Competitive Strategies for Small and Medium Enterprises

Transcription

1 Competitive Strategies for Small and Medium Enterprises

2 ThiS is a FM Blank Page

3 Klaus North Gregorio Varvakis Editors Competitive Strategies for Small and Medium Enterprises Increasing Crisis Resilience, Agility and Innovation in Turbulent Times

4 Editors Klaus North Wiesbaden Business School RheinMain University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt Germany Gregorio Varvakis Dept. of Engineering and Knowledge Mgmt. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina Trindade, Florian opolis - SC Brazil ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI / Library of Congress Control Number: Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland is part of Springer Science+Business Media (

5 Preface It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change. This quote by scientist Charles Darwin goes back more than 200 years, yet it is more relevant now than ever. Individuals as well as companies worldwide increasingly have to learn how to cope with ambiguities and a fast changing economic and social environment. Small and medium enterprises are the most important sources of job creation and local development in increasingly knowledge-based economies. As turbulence in globalized economies expands, SMEs will have to learn to sustain competitiveness in this new kind of environment by developing their dynamic capabilities. Based on the findings of a 4-year European and Latin American research project, this book provides a theoretical framework, practical instruments, and case studies of how SMEs in differing economic, social, and cultural contexts can develop crisis resilience, increase agility, innovate, and thus successfully compete in turbulent times. Before the crisis years, around 2008/2009, SMEs in Europe relied on fairly stable economic conditions and long-term relationships; however, they are now faced with stagnating markets and a roller coaster economy. In the turbulent economic and social environment of Latin America (including different ethnic characteristics, inflation, rapidly changing regulations, social inequality, fast changing economic environments etc.), SMEs have survived by adopting flexible strategies of short-term resource exploitation, resulting in low productivity and low degrees of internationalization. Consequently, SMEs will have to learn to become and remain competitive in this new kind of economic environment. What is a successful management model for SMEs to compete in turbulent environments? is the overriding research question addressed in this book. Based on empirical data, case studies, and action research findings, the authors argue that combining European innovation and organizational learning models with Latin American survival strategies can contribute to sustain competiveness in these turbulent settings. v

6 vi Preface These contextual differences provided a unique mutual comparative research and learning opportunity, in which differences and complementarities contributed to the development of a Dynamic SME framework supported by tested instruments and methodologies to sustain competitiveness in turbulent times. This book highlights the need to differentiate between management of business processes in normal situations and in turbulent situations. It is not just an adaptation of the normal business model for a turbulent environment, it is a different concept which helps managers to develop a cognitive map for this situation. This can only be achieved if there is a better focus on the managers of SMEs. This publication helps to open the black box of SMEs. The combination of a sound theoretical framework for SME development along with practical instruments and case studies makes this book a unique read for researchers, SME management courses, SME policy makers, practitioners from SME support institutions, owners/managers of SMEs as well as trainers, consultants, and coaches. The book is supported by an extensive website ( containing further publications and a YouTube channel Dynamic SME comprising videos on instruments and SME cases. The research leading to these results would not have been possible without the funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement n PIRSES-GA (Project Dynamic SME ). The project strengthened research partnerships through staff exchanges and developed a joint learning and co-development process of five research teams from the following universities: RheinMain University of Applied Sciences, Wiesbaden Business School, Germany (Project coordinator) Universidad Aut onoma de Madrid, Business Management Institute IADE, Spain Universidade do Minho, Department of Management and Department of Information Systems, Portugal Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Knowledge Engineering Department (EGC), Brazil Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Industrial Engineering School and Department (IES&D), Argentina Furthermore, the project led to a research network Dynamic SME ( which continues to develop joint research, training, and further SME support activities. Our thanks go to the researchers who have actively contributed to furthering insights of what constitutes a Dynamic SME and to the cooperating enterprises, who openly discussed problems and practices. We are also grateful to institutional support, in particular by SEBRAE Santa Catarina (Brazil) and Asociaci on de Desarrollo de Rosario (ADERR) and their willingness to experiment with the Learning to grow methodology, yielding excellent results. The many videos produced at the Distance Learning Unit of Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina would not have been possible without the dedicated support of the LED/EGC-Team.

7 Preface vii Finally, we thank in particular Christopher Drodge from Wiesbaden Business School for language editing and proofreading of the book chapters and Dorzeli Salete Trzeciak from the EGC Department at Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina for merging individual contributions into one consistent book format as well as compiling the glossary. Wiesbaden Florian opolis February 2016 Klaus North Gregorio Varvakis

8 ThiS is a FM Blank Page

9 Contents Introduction: What Is a Dynamic SME... 1 Klaus North and Gregorio Varvakis Dynamic Capabilities and Organizational Resilience in Turbulent Environments Diego Jacob Kurtz and Gregorio Varvakis Case: XENON Automation Technology: Cutting Edge Competence as Competitive Strategy Tobias Reissmann and Thomas Hardwig Culture for Organizational Learning in Turbulent Environments Peter Friedrich and Jaqueline Rossato The Innovation Triple Challenge: A Creativity Check for SMES Maurício Manh~aes and Guillermo Antonio Dávila Intellectual Capital as a Strategic Model to Create Innovation in New Technology Based Firms Eduardo Bueno, Carlos Merino, and Cecilia Murcia An Analysis of Micro and Small Enterprises Growth: An Application of the Management Excellence Model (MEG) Marcondes da Silva C^andido and Jackson André da Silva Case: KST Turbine Components: Qualiyspeedservice as Competitive Strategy Heiko Dittmer and Thomas Hardwig Argentina: A Chronically Variable Socio-Economic Environment for SMEs Juan Carlos Hiba ix

10 x Contents Surviving and Competing in Times of Crisis: Cases of Strategies by Argentine SMEs Ricardo Detarsio, Klaus North, and Maialen Ormaetxea Learning to Cope with Turbulent Situations: A Study of Owner Managers in Argentine SMEs Peter Friedrich and Juan Carlos Hiba SME Vulnerability Analysis: A Tool for Business Continuity I~naki Garagorri Knowledge Risk Management in Turbulent Times Susanne Durst and Helio Aisenberg Ferenhof Knowledge Management Tools for SMES Klaus North and Renia Babakhanlou Learning to Grow: A Methodology to Sustain Growth Capabilities of SMES Klaus North, Manfred Bergstermann, and Thomas Hardwig Case: Herradep: A Double and Intelligent Strategy to Grow Improving Worker Knowledge and Competences Through Self-Managed Short Term Projects Pilar Abelli and Juan Carlos Hiba How Brazilian Textile Enterprises Learn to Grow Guillermo Antonio Dávila, Klaus North, and Gregorio Varvakis Virtual Enterprises: Strengthening SMES Competitiveness via Flexible Businesses Alliances Ricardo J. Rabelo, Fabiano Baldo, Omir C. Alves-Junior, and Christian Dihlmann About the Editors About the Authors Glossary