which has become one of the main tasks of the reform. Among other key areas are reindustrialisation, innovatisation programme digitalisation of small and medium-sized enterprises, creating conditions for the growth of technological unicorn startups. With the assistance of scientific methods of systemic, comparative, historical, content and statistical analysis, case study, the article reveals the concept of Spanish modernisation and gives its periodisation, defines the goals, tools, risks and challenges of the current stage of modernisation.

Unlocking global opportunities: Exploring bilingual teaching in Spanish business law

This paper explores the complexities of bilingual teaching in Spanish business law, highlighting both opportunities and challenges. Teaching in English offers global recognition and collaboration, especially in areas like international trade. However, nuances in Spanish commercial law and subjects rooted in national legal traditions, like insolvency law, pose hurdles. Anisomorphism between legal systems complicates direct translations, emphasizing the need for a strategic approach. Despite harmonization through directives, elements shaped by national legislation persist. Scarcity of English teaching materials necessitates ad hoc preparation, impacting educators and student independence. A judicious approach to bilingual teaching is crucial, balancing global benefits with linguistic intricacies and resource challenges.

Are Spanish business schools playing the role they should in bringing sustainability to the corporate world?

Over the last decade, the importance that Society has attributed to sustainability has grown exponentially – to the point of becoming one of its main concerns. The scientific community, albeit with differing opinions regarding the foreseeable evolution of possible scenarios, unanimously agrees that a rapid, joint, global and coordinated response must be acted upon in order to reverse the current situation. The research work that is presented here focusses specifically on identifying the necessary changes to be implemented both in universities and business schools (BSs), in order to significantly contribute to moving society towards a more sustainable scenario. Although this research work was on the Spanish market, it seems that most of the conclusions could be applicable to other countries. A combination of techniques, both quantitative (questionnaires and data analysis of reports, webs, etc.) and qualitative (focus groups, interviews, etc) has been applied to obtain important conclusions, among which the following should be highlighted: specific education programmes should be introduced for business schools and university lecturers; key programmes such as MBAs should include a number of sustainability-specific subjects, and these moves should be implemented as a mid- to long-term strategy policy.

Legado de la Reactivación: el movimiento empresarial surgido en España durante la pandemia por COVID-19

Es interesante compartir una iniciativa que consideramos relevante desde el punto de vista empresarial y social. Se trata de un movimiento de "activismo" empresarial que surgió el primer día del confinamiento decretado en España como respuesta a la pandemia del COVID-19. El movimiento se estructuró en varias fases: la fase inicial, Esto no tiene que parar; la fase intermedia, Actívate; y la fase final, Legado de la Reactivación. Este texto describe cómo una iniciativa empresarial surgida de forma casi espontánea, en un contexto de incertidumbre y falta de información sin precedentes, como el vivido durante la fase inicial de la pandemia, evolucionó hasta convertirse en una poderosa herramienta de resiliencia empresarial y social en España. A través del análisis de un estudio de caso, se detalla principalmente el papel de la gestión de la comunicación para la activación de proyectos. Los resultados llevan a afirmar que la comunicación estratégica y la activación de los medios y soportes adecuados, fundamentalmente redes sociales textuales y audiovisuales, fueron decisivos para el éxito del proyecto. Legado de la Reactivación representa el inicio de una nueva era en la que las empresas están llamadas a actuar con determinación, mediante la asignación de recursos económicos e intangibles, para buscar la solución a los grandes retos globales, en el ejercicio del papel que les corresponde. Una de las principales conclusiones es que la pandemia ha sido también, a pesar de todo, una oportunidad para remodelar la confianza en el mundo empresarial y su legitimidad de cara al futuro.

Promotion of entrepreneurship through business incubators: Regional analysis in Spain

This study focuses on business incubators in Spain, which helps compare regions within Spain. This study has four goals: to shape taxonomy of the Spanish business incubator system, to compare between regions, to identify the factors affecting incubators' success, and to analyse during the COVID pandemic. Of the 478 business incubators registered in Spain, 89 were selected as the sample for study. Business incubators provide office space, equipment and mentoring services, as well as financial, legal and administrative support for entrepreneurs and start-up companies. Non-parametric statistical techniques are used to compare between regions, considering each regional business incubator as an ecosystem. The study focuses on six Spanish regions: Madrid, Catalonia, Castile-Leon, Aragon, Basque Country and Galicia.

Sustainability practices and student satisfaction in business schools: the role of notoriety and internationalization

Purpose: The objective of this work is to determine whether the effort of business schools in terms of sustainability policies improves student satisfaction through boosting the internationalization of the institution and its notoriety.Design/methodology/approach: The sample considered in this study consisted of 272 Spanish business school graduates. The data was collected via online survey during the first quarter of 2020. To validate the hypotheses and the model, structural equations modelling was performed using robust method.Findings: A commitment of the business schools to sustainability not only has an ethical component but also improves their positioning, leading to greater competitiveness.Practical implications: The results obtained point to sustainability practices facilitating entry processes involving joint agreements among business schools and leading to clear accreditations and/or sustainability policies.Originality/value: The present research focuses on those variables included in the scarcely investigated external factors that should be considered to maintain high satisfaction among business school students.

Evolución económica reciente de las pymes españolas y de su acceso a la financiación externa de acuerdo con la encuesta semestral del BCE

Rationale In recent years the Spanish business sector has experienced unprecedented shocks: the onset of the pandemic, supply chain bottlenecks and escalating commodity prices. In this setting, it is important to assess the sector’s economic and financial situation. Takeaways •Between April and September 2022, the recovery in activity recorded in the previous two six-month periods continued for Spanish SMEs. However, higher production costs meant that profits declined at the majority of the firms surveyed. •For the first time since 2013, the survey signals a deterioration in the availability of bank financing. •In any event, despite rising slightly, the indicator of obstacles to obtaining bank loans remains at historically low levels.

Gender differences in the auditing stereotype and their influence on the intention to enter the profession

This study analyses gender differences in the auditing profession stereotype and how these differences impact the intention to work in auditing. The results of the study carried out among Spanish business students reveal the existence of relevant gender differences in the perception of the auditing profession and how factors, such as the perception of auditing as a demanding career or the interest in auditing work, affect men and women differently in their intention to enter the profession. These results contribute to the auditing stereotype as well as gender literature as very few previous studies have delved into the existence of gender differences in the auditing stereotype literature. This study has relevant implications for audit firms. They may apply different strategies for women and men talent attraction and retention in their organisations, which will reduce present and future voluntary rotation, and may increase the benefits that diversity generates in audit firms.

Trust and trust-linked elements in the formation of tourism networks in Brazil and Spain

While there is evidence of the positive influence of trust in cooperation development, in situations where trust is unfeasible, trust-linked elements are needed. In this investigation, trust-linked elements are considered to be contracts, supporting institutions (SIs), and reciprocity. This research aims to determine the role of trust and/or trust-linked elements in the formation of tourism business networks of Brazil and Spain. A quantitative study, using structural equation modelling, was carried out on a sample of 307 lodging companies. The results show that trust remains a key element in the composition of both Brazilian and Spanish business networks, although trust alone may not sufficiently explain collaboration in the tourism industry. This strengthens the argument for employing trust-linked elements to promote cooperation. Contracts and SIs substitute trust, whereas reciprocity complements it. SIs, in particular, play a crucial role in fostering cooperation, without requiring trust or incurring transaction costs, which is a less obvious but nonetheless important service. Networks in tourism destinations are often diverse and adaptable, suggesting that cooperation is idiosyncratic and an ongoing, dynamic process. This investigation concludes that decision-making for enhancing networking capabilities must consider various possibilities aligned with the social embeddedness of the companies in the corresponding tourism destination.

Spanish business commitment to the 2030 Agenda in uncertain times

<abstract> <p>Sustainability has become strategic since companies are aware that they must make a positive contribution to society and the environment in which they operate. At the same time, alliances have been formed and pacts have been made among nations to attempt to solve the social, economic and environmental problems that today's society faces. This is the case of the UN's 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This action plan entails the development of different initiatives to help face the challenges of this century, which have increased notably with the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of this study is to carry out an analysis of Spanish companies' commitment to the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs and verify what types of activities they propose to ratify their commitment in an uncertain period for firms. For a sample of 100 observations of Spanish firms in 2020 and 2021, we evidence that SDGs 4 (Quality education), 8 (Decent work and economic growth), 9 (Industry, innovation, and infrastructure), 13 (Climate action) and 17 (Partnerships for the goals) have been adopted by many companies, which have presented initiatives, projects and programmes to achieve their goals. Commitment to the SDGs had a positive evolution in 2021, i.e., firms created economic value, protected the environment and contributed to greater social well-being. Our results show companies' preferences in terms of stakeholders as their SDGs' actions focus on women, older people, young people, workers and trade unions, local governments and researchers in issues related to climate change. The paper contributes with a global assessment of companies' initiatives and helps to determine the impact of uncertain environments on business commitments to the 2030 Agenda.</p> </abstract>

Understanding the declared knowledge and readiness to apply Corporate Social Responsibility of Polish and Spanish business students

The purpose of this paper is to compare two groups of business students from Poland and Spain regarding their declared knowledge and readiness to apply the principles of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The research was conducted in 2018 among students of two selected universities: the Faculty of Management at the University of Lodz in Poland (UL) and the Faculty of Economics at the University of Valencia (UV). A literature review was performed to compare the CSR education programs at both faculties and to investigate students’ opinions about CSR. The Chi2 independence test was used to find any statistical differences between the two researched groups. In total, 607 students took part in the study. The findings revealed that UV students declare themselves to be better prepared than UL students to make sufficient CSR-based employment decisions. It was also found that UV students more frequently declared a readiness to take CSR measures such as encouraging the company's management to take an interest in CSR, or to personally promote CSR activities in the company. UV students also declared a willingness to work in a company guided by CSR values and activities even for lower remuneration. The findings may be affected by social as well as economic contextual factors and they make it possible to formulate concrete recommendations on how to improve students' awareness of CSR ideas.

Comunicación corporativa durante la pandemia por la COVID-19. Un análisis de las portadas de la prensa económica española durante el 2020 / Corporate communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. An analysis of the front pages of the Spanish business press in 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic that arrived in 2020 has affected the entire media landscape and also corporate communication. This research has analysed the main topics on the front pages of the three Spanish economic newspapers during 2020: Expansión, Cinco Días and El Economista. The evaluation of the main front page topics has made it possible to quantify the extent to which the pandemic has displaced the coverage devoted to corporate communications in organizations. In addition, it has been possible to observe which organizations have successfully spreading their messages and which specific issues have been most related to the pandemic. The results obtained show that the health crisis has absorbed the main topics of the front pages of the economic newspapers, leaving only half of the coverage available for other topics. Within this phenomenon of absorption, the effects on employment had the greatest prominence with a 10% presence in all the headlines analysed. The coverage on unemployment is especially important if it is related to the tourism sector, which was the industry with the highest presence on the front pages (36.6% of all topics categorized as COVID-19). The significant presence of both topics indirectly points to the important weight of tourism in the Spanish economy. However, it is not possible to state that all related topics were negative because there was also coverage focused on economic recovery (4.4%). On the other hand, in the space not occupied by the pandemic, it was observed that the coverage of the Caixabank - Bankia merger was the most important in comparison with the coverage of the rest of the organizations. This business initiative achieved 2.65% of front page topics since the pandemic began, in a scenario that was very limited. In general, mergers and acquisitions was the most important topic in 2020, as the second most covered specific topic was the failed merger between Banc Sabadell and BBVA. Telefonica was also among the companies with the most front-page coverage, although with a greater diversity of topics. The rest of the companies analysed also showed a wide variety of corporate topics as dividend management, cash flow movements and business diversification. It was also noted that the coverage achieved on the front pages maintained a business focus and wasn’t a vehicle for disseminating CSR efforts related to the pandemic. This is a very significant result because much recent literature has argued that during the pandemic, CSR has played an important role in the communication strategies of organizations. However, it seems that these actions have not been enough important to get a prominent position on the front page of Spanish business newspapers. The most important conclusion that can be drawn from this research is that corporate communication by organizations did not disappear during 2020 despite the ravages of the pandemic, but was reduced by 50%. This reduction also shows a very important effect to take into consideration. During the year 2020 organizations had to work much harder to be in the spotlight even though the economic coverage of the analysed media did not completely disappear because of the pandemic.

Comunicación corporativa durante la pandemia Un análisis de las portadas de la prensa económica española durante el 2020 / Corporate communication during the pandemic An analysis of the front pages of the Spanish business press in 2020

La pandemia por la COVID-19 llegada en 2020 ha afectado a todo el panorama mediático y, por tanto, también a la comunicación corporativa. El propósito de esta investigación ha sido analizar los temas principales de portada de los tres diarios económicos españoles durante el 2020 para evaluar si la pandemia ha condicionado la comunicación corporativa de las organizaciones y si procede, en qué medida ha sido. El análisis se ha llevado a cabo aplicando análisis de contenido de las portadas en medios económicos españoles de referencia: quality papers (Alvarado, 2008). Los resultados obtenidos señalan que la crisis sanitaria ha absorbido los temas principales de las portadas de los diarios económicos hasta dejar sólo la mitad de cobertura disponible para otros temas. Dentro de este fenómeno de apropiación los efectos en el empleo tuvieron el mayor protagonismo con un 10% de presencia en todos los titulares analizados. Por otro lado, en el espacio no ocupado por la pandemia se observó que la cobertura sobre la fusión Caixabank – Bankia fue la más relevante en comparación con la cobertura del resto de organizaciones. La conclusión más importante que puede extraerse de esta investigación es que la comunicación corporativa de las organizaciones no desapareció durante el 2020 pese a los estragos de la pandemia aunque sí se redujo en un 50%. Este hallazgo indica que se intensificó la presión para que las organizaciones pudieran trasladar sus mensajes. De la misma forma la cobertura lograda en las portadas mantuvo un enfoque empresarial y no fue un camino para la difusión de los esfuerzos en RSC. Palabras clave: pandemia, COVID-19, comunicación corporativa, portadas, medios económicos, titularesAbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic that arrived in 2020 has affected the entire media landscape and corporate communication. This research has analysed the main topics on the front pages of the three Spanish economic newspapers during 2020: Expansión, Cinco Días and El Economista. The evaluation of the main front page topics has made it possible to quantify the extent to which the pandemic has displaced the coverage devoted to corporate communications in organizations. In addition, it has been possible to observe which organizations have successfully spreading their messages and which specific issues have been most related to the pandemic.The results obtained show that the health crisis has absorbed the main topics of the front pages of the economic newspapers, leaving only half of the coverage available for other topics. Within this phenomenon of absorption, the effects on employment had the greatest prominence with a 10% presence in all the headlines analysed. The coverage on unemployment is especially important if it is related to the tourism sector, which was the industry with the highest presence on the front pages (36.6% of all topics categorized as COVID-19). The significant presence of both topics indirectly points to the important weight of tourism in the Spanish economy. However, it is not possible to state that all related topics were negative because there was also coverage focused on economic recovery (4.4%).On the other hand, in the space not occupied by the pandemic, it was observed that the coverage of the Caixabank - Bankia merger was the most important in comparison with the coverage of the rest of the organizations. This business initiative achieved 2.65% of front-page topics since the pandemic began, in a scenario that was very limited. In general, mergers and acquisitions were the most important topic in 2020, as the second most covered specific topic was the failed merger between Banc Sabadell and BBVA. Telefonica was also among the companies with the most front-page coverage, although with a greater diversity of topics. The rest of the companies analysed also showed a wide variety of corporate topics as dividend management, cash flow movements and business diversification.It was also noted that the coverage achieved on the front pages maintained a business focus and wasn’t a vehicle for disseminating CSR efforts related to the pandemic. This is a very significant result because much recent literature has argued that during the pandemic, CSR has played an important role in the communication strategies of organizations. However, it seems that these actions have not been enough important to get a prominent position on the front page of Spanish business newspapers.The most important conclusion that can be drawn from this research is that corporate communication by organizations did not disappear during 2020 despite the ravages of the pandemic but was reduced by 50%. This reduction also shows a very important effect to take into consideration. During the year 2020 organizations had to work much harder to be in the spotlight even though the economic coverage of the analysed media did not completely disappear because of the pandemic. Keywords: pandemic, COVID-19, corporate communication, front page, business press, headlines

Evolution and perspectives of Spanish in Russian school system

The article examines from various points of view the role of the Spanish language in the Russian system of primary and secondary education, both public and private, paying special attention to the experience of schools participating in the Bilingual Sections program of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Training. The article compares Spanish with other foreign languages in the Russian school system, and considers its evolution in the timeline and the impact on its status of migration movements in connection with political events, commercial and student exchange, tourism; as well as the impact of certain measures taken both in Russia and in Spain. Institutions in both countries have established links to promote mutual development in terms of learning Spanish and Russian, and the diplomatic corps has become the catalyst and manager of this dynamic. Despite the fact that the reactions of educational actors (institutions, civil society, students and teachers) are varied, they reinforce different mechanisms to gain access to Spanish culture and business, as well as to other Spanish-speaking countries. The article also demonstrates the current statistics and describes the trend that the teaching of Spanish may follow in the coming years due to positioning of Spanish among the main foreign languages studied in Russian schools.