Abstract
Nowadays, sustainability is a key issue for companies, governments and societies. However, for many small and medium entrepreneurs, the concept is still unknown, difficult to understand and/or considered irrelevant. Sustainability is composed by three dimensions: economic, social and environmental. This chapter will concentrate on the economic dimension, and in order to find out the real state of sustainability in Bogotanian small and medium enterprises, the authors applied the sustainability matrix, a research tool designed to determine the state of planning, implementation and impact of sustainability in enterprises. Results show small and medium Bogotanian enterprises perform fine as long as they follow their own planning, however they do not perform as well when implementing what they plan, attempting to achieve economic sustainability.
Top2. Small And Medium Enterprises In Colombia
The importance of SMEs have in the world economy cannot be overlooked. Ceptureanu (2015, p. 1) cites Jutla. Bodorik and Dhaliqal (2002) stating that the Small and Medium Enterprises sector “contributes significantly to the economic growth of any country”, and also cites Singh et al (2010) to write that “they employ a high percentage of available workforce and it is the sector that generates the greater opportunities for employment”.
Latin American Small and Medium Enterprises are characterized by their heterogeneity, with two different types of companies existing; first, those created due to individual needs of self-employment that usually make part of the informal economy, characterized by low levels of human capital, difficulties to access to financial resources, low levels of internationalization, and low use of technology; and second, small and medium enterprises of high growth, with dynamic behavior of sales and creation of jobs, that answer not to self-employment needs but to answer opportunities, and have having an efficient and innovative management (Dini, Rovira & Stumpo, 2014).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Stakeholders: A person or group of persons with an interest or concern related to an organization.
Economic Dimension of Sustainability: The impact an organization has on the economy of its stakeholders and the society as a whole.
Sustainable Development: Development that meets its own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Corporate Sustainability: A business approach to create long-term shareholder value while managing risk related to the economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainability.
Small and Medium Enterprises: Its definition varies from one country to another. By number of workers, in Colombia, they are enterprises that employ between 10 and 200 workers.