What Internal Management Factors Favor SMES Competitiveness? Evidence in Colombia

Business competitiveness has been established as a fundamental goal for the economic development of countries and regions. It has been studied from different perspectives that consider exogenous factors such as the market share, innovation, and export strategy, among others. However, the study of the internal resources and factors, including the economic-financial variables of administration control, was still pending, being very useful and easy to implement. The objective of this research was to analyze the economic-financial variables that favor the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMES) in Colombia. From the Orbis database, 27 701 SMES were analyzed during the 2017-2019 period, using a multivariate regression model. The results allow explaining business competitiveness through turnover, productivity, and economic and financial profitability.