Small and Medium Enterprises in Bolivia, a Look Back to the Future, 1900 - 2020

The main objective of this article is to analyze Bolivian small and medium enterprises (SMEs), their evolution, and their contribution to the country's economy. The globalization of markets is currently a reality to which companies are exposed for their survival, growth and development. In developing countries such as the plurinational State of Bolivia, this reality becomes more relevant due to the socioeconomic characteristics of the country, where the main economic activity is dependent on the export of non-renewable natural resources (natural gas and minerals), and to a lesser extent the export of primary products. In this context, the article shows that SMEs struggle to consolidate their position in local markets, and have a low participation in global markets. The article reviews relevant secondary and primary literature, and concludes that SMEs require public and private support to contribute to the promotion of entrepreneurial culture, enter into global production chains, develop technological and innovation capabilities, and achieve growth in a sustainable manner and with high levels of competitiveness. The research method used is the review of relevant primary and secondary bibliographic sources of information about the origins, evolution and current situation of SMEs in Bolivia, and about possible alternatives for growth and development.

The Digital Tech Deal: a socialist framework for the twenty-first century

The twenty-first century global economy is largely driven by Big Tech and, more broadly, digital capitalism. This is a global phenomenon, with US power at the centre preying on global markets through the process of digital colonialism. Mainstream antidotes to the ills of Big Tech and digital capitalism are US/Eurocentric and revolve around a collection of liberal and progressive capitalist reforms, including anti-trust, limited privacy laws, unionisation of Big Tech, algorithmic discrimination and content moderation – all of which are conceived within a capitalist framework which ignores or neglects digital colonialism and the twenty-first century ecological crisis, despite their analytical and moral centrality to contemporary political economy. This author argues that a combination of political, economic and social alternatives based on a Digital Tech Deal are needed to turn the tide against digital colonisation, entailing the socialisation of knowledge and infrastructure; passing socialist laws that support digital socialism; and new narratives about the tech ecosystem. These solutions are to be nested within an anti-colonial, eco-socialist framework that embraces degrowth to ensure environmental sustainability and socioeconomic justice.

Tramelling The Illegal Wildlife Trading: A Comparative Legislative Analysis of China and India

Illegal wildlife trade is one of the major transnational crimes. Transnational Crime, by its very nature, is problematic as it surpasses national jurisdictions, as well as the parameters of information systems and law enforcement agencies. Illegal wildlife trade networks increasingly operate like global multinational businesses, connecting local markets to the global markets through complex and interlinked networks.Against this background, CITES was entered into, multinational environmental agreement to which 183 nations are parties to it and India, being a member of CITES, in compliance with the guidelines, has enacted an umbrella of 8 legislation for the protection of wildlife in India. But despite this austere legislation, India is progressively becoming a hub of illegal wildlife trade.The illegal laundering of wild-caught animals via legal pathways is subject to increased scrutiny. It appears that illegal wildlife traders are rampantly using other covert methods to smuggle these animals into the territories of target consumer countries, such as China. Once they enter into the jurisdiction of destination countries that permit legal trade in this species, it becomes arduous for the relevant enforcement agencies to distinguish between the wild-caught and captive-bred animals.The author undertakes to carry out a comparative analysis of the existing legislation of China concerning India to understand whether the legislation is robust enough for the protection of the wildlife and how the enforcement mechanism can be strengthened for the advancement of the endangered species.

Strategies and Techniques for the Internationalization of Non-Dominant Firms: A Qualitative Study

This study focuses on the strategies and techniques used by small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to join and dominate large firms in global markets. The analytical works refer to the prevailing writings on international markets and entrepreneurship. Based on the categorizations and analyses of the themes and sub-themes, the historical development of global markets and theories is recounted, thereby creating a foundation for assessing the strategies and techniques of non-dominant firms. The findings indicate that the number of small and medium enterprises joining international markets is growing due to the adoption of robust strategies and techniques. An international model is proposed, which consists of three techniques of the Diaspora approach, social media approach, and re-approach, along with strategies that consist of three dimensions: a big dream or desire to internationalize, a need to internationalize, and an ability to internationalize." This paper provides a point of reference for practitioners and researchers interested in attaining comprehensive insight into internationalization.

Contemporary limitations and opportunities for entrepreneurship development in southern Serbia

The entrepreneurial ecosystem consists of many elements: government policy, regulatory framework, institutions, finance, culture, education, human capital, local and global markets, and only the harmonization of these elements can create a healthy and stimulating environment for further development entrepreneurial ventures. Efforts have been made to improve the business environment in the Republic of Serbia to reduce the number of unemployed. However, entrepreneurship in Serbia faces several limitations. Some restrictions are specific to specific groups of entrepreneurs only, while others are general. This article will discuss the constraints and opportunities for developing entrepreneurship in Serbia in current business conditions, with particular reference to entrepreneurship research in the city of Vranje in southern Serbia.

Change Strategies and their Role in Enhancing the Profitability of the Industrial Companies Using the Balanced Scorecard - Applied Study in the General Company for Automotive Industry in Iraq - Alexandria

As a result of the constant and rapid changes that the world is witnessing in the field of Information Technology and opening up to global markets, making local industrial companies have a constant decline in profitability as a result of the inadequacy and understanding of these companies of these challenges, due to the inadequacy of measurement processes over traditional systems, which requires a great deal of attention to. This is done by applying the pattern of change strategies in achieving the requirements of performance development and identifying the extent of factors and variables affecting the application and practice of the pattern of change strategies and the extent of their impact in the use of the four-dimensional scale represented by the balanced scorecard, so the research included two aspects representing the first aspect.

The Agricultural Settlement of the Arabah and the Political Ecology of Zionism

Agricultural settlement geared to capitalist commodity production and accompanied by massive ecological interventions has historically been central to the Zionist colonial project of creating a permanent Jewish presence in the “Land of Israel.” The hyperarid southern region known as the Central Arabah is an instructive edge-case: in the 1960s, after the expulsion of the bedouin population, cooperative settlements were established here and vegetables produced through “Hebrew self-labor,” with generous assistance from the state. In the 1990s the region was again transformed as the importation of migrant workers from Thailand enabled farmers to expand cultivation of bell peppers for global markets. But today ecological destruction, depletion of water resources, and global warming cast doubt over the viability of settlement in this climatically extreme region. I locate the settlements of the Arabah within the historical political ecology of the Zionist movement, arguing that their current fragility exposes the essential precarity of capitalist colonization.