“Learning to grow”: how micro and small enterprises from Santa Catarina face growth challenges

Authors

  • Guillermo Antonio Dávila Departamento de Engenharia do Conhecimento, Uinversidade Federal de Santa Catarina
  • Klaus North Wiesbaden Business School
  • Gregório Varvakis Departamento de Engenharia do Conhecimento, Uinversidade Federal de Santa Catarina
  • Jackson André Da Silva Unidade de Estratégia e Finanças do Sebrae-SC.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22279/navus.2016.v6n3.p6-23.391

Keywords:

Learning to Grow. Technology Transfer. Innovation. Micro and Small Enterprise. Absorptive Capacity.

Abstract

Micro and Small Enterprises face a number of challenges to grow and innovate, especially when operating in dynamic and turbulent environments such as Brazil. For this reason, the purpose of this article is to present how 11 SMEs from southern Brazil have grown and improved their innovative capabilities by applying the methodology "Learning to Grow". The study describes the phases performed by entrepreneurs for innovating with focus on performance and team development. As a result, the performance of participant firms was significantly improved by enhancing manufacture planning and control capabilities, product development capabilities and by structuring commercial functions. Differently from traditional consultant efforts, the project benefits were sustainable in most firms, because they developed some capabilities, such as participative leadership, delegation, proactivity, commitment, critical thinking, and teamwork. These new capabilities were used for the firms to execute further “growth projects” without external support. Complementarily, it shows which were the critical success factors for applying the “Learning to Grow” methodology and some relevant considerations for extending it to new contexts. It aims to enhance the entrepreneurs’ ability to act.

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Author Biographies

Guillermo Antonio Dávila, Departamento de Engenharia do Conhecimento, Uinversidade Federal de Santa Catarina

Doutorando em Engenharia e Gestão do Conhecimento e Mestre em Ciência da Informação pela Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Bolsista do Programa Estudantes - Convênio de Pós Graduação– PEC-PG, da CAPES – Brasil

Klaus North, Wiesbaden Business School

Doutor em Eng. Industrial e Ergonomia-TH Darmstadt-Alemanha, Professor do MBA Internacional na Wiesbaden Business School, Alemanha. Criador do Método Aprender a Crescer.

Gregório Varvakis, Departamento de Engenharia do Conhecimento, Uinversidade Federal de Santa Catarina

PhD. em Manufacturing Engineering - Loughborough University of Technology (1991) e professor titular no Depto. de Engenharia do Conhecimento da Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina.

Jackson André Da Silva, Unidade de Estratégia e Finanças do Sebrae-SC.

Doutorando e Mestre (2014) em Economia e Gestão Empresarial pela Universidade de Zaragoza. Atua na Unidade de Estratégia e Finanças do Sebrae-SC

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Published

2016-07-12

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Articles