English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Zendy Open

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Insights

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Zendy Tools

Zendy Plus

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Buenos Aires Office. This article seeks to contribute some elements and considerations that may help to understand the challenges faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in terms of competition as the integration process in MERCOSUR is consolidated. Although many of the views expressed here are applicable to the small and medium-sized enterprises of the MERCOSUR countries in general, this study deals in particular with the situation of the Argentine and Uruguayan SMEs. It begins by summarizing some basic data on SMEs in MERCOSUR (section II). It tries to identify the main challenges that these enterprises must cope with (from the entrepreneurial standpoint) if they are to take advantage of the integration process to further the growth of their business activities and the international expansion of their firms (section III). It reviews some basic common features of industrial SMEs, some of which are central elements in determining the transformation of enterprises faced with the challenges in question (section IV), and finally it makes some brief comments on support systems in this new state of affairs. The needs of the SMEs may be grouped in four areas: i) improvement of the regulatory and operational framework for their business activities; ii) access to specific information and advisory assistance for its interpretation (trade information, technical standards and technological consultancy services); iii) the formation of in-house capabilities (human resources, especially in the areas of entrepreneurial and management skills) and easier access to the technical services infrastructure, and iv) access to finance on terms which really are comparable with those of larger firms, which in some cases involves the implementation of new financial instruments and products. The strategic challenge of industrial policy for SMEs is to create and promote a climate of positive change. Public policy cannot define or bring about such change in firms, as it was once believed in a voluntaristic and omnipotent manner. Instead, public policy must stimulate and create the best possible conditions for ensuring that this change takes place efficiently, favouring the establishment of lasting collective synergies. Otherwise, public policy would be guilty of taking a passive stance (not doing anything) or actually holding back progress (by encouraging actions in the opposite direction). C E P A L R E V I E W 6 8 61

Mercosur: Its challenges to small and medium-sized industrial enterprises in terms of competition