Ecuadorian MIPYMES: A vision of their entrepreneurship, productivity and competitiveness for the sake of continuous improvement

Abstract

Small and medium enterprises in Ecuador suffer from effective mechanisms that allow them to be entrepreneurial and competitive, in order to improve their productivity. Studies on the measurement of these parameters are scarce, hence the need for in-depth research on this aspect. To this end, this work was carried out with the aim of proposing improvements for internal competitiveness in small and medium enterprises, for which the competitiveness of these enterprises was measured, by means of empirical methods in the fundamental, in order to contribute to their development and market positioning. The case study was conducted in the province of "El Oro", 170 officials were surveyed from 170 micro and small enterprises in the commerce and services sector, those engaged in agricultural production, specifically bananas, coffee, cocoa and shrimp; variables such as: planning, marketing, administration, accounting and finance, quality, human resources, environmental management and information systems were taken into account. The results indicated difficulties in the marketing variable, crucial for achieving competitiveness and business positioning, especially in the management of marketing and sales that corresponds to a marketing plan, research system and analysis of information about its competitors (prices, quality, image) and their customers, to meet their needs, as well as the allocation of resources for marketing their services (promotions, advertising material, others). In order to solve these difficulties, a plan of improvements was proposed to allow these companies to develop and evolve in all the sectors studied.