Managers and their philosophy as a basis for competitiveness in SMEs established in Salvatierra, Guanajuato

Lilia Ruiz-Barcenas, Joe Luis, Salgado-Ortiz, Francisco Javier
2016 unpublished
Business competitiveness, certainly much studied in recent times by researchers as it is considered one of the main factors related to the permanence of the same, however, little has been studied in the research area addressed here, Salvatierra being a rural community, whose main attraction now is its denomination as "Magic Town", which, causes to turn to it and realize an analysis in reference to the economic activity, specifically we refer to business activity, which is the main engine in the
more » ... local economy. One question raised by researchers often is: Why do small and medium sized enterprises disappear within the first two years of its existence? Certainly the causes are multiple, but researchers rarely direct their gaze towards managers, few studies exist on the analysis of the manager's personality, their age, their academic degree, etc., as factors influencing the management of a SME. In this study an analysis is presented on what is the business philosophy of small and medium sized enterprises and details how the manager sets the tone for the success or failure of it, associating this with greater or lesser competitiveness. The philosophy of the manager in various fields (personal, academic, professional and labor) is influenced in most cases by their values, level of education, age and the environment in which they operate. All this, plus other factors unrelated to the subject of the study generate a unique personality for the manager, which while being responsible for managing an organization, determines their actions and have a direct influence on the competitiveness or failure thereof, associating this with the permanence or disappearance of the small and medium sized enterprises, which are the organizations that exist the most in the municipality of Salvatierra. The study of the characteristics of managers or people in charge of SMEs has received much less attention in research on entrepreneurship, being the main reason for this research to have a qualitative approach with a descriptive scope, through a cross-sectional design and the implementation of a research instrument validated by three experts in the field of research. The instrument is composed of 30 items prepared considering the Likert scale applied to 145 small and medium sized enterprises established in Salvatierra Guanajuato, an environment of tourist influence and a city known as "Magic Town", with the objective to determine the influence of the manager's academic preparation, values and age in business philosophy, as elements that influence the competitiveness of SMEs established in this municipality. The relationship of these elements to competitiveness and the results of field research show that the main barrier for small and medium sized enterprises to be competitive and able to survive is ironically its founder or manager, for they themselves are the main cause of success or failure of companies, for that reason, it is recommended to stop looking outside as the causes of early disappearance of SMEs, however, it is encouraged to seek a solution in the internal analysis of small and medium sized enterprises, it is to say, analyze the business philosophy of their leader (manager or person in charge), through a SWOT analysis, orienting their own actions and the actions of their personnel towards the implementation of shared management strategy based on a strategic SWOT analysis.
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