On Tuesday, November 8, 2022, with a ceremony at the COTRUGLI Business School “SiA – Strategy in Action” program was officially launched. SiA is a crucial element of the ELITE program of the London Stock Exchange. SiA program will help the leading teams of small and medium-sized companies to co-create, activate and implement their organization’s strategy, create strategic plans for growth and scalability, open access to capital, create opportunities with investors and prepare them for going public.

This makes COTRUGLI Business School an exclusive distributor of the SiA program for the region of Southeast Europe with the help of a firm and strategic partnership of Privredna banka Zagreb d.d., EBRD and the Zagreb Stock Exchange.

SiA offers the tools and knowledge needed to grow and develop business

Zoran Đorđević, Partner and Academic Director at COTRUGLI Business School, seized the opportunity to emphasize: “We are extremely proud that the COTRUGLI Business School is chosen as the exclusive representative of the SiA – Strategy in Action program for the region of Southeast Europe, with the support of strategic partners Privredna banka Zagreb d.d., the EBRD and the Zagreb Stock Exchange. Despite all the support and guidance available, many companies still struggle to formulate, implement and monitor their strategy systematically. This program offers all the necessary tools and knowledge needed to grow and develop their business.”

Vedrana Jelušić Kašić, member of the Management Board at Privredna banka Zagreb d.d., said that entering the capital market is one of the ways that companies can strengthen their financial position and capital base for future projects and business expansion, especially in the environment of rising interest rates, stating: “Privredna banka Zagreb d.d. joined the initiative in cooperation with COTRUGLI Business School and the Zagreb Stock Exchange to provide adequate support and education to companies that are strategically thinking about accessing the capital market to finance their future operations, where it is especially important to ensure the quality of corporate management that investors on the capital market demand.”

SMEs are the backbone of the economy throughout Europe

Tomislav Gračan, a member of the Management Board at the Zagreb Stock Exchange, also highlighted the importance of the SME sector, saying: “Small and medium-sized enterprises are the backbone of the economy throughout Europe, including in Croatia. At the same time, it is difficult for them to access capital for business growth and development, and they are also not sufficiently not familiar with all the possibilities that the financial markets offer. That is why this program is one of the excellent ways to provide them with all the information they need. For several years, the Zagreb Stock Exchange has operated a market exclusively for small and medium-sized enterprises, the Progress market, which is one of the first registered in the so-called SME Growth Market in Europe. Therefore, we are extremely pleased to have the opportunity to be part of this project, and we believe that we will make it easier for our small and medium-sized enterprises to decide on the direction of future financing of their business.”

About 30 top companies from the SME sector had the opportunity to experience the program and listen to an interactive lecture by the world’s leading expert in business strategy, Davide Sola, PhD. On that occasion, Mr Nikola Dujmović, the President of the Management Board at SPAN, who experienced the program on the London Stock Exchange, shared his experience. “Above all, the program taught us to think in a structured way, actively listen to other people’s experiences, and get objective feedback on some of our thoughts, plans and goals. I would certainly recommend the program to Croatian entrepreneurs.”

To learn more about the SiA program, visit the link.