MANAGEMENT OF COMPETITIVENESS: RISKS, PROBLEMS, AND STRATEGIES. A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF MSMES IN GUANAJUATO, MEXICO
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https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6915-9122
Gloria Leticia López-Salazar
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4424-128X
Alejandra López-Salazar
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3927-9603
Abstract
These are complex times for the competitiveness of Micro and Small Enterprises (MSMEs) in Mexico and Latin America because they operate in environments marked by social, economic, and productive crises. The objective of this article is to analyze, through qualitative interviews with experts, the main problems faced by MSMEs) in crisis contexts and to examine the strategies they employ to address them, to understand how they manage their competitiveness. A qualitative methodology focused on discourse analysis is employed, examining the experiences of 10 entrepreneurs and experts in managing the competitiveness of MSMEs from a grounded theory perspective, with the support of Atlas .ti software. The research was carried out in 2023. A first-level textual coding was conducted, where information was organized through codes, networks, categories, and topics, the product of a meticulous line-by-line review, to ultimately generate semantic networks that explain the different areas explored. The results indicate that the primary challenges faced by Guanajuato's MSMEs in achieving competitiveness are the intense competition, financial constraints, limited technological adoption, inadequate human resource management, and business informality. As for the strategies to be implemented, the experts considered three core strategies to boost business competitiveness: technological investment, process redesign, and efficient management of human capital.
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