La Gestión Empresarial en la Pequeña y Mediana Industria Metalmecánica Venezolana

Published in: Innovation and Development for the Americas: Engineering, Education, Research and Development: Proceedings of the 8th Latin American and Caribbean Conference for Engineering and Technology
Date of Conference: June 1-4, 2010
Location of Conference: Arequipa, Peru
Authors: Evila Bahoque
Eduani Hernández
Juan C. Jiménez
Keiny Parra
Refereed Paper: #171

Abstract

In the setting of world economy, competitive companies revise and improve continuously their processes for achieving sustained success. In Venezuela, the SMEs in the metal mechanic sector play an important role in the production of goods required by society, other production sectors, and the big industry, generating employment and welfare for the nation. However, previous results obtained in Operations Management courses indicate the existence of limitations in their performance. The objective of this research is characterizing the business management of the SMEs in the metal mechanic Sector in the State of Zulia. Information was obtained through structured interviews with the general managers of 22 local companies. The results indicate that, regarding external factors, the managers know their main competitors and take into consideration customer preferences and needs, but the majority of the Studied SMEs expressed their view of being affected by governmental regulations. The internal factors evaluated show limitations in the operations due to the lack of strategies or the inadequate implementation of these, caused by the ignorance of the managerial tools that support the decision making processes. Even though they satisfy the demand, this industrial sector must overcome the barriers present in technology development, information systems, managerial training, and their managerial systems.