Gonzalo Maldonado-Guzman

Knowledge management as intellectual property: Evidence from Mexican manufacturing SMEs

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between knowledge management and creation of intellectual property within the context of small and medium size manufacturing enterprises. Design/methodology/approach - A hypothesis was formulated and tested using structural equation modelling. Data were collected through an instrument that was developed based on key constructs adapted from the literature and that was first validated using Confirmatory Factor Analysis. A Cronbach’s alpha test was also conducted and the Composite Reliability Index was calculated to ensure reliability of the theoretical model. The instrument was distributed among manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Aguascalientes region of Mexico, from were 125 valid responses were obtained. Findings - In general, the results indicate that knowledge management has positive effects on the creation of intellectual property in manufacturing SMEs. This suggests that SMEs can create more intellectual property if they dedicate more efforts to the management of knowledge. Practical implications - The implication of this research and its findings may inform the strategies formulated by policy makers, and the managerial practices that manufacturing SMEs can adopt to protect their knowledge. Originality/value - Evidence suggests that studies focused on investigating the relationship between knowledge and intellectual property are limited. This paper provides a refined understanding of the relationship between knowledge management and intellectual property creation.

Barriers to innovation in service SMEs: Evidence from Mexico

Purpose Specific research related to the study of innovation barriers in service SMEs in the Latin American region is limited. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects that external environmental, financial and human barriers have on innovation activities, particularly, within the context of Mexican service SMEs. Design/methodology/approach Three hypotheses were formulated and tested using structural equation modelling. Data were collected through an instrument that was developed based on relevant constructs adapted from the literature. The instrument was validated using confirmatory factor analysis, Cronbach’s α test and the composite reliability index to ensure reliability of the theoretical model. The instrument was distributed among service SMEs in the Aguascalientes state of Mexico, from were 308 valid responses were obtained. Findings In general, the results indicate that all the three barriers investigated (i.e. external environmental, financial and human) hinder innovation in service SMEs, with the external environmental barrier being the most significant of the three. Practical implications The findings of this research can inform managers of service SMEs and policy makers when formulating and implementing strategies to reduce innovation barriers. Originality/value Evidence suggests that specific research related to the study of innovation barriers in service SMEs in the Latin American region is limited. This paper fills this research gap by expanding the limited body of knowledge in this field and providing further evidence on this phenomenon. The study also enables the distinctive characteristics of innovation barriers to be understood within a particular context, expanding in this way the body of knowledge on this field.

Brand Management and Business Performance in Mexican Small Business

Brand management is a relatively new topic in marketing literature and it is considered by several researchers, academics and professionals, as one of the most important business strategies that allow not only a significant growth of the business performance of small enterprises, but also their continuity in the market where they participate. Similarly, brand management has also been analyzed and discussed at the core of enterprises and there are relatively few investigations that focus on small enterprises, and there are even less researches carried out in developing countries. For these reasons, the main goal of this empirical research is the analysis and discussion of the effects of brand management on the level of business performance in small enterprises, by using a sample of 300 small firms and by implementing a model of structural equations of second order, that can provide a deeper understanding of the current relation between brand management and business performance. The results obtained show that brand management has a positive and significant in the level of business performance in small enterprises.

ICT and KM, Drivers of Innovation and Profitability in SMEs

For more than two decades, the literature has shown that information and communication technology (ICT) and knowledge management (KM) are among the best business practices in the development and competitiveness of large corporations. Recently, for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), these elements have represented a challenge and an opportunity for the consolidation of innovation processes, knowledge protection, and the path to sustained profitability. The aim of this paper is to analyse the effects of ICT on KM and their link with innovation and intellectual property (IP) in order to identify how SMEs can achieve higher yields. The data were obtained from a self-directed survey administered to the managers of 412 industrial and service companies established in Northwestern Mexico. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used for the statistical analysis of the data. This work contributes to the development of the literature on the strategic management of SMEs, particular...

Market Knowledge Management and Performance in Mexican Small Business

Market knowledge management is a relatively new construct in the current literature of business and management sciences. It is considered by some researchers and scholars as a possible miracle cure not only to obtain more and better results in small enterprises but also to improve significantly their level of business return. Similarly, the adoption and implementation of market knowledge management allow small enterprises to achieve more and better competitive advantages, a better market ranking and a significant increase in their business return. Therefore, this empirical research aims to analyze the prevailing relation between market knowledge management and the level of business return in small enterprises. In order to do this, a sample of 364 small and medium-sized enterprises was used from Aguascalientes State (Mexico). The results obtained show that market knowledge management has a positive and significant influence in the business return of small enterprises.

Brand Equity and Business Performance in Family and Non-Family Mexican Small Business

Brand equity is a topic that has been analyzed and discussed recently by scholars and researchers in the field of marketing. It is also considered as one of the most successful business strategies which allows enterprises, especially small ones, not only to survive in a highly globalized and competitive market bust also to attain a significant increase in their level of business performance. Moreover, the equity of the brand has commonly been studied from the perspective of big enterprises so there are few investigations focused in the analysis of these variables in small companies. This is why the objective of this empirical research is the analysis and discussion of the effects of equity of brand in business performance in small enterprises from a country with an emerging economy, as it is the case of Mexico. The results obtained show that equity brand in products and services of small enterprises have a positive, significant effect in the level of business performance.

Innovation Adoption in Mexican Small Family Firms

Innovation is a topic that has been widely analyzed and discussed in the literature of business and management sciences and there a far and wide consensus among scholars, researchers and professionals that innovation activities should be considered not only as a business strategy but also as a daily activity in enterprises, especially in small and medium-sized ones. However, a high percentage of theoretical and empirical published investigations have focused in the innovation activities of big enterprises while only a small percentage has analyzed this construct in small and medium-sized enterprises. Only a few of them have focused in small, family-owned enterprises even when this type of business is the most representative of the economy and society in country around the world. Therefore, the main goal of this empirical research is the analysis of adopting innovation activities in small, family-owned businesses in an emerging country, as it is the case of Mexico. The results obtained show that there is a clear adoption of innovation in products, processes and management systems from small family businesses.

Corporate Social Responsibility in Family and Non-Family SMEs in Mexico

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been practically oriented towards large companies, and few studies have analyzed this construct in a context of family businesses, but there are few studies that relate CSR in small and medium-sized enterprises Family businesses (SMEs) and non-family businesses. Therefore, this empirical study has the essential objective of analyzing CSR in a context of family and non-family SMEs in Mexico. The results show that CSR is exactly the same in both family SMEs and non-family SMEs in Mexico.

Service innovation and performance in Mexican service SMEs

This empirical research investigates the influence of service innovation on the performance of service SMEs, especially within the context of a country with an emerging economy as it is the case of Mexico. Data were collected through a survey instrument designed and distributed among service SMEs in the Aguascalientes state of Mexico to test a hypothesis formulated from the literature review conducted. The instrument was validated using Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Cronbach’s alpha test and the Composite Reliability Index to ensure its reliability. The hypothesis was tested using structural equation modelling (SEM) using an as input 308 valid responses obtained from the survey. In general, the results obtained show that service innovation has a positive and significant effect on the performance of service SMEs. Specific research related to service innovation in service SMEs is limited. This paper therefore fills this research gap by expanding the limited body of knowledge in this field.

Innovation and Digital Marketing in Guadalajara, Mexico

Purpose: The Innovation (INNOV) process is considered as a driver to increase the competitiveness in the Digital Marketing (DM) sector; however, many firms ignore how their own DM resources and capabilities affect the INNOV process. So, through a DM-INNOV proposed conceptual model, the aim of this study is to determine which are the main factors of INNOV are affected from DM, in Guadalajara, Mexico.Design/methodology/approach: The design is based on INNOV process model, construct published previously by Mejia-Trejo et al. (2014) and complemented with the DM model construct proposed here, with variables which are tested for validity and reliability through a pilot survey in order to get the final model. The study subjects were the most important customers of Monster Online (a mexican company, specialized in DM) and analysed by inferential statistics determining the Cronbach’s Alpha reliability in a pilot test and multiple linear regression (MLR) based on Stepwise Method using SPSS 20 program. The methodology is proposed as a descriptive, exploratory, correlational and a transversal study, based on documentary research to obtain a final questionnaire using the Likert scale applied to the total population: 900 Monster’s Online relevant CEO clients. So, we proposed:1. For DM: Web integration (WBI); Web Experience (WBE); Web Strategy (WBS) and Technological Resources (TRS)2. For INNOV process by Mejia-Trejo’s et al. (2014) conceptual model with: Innovation Value Added (IVADD); Innovation Income Items (IIIT); Innovation Process (INPROC); Innovation Performance (IPERF); Innovation Feedback Items (IFEED); Innovation Outcome Items or Results of Innovation (IOIT).The approach is based on the importance to relate the DM on INNOV process to determine their main factors that are affected and generate more innovation in the DM sector.Originality/Value: This article is aimed to determine the main factors that drive the DM on INNOV process to get more, about this, by mean of original theoretical models as a product of the principal related theories about DM and INNOV process. The Value of the study, is to obtain a first settlement for a generalized model able to be applied in other sectors in Mexico.Practical implications: The results obtained, will allow us measuring the level of correlation amongst the variables in study, and discover how the main factors of INNOV process are influenced for DM components.