From the CREA Movement, there is a shift in focus in agricultural business. It’s not just about producing more; it’s about doing it well.
The way of production has changed. Companies have changed. The context in which they must operate has evolved. Now, it’s not just about producing more; it’s about doing it well, with the right people and in ways that meet the requirements of markets and society.
In this context, last week, CREA presented new Business Management Standards that propose a change in the worldview of companies. “For a long time, the CREA Movement focused on measuring processes, businesses without looking at the company as a whole system, but in recent years, starting from a strategic change, we began to think of ourselves more as entrepreneurs than as producers,” said Alberto Galdeano, responsible for the Business area at CREA, to Clarín Rural.
This focus led to a rethink of what is measured. “Processes and businesses are still measured, as the Movement has been doing for almost 60 years, but fundamentally, now the focus is on measuring the company as a whole,” Galdeano summarized.
For the development of this management tool, the Business area of CREA studied how companies are measured in other sectors of the economy. “Thus, today, our system allows comparing agribusiness companies with those in any other sector of the economy,” emphasized Galdeano. It is worth noting that while these standards are mandatory for those within the Movement, they can also be adopted by non-member companies. You just have to go to the CREA website and search for them there.
“We consider that the sustainability of companies today is based on three aspects: economic, social, and environmental. This standard only reflects the economic aspect, but we have another area of CREA that works on developing standards to measure environmental aspects, and at some point, social aspects will also be measured,” said Galdeano.
Current Problems
It is clear that among the most relevant problems today in any company, agricultural or otherwise, are price volatility, depressed purchasing power, and lack of financing.
Asked by Clarín Rural about the issues they are working on, Galdeano highlighted their concern for corporate governance. “It has to do with the areas that govern the company: the family, most of our companies are family-owned, and we are working a lot on this; the company’s shareholders; the board of directors, and the general management,” he said. And he added: “It’s about the space where the most strategic and structural decisions are made, not so much the circumstantial ones, not those related to the business from one year to the next, but rather how the long-term of an agricultural company is decided.”
According to Galdeano, “the new standards help a lot in measuring the structural problems that an agricultural company may have and improving from this.” “The previous management standards measured more the circumstance because the focus was on quantifying the business, now the focus is more on measuring the structure,” he summarized.
Revalued Family SMEs
Another issue that affects many companies linked to agribusiness today is making a smooth transition between generations, from parents to children. This is also being addressed by the Business area of CREA.
“Almost all of our companies have a considerable patrimony and require an administrative profile that comes from generations, but also, for the company to grow and be interesting for the next generations, it is necessary to give space to new projects, and these are carried out by entrepreneurs,” explained Galdeano. And he added: “We want companies that are interesting for the new generations, so that they feel they have their place and can enter to play a strong role, because we want continuity in CREA companies, not division of assets, as often happens.”
That is the challenge, to change, adjust the pieces, so that there is a change that allows staying afloat.
