SME Advisory Board
We research, develop and share knowledge to help build better SMEs.
Identity and Purpose
Building better SMEs, ready to meet today’s challenges and prepare for the future.
The SME Advisory Board of San Telmo Business School brings together owners and senior executives from leading companies to reflect on the main challenges facing small and medium-sized enterprises and draw on their experience to guide the School’s research and academic development.
It is a forum of trust, reflection and strategic dialogue where business and academic knowledge meet to understand SMEs better and help improve the quality of their management, governance and ability to endure.
Our Objectives
- Identify the main challenges facing SMEs, anticipating changes affecting their competitiveness, growth and continuity.
Guide San Telmo’s research and academic development, generating relevant knowledge connected to business reality.
Support the development of senior management through specialized educational activities addressing business owners’ real challenges.
Foster a community for strategic reflection based on trust, sharing experiences and comparing decisions.
Encourage collaboration and the dissemination of knowledge, helping improve SME management and governance.
Business growth and continuity require increasingly complex decisions: defining a value proposition, professionalizing management, developing organizational structures and control systems, pursuing growth and strengthening corporate governance.
The San Telmo SME Advisory Board organizes its reflection and research around seven key dimensions that accompany a company’s development and help identify the challenges shaping its competitiveness and continuity.
Define a competitive business model, identify market needs, develop a distinctive value proposition and strengthen relationships with the first customers.
Management — Professionalizing Management Capabilities
Develop the leadership and management capabilities needed to manage increasingly complex organizations, make better decisions and advance the professionalization of the business.
Structure — Organizing for Growth
Design appropriate organizational structures, define responsibilities, develop delegation mechanisms and establish organizational models that support business development.
Control — Leading with Information and Sound Judgment
Implement management control systems, indicators and strategic diagnostic tools to understand business performance, anticipate risks and improve decision-making.
Growth — Preparing for the Next Stage
Explore new approaches to growth, diversification and internationalization, identifying the capabilities, resources and decisions needed to seize new opportunities.
Governance — Strengthening the Company’s Institutions
Develop corporate and family governance structures and mechanisms that clarify relationships among ownership, governance and management, protect assets and support business continuity.
Continuity — Building Businesses That Last
Prepare for generational succession, ensure the transfer of knowledge and leadership, and create the conditions needed to preserve and carry forward the business legacy.
These dimensions are neither rigid nor necessarily consecutive stages. They represent interconnected challenges that may arise simultaneously throughout the life of a company.
Conceptual Map
The SME Advisory Board’s activity is built around three complementary functions that connect business owners’ experience with San Telmo’s research and academic development.
The Board helps identify the strategic issues shaping the competitiveness, growth and continuity of small and medium-sized enterprises. Its members’ experience and contributions guide studies, research projects and case development, generating rigorous knowledge relevant to business management.
The Board brings business owners, executives and academics together to share experiences, compare decisions and reflect on major business challenges. Through meetings, seminars, case presentations and other academic activities, it encourages the exchange of perspectives and the dissemination of knowledge.
The knowledge generated and shared informs executive education and business development. Through research, cases and academic activities, San Telmo helps strengthen SMEs’ management, professionalization and governance capabilities, supporting their competitiveness and continuity.
Better businesses: more competitive, with greater continuity.
Who Sits on the Board?
The SME Advisory Board consists of respected owners and senior executives from small and medium-sized companies that lead their sectors.
The diverse activities, careers and experiences of its members enrich the analysis of business challenges and bring different perspectives to San Telmo’s research and academic development.
Members participate in an environment of trust and commitment, sharing experiences, comparing decisions and helping identify the issues that will shape the future of SMEs.
Admission to the Board requires its members’ approval. Appointments are personal and non-transferable, and the relationship is formalized through a Business Collaboration Agreement.
Companies Represented on the Board
The Board brings together business owners and executives from companies with varied sectors and backgrounds. Their experience enriches strategic reflection and understanding of business reality.
Participation is personal: Board members contribute their experience and management judgment from a broad business perspective.
Sponsors and Partner Organizations
The Board is supported by organizations committed to SME development and to generating and sharing useful knowledge for business leaders.
These include Martínez-Echevarría as sponsor and Ibercaja as a special partner. Their support contributes to the Board’s academic activities and initiatives.
Research and academic development are among the SME Advisory Board’s main contributions. Drawing on the challenges identified in its meetings and activities, San Telmo develops initiatives to better understand business reality and create tools for reflection and learning for business leaders.
Studies and Research
Research projects on the main strategic, organizational and governance challenges facing SMEs, designed to generate relevant knowledge for business management.
Business Cases
Developing and using cases to analyse real business decisions, compare alternatives and bring companies’ experience into executive education.
Seminars and Meetings
Academic activities bringing business owners, executives and experts together to explore issues relevant to competitiveness, growth and business continuity.
Sponsor:
Special contribution:
Joining the Board
Join a community committed to the future of SMEs
The SME Advisory Board brings together business owners and senior executives committed to developing business knowledge and improving the management of small and medium-sized enterprises.
Participation offers a forum for strategic reflection and sharing experiences, and the opportunity to help shape San Telmo’s research and academic development.
Admission is selective, requires approval by Board members and is formalized through a Business Collaboration Agreement.
Upcoming Events and Activities
Building to last: profitability, leadership and value creation.
The Board’s academic program addresses the challenges accompanying an SME’s development, from consolidating its business to professionalization, growth, governance and continuity.
Board meetings, seminars and open activities explore these issues from different perspectives, combining academic reflection with business experience.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BOARD?
