Culture and competitiveness in small-scale Latin-American forestry-based enterprising communities

Carlos Jardon and Xavier Martinez–Cobas

Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, 2020, vol. 14, issue 2, 161-181

Abstract: Purpose - Small-scale forestry-based enterprising communities are particularly associated with their territory and, therefore, are very conditioned by the local culture. This paper aims to explore the relationship between culture and competitiveness in small-scale Latin-American forestry-based enterprising communities. Design/methodology/approach - This study used 212 surveys in companies linked to the production, industrialisation and commercialisation sector of the forestry industry in the province of Misiones (Argentina), using partial least squares to analyse the relationships thereof. Findings - Culture and competitive advantages improve the growth of small-scale timber businesses and growth, in turn, increases financial performance. However, culture does not have an impact on competitive advantage and no interaction effect of culture on competitive advantage was detected. The results can indicate that there might be a need to incorporate other concepts and operationalisation that are better suited to the geographical and industrial contexts in developing countries. Research limitations/implications - The literature and measures used to operationalise variables in the survey did not necessarily succeed in capturing the culture in the studied small- and medium-sized enterprises. In addition, the design of the sample and subjective measures may partially condition the results. Practical implications - For business managers and consultants, this study indicates that they must take into account the local culture to improve performance. Entrepreneurs must reorient the company strategy towards the long term, integrating local culture into their strategy to generate competitive advantages. Social implications - Political authorities and social agents should also take into consideration the cultural aspects of the territory when implementing regulations and specific actions to improve the industry and strengthen the sense of community. The results highlight the vitality of animators and development agencies and of any factor that fosters social cohesion. Originality/value - The paper shows a new approach to the relationship between culture and competitiveness in small-scale forestry-based enterprising communities, combining performance in a formal sector with the bazaar model.

Keywords: Culture; Latin America; Performance; Competitive advantages; Small-scale forestry-based enterprising communities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:jecpps:jec-05-2019-0040

DOI: 10.1108/JEC-05-2019-0040

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy is currently edited by Prof Leo Dana and Andrea Caputo

More articles in Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().