APD Catalonia Focuses on Productivity and Size of SMEs

The APD Catalonia Competitiveness Forum asserts that the challenge is for existing companies to grow and generate more value with the resources they already have. 99% of the Catalan business fabric consists of SMEs.

According to elmundofinanciero.com, productivity and the size of companies were the focus of the Competitiveness Forum organised by the Association for the Progress of Management (APD) in Catalonia. The meeting brought together entrepreneurs, executives, and other local stakeholders, continuing a previous Competitiveness Council of the same association.

The analysis is based on the APD Competitiveness Barometer, which positions productivity as a cross-cutting issue for Catalonia. The region has strengths in talent, innovation, and international projection, but the challenge is to translate those capabilities into more productivity and greater growth capacity for companies.

Size plays a significant role in a landscape where around 99% of companies are SMEs. Scale determines access to financing, the adoption of technology, talent acquisition, and presence in international markets. Therefore, according to the Council, the key is not only to create new companies but also to enable existing ones to grow.

One line of work proposes to encourage collaboration between companies and the aggregation of capabilities. Mergers, alliances, and shared services in areas such as technology, training, data, or internationalisation would allow SMEs to undertake investments that are difficult for them to manage individually.

In terms of innovation, the Council points out that Catalonia has significant research capacity, although knowledge does not reach the productive fabric effectively. The priorities are to strengthen knowledge transfer, intellectual property, and the commercialisation of research results.

At the innovation roundtable, Sergi Pejoan, partner at ERA Group, argued that innovating does not require large investments in R&D:

“Innovation is not limited to R&D or large technological investments. It is within reach of companies of any size and sector: enhancing the ‘i’ in innovation by improving how we reach the customer, better organising operations, and optimising costs is key. These improvements increase productivity and free up resources for further growth.”

Talent emerges as another area of focus. Universities, Vocational Training, and the education system must respond better to what companies demand, with more business participation in content design. The shortage affects not only university or technological profiles but also workers, technicians, and skilled professionals.

María José Carracedo, territorial director of Adecco in Catalonia, emphasised execution:

“Competitiveness does not solely depend on the resources a company has at its disposal, but on the speed and effectiveness with which it converts them into execution capacity. Our focus is on the labour market and talent: how to ensure that the available human and technological capabilities generate more value.”

The event was supported by Abanca, Adecco, and ERA Group, and was closed by Víctor Soria, general director of Economic Activity of the Government of Catalonia. The conclusions will serve as a basis for the proposals that the Council wants to convey to the Catalan business fabric.