El campo de la dendrocronología estudia series temporales a lo largo de gradientes ecológicos, los árboles que forman las cronologías pueden no responder de la misma manera al medio que les rodea, particularmente responden desigual al clima. Por ello la vulnerabilidad de los árboles al cambio climático puede depender de la respuesta específica de la especie o de la adaptación al sitio en el que se encuentre. Los análisis con técnicas multivariantes como el análisis clustering basado en modelos pueden ser instrumentos de gran utilidad para agrupar las diferencias existentes en la sensibilidad de los árboles y los bosques con el medio. En este trabajo analizamos el potencial de la técnica clustering basado en modelos, sus métodos y el algoritmo EM; para detectar y agrupar patrones de crecimiento comunes usando el ancho de los anillos de los árboles, de varias especies del género Pinus y en diferentes países de la Unión Europea. Los análisis se han desarrollado con tres paquetes del programa R (mclust, funFEM/funHDDC y lcmm) que disponen de funciones para realizar análisis de modelos de mezcla finita y que estiman los parámetros mediante la máxima verosimilitud con el algoritmo EM. Los análisis muestran agrupaciones de tres/cuatro clases de trayectorias, y en cada clase se observan diferentes características ecológicas. ; Dendrochronology is a field of science be able to show spatial and temporal ecologic and climatic information based on tree-ring chronologies. These studies are usually integrated by chronologies along ecological gradients, though trees may not respond in the same way to the environment, particularly to climate. Therefore, this vulnerability of trees to climate change may depend on the species-specific distribution, or geographical adaptation prevails over species. Analysis with a multivariate technique such as model-based clustering can be a useful instrument when aiming at capturing and grouping these differences in trees and forests sensitivity to the environment. The aim of the study was analyze the potential of model-based clustering technique, theirs methods and the EM algorithm; to detect and cluster common growth patterns using the tree-ring width of several species for the genus Pinus and in different countries of the European Union. The analyses have been developed with three R packages (mclust, funFEM/funHDDC and lcmm) with the functions to perform finite mixture models and estimate the parameters using the maximum likelihood with the EM algorithm. The results show groupings of three/four trajectories classes, and in each class different ecological characteristics are observed. ; El camp de la dendrocronologia estudia sèries temporals al llarg de gradients ecològics, els arbres que formen les cronologies poden no respondre de la mateixa manera al mitjà que els envolta, particularment responen desigual al clima. Per això la vulnerabilitat dels arbres al canvi climàtic pot dependre de la resposta específica de l'espècie o de l'adaptació al lloc en el qual es trobi. Els anàlisis amb tècniques multivariants com l'anàlisi clustering basat en models poden ser instruments de gran utilitat per agrupar les diferències existents en la sensibilitat dels arbres i els boscos amb el mitjà. En aquest treball analitzem el potencial de la tècnica clustering basat en models, els seus mètodes i l'algorisme EM; per a detectar i agrupar patrons de creixement comuns usant l'ample dels anells dels arbres, de diverses espècies del gènere Pinus i en diferents països de la Unió Europea. Els anàlisis s'han desenvolupat amb tres paquets del programa R (mclust, funFEM/funHDDC i lcmm) que disposen de funcions per a realitzar anàlisis de models de mescla finita i que estimen els paràmetres mitjançant la màxima versemblança amb l'algorisme EM. Els anàlisis mostren agrupacions de tres/quatre classes de trajectòries, i en cada classe s'observen diferents característiques ecològiques.
This research suggests a particular probability of default model to Microfinances Regulated in Mexico (SOFOM ER), based on the use of own mixed variables (continuous and dichotomous) according to the credit behavior and the optimization by maximum likelihood. Financial indicators such as savings, assets and profits were used nationwide to reaffirm an implementation of new and more profitable model in the sector of Mexico, indicating a yield of about 4% with the optimized credit model. Within the limitations of the research lies the lack of robust information and free consultation, due to bank secrecy in Mexico.
The objective of the present study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of the ethnic identity and psychological acculturation scales of the Papagos population from northern of Sonora based on the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Scale (Phinney, 1992) and the Psychological Acculturation Scale (Marin et al., 1987). Through an intentional non-probabilistic sampling, 158 Papagos from the state of Sonora were selected, with 96 women (60.75%) and 62 men (39.24%), with an average age of 63 years (SD= 20 years). The exploratory factor analysis for the ethnic identity scale showed a KMO value of .91 and an acceptable internal consistency index (α = .78) for the two main factors: ethnic affirmation and belonging and commitment to the ethnic group. The Psychological Acculturation scale showed a KMO value of .92 and an acceptable internal consistency index (α = 0.73) for the factors of social relationship with the ethnic group and use of language. Confirmatory Factor Analysis using the maximum likelihood method showed convergent and divergent construct validity between the factors and all items presented acceptable factorial weights (λ > 0.5). Acceptable validity and reliability indexes were found that indicate the goodness and robustness of these measures to obtain results on ethnic identity perception and psychological acculturation. The participants claim to belong to an ethnic cultural group and maintain their ethnic identity through language and cultural practices, however, by interacting with a new culture they are exposed to a process of social adaptation.
10 páginas, 2 figuras, 1 tabla.-- Trabajo presentado al VIII Reunión Nacional de Geomorfología, Toledo, 22-25 de septiembre de 2004). ; [EN]: Spanish regulations on dam safety recommend the estimation of a return period of 1000 years for the Design Flood and of 10,000 for the Safety Check Flood. The criteria used for the calculations are based on Flood Frequency Analysis (FFA) from gauge record data or on the Probable Maximum Flood (PMF) which is the hypothetical maximum of rainfall turned into runoff. The short gauge records affords little support for the FFA and for the hypothetical PMF, which in addition to the absence of a associated probability, limits the utility of these indices for risk-based dam safety decisions. Palaeoflood techniques are a means of directly assessing the probability of extreme floods and testing the validity of the PMF-based models. In this paper, palaeoflood record was applied to a case study in the Guadalentín river, upstream of the Valdeinfierno reservoir (372 km2) with a spillway capacity of 550 m3s-1 (design flood). In addition, available historical flood data was collected. Palaeoflood data and gauge record, were combined for the FFA, using existing methods for the fitting of distribution functions, such as the maximum likelihood. Palaeoflood analysis provides a discharge of 2350 m3s-1 for the design flood (1000-yr return period), and 3450 m3s-1 for the safety check flood (10,000 yr-return period). The discharge estimated by the PMF is 5786 m3s-1, showing an overestimation of this empirical method. Some recommendations for the calculation of the safety check flood and design flood are provided which can improve existing legislation on dam safety. ; [ES]: En el Reglamento Técnico sobre Seguridad de Presas y Embalses se recomienda, en función de la categoría de la presa considerada, el uso de las Avenidas de Proyecto con periodo de retorno de 1.000 años para la Avenida de Diseño, y de hasta 10.000 para la Avenida Extrema. Su estimación a partir de las exiguas series de datos foronómicos o meteorológicos del registro sistemático (ordinario) carece del rigor científico que requiere la envergadura de estos proyectos. En este trabajo se presentan los resultados del análisis de paleocrecidas en el río Guadalentín aguas arriba del embalse de Valdeinfierno (372 km2) con un aliviadero de 550 m3s-1, y su aplicación a la determinación de los cuantiles requeridos para la determinación de las avenidas de diseño y máxima. Los depósitos analizados corresponden a arenas y limos acumulados durante las crecidas en zonas de remanso (slackwater flood sediments). En el análisis de frecuencia de crecidas se han combinado los caudales estimados para estos depósitos con los datos de aforo utilizando el método de máxima verosimilitud para ajustar una distribución Gumbel. En este análisis se obtiene un caudal de 2350 m3s-1 para la avenida de diseño (1.000 años de periodo de retorno), y 3450 m3s-1 para la avenida máxima (10.000 años de periodo de retorno). Los caudales asociados a crecidas con periodos de retorno elevado se han comparado con los resultantes del cálculo de la avenida máxima probable (PMF), que es de 5786 m3s-1. ; Este trabajo se ha realizado con la financiación del Proyecto CICYT REN2001- 1633/RIES "Incorporación de datos de paleocrecidas e inundaciones históricas al cálculo de la avenida de diseño de presas" (PALEOCAP). ; Peer reviewed
1 17 7 ; Senia ; [EN] This paper shows a genetic algorithm (GA)-based optimization procedure for gear trains design. Gear design uses simultaneous discrete (P.E. pitch) and continuous variables nonlinearly related. However, unlike GAs, most optimization methods are only suited for continuous design variables. This paper uses GAs as a tool to achieve not only the optimal design, but also a series of near-optimal designs. To achieve this objective, first the optimization problem is formulated. It must be multiobjective (maximum strength, minimum energetic losses, etc) and restricted. A mechanism to transform the constrained problem into unconstrained thought penalty functions is proposed. Recommendations on the objective function and penalty terms are also suggested. Next a design variables coding and decoding method, as well the genetic operators of reproduction, crossover and mutation are presented. Finally, it is analyzed an example in which the developed genetic algorithm has been used, comparing the obtained results from a previous optimization. ; [ES] En el presente artículo se expone un procedimiento de diseño de transmisiones de engranajes basado en los Algoritmos Genéticos (GA). En el diseño de engranajes se emplean simultáneamente variables continuas y discretas (p.e. el paso) relacionadas entre sí de forma no lineal. Sin embargo, a diferencia de los GAs, la mayoría de métodos de optimización sólo funcionan adecuadamente con variables de diseño continuas. El presente trabajo emplea los GAs como una herramienta que nos permita encontrar no sólo un diseño óptimo, sino también un conjunto de diseños cercanos al mismo. Para lograr este objetivo, en primer lugar se formula el problema de optimización. Este debe ser multiobjetivo (máxima resistencia, mínimas pérdidas energéticas, etc.) y restringido, proponiéndose un mecanismo para transformar el problema restringido en no restringido mediante el empleo de funciones de penalización. También se proponen recomendaciones sobre la elección de la función objetivo y ...
La mayoría de las poblaciones de roedores insulares en el Golfo de California son consideradas especies o subespecies endémicas por la legislación ambiental mexicana. Ante nuevos registros de poblaciones insulares en las islas Jama y Chaperona, surge la pregunta si estas poblaciones deben ser consideradas como endémicas o no. Se analizaron fragmentos de secuencia del gen mitocrondrial del citocromo b de Peromyscus eremicus de las islas Jama, Chaperona, para determinar si estas poblaciones insulares pueden ser consideradas endémicas en base a una historia filogenética compartida con la historia geológica de las islas, y evaluar si cumplen los requisitos para ser consideradas como Unidades Evolutivamente Significativas susceptibles a conservación. Se usaron como referencia a las poblaciones insulares de Peromyscus eremicus de isla Tiburón e isla Dátil y de Peromyscus boylii de isla San Pedro Nolasco e Isla San Esteban, las cuales son consideradas como endémicas, y se encuentran protegidas por la legislación ambiental mexicana. Se realizaron análisis filogenéticos mediante los métodos Agrupamiento del Vecino Más Cercano, Máxima Parsimonia, Máxima Verosimilitud, e Inferencia Bayesiana, así como Análisis Filogenético de Anidamiento de Clados, comparando a las poblaciones insulares y continentales, para así poder inferir su historia demográfica. Para Peromyscus eremicus se analizó un fragmento de 550 pb, y en base a los resultados se concluye que las poblaciones de las islas Jama, Chaperona, Dátil y Tiburón, no son genéticamente diferentes de la población de continente, y solamente la población de isla Tiburón puede ser considerada neo-endémica, pero ninguna población insular de P. eremicus cumple los requisitos para ser consideradas Unidades Evolutivamente Significativas. Para Peromyscus boylii que habita en las islas San Pedro Nolasco y San Esteban, se analizó un fragmento de 800 p.b. y en base a los resultados, se determinó que estas poblaciones son paleo-endémicas y reliquias, además de que cumplen todos lo requisitos para ser consideradas Unidades Evolutivamente Significativas. ; Most populations of insular rodents in the Gulf of California are considered endemic species or subspecies by the Mexican environmental legislation. Now, the new registry of insular populations of rodents in Jama and Chaperona Islands raises the question if these populations must be considered endemic or not? Fragments of mitocrondrial gene sequence of the of citocromo b of Peromyscus eremicus from Jama and Chaperona Islands were analyzed to determine if these insular populations could be considered endemic based on a shared phylogenetic history with the geologic history of the islands. Also they were evaluated to see if they fulfill the requirements to be considered Evolutionarily Significant Units for conservation. The insular populations of Peromyscys eremicus from Tiburón and Datil Islands, and populations of Peromyscus boylii from San Pedro Nolasco and San Esteban Islands, which are considered as endemics and are protected for the Mexican environmental legislation, were used as references. In order to be able to infer their demographic history, the following techniques were used to compare the insular and continental populations: phylogenetic techniques neighbor-joining, maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, bayesian analyses, as well as the nested clade phylogeographical analysis. For Peromyscus eremicus a 550 pb fragment was analyzed, and based on the results its inferred that the Jama, Chaperona, Dátil and Tiburón Island's populations are not genetically different from the mainland population, and only Tiburon´s population will be consider neo-endemic, but none of the island´s population of P. eremicus fulfill the requirements to be considered a Evolutionarily Significant Units. For Peromyscus boylii that inhabits in the San Pedro Nolasco and San Esteban islands, a 800 fragment of p.b. was analyzed and based on its results, it was determined that these populations are paleo-endemic and relics, and they fulfill all the requirements to be considered Evolutionarily Significant Units.
[ES] El nivel de desarrollo de las distintas regiones posibilita y determina la calidad de vida de los individuos. Por lo tanto, la existencia de diferentes rangos de desarrollo regional limitan o favorecen la mejora individual y colectiva de las personas. Por esta razón, creo necesario identificar posibles desigualdades existentes, para lo cual propongo una línea de investigación sobre el desarrollo en base a la persona, centrándome en los derechos económicos, culturales, políticos y sociales. Parto de la defensa de los sistemas democráticos, como base de los Estados de derecho, para la creación del bienestar mediante el respeto y la aplicación de los principios de dignidad, equidad, igualdad y justicia. Dignidad, justicia, igualdad y equidad son algunos de los principios democráticos y de los fundamentos que el Instituto Nacional de las Mujeres (INMUJER) utiliza para diseñar, ejecutar y evaluar políticas con perspectiva de género y elaborar propuestas, programas y acciones alternativas para resolver los problemas sociales contemporáneos derivados de las disparidades de género (2009: 44). Dichas razones llevan a su uso en esta tesis doctoral. Considero necesario reflexionar sobre el concepto de desarrollo y las metodologías que son utilizadas para su medición. Suscribo a la democracia como el sistema de gobierno apropiado y, consecuentemente, defiendo que los principios democráticos de justicia, igualdad, equidad y dignidad son elementos básicos dentro de la organización social. En esta tesis doctoral justifico, elaboro y aplico un Índice de Desarrollo Ciudadano desde la Perspectiva de Género (IDC-PG). La tesis es de corte cuantitativo, el marco metodológico utilizado es el análisis comparativo, la estrategia metodológica se fundamenta tanto en el análisis de variables como de casos y la técnica de investigación seguida es la de casos similares de áreas geográficas. Este conjunto de características permite realizar un análisis comparativo de área y, como afirma Caís (1997), asegura de manera natural el control de las variables dentro del análisis dentro de un área determinado. Las unidades territoriales analizadas constituyen dos niveles de concreción. El primero está formado por las 17 comunidades autónomas de España y por las 32 entidades federativas de México y, el segundo, se compone de las 50 provincias españolas. En cuanto a las unidades temporales del análisis; en primer lugar, se han utilizado los datos anuales de 1990, 2000 y 2010 y, en segundo lugar, la evolución experimentada en el periodo 1990- 2010. La variable nodal (el desarrollo ciudadano) será cruzada con variables demográficas, geográficas y políticas con el fin de encontrar factores interpretativos y explicativos, tanto del nivel de desarrollo como de las desigualdades territoriales y de género. Las variables utilizadas son cuantitativas y continuas. Para su selección he considerado los criterios de fiabilidad, relevancia, carácter cuantitativo, representatividad y robustez. Metodológicamente, los valores de las variables son transformados siguiendo la fórmula que utiliza el Programa de Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD). Este procedimiento posibilita dar un valor máximo y mínimo para cada una de las variables y, por lo tanto, permite comparar estadísticamente los datos de las variables, los niveles de concreción, las dimensiones, los géneros y las brechas existentes entre dichos valores. De esta forma, propongo crear un sistema de medida unificado que refleje semejanzas y diferencias (espaciales y temporales) intra-género e inter-género. En base a los resultados obtenidos, puedo afirmar que tanto en España como en México existen unidades territoriales que no llegan a un nivel mínimo digno de desarrollo; la evolución democrática no va acompañada (en la mayoría de los casos) del principio de progresividad, el modelo de desarrollo no respeta el equilibrio de equidad dimensional, las brechas de equidad y de género (en distintos porcentajes) llegan a superar el umbral tolerable de la diferencia, el hecho de pertenecer al género femenino supone una mayor probabilidad de sufrir discriminación (de naturaleza negativa) en las dimensiones política, económica y cultural, los aspectos espaciales, temporales y, bajo mi perspectiva, el género son determinantes para conocer el nivel de desarrollo ciudadano, las variables geográficas y políticas están asociadas con el desarrollo regional, el modelo de gobierno democrático no asegura la igualdad, justicia y equidad ciudadana y/o territorial y, además, es básico contemplar el desarrollo desde un punto de vista multidimensional para poder comprenderlo, analizarlo, evaluarlo y, de esta manera, poder actuar en consecuencia. Temáticamente parto de la identificación del objetivo, la hipótesis y la metodología para después definir y caracterizar los contextos espacial y temporal. Consecutivamente, presento el estudio documental en donde se exponen los debates formales y oficiales en torno al desarrollo, los conceptos de ciudadano/a y ciudadanía y una introducción sobre la perspectiva de género. Esta reflexión sobre el desarrollo, la ciudadanía y el género me permite crear un concepto propio de Desarrollo Ciudadano desde la Perspectiva de Género centrado en, por un lado, la dignidad de la persona materializada en el conjunto de derechos humanos universales y, por otro lado, en los derechos de las personas como ciudadanos/as dentro de un modelo de sociedad democrático. La tesis doctoral consta de la presente introducción y de tres partes: El Marco De La Investigación (primera parte), Discursos Formales Y Oficiales Sobre El Desarrollo Ciudadano (segunda parte) e Implementación Del Índice De Desarrollo Ciudadano Desde La Perspectiva De Género (tercera parte) ; [EN] The level of development of the various regions enables and determines the quality of life of individuals. Therefore, the existence of different regional development ranges limit or favor individual and collective improvement of the people. For this reason, I need to identify possible inequalities, for which I propose a research on the development based on the person, focusing on economic, cultural, political and social. Delivery of the defense of democratic systems, as the basis of rule of law, for the creation of welfare by respecting and applying the principles of dignity, fairness, equality and justice. Dignity, justice, equality and fairness are some of the democratic principles and fundamental that the National Women's Institute (INMUJER) used to design, implement and evaluate gender-sensitive policies and develop proposals, programs and alternative actions to resolve contemporary social problems arising from gender disparities (2009: 44). These reasons lead to its use in this dissertation. Consider it necessary to reflect on the concept of development and the methodologies that are used for measurement. Subscribe to democracy as the proper governance system and, consequently, defend democratic principles of justice, equality, fairness and dignity are basic elements in social organization. In this thesis justify, elaborate and apply a Citizen Development Index from the Perspective of Gender (IDC-PG). The thesis is a quantitative, the methodological framework used is the comparative analysis, the methodological strategy is based both on the analysis of variables such cases and research technique followed is the similar case of geographical areas. This set of features allows a comparative analysis of the area and, as stated ACHR (1997), naturally ensures control variables in the analysis within a given area. Analyzed territorial units are two levels of specificity. The first is made up of 17 autonomous communities of Spain and of the 32 states of Mexico and the second, consists of the 50 Spanish provinces. Regarding the analysis time units, firstly, have been used annual data 1990, 2000 and 2010 and, secondly, the developments in the 1990 - 2010. The variable node (city development) will be crossed with demographic, geographic and political order to find interpretive and explanatory factors, both the level of development and territorial inequalities and gender. The variables used are quantitative and continuous. I considered for selection criteria of reliability, relevance, quantitative, representativeness and robustness. Methodologically, the values of the variables are transformed according to the formula used by the United Nations Program for Development (UNDP). This method makes it possible to give a minimum and maximum value for each of the variables and, therefore, allows data to statistically compare the variables, levels of detail, size, gender and the gaps between those values. Thus, I propose to create a unified measurement system that reflects similarities and differences (spatial and temporal) intra-gender and inter-genre. Based on the results, I can say that both in Spain and in Mexico there are territorial units that do not reach a minimum level worthy of development, democratic development is not accompanied (in most cases) the principle of progressivity, the development model does not respect the balance of equity dimensional gaps and gender equity (in different percentages) can exceed the tolerable threshold of the difference, the fact that female gender is a greater likelihood of discrimination (in nature negative) in the political, economic and cultural, the spatial, temporal and, in my perspective, gender are crucial for city development level, geographical and political variables are associated with regional development, the governance model democracy does not ensure equality, justice and equality of citizens and / or territorial and also is basic to contemplate the development from a multidimensional perspective in order to understand, analyze, evaluate and, thus, can act accordingly. Thematically delivery of target identification, hypothesis and methodology and then define and characterize the spatial and temporal contexts. Consecutively, the study presented documentary which outlines the formal and official debates around development, the concepts of citizen / citizenship and an introduction to and perspective on gender. This reflection on the development, citizenship and gender allows me to create a concept Citizen Development from a Gender Perspective focused on the one hand, the dignity embodied in the set of universal human rights and, on the other hand on the rights of individuals as citizens / as in a model of democratic society. The dissertation consists of this introduction and three parts: The Research Frame (first part), Formal Speeches and Official Over Citizen Development (second part) and Implementing the Citizen Development Index From Gender Perspective (Part Three)
The Need for Re-examination of Industry Structure In rapidly changing and complex environment, the rate of change may be overwhelming. Communication within the firm is crucial to assess weaknesses and strength, make sense of the new developments and reconfigure resources to respond adequately. Firms may have to collaborate with other firms, both local and international, to secure the scarce resources that may enable them to compete with the international companies in a timely fashion as opposed to developing them internally. Such resource-acquisition may require learning the necessary know-how for acquiring and deploying the new technology, or gaining the capability for developing them with others, which may also give them additional intangibles such as collaborative advantages, reputation, brand name by association with others. The discussion suggests that smaller firms may seriously explore the option of becoming a part of a network (or networks) to attain the necessary requirements and accomplish their objectives, even though the costs may be high in the short-run; but they will enable increasing returns in the longer term. In this context, the resource-base view (RBV) of the firm provides a useful framework with which to identify valuable, rare, imperfectly inimitable and difficult to substitute resources (Barney, 1991). It also identifies the investments required to pursue international operations. However, the mere fact of identifying VRIN resources may prove insufficient to ensure competitiveness. The strategic process of renewal should emphasize resource reconfiguration, levering and deploying for catching-up with the international competition rather than mere resource selection as prescribed by the RBV. The focus not only should take into consideration the VRIN resources but also to include inimitable processes, transformation paths and positions that ensure SMEs' global competitiveness at the end, which also parallels the development of dynamic capabilities (Teece, Spence and Shuen, 1997) at the same time. The Augmenting Impact of Networks Smaller enterprises in emerging economies face major challenges in reinventing themselves rapidly and securing resources, which are further amplified due in part to the characteristics of emerging markets. Increasingly, networking is seen as a "primarily means of raising required for coordinating economic exchanges that fall in the continuum between market and hierarchies. Firms face increasing foreign competition in their domestic markets and the institutional inefficiencies that favor larger enterprises. In addition, they still do not have the requisite experience and industrial standards needed to expand into international markets. Joining, or operating through, a network can shield small firms as the network, as a whole, can be viewed as a larger firm in remedying, if not removing, some of constraints associated with the smaller and younger firms in terms of relative inexperience, limited flexibility, poor resources and capabilities . Regarding the necessary capability to navigate through macroeconomic and political fluctuations, or at times the unstable circumstances inherent in the emerging economies, Rauch argues that networks are different from markets because "their members are engaged in repeated exchanges that help sustain cooperation–collusion" and because "network members have thorough knowledge of each other's characteristics, which helps them match with each other or to refer each other to outside business opportunities" (Rauch, 200:1179). The ability to access, commercialize, and act as a broker of new resources, especially knowledge, is key to improving the competitive levels. In the case of RGEs, the concepts, and the associate practice, of social networks and the firm operating in a network are so intertwined in that it is difficult to distinguish one from the other. At the individual level, the entrepreneurs, or the owner-manager, who is the critical resource and the driver of business activities, can draw upon his social network to further enable the firm. At the firm level, the individual linkages can reinforce firm-to-firm or firm-to-network linkages. Etemad and Ala-Mutka (2006) report that the entrepreneurs of the fastest-growing firms in Canada called upon their social networks to help reduce, and even remove, barriers facing them, especially at the earlier stages of their life, at both the individual and firm levels. In the emerging countries, however, the above concepts may assume a different shade. The ownership structure of SMEs in the emerging countries economies, as briefly discussed earlier, owner- managers are likely to be personally involved in most aspects of the operations of their firms. In particular, they tend to centralize important decisions and personally manage the relationships with the key players in their environment. Furthermore, SMEs from emerging markets have been insulated from international competition for a long period of time, which has affected the ways in which their managers conducted business. Neither were managers used to highly dynamic and competitive markets, nor were they familiar with collaborating with their international competitors. Consequently, such managers' perception of independence, individualism and trust plays important roles in their decisions in becoming a member of a particular network. However, their personal ties not only may increase the social capital of the networks, it may also reduce the likelihood of opportunistic behaviors, leading to increased cooperative and collaborative behaviours among individuals and their associated firms over time; but such personal ties are likely to be more national than international. Even those who act as brokers in enlarging the SMEs' opportunity set by creating exchange and sharing information among contacts can benefit from the flow of useful information. Such cooperative relations may enable SMEs to reduce, and even remove, the adverse impact of restricted access to information regarding markets standards, international tax systems, international market opportunities, demand and supply condition, among others, which help to compensate for the lower levels of institutional development in emerging economies. According to Burt (1992: 65), the existence of a "relationship of non-redundancy between two contacts" creates social capital for the actor who is able to link up with network member that possesses complementary resources. These discussions suggest that even redundant contacts can benefit firms as they can provide several benefits: a) increase the political leverage of firms at home, b) overcome institutional and managerial constraints, c) increase the SMEs' leverage in input markets and output markets and also d) facilitate SMEs' access to managerial experience and capabilities available in the network. Bridging the Widening Gap between the Developed and Emerging Economies As discussed earlier, technological innovation is taking place at unprecedented rate. A large part of such innovation is path-dependent by nature as they are the results of firm's long-term research and development (R&D), investment and commitments to cutting-edge knowledge and advancing technology for improving upon their knowledge-based assets, productivity, competitiveness and the consequent economic growth. This is in part a way to respond to the increased competition resulting from globalization, pro-market reforms and open-door policies, among others, which are demanding higher productivity and competitiveness from firms and countries alike. No one is immune: the more competitive and productive firms and countries gain higher market share at the cost to those who are less efficient. Firms and countries are subject to a lot of similar external pressures forcing them to experience instability and flux, continuous emergence and rapid change, and overall uncertainty; but they emanate from different sources and forces. For example, firms face the dynamics of rapidly-changing relations with both the external and internal stake-holders, which have their own motivations beyond the firm's control. Similarly, the relative state of flux and instability is inherent in the change and emergence of complexity in the emerging countries due to the ongoing dynamics of global trade and investment not fully controllable by any given country, or firm, regardless of size and stage of development. However, RGEs have shown the capability and resilience in adapting to enable their growth. RGEs are also characterized by having entrepreneurial mindset, being market-oriented and adapting technology to meet their buyers' and suppliers' needs. They are learning organization in the sense that they constantly acquire, disseminate, and share both the information and its interpretation (Sinkula, 1994) with the final goal of sustaining growth in the long term. Furthermore, there is a common recognition that their growth depends on synergistic collaboration with the member of their supply and value chain. As discussed earlier, RGEs and emerging economies share relatively constrained resources and need to secure them to pursue their activities by devising innovative ways such as becoming a part of synergistic networks (Etemad 2004; Etemad, Dana and Wright 2001a), which forces a trade-offs between independent and interdependent modes of operations for securing access to vital resources to enable further growth. The added advantage of such networks is the possibility of learning from and with others through association as the rapid rate of change, emergence and complexity may not allow a firm or a country or learning by doing. Therefore, the above discussion suggests that RGEs not only are attractive models, and even instruments, for closing the gap between emerging economies, they can also grow faster than typical firms in their respective industries for augmenting growth-rates all around them. We have taken advantage of these similarities to propose a conceptual framework for the emerging economies to deploy, and learn from, RGE-like instruments to speed-up the emerging economies' growth rate. This framework is highlighted in Figure 1.Figure 1 Key Characteristics of Rapid Growing Enterprises and Emerging Economies Conclusion In light of characteristics describe in this paper, the necessary condition for a SME to ensure long-term success in international activities is to aim their sights high, transform their organizational structures for responding to challenges ahead and attain the resources required for expanding to international markets at high rates and on sustained basis. It is also crucial that SMEs expand their knowledge base to meet world-class requirements and standards. Naturally, governments can play crucial roles in at least three influential fronts directly aimed at improving upon firms' productivity, competitiveness and internationalization: a) providing adequate education aimed at the basic tools to face the competitiveness and deal with the complexity of a global economy; b) putting infrastructural support systems in place to facilitate SMEs' transition towards networked firms at home and abroad; and c) Instituting transitional subsidies and inducements for SMEs to transform towards knowledge-based assets and increasing internationalization. Although the higher levels of education allow firm managers and investors to draw resources from a pool of qualified individuals and may also increase the likelihood of transforming inventions into innovations, which is another pillar of success in the international market, it takes some time and effort and will only pay-back in the medium to longer-term; but it needs to be done sooner than later, nevertheless. Similarly, infrastructural support systems are the necessary longer-term investments. However, inducements may be very effective in terms of time and costs as well as initiating an emulative process with high and rapid multiplier effects across the population of firms. The sample of RGEs studied in this paper were young, small, pioneering and innovative firms that commercialized innovations not existing before and thus created incremental employment, income and additional wealth as opposed to resulting from shift in investments. Stated in popular terms, the RGEs presented in this paper enlarged the size of previously non-existing pie as opposed to increasing the size of the wedge of the pie at the cost to others. More importantly, their pioneering efforts set the standards for others to be emulated, thus diffusing the innovation in the allied industry. Stated differently, they rapidly constructed a bridge across barriers to unexplored landscapes that enabled further developments. From a country-level perspective, rapidly-growing enterprise may provide a viable model with an important role to play in rapid income- and wealth-creation. They may even have an important short-term impact on the economic growth of emerging economies while shifting the SMEs' emphasis is shifting from short-term aim of reaching profitability to attaining global competitiveness as soon as possible, which is the necessary condition for sustained growth in employment, revenue, income, tax-base and wealth. The distinction is noteworthy: the former is influenced by the local and short-term orientation of the investors and managers to see results, and probably exit, as quickly as possible; as opposed to international and longer orientation in the latter that invests for the long haul and expanded international opportunities, which reflects the operations of RGEs. By favoring the development of the latter-type of firms, governments will also develop an interesting policy instrument for both creating income and employment much more rapidly than the traditional models, while encouraging modernization in the industry and enhancing long-term competitiveness of the economy. The spill-over effects of RGE-type of operations should have a positive impact on the rest of the economy not only in terms of relatively-faster diffusion of knowledge, technology, best managerial practice and information about new market opportunities; but also on improve the subjective "business environment" of a country at a higher pace and in shorter time period. The demonstrative impact of such virtuous operations may even expand to the rest of the supply chain with a snowballing effect in the rest of the economy in term of improved quality-standards on the input side (e.g. intermediate goods, labor force, etc.) first and soon expanding to the entire economy. References Ala-Mutka, Jukka & Etemad, Hamid, (2006). The Strategies of Global Gazelles: A Theoretical Framework and Evidence from Rapidly Growing and Internationalizing Enterprises from Canada, in Johansson, I. (ed.), Entrepreneurship and Development Local Pro33cesses and Global Patterns, University of West Press, Sweden. Barney, J. (1991). Firm Resources and sustained Competitive Advantage. Journal of Management, 17(1), 99-120. Birch, D. & Medoff, J. (1994). Gazelles. In L. C. Solmon and A. R. Levenson (Eds). Labor Markets, Employment Policy and Job Creation, Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Dana, Leo. P., Etemad, H. & Wright, R., (2001a). "Symbiotic Interdependence," in Dianne Welsh & Ilan Alon, Editors, International Franchising in Emerging Markets (119-129). Illinois: CCH Publishing Delmar F., Davidson, P.&. Gartner W .B (2003). Arriving at the High-growth Firm. Journal of Business Venturing, 18, 189–216. Etemad, H. (2004). Internationalization of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises: A Grounded Theoretical Framework and an Overview. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, 21(1), 1-21. Etemad, H. & Keen, C. (Eds.). (2007). Rapidly Growing and Internationalizing Smaller Firms from Canada. Proceedings from 2007 McGill International Entrepreneurship Conference. California: UCLA, Fischer, E. & Reuber A.R. (2003). Support for Rapid-Growth Firms: A Comparison of the Views of Founders, Government Policymakers, and Private Sector Resource Providers. Journal of Small Business Management, 41, 346–365 Kirzner, I. (1973). Competition and Entrepreneurship. Chicago: University of Chicago.*Dr. Christian Keen, Coordinador Académico de Finanzas FACS, Universidad ORT Uruguay
[spa] La planificación del futuro en los ámbitos demográfico, económico y actuarial es crucial. La buena planificación en programas sociales, presupuestos de gobierno, reservas actuariales, costo de seguros y pensiones, etc., depende del uso de un buen método para realizar pronósticos. Sin embargo, los constantes cambios en tecnología, estilos de vida, cambio climático, migración, por mencionar algunos, hacen que predecir ciertos fenómenos no sea una tarea fácil. En particular, la mortalidad y la longevidad son eventos que impactan directamente en costos monetarios y por lo tanto necesitan una buena proyección a futuro. Ambos son indicadores del bienestar de la población, evalúan si los programas de salud y bienestar de la población son efectivos. Específicamente, en el mercado asegurador tener una alta mortalidad implica una subida de primas y, en general mías reservas para hacer frente a los siniestros. La longevidad trae consigo situaciones similares cuando se trata el tema de anualidades y p pensiones. A nivel social, alcanzar edades muy adultas implica la creación de programas de apoyo a los adultos mayores, por ejemplo, programas de dependencia, creación de albergues, lugares de ocio y campañas de salud. El principal interés de esta Tesis es presentar opciones para una buena gestión de los costes de la mortalidad y la longevidad. La introducción presenta los antecedentes, la motivación y los objetivos. En el capitulo 1 se describen los datos que han sido utilizados para realizar los diferentes análisis: n número de personas vivas y fallecimientos en México y tasas de mortalidad del sector asegurador. También se describen los cálculos necesarios para obtener la matriz con las tasas crudas de mortalidad de la población mexicana para los a años 1990 a 2010 y edades de 0 a 100, siempre diferenciadas por sexos. En el capítulo 2 se ha modelado el comportamiento de la mortalidad de la población general en México. Los modelos a justados son el modelo Lee-Carter, el modelo Renshaw-Haberman y el modelo Age-Period-Cohort. Con las tasas de mortalidad estimadas por el modelo Lee-Carter, se ha a justado un modelo relacional Brass-type para obtener nuevas tasas del mercado asegurador a partir de las existentes, p ero corregidas por la mortalidad general. En diciembre de 2013 entró en vigor en Europa una nueva directiva donde se establecía que los precios en bienes y servicios, lo que incluye las tarifas de seguros, no pueden ser diferentes para hombres y mujeres. En el capítulo 3 se ha abordado este tema conjuntándolo con el tema de la longevidad. Tomando como edad inicial la edad 65, se estimó la función de supervivencia y con esta, se estimaron los parámetros ρ y λ de la distribución Weibull siguiendo la relaci´on S(t) = exp(−ρtλ). Diferentes proporciones de hombres y mujeres fueron asumidas para este ejercicio. Con los parámetros estimados, fue posible evaluar el riesgo de longevidad, para esto se calculó el valor en riesgo (VaR, Value-at-Risk) a diferentes niveles de confianza α. La Asociación Mexicana de Instituciones de Seguros (AMIS) desde el año 2000 y cada cinco años ha calculado tasas de mortalidad diferenciadas por sexo. Al disponer de esta información, en el capítulo 4 se ha decidido realizar el modelo Brass-type suponiendo que el número de muertos en cada edad y año sigue una distribución Poisson. De nueva cuenta el riesgo de longevidad se evaluó con el cálculo del VaR α . Después de haber utilizado distribuciones paramétricas se comprobó que es difícil describir de manera correcta la variable aleatoria número de supervivientes en cada edad, por tanto el VaR puede estar estimando de manera incorrecta el riesgo de longevidad. Así, en el capítulo 5 se ha calculado la función de distribución (CDF, Cumulative Distribution Function) utilizando métodos paramétricos y noparámetricos como el estimador núcleo clásico (CKE, Classical Kernel Estimator). También se propone utilizar el método semiparamétrico estimador núcleo doble transformado (DTKE, Double Transformed Kernel Estimator) (Alemany et al., 2013). Más aún, para el ajuste de los modelos paramétricos se presenta una alternativa a la estimación máximo verosímil, que es la estimación vía minimizar el error cuadrático medio integrado (MISE, Mean Integrated Square Error), el cual también funciona como medida de bondad de ajuste y permite comparar tanto ajustes paramétricos como noparamétricos. El capítulo 6 se basa en las aportaciones que la propia autora realizó en el trabajo titulado "La igualdad una exigencia para el seguro: problemas derivados de las tablas unisex", que aparece en el libro El seguro español ante los cambios del estado del bienestar, publicado por la Fundación de Estudios Financieros (Guillén et al., 2013). La Tesis finaliza con conclusiones, destacando las principales aportaciones y con un capítulo dedicado a las líneas futuras de investigación. En los anexos se incluyen los programas usados en los análisis realizados en esta Tesis. Para todos los capítulos se usó R Core Team (2014) y SAS Institute Inc. (2003). ; [eng] Future planning in the demographic, economic and actuarial areas is crucial. Good planning in social programs, government budgets, actuarial reserves, cost of insurance and pensions, etc., depends on the use of a good method to forecast. However, the constant changes in technology, lifestyles, climate change, migration, to name a few, make predicting certain phenomena is not an easy task. In particular, mortality and longevity are events that directly impact cash costs and therefore need a good future projection. Both are indicators of welfare, assess whether health programs and welfare are effective. Specifically, in the insurance market have a high mortality implies an increase in premiums and overall mine reserves to meet claims. Longevity brings similar situations when the topic of pension annuities is p. At the social level, attain very adulthood involves creating support programs for the elderly, for example, dependency programs, creating shelters, leisure and health campaigns. The main interest of this thesis is to present options for a good management of costs of mortality and longevity. The introduction presents the background, motivation and objectives. N number of people living in Mexico and deaths and mortality rates of the insurance industry: In chapter 1, the data have been used to make the different analyzes are described. The necessary calculations are also described for the matrix with crude mortality rates for the Mexican population in years 1990-2010 and ages 0-100 always differentiated by sex. In chapter 2 it is modeled behavior of mortality in the general population in Mexico. The models are justados Lee-Carter model, the Renshaw-Haberman model and the Age-Period-Cohort model. With mortality rates estimated by the Lee-Carter model has to justado a relational Brass-type model for new rates of the insurance market from existing, p ero corrected overall mortality. In December 2013 a new directive which stated that prices on goods and services, including insurance rates can not be different for men and women came into force in Europe. In Chapter 3 conjuntándolo it has addressed this issue with the issue of longevity. Taking as a starting age age 65, the estimated survival function and with this, the parameters ρ and λ of the Weibull distribution were estimated following the relaci'on S (t) = exp (-ρtλ). Different proportions of men and women were assumed for this exercise. With the estimated parameters, it was possible to assess the risk of longevity, so this value at risk (VaR Value-at-Risk) at different levels of confidence α was calculated. The Mexican Association of Insurance Institutions (AMIS) since 2000 and every five years calculated mortality rates differentiated by sex. Having this information in Chapter 4 it was decided to make the Brass-type model assuming that the number of deaths in each age and year follows a Poisson distribution. Again longevity risk was assessed by calculating the VaR α. After using parametric distributions it was found that it is difficult to correctly describe the random variable number of survivors at each age, so the VaR may be incorrectly estimating the risk of longevity. Thus, in chapter 5 we calculated the distribution function (CDF Cumulative Distribution Function) using parametric and nonparametric methods like the classic core (CKE, Classical Kernel Estimator) estimator. It also proposes to use the dual-core semiparametric estimator method transformed (DTKE, Double Transformed Kernel Estimator) (Alemany et al., 2013). Moreover, for adjusting the parametric models an alternative is presented to the maximum likelihood estimate, which is the estimate via minimizing the integrated mean square error (MISE, Mean Integrated Square Error), which also functions as a measure of goodness of fit and allows comparison of both parametric and nonparametric settings. Chapter 6 is based on the contributions that the author herself performed in the paper entitled "Equality a requirement for insurance: problems resulting from unisex tables," which appears in the book The Spanish insurance to changes in the welfare state, published by the Foundation for Financial Studies (Guillen et al., 2013). The thesis ends with conclusions, highlighting the main contributions and a chapter on future research. Annexes programs used in the analyzes are included in this thesis. For all chapters was used R Core Team (2014) and SAS Institute Inc. (2003).
The international business environment is still changing dramatically and, although international growth may introduce added complexity it may be unavoidable for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) mainly due to the increasing globalization of markets (Levitt 1983) and industries (Yip 2003). In the face of rapid globalization, SMEs are a vital part of the economic systems of both emerging and developed countries. As Veloso (1991) points out, this type of companies may be an important organ for increasing the level of competitiveness of emerging markets. Some studies, for example, Yasuf (2001), go to the extent of suggesting that growth and employment in developing countries depend on the fate of SMEs. The incentive and the legal structures within which firms must operate have been drastically altered. SMEs are no longer protected from foreign competition and local buyers and suppliers are becoming more sophisticated. To compete effectively, SMEs must adapt and reshape themselves to facilitate adjustments and enhance learning for their growth and economic development. This article provides a typology to explain the degree of internationalization of SMEs. At one extreme is tangible internationalization, which is short-term and depends on macro and microeconomics factors exogenous to firms; at the other is a combination of tangible and intangible internationalization, which implies a strong commitment by firms to become competitive at international levels.I argue that different forces have forced the internationalization not only of firms, but also of markets, so that SMEs can become global without a physical presence in foreign markets. Furthermore, it may be necessary for these companies to become global if they are to remain competitive in their local markets. As a result of this paradigm shift, internationalization is based not only on geographical aspects, which are closely related to firm internationalization, but also on intangible considerations, which are closely related to market internationalization.Tangible internationalization is a restricted approach defined as a physical presence in a foreign market; it consists mainly of foreign sales, foreign direct investment (FDI), physical presence in foreign markets, and foreign suppliers. It fluctuates with exchange rates, costs of inputs, and other resource endowments that are tied to a particular geographic location. On the other hand, intangible internationalization implies a change in the comprehensive approach to the way firms should reconfigure, develop and secure resources. Intangible internationalization requires facilitating learning at all levels of a firm to increase the stock of knowledge, and, therefore, to improve flexibility on the production side and increase the likelihood of developing new resources and processes, thus enhancing the firm's critical invisible assets (Itami and Roehl 1987). An SME should aim for both in order to take advantage of a physical presence in foreign markets and provide constant incentives to facilitate learning and new organizational capabilities and processes. Tangible internationalization is a short-term expansion in foreign markets because it takes advantage of temporary macro- and microeconomics conditions; it does not require changes at the firm level. On the other hand, a combination of intangible and tangible internationalization has a higher probability to be sustainable in the long term and mostly depends on the firm's actions to meet international standards.This article emphasizes 5 crucial aspects of that managers need to be aware of: I. A matter of having an strategic plan II. An internal perspective of the firm III.The need of expanding the knowledge bases of SMEs IV.How to access and secure resources: networks V.The entrepreneurial aspectsI. A Matter of Having an Strategic PlanWhile firms have an important degree of freedom to make their own decisions, the effect of the environment cannot be discounted. This matter becomes critically important in the context of emerging economies because firms are not only facing changes in the structure of the industry in which they operate, but also in the surrounding and institutional environments. To be aware of the different courses of action available, decision makers must understand all the pro-market reforms, not just those that most affect their own industry. According to Weick (1995), the strategic decisions that managers make depend on their cognitive structures and how they make sense of the environment. Managers need to understand any intended change in a way that makes sense or fits an interpretative schema or system of meaning (Bartunek 1984). Andrews (1980) compares the role of the owner-manager to an architect who is in charge of doing the synthesis. Senior managers have the role of analyzing, interpreting, and making sense of clues so as to formulate and implement strategies. Senior managers should act as catalysts to understand and create new interpretative frameworks that provide purpose and direction to the members of the organization (Westley 1990).Laying a Formal Foundation: Making the Implicit Explicit The fact that SMEs have inadequate organizational structures and managerial expertise is a real problem in a changing environment. SMEs do not have the same level of support to increase their competitiveness, and given the lack of managerial expertise, building an adequate structure is not a straightforward process, even though it is a central one. Formalizing routines and processes within firms to make them less dependent on a specific individual is key. This is an important concern because SMEs not only have a less highly developed structure, but their fate is closely linked to one or a few individuals who posses knowledge or resources that have not been made explicit to the rest of the firm.Nevertheless, in a changing environment managers need to be proactive and to rethink their approaches regarding the future activities of their firms. A mere replication of previous strategies may no longer be a valid option when firms are competing in the international arena. The future can be imagined and enacted and that companies must be capable of fundamentally reconciling themselves by regenerating their core competencies and reinventing their industry. The role of managers is not to plan for the future, but to manage the process of learning and to be open to the possibility that new strategies can emerge.II. Analyzing the Firm's ResourcesAn analytical examination of the resources of a firm may help to develop an understanding not only of possible short-run business strategies, but also of future diversifications (Montgomery and Wernerfelt, 1988), growth strategies (Penrose, 1959), and sustainability of long-term rents (Rumelt, 1984). SMEs can compete in the international arena, but they will face international competition from foreign SMEs as well as from multinational enterprises (MNEs). Focusing only on product-market strategies is not enough; instead, the long-term survival of a firm depends on the characteristics and endowment of its resources, which should be valuable and difficult to imitate (Mahoney and Pandian 1992; Grant 1991; Amit and Schoemaker 1993). To be able to compete, the manager-owners of SMEs must know the internal resources and capabilities of their companies. As Andrews (1980: 18-19) suggested, a firm should make its strategic plans "preferably in a way that focuses resources to convert distinctive competence into competitive advantage."Firms are a bundle of different kinds of resources and a set of commitments to certain technologies, human resources, processes, and know-how that manager-owners marshal. This issue is particularly important to the present study because it is not unusual that are controlled, managed, and run by one or a small group of individuals that have a deep, but tacit, knowledge of the firm. What is important is a clear identification—not just a vague idea—of the different resources on which a firm can depend.How to Reconfigure a Firm's Resources? Capabilities exist when two or more resources are combined to achieve a goal and they "emphasizes the key role of strategic management in appropriately adapting, integrating and reconfiguring the internal and external organization skills, resources, and functional competences to match the requirements of changing environment" (Teece et al. 1997: 515). It is important to note that the relative endowment of firms may not necessarily relate to their financial performance because "only the service that the resource can render and not the resources themselves provide inputs into the production process" (Penrose 1972: 25). It is the deployment of a combination of those services that are critical to the rent generation of the firm. Firms need to exploit the existing firm-specific capabilities and also develop new ones (Penrose 1959; Teece 1982; Wernerfelt 1984) to compete internationally and to grow. Over time, SMEs have seen the nature of their rents change; we should expect a shift from Ricardian to Schumpeterian rents. A company may not have better resources, but achieve rents because it makes better use of its resources (Penrose 1959). Rents depend not only on the structure of the resources, but also on the ability of firms to reconfigure and transform those resources. The above discussion leads to the formation of the following hypotheses:III. The Need of Expanding the Knowledge Bases of SMEsThe capacity to exploit a new set of opportunities depends partly on the strategic decisions made by managers. In some cases, these opportunities require at least a reconfiguration of the activities of the firm, but more often, they require the incorporation of new resources and, especially, the introduction of new processes.Firms are as systems of purposeful actions engaging in economic activities to achieve objectives, therefore, they must learn adapt and survive in a complex environment. Organizational learning is the process by which firms can cope with uncertainty and environmental complexity, and their efficiency depends on learning how the environment is changing and then adapting to those changes (March and Olsen, 1976).SMEs need to enhance their learning in two different aspects. First, internal knowledge should be coded and made available to selected members in the company. The manager-owner is knowledgeable about almost all aspects of the business (Mintzberg 1979), and his or her knowledge is personal in the sense that it is located in the mind and not always encoded or available to the rest of the firm. Routines should be created in order to secure the long-term existence of the firm because routines capture the experiential lessons and make that knowledge obtainable by the members of the organization that were not part of the history of the company (Levitt and March 1988).The second way SMEs need to enhance their learning is to make changes in their knowledge base. When socio-economic environments change, firms need to assess the change in order to reformulate how they react to new incentives. The first step is developing a capability to understand the new dynamics. When regulatory and competitive conditions change rapidly, persistence in the same routines can be hazardous because managers and employees use organizational memory or knowledge to make decisions and to formulate the present strategy of the firm.The effectiveness of decisions taken by an SME is greatly influenced by its knowledge base which, in turn, is the result of learning processes that are no longer applicable and may be misleading. Changes in the knowledge base are probably requisite for any firms competing in an industry with tradable products. Supporting infrastructure and routines may prove essential to increase the learning pace and to effectively integrate the new knowledge and reduce the inertia due to outdated knowledge.IV. How to Access and Secure Resources: NetworksSMEs, compared to larger firms, face major challenges in terms of securing and updating resources. Where internal resources are important to accounting for a firm's performance (Gnyawali and Madhavan, 2001), resources also can be secured within networks that may allow firms to be competitive locally and internationally. Increasingly, networking is seen as a primarily means of rising required resources. Resources, such as information, equipment, and personnel, can be exchanged in networks because of relationships between. Networks are important instruments to ease the constraints facing SMEs in terms of access to: a) capital markets to obtain long-term finance both locally and internationally, b) narrow and highly regulated labor markets, c) information and technologies, d) inefficient tax codes, and e) highly bureaucratic and expansive legal procedures. SMEs may be part of a network not only because it may find complementary resources, but also because owners and managers may have friendship ties with other owners and mangers. These non-economic reasons may be as important as economic ones.A Particular Kind of Network: Industry Clusters An extensive literature exists on the topic of industry clusters. Ricardo's "comparative advantages" can be considered as a pioneering concept of industrial clusters; and Marshall's exposition about externalities is based on industrial localization. Industrial clusters are characterized by having extensive interfirm exchanges and an advantageous environment to pursue business activities. Marshall (1961) argues that industry localization may be an important factor because a) it creates a market for workers with certain industry-specific skills, b) it promotes production and exchange of non-tradable specialized input, and c) firms may take advantage of informational spillovers. Krugman (1991) points out that given the existence of market imperfection, pecuniary externalities may also play an important role in determining the concentration of industry in a specific geographic location. Pouder and St. John (1996) argue that clustered firms have a greater legitimacy than firms outside a cluster. Clusters can provide a critical mass to counterbalance the political influence of large firms and to increase the pressure for investments that affect the productivity of the cluster. Furthermore, competition within clusters increases productivity and new firm development (Porter 1998).V. The Entrepreneurial AspectsIntangible internationalization requires facilitating learning by its employees in order to constantly transform the firm. Implementing mechanisms to expand the knowledge base and to diffuse information should allow SMEs to increase their capacity to develop new goods and services, and to compete in new markets. Key characteristics of this type of internationalization are common interests, trust and openness that allow employees to challenge assumptions. Intangible internationalization is a more difficult international expansion, but it provides sustainable competitive advantages. Consequently, SMEs would become competitive by reducing their costs, introducing new products and expanding their potential markets.It is not possible to engage in tangible internationalization without having a minimum level of intangible internationalization or being competitive without some degree of valuable, rare, in-imitable, non-substitutable resources (Barney 1991). SMEs should aim for both types of internalization in order to take advantage of physical presence in foreign markets and constantly provide the incentives to facilitate learning, new organizational capabilities and processes.Firms have different combinations of internationalization. In order to analyze how SMEs can take advantage of both tangible and intangible internationalization, the foundation of the potential competitive advantages need to be identified. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how firms deliver products that have value for customers, but also to understand what makes these firms different from the rest (Hall 1998). I argue that there are three major categories of differential that have a strong impact on the nature of internationalization of SMEs. The first is called firm differential, and includes a) organizational (team level), b) managerial (individual level), c) physical endowment and d) technological capabilities differentials. The second category is based on the home country characteristics and it is called country differential. The final category,market differential, takes into consideration the specific features of local markets and industries. These differentials deeply influence the role of owner-manager. There are three basic approaches that a SME can adopt while anticipating and responding to the needs of its customers. The first one is the approach of the Schumpeterian entrepreneur (Schumpeter, 1934), a leader who breaks away from routine and introduces either new goods/services or new production processes for existing goods/services. The second one is related to Porter's (1980) concept of cost leadership even though Porter studied larger firms from developed countries. The last style of owner-manager is the Kirznerian entrepreneur, who is a person alert to opportunities (see figure 1). This type of role implies that the owner-manager acts as a broker in order to take advantage of over-optimistic or over-pessimistic reactions of economic agents (Kirzner 1973); therefore, the owner-manager will act "in regard to the changes occurring in the data of the markets" (Mises 1949: 255).ConclusionIn the business literature, internationalization involvement usually results from one of two factors: a) the firm possesses some monopolistic advantage that it can use in another country, or b) the host country owns resources that are valuable to the foreign firm. While these reasons may be necessary and sufficient conditions for larger companies, is not necessarily the case for SMEs whom have no option but to internationalization.Those two factors do not necessarily apply to SMEs because they need to become international even if they do not compete in international markets. The average level of competitiveness of SMEs is below that of multinational enterprises. SMEs are faced with international competition whether they decide to internationalize or to remain "local." Even SMEs providing non-tradable goods face a "demand side" pressure to meet the characteristic of similar product sell in other countries. SMEs may not have the time required, according to this model, to meet world-class standards. ReferencesAmit, R. and Schoemaker, P. (1993). "Strategic assets and organizational rent". Strategic Management Journal,14(1):33-46. Andrews, K. (1980). The concept of corporate strategy. Homewood, Irwin. Barney, J. (1991). ¨Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage.¨ Journal of Management, 17(1): 99-120. Bartunek, J. (1984). "Changing interpretative schemes and organizational restructuring: the example of a religion order." Administrative Science Quarterly, 29(3):355-372. Child, J. (1972). "Organizational structure, environment and performance: the role of strategic choice". Sociology,6(1):1-22. Gnyawali, D. and Madhavan, R. (2001). "Cooperative networks and competitive dynamics: A structural embeddedness perspective." Academy of Management Review, 26(3):431-445. Grant, R. (1991). Contemporary Strategic Analysis: Concepts, Techniques, Application. Basil Blackwell, Cambridge, MA. Itami, H. and Roehl, T. (1987). "Mobilizing Invisible Assets". Harvard Business School Press. Kirzner, I. (1973). "Competition and entrepreneurship". University of Chicago Press, Krugman, P. (1991). "Increasing Returns and Economic Geography." The Journal of Political Economy, 99(3):483-499. Levitt, T. (1983). The globalization of markets. Harvard Business Review, 61(May-June): 92-102. Levitt, B. and March, J. (1988)."Organizational Learning." Annual Review of Sociology, (14):319-340. Mahoney, J. and Pandian, R. (1992). "The Resource-Based View Within the Conversation of Strategic Management." Strategic Management Journal, 13(5):363-380 . March, J. and Olsen, J.(1976). Ambiguity and choice in organizations. Bergen: Universitetsforlaget. Marshall, A., (1961 (1890)). Principles of Economics. London: Macmillan. Mintzberg, H. (1979). The structuring of organizations: a synthesis of the article. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. Mises, L. (1949). "Human action; a treatise on economics". Yale University Press. Montgomery, C. and Wernerfelt, B. (1988). "Diversification, Ricardian Rents, and Tobin's q". RAND Journal of Economics, 19(4):623-632. Penrose, E. (1959). The theory of the Growth of the Firm. John Wiley: New York. Penrose, E. (1972). The theory of the Growth of the Firm. Originally published in 1959, Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Porter, M. (1998). On Competition. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Porter, M. (1990). The competitive advantage of nations. Free Press: New York. Pouder, R. and St. John, C. (1996). "Hot Spots and Blind Spots: Geographical Clusters of Firms and Innovation."The Academy of Management Review, 21(4):1192-1225. Rumelt, R. (1991). "How much does Industry Matter?" Strategic Management Journal, 12(3):167-185. Schumpeter, J. (1934). The Theory of Economic Development. Harvard University Press. Teece, D. Pisano, G. and Shuen, A. (1997). "Dynamic Capabilities and Strategic Management." Strategic Management Journal, 18(7):509-533. Teece, D (1982). "Toward an economic theory of the multiproduct firm". Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 3:39-63. Veloso, P. (1991). "International Competitiveness and the creation of an enabling environment." International competitiveness, ed. By Irfan ul Haque, pp. 29-36. Washington, DC: Economic Development Institute of the World Bank. Weick, K. (1995). Sensemaking in organizations. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Wernerfelt, B. (1984). ¨A resource based view of the firm.¨ Strategic Management Journal, 5(2):171-180. Westley, F. 1990. "Middle Managers and Strategy: Microdynamics of Inclusion." Strategic Management Journal,11(5): 337-351. Yasuf, S. (2001). "Globalization and the Challenge for Developing Countries." Policy ArticleWorking Paper 2618, the World Bank Yip, G. (2003). Total Global Strategy II. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.Sobre el autorCoordinador Académico de Finanzas FACS, Universidad ORT Uruguay
