Women´s Leadership in Mexican SMEs

This chapter presents the female leadership model present in the women who lead the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Mexico. It was found that women entrepreneurs have balanced leadership between the pursuit of economic results and the development of quality relationships with employees. This means they are good communicators and consider their employees in the integral development of their companies, but the women entrepreneurs are also interested in the achievement of the organizational objectives. This style of leadership develops in a context in which family support is key to success, where the main challenge they face is the economic one and where, under the perception of themselves, they have been able to break with the traditional scheme of work and female leadership.

Evaluation of Firm Performances in Emerging Markets

This chapter provides basic understanding of firm performance in emerging markets by focusing on labor productivity and total factor productivity. In the study, labor productivity is measured in terms of average value added per worker. Total factor productivity is obtained from estimations of Cobb-Douglas production function where value added is a function of labor and capital. Data is obtained from the firm-level Enterprise Surveys by the World Bank. According to the results, differences in average labor productivities are significant among the sectors within each emerging region. Also, the value of factor elasticities changes across sectors as well as across regions. Moreover, the elasticity of capital is lower than the elasticity of labor for all sectors in regions. It implies that labor plays a more significant role and the firms are operating in a more labor-intensive production process in emerging markets.

Create Value in Family Business SMEs in Colombia

This chapter focuses on the identification of the factors of linkage of the successors in the Colombian SMEs Family Companies located in Bogotá D.C. and the understanding of the existing relationships between the factors of linkage of the successors with the processes of creation of value. The general methodological framework is the result of three research proposals that are assumed as guiding theory and that contribute to the design of the instrument for the study of the modes, the moments, and the motivation of the successors to enter the companies. The sample of qualitative type analyzed corresponds to 10 companies and considers the criteria of legality and formality pertinent. The investigation allowed to identify factors in the modes, moments, and motivation of entry of the successors and to argue that there is a relationship between the factors of linkage of the successors with the processes of creation of value in the SME Family Businesses located in Bogota.

Key Factors of Dynamic SMEs in Colombia Using GEM Data

This chapter contributes to the public policy discussion about the key factors related with dynamic SMEs in Colombia. Authors analyze the case of Colombia through a quantitative approach with a binomial logistic model to estimate the level of association between selected independent variables and dynamic SMEs in the country using GEM data 2017. One of the most important outcomes was that the export activity as well as the level of education of entrepreneurs and previous business experience increase the propensity of Dynamic SMEs in the country. In contrast, variables such as seed capital at the beginning of business and business training did not show a significant relationship with Dynamic SMEs for this case. Notwithstanding the prosperity entrepreneurship ecosystem in Colombia, only 3% of entrepreneurs and their companies are classified as dynamic by authors' model, and there are still great challenges to changes in public policy toward knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship.

Competitiveness and Polycentrism for SMEs in Bogotá Region, Colombia

This chapter studies the dynamics of Bogotá Region based on the New Economic Geography and the recent works on economic development in two big dimensions: the economic and the spatial structure; that is, productivity and polycentrism. The central thesis, supported on an econometric exercise for SMEs in 20 cities in Bogotá-Sabana region, is that with greater strength in the interior of Bogotá and less in the city region, a transition from monocentrism to functional polycentrism is consolidating. Krugman's Edge Cities model concludes that polycentrism comes from a process of spontaneous self-organization and produces a territorial order according to the mysterious ZIP law and consistent with efficiency, equity, and sustainability.

Innovation Trends in Human Management for Competitiveness in SMEs

Innovation trends in human management are key factors that have a major influence in a company's competitiveness and its business sustainability. Therefore, an innovation process grants substantial and/or incremental improvements in all business processes, thus achieving organizational value that in turn promotes a definition of the organizational strategy and its actions. This definition leads an organization towards developing specific competencies and strengths that are paramount in obtaining concrete results, whilst competing within an ever-changing and turbulent economic environment. Thence, current and future trials and tribulations in sustainable innovation must be directed to all types of business models: commercial, managerial, financial, environmental, and social. It is very important to emphasize that the above must include staying ahead of trends in human resource management, aimed at simplifying processes, management guidance in information flow within the workplace, and building an organizational culture founded in innovation.

4-Helix Entrepreneurial Ecosystems Applied to KIBS

This chapter studies how 4-helix entrepreneurial ecosystems determine KIBS (Knowledge Intensive Business Services) mainly created by second- and third-generation family firms, and how their family and non-family members influence future entrepreneurs. The answers of 535 full-time students ages 18-24 years old, randomly distributed between men and women, were analyzed. Findings of this chapter are: a) Mothers have the highest impact (39.4%) on their children's decision making compared to fathers (22.4%); b) Professors have the least impact (3.8%); c) Franchises is a good option for business to grow; d) Firms using 3-F (family, friends, and self-financing) strategies and treasury stock operations have a better chance of growing.

Shared Value at Fashion and Clothing Cluster of SMEs at Ibague, Colombia

After 15 years of failure to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the UN - Global Compact proposes the dynamic participation of the private sector, especially of investors and entrepreneurs, that make up the new world development, generating a historic opportunity to expand, combine, and take advantage of the efforts and resources used by companies and other private institutions in different regions of the world. Colombia participates actively in this process, especially after the signing of the peace treaty with the guerrillas in 2016, which motivates the private sector to develop capacities to overcome traditional CSR and evolve towards the concept of “Shared Value”, with serious limitations of leveraging these initiatives, led by SMEs, which represent 97% of the local business community in Colombia. Therefore, this chapter shows the results obtained in a small municipality of Tolima, which through the formation of a common base of production among equals in the fashion sector, could implement a program with the capacity of creating shared value.

Reducing the Size of the Informal Economy in Latin America

Authors analyze the current situation of competitiveness in the region and in selected countries, using available data. They diagnose the level of informal economy in the region. The chapter articulates how informality affects the competitive capability of a country. Recommendations are made on how to tackle informality, based on the current literature on the topic, previous experiences from other countries, and the authors' analysis. This chapter considers the importance of Colombia, Peru, and Mexico to Latin America in terms of economic size, population, and territory. Besides, these countries, along with Chile, form the Alianza del Pacifico (Pacific Alliance), a group of countries that constitutes a basic form of economic integration. Chile is excluded from this chapter since it shows significantly lower levels of informality than the other three alliance members.

Study of Competences Required for Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation

This chapter describes the role played by universities in the graduate students' attitudes and social values, since they will be the future CEOs of businesses and organizations. It considers that everybody is able to launch a startup or to become a social innovator provided he or she has grown up in an adequate environment, with a social paradigm. The chapter presents the first data collection from a theoretic perspective (Ajzen, 1991; and Sieger, 2014), enunciating the Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students' Survey (GUESSS) to consider how the university context exerts a great deal of influence on students' entrepreneurial and innovative intentions. The chapter also considers that the aim of starting a business or practicing social innovation can be measured from students' attitudes, norms, and perceptions. Thus, perceived behavioral control is an essential explanatory variable for students' entrepreneurial and innovative intentions.