Inward Internationalization

The existing literature on internationalization and purchasing is vast; however, the inward internationalization perspective is an under-researched topic. In this chapter, the authors review the literature on internationalization of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to understand the main reasons behind international purchasing and the role of experience on internationalization. Using a survey and descriptive statistics, the results from 56 respondents show that SMEs source from a small number of countries and hold those relationships for several years. The main reasons underlying international purchases are lower prices and better product quality, regardless of goods availability on the domestic market. This chapter has some limitations concerning its exploratory nature, pertaining to its sample size. Some future research avenues are presented such as a deeper look on how internationalization processes differ when SMEs begin their activity by inward rather than by outward activities.

Strategy

The present chapter is a contribution to the people who currently have problems in the management of their SME or also to any person who has thought about the possibility of launching themselves into the marvelous world of undertaking a project of moderate size in the hope of seeing it Consolidated, without the problems he has heard from others who have failed in the attempt and who say that the worst thing has been to make the leap to the void without some referents to start the dream odyssey. In these pages the theoretical basis and the suggested instruments for the application are found, all this provided from the thought of some colleagues who are knowledgeable about the strategy and of who has prepared and writes with special dedication the present document.

Innovation and Sustainability in SMEs

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are the engines of economic growth, promote equitable development and create more opportunities for being innovative in providing sustainable solutions. They also play a crucial role in providing employment opportunities, aid industrialization in rural backward areas, reduce regional imbalances and assure equitable distribution of national income and wealth. But survival in the new global market calls not only for improved productivity but sustainability and growth through innovation on incessant basis. Business sustainability involves self-assessment to identify improvement opportunities, strengths and ideas for future organizational development. In India, though SME is an important contributor to economy, yet many face lot of difficulties and end winding up or becoming unsustainable. Several studies have shown that factors related to poor management, less innovative approaches, short short-termism are the causes of failure or closure. Hence, the core objective of this chapter is to explore the approaches which can lead to better understanding of sustainable replicas to enhance innovation and sustainability.

Cloud Tools for the Development of Project Management in SMEs

The purpose of this chapter is to determine the amount of knowledge that students who worked in SMEs (in this case, subject matter experts) of the specialization in project management at EAN University in the semester I and II of 2016. It is examined how their knowledge of the tools and solutions in the cloud and the percentage of use of such tools in the management of their projects. Five specific objectives were achieved: 1) Explain the concept of the cloud, advantages and disadvantages of its implementation. 2) Establish the level of information that entrepreneurs and SME workers had about the cloud and its management tools 3) To present some of the tools available in the cloud for the management of projects in SMEs, 4) To determine the preferences regarding the cloud tools used for the management of their projects and 5) To identify the advantages and disadvantages observed by Entrepreneurs - students, when using the tools offered by the cloud.

Breaking Language and Cultural Barriers

This chapter describes how since successful communication with stakeholders is a vital process for every company, it is necessary to consider language and cultural barriers as external factors to internationalize SMEs, that company owners must consider carefully. The language industry is constantly growing and getting stronger to supply business needs and to support SMEs in their internationalization processes. A survey was applied to a sample of Translation Service Providers in order to analyze the physical, digital and human resources they use in their translation processes. It found that they use different state of the art digital resources, they do not really use physical resources frequently (different from dictionaries) and they include proofreaders and experts in different areas as human resources, in addition to specialized translators, in their processes. As a conclusion, Translation Service Providers are getting prepared to support companies and especially to promote the internationalization of SMEs, by helping them break language and cultural barriers.

Leadership and Sustainability

This chapter on leadership and sustainability from the first to the second generations of SME Ownership addresses both the leadership and sustainability from the perspective of different generations in family SMEs. Because, sustainable leadership is seen as a key factor of the competitiveness in a family enterprise. Without effective and efficient human capital, the SMEs cannot gain the goals such as growth, internationalization and increasing performance. Generational differences in SMEs may improve the creativity and innovation, providing that the established appropriate management system and strategy. From this viewpoint, this chapter provides an overview of generations, leadership, sustainability and competitiveness about SMEs

Corporate Entrepreneurship in Colombia

This chapter focuses on analyzing intra-entrepreneurship and corporate entrepreneurship as business renewal strategies, and to this end, it explores the case of two Colombian companies in the manufacturing sector. This is a qualitative study based on the analysis of contrast cases that were carried out in three phases: organizational characterization of companies, identification of corporate entrepreneurship through two dimensions of analysis (research, development, and innovation – R&D&I; and use of new technologies), and a contrast analysis among comparative firms. In this sense, a review of the literature was made to define the variables associated with intra-entrepreneurship and corporate entrepreneurship and how they have developed in the companies.

Financial Instruments for Small and Medium Enterprise Sustainable Growth

Financing is a key issue for companies to grow. In Latin America, small and medium enterprises face difficult challenges when trying to get the necessary resources they need to grow or just stay in the market. From excessive paperwork to high interest rates, difficult access to credit is a challenge that has prevented companies from growing, reaching new markets, or just surviving in the markets during the first stages of operation. This, consequently, has an impact on the economic development of the region. The current macroeconomic situation, characterized by the end of a raw material boom, brings an additional issue to a normally difficult situation. This chapter therefore analyzes the current situation of five Latin American emerging economies and then presents a set of financial instruments that could help SMEs to get resources easily.

Financial Education and Inclusion

One of the greatest drawbacks for entrepreneurship is to achieve the financial sustainability of a project in the short term. This is a phase of the venture in which mistakes can be made and ideas can be considered; in the beginning, they can be considered as good ideas, but they are usually not brought to a happy end because of wrong decision making. Being the access to venture capital a vital need for a project, it is very possible that the decisions that are made are not accurate and with this, financial pressure is placed on a project that, at its outset, requires support in this regard. Due to the above, the improvement in the levels of financial education and the early insertion in the financial services is a decision that helps to improve the quality of decision making and with this, to have greater certainty about the possibilities of success that an entrepreneurship project can have.

Organizational Components That Explain the Management of Innovation and Knowledge in Colombian SMEs

This chapter is based on a work of approximately twelve years implementing the MMOM (Model of Modernization for Organizational Management) in about 310 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). In this way we wanted to analyze which of sixteen components better explain the behavior of innovation management and knowledge. This is in order to present to the entrepreneurs of this type of companies and to the academics, that a series of activities in which to concentrate to develop this component. A multivariate analysis was carried out, specifying a dependent variable in the innovation and knowledge component. The remaining fifteen elements act as independent variables, in such a way that this statistical model yielded the predictive mathematical equation. This equation showed that showed those factors that work preferentially in order to develop innovative SMEs.