SMEs are highly represented in the Colombian market; in the Cundinamarca region alone, 42% of businesses are small and medium-sized enterprises. But how do these companies survive in the market?
Research by Angelica María Borrego Espitia, researcher of strategies used by small and medium enterprises in Cundinamarca Colombia.
Sustainable value in SMEs
A problem that has been noticed in the region of Cundinamarca, Colombia, is that only 30% of the micro, small, medium and large companies survive the first five years after being created, which caused a lot of curiosity in locals and that is why it was decided to conduct an in-depth investigation. This research conducted by Angélica Borrego as her master's thesis at the Universidad Militar Nueva Granada under the direction of Professor Yefri Manuel Pascagaza Corredor shows us the different strategies used by the same SMEs, strategies that help us understand how they have maintained a stable place in the market of Cundinamarca.
The objective of Angélica Borrego's research was to analyze the strategies used by small and medium-sized companies in Cundinamarca to create sustainable value.
According to the data obtained in the research, the creation of sustainable value is based on the following points:
Innovation
Sustainability
Business Model
Co-creation
Value
Sustainable manufacturing
Human capital
Emerging synthesis
Circular economy
These comprise: sustainability, creation value and sustainable creation value.
By checking this information we can see that this research has a descriptive quantitative approach and its design is non-experimental-transactional, which means that it is a non-probabilistic method by convenience. Angélica Borrego says that for the collection of data a questionnaire of closed questions was carried out together with a judgment of experts and to assess the validity all this was applied in some participating SMEs in Cundinamarca Colombia.
Study results Survey results
Finally, the researcher commented on her conclusions and recommendations, which were:
Medium-sized companies are the best performers when it comes to implementing strategies for sustainable value creation
Efforts must continue to be made to achieve representative improvements in terms of sustainability.
Small companies need to work with greater dedication and adapt to current trends.
Trends are the key to creating strategies if you want your SME to remain competitive and sustainable over time.
The companies that are the subject of this study must redefine their strategies
You should always think about introducing new factors to create value, this will help your company a lot.
Last Thursday, May 13, 2021, we received at the University of Celaya during our activity "Science Dialogues" Dr. Rocio Boza Calvo from the Faculty of Education of the Universidad Hispanoamericana de Costa Rica, who shared with us the development and results of her analysis of the effectiveness of the implementation of the simulation strategy in education according to the perception of the facilitators involved in the process, from the second quarter of 2016 to date.
Would you like to know the most important details of this research? We present them to you!
The objective of this research is to demonstrate the effectiveness of simulation as a methodological strategy used in different courses of the curriculum of the Faculty of Education of the Universidad Hispanoamericana. This simulation strategy consists in that each professor in his course chooses thematic contents that have been addressed in the classroom and plans with the accompaniment of professional actors a scenario or also called profile that is as close as possible to the educational reality in classroom or educational center contexts, with the objective that the student faces these situations and puts into practice the theoretical knowledge acquired in the courses.
Fields of application of simulation
Simulation is a didactic strategy that allows an approach to professional reality.
Traditionally it has been used for:
- Training and education
- Communication and sales
- System design or improvements.
- Systems management
In disciplines such as:
- Engineering
- Medicine, biology, ecology.
- Social and economic sciences
Research process
In 2016, a qualitative study was conducted in the second half of the semester of the same year, at the Universidad Hispanoamericana. University that has formalized simulation in education and that has been applied in six courses of the curriculum of the different careers of the Faculty of Education, among which are:
- Learning disabilities
- Language disorders 1
- Group techniques
- Evaluation techniques in English and Spanish
- General Didactics 1
- Teaching English 3
Each of the courses where simulation is carried out as a teaching methodology contemplates in its program that the student's participation and performance in such activity has a value of 20% of the final passing grade of the subject.
Throughout the term, starting in week 7 according to their schedule, two simulations must be carried out. They have 18 trained teachers who have become facilitators to implement it.
In order to know the effectiveness of the methodology we were working with, a qualitative research was carried out by sending a questionnaire to each of the professors who implemented this methodology throughout the course they taught. It should be noted that one of them left the institution, another is no longer part of the faculty of education, another is the simulation coordinator and preferred to avoid bias and the remaining 4 did not send the survey in the time in which they were requested.
Eleven questionnaires were collected and served as a sample for the qualitative analysis.
Main results
The teachers who responded to the questionnaire report that by using simulation, students develop critical thinking, in situations that actually allow them to test what they know, what they can do and how they think it should be done. Many simulations develop decision-making skills, a very important aspect of thinking and problem solving.
All the interviewees mentioned as positive aspects the ambience of the space, the professionalism of the actors, and the technology used (Learning Space). These positive aspects are the product of a joint effort and work.
The most outstanding issue in terms of aspects to be improved is the sound and the transfer of venues to carry out the simulation. It should be noted that the respondents seemed to answer focusing on recent events and did not answer evidencing everything that occurred throughout the strategy implementation process.
Conclusions and recommendations
It is important to make it clear that although simulation allows the future teacher to get closer to reality. It will not always be able to represent or reproduce in its entirety situations that are generated within the educational centers, hence the component of using professional actors is perhaps the option that most reduces this disadvantage that several researchers have pointed out.
Professional actors are hired for the simulations considering that they have dramaturgical training and a trained capacity for reproduction that facilitates performance in an educational activity, focused on learning objectives and at the service of students in professional training.
An important factor provided by the adequate preparation of actors is the increase in the level of realism of the simulation scenarios.
Another very important factor is that the teachers attending the education courses must be active teachers with work experience so that the scenarios or profiles are as real as possible and in line with the current context.
To develop science outreach skills, 4th semester students of the Communication and Audiovisual Media degree at the University of Celaya participated in the Science Dialogues activity. In this activity, students chatted with researchers from different areas of knowledge and various universities in Mexico and Latin America to learn about their research projects and then publish a note to disseminate these projects to an international audience.
Invited guests include the following researchers:
Dr. Avid Roman-Gonzalez, CEO of BE Tech, UNTELS Lima Sur, Universidad de Ciencias y Humanidades, Peru.
Dr. Gustavo Illescas, Professor-Researcher, Faculty of Exact Sciences, Universidad Nacional del Centro, Tandil, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Rocío Lorena Boza Calvo, professor and researcher at Universidad Hispanoamericana, Costa Rica.
Dr. Yohanna Milena Rueda Mahecha, Universidad Uniminuto, Colombia
The team of students and Dr. Josman Espinosa Gómez from CETYS University, Mexicali Campus
Angélica Borrego Espitia and Oscar Robayo Quevedo, thesis students advised by Dr. Yefri Pascagaza of the Universidad Militar Nueva Granada, Colombia.
María Fernanda Acosta Romo and Marco Antonio Chamorro Lucero, researchers of the Universidad Mariana in Colombia.
Some of the notes that resulted from this activity will be published in this blog and others were published by the authors directly in their social networks and professional portfolios. We invite you to discover them.
The University of Celaya, in strategic alliance with the Secretary of Sustainable Economic Development of the State, is conducting the introductory course Sustainability, Corporate Responsibility and Environmental Policies within the Program for Sustainable Industrial Development with the objective of training decision makers in the Bajio region to develop, participate, implement and evaluate actions that benefit our environment but also generate jobs and wealth in our state.
Consistent with its mission, the University of Celaya joins programs with a high impact social focus through which the educational community can establish valuable relationships with agents of change in the region such as the Center for Economic Research and Teaching (CIDE), the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Foundation (KAS) and the Association for Sustainable Industrial Development Germany - Pacific Alliance PAGSID to develop academic projects linked to issues of the 2030 agenda, climate change, biodiversity, corporate responsibility and related topics.
The University of Celaya, as the epicenter of this collaboration of high-impact projects, presented last Friday, July 16, the certificates of participation to the people who will serve as examples and agents of change in this project of transformation of Guanajuato to reduce the problems related to climate change.
An immersive hybrid system will be implemented in 21 classrooms at Uniamerican International School to guarantee the continuity of academic quality in all its elementary and high school groups, as well as the optimization of learning environments that will be characterized by promoting inquiry, critical thinking through triggering questions and collaborative work in the context of a safe, staggered and semi-presential return next August.
Only eight schools, distributed in four states of the country, including Guanajuato, have immersive systems (UNOi, May 2021) that operate with a state-of-the-art technological infrastructure made up of computers, iPads, projectors, 4K cameras with 120-degree coverage and artificial intelligence mechanisms for facial recognition that allow them to take tracking shots, delimitation and close-ups in detailed areas, as well as panoramic shots with remote control. Likewise, the cameras frame based on human voice recognition, suppressing environmental noise to achieve greater fidelity in the transmitter's audio.
Another key pillar of immersive hybrid classrooms is the teaching team that is being trained to successfully plan and implement classes that awaken students' interest and curiosity, while generating learning and developing skills supported by academic content designed for this purpose.
Rosalba Vega, in her 4th semester of high school, currently takes biology and math classes in an immersive hybrid classroom and, from her experience, the advantages are a higher level of attention and concentration during class that has allowed her to improve her academic performance, a better group dynamic and the confidence of feeling safe in a de-densified classroom.
Thanks to this integral model of educational evolution, more meaningful learning experiences will be generated for students and teachers because, with the integration of the technological and academic components within the classroom, a more natural simultaneous interaction between students who will attend classes in person and those who will participate remotely will be possible.
The immersive hybrid classrooms, equipped with state-of-the-art technology and artificial intelligence, are already implemented in 33 classrooms at the University of Celaya to guarantee a safe return to classes next August, ensuring the continuity of academic quality.
These classrooms are already being used by teachers and students at all levels, such is the case of the Master's Degree in Administration, where there have been very good comments about how well the technology and the 4K camera system works, which, thanks to artificial intelligence mechanisms, have facial recognition that follows the teacher around the room and recognizes the human voice, eliminating environmental noise to achieve greater fidelity in the audio, giving fluency to class participation.
In high school, in biology and mathematics, Rosalba Vega, a 4th semester student, says that the hybrid classrooms allow her to pay more attention and concentrate during class, improving her academic performance and a better group dynamic, as well as the confidence of feeling safer in a classroom with fewer students.
Thanks to this integral model of educational evolution, more meaningful learning experiences will be generated for students and teachers, since the integration of technological-academic components within the classroom will allow interaction between students who will attend classrooms in person and those who will participate remotely, stimulating collaborative work, discussions in real time, critical thinking, to mention a few skills.
