ALVIC’s internalisation as a success story at the Meeting with Family Entrepreneurs

The CEO of ALVIC, Javier Rosales, has participated in the meeting with Family Entrepreneurs organised by the Ávolo Chair of Family Business of the University of Jaén. The event, which took place in the Casa de la Cultura of Alcaudete, was attended by the Mayor of the Town Hall, Valeriano Martín, and businessmen of the municipality who were able to share their opinions on the international experience of the business fabric.

Under the slogan “The international strategy of the family business”, the singularities of internationalisation and its importance for the growth and continuity of these organisations were discussed. In this regard, Javier Rosales provided the experience of ALVIC as a success story. “Currently, 80% of ALVIC’s sales come from international markets. We are present in more than one hundred countries, we have 8 industrial plants outside Spain, a subsidiary in the United States with its own factory and we have just acquired a factory in France”, explained Javier Rosales, who had words of remembrance for his father and the founder of the company. “Alejandro Rosales was the first who left in the 70s and went to VIC. The emigrants from Jaén were exporters: cardboard suitcases, trains without air conditioning and to Catalonia. Quite an example”.

Javier Rosales continued the presentation by giving some advice to the entrepreneurs present: “It is very important to take into account what you export, where and how, you have to analyse the market and choose well the product you want to sell”, he explained and stressed the importance of speaking languages in this globalised world: “You cannot go around the world without speaking English”, he said.

The meeting was also attended by ALVIC’s Export Director, Julián Ramírez, who provided relevant data confirming the international character of the company. Among other things, he pointed out that ALVIC has more than twenty nationalities among its staff of more than 1,200 employees and that 25% of the workers are from outside Spain. Ramírez also explained that one of the main keys to success in the internationalisation of the group has been the long-term vision as opposed to the need for the short term, the commitment of ownership at all levels and the professionalism of the management team. He also added, as a key to success, having a strategy of product and service differentiation.

He indicated that exporting should always respond to a strategy and never to a need and stressed that the international strategy must be driven by the management and involve the entire organisation. Likewise, Julián Ramírez added that it is key to prioritise markets and define objectives and concluded by stating that the real key to success is always based on people.

The meeting also included the intervention of María Guadalupe Fuentes, professor at the University of Jaén and member of the Ávolo Chair of Family Businesses, who gave a detailed presentation on the process involved in the internationalisation of the company.