Environmental, Social and Governance Approach for Competitiveness

Abstract

Competitiveness is sustainable only when it considers the three dimensions: environmental, social, and governance. It is especially relevant in face of constant advances. Business development and transformation practitioners and scholars should carefully consider this new and enhanced approach. Thus, the first chapter of this book analyses how companies contribute to the changes in the environment and, in turn, how the environment impacts companies and makes them evolve.
Grid-group culture theory, stemming from Mary Douglas, explains different cultural modalities to conceive complex realities.

Full text

U n i v e r s i d a d d e G u a d a l a j a r a
Environmental, Social
and Governance
Approach for
Competitiveness
José Sánchez-Gutiérrez &
Tania-Elena González-Alvarado
(Coordinators)

First edition, 2022
Sánchez-Gutiérrez, José; González-Alvarado, Tania-Elena (coordinators).
Environmental, Social and Governance Approach for Competitiveness.
Mexico: Universidad de Guadalajara. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.13830.24645
This book is a product of the members of RIICO (Red Internacional de
Investigadores en Competitividad) with external contributions. The
findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not
necessarily reflect the views of Universidad de Guadalajara and RIICO.
All the photos on this book were taken from Innovartesss by Renata
Kubus.
This work is licensed under a!Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-
ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Cover picture by Renata Kubus on Instagram
Cover design: González Alvarado Tania Elena
© 2022, Universidad de Guadalajara
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Printed and made in Mexico

Environmental, Social and
Governance Approach for
Competitiveness
José Sánchez-Gutiérrez and !
Tania-Elena González-Alvarado!
(coordinators)
2022

Environmental, Social and Governance Approach for Competitiveness
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Sánchez-Gutiérrez, J. & González-Alvarado, T.

CONTENTS
Prologue………………………………………………………………. 5
Sánchez-Gutiérrez, José
ESG and Competitiveness: a Critical Reflection…….……………. 7
González-Alvarado, Tania-Elena; Kubus, Renata and Sánchez-
Gutiérrez, José
Home Office and Productivity: Social Approach
During the Pandemic……………………………………….……….. 25
Yanez-Betancourt, Gerardo; Ibarra-Muñoz, Areli-Marcela; Varela-
Castro, Werner-Horacio and Estrada-Retes, Ma. Del Rosario
Innovation Capabilities: An Environmental
Approach……………………………………………………………… 49
Carvajal-Sandoval, Alba-Rocío; Hernández-Castorena, Octavio;
Adriano-Rodríguez, Braulio and Velasquez-Espinoza, Noé
Knowledge Management and Organizational
Performance: a Governance Approach.……….…………………… 65
Preciado-Ortiz, Claudia-Leticia and Loza-Vega, Ismael
Robotics and Automation: Evolutionary Approach
Based on Their Life-Cycle…………………………………………… 87
García-Martínez, Bogar; González-Acolt, Roberto and
Díaz-Flores, Manuel
Technological Dispersion and Heterogeneity: The Hierarchical
one.………………………………………………………….…………. 105
Galicia-Haro, Emma-Frida; Coria-Páez, Ana-Lilia and Ortega-Moreno,
Irma-Cecilia
Contents
3

Adaptation in the artisan sector: The Individualist
Attitude …………………………………………………………………. 123
García-González, Ramón; Paredes-Castañeda, José-Antonio and
Casas-Domínguez, Geovanni-Elías
Organizational Change in Intelligent Organizations: the
Collective Effort………………………………………………………… 151
Bellon-Álvarez, Luis Alberto
The Colombian Textile Industry Behavior: the
Fatalistic One……………………………………………………….…… 179
Medina-Jiménez, Luz Amalia
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Sánchez-Gutiérrez, J. & González-Alvarado, T.

Prologue
Competitiveness is sustainable only when it considers the three dimensions:
environmental, social, and governance. It is especially relevant in face of
constant advances. Business development and transformation practitioners
and scholars should carefully consider this new and enhanced approach. Thus, the first
chapter of this book analyses how companies contribute to the changes in the environ-
ment and, in turn, how the environment impacts companies and makes them evolve.
Grid-group culture theory, stemming from Mary Douglas, explains different cultural
modalities to conceive complex realities.
This theory helps to understand the reaction of the individual or economic agents to
innovation as well as climate crisis. In this way, a logical introduction is given to the
content of the volume. The first three chapters refer to the issues of ESG. Consequently,
next chapters focus on the economic agents’ adaptation to the environmental challen-
ges. There are examples of the hierarchical or institutional approach, as well as of indi-
vidualistic, collective and fatalist attitudes.
This book brings together research works from various universities, both European
and Latin American, and as always there is a hope, that it can contribute to a worthy
cause of enriching the competitiveness knowledge.
Furthermore, the studies are based on empirical real-life evidence from enterprises,
universities, governments and institutions. All of these organizations are part of the
competitive environment.
The authors are from the Colombia, Poland, Spain and Mexico. All of them are ex-
perts in Economic and Business Sciences. The universities that participate in this Project
are: University of Insubria, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Universidad Iberoa-
mericana Torreón, Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila, Pontificia Universidad Javeria-
na, Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, Universidad Externado de Colombia,
Insti tuto Politécnico Nacional, Instituto Tecnológico de Tehuacán, Instituto Tecnológico
de! Pinotepa, and Universidad!!de!!Guadalaja.This publication was created following
Prologue
5

the best practices of scientific edition. Turnitin was applied to favour the originality. The
editorial team carefully analysed the quality and integrity of the contents. Every chapter
was selected, evaluated, and modified with the support of double anonymized review.
Editors and authors hope that this book will contribute to the!!advancement!!of!!theo-
retical!!and!!practical knowledge
José Sánchez-Gutiérrez, PhD
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Sánchez-Gutiérrez, J. & González-Alvarado, T.
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Sánchez-Gutiérrez, J. & González-Alvarado, T.

ESG and Competitiveness: a
Critical Reflection
Tania-Elena González-Alvarado
Universidad de Guadalajara, Mexico
Renata Kubus
Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain
José Sánchez-Gutiérrez
Universidad de Guadalajara, Mexico
INTRODUCTION
Within the capitalist system, companies' dynamics are expressed by the
term “business”. Companies constantly create business ventures to
increase competitiveness (Ogunsiji & Ladanu, 2017; Dzwigol,
Dzwigol-Barosz & Kwilinski, 2020). These dynamics in business contribute to the
system's logic and, in turn, are influenced by the system itself. Both feed each
other (business logic of the system), causing the millions of economic agents in
the world to shape the economic system. For this reason, there is a need to
understand competitiveness through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
(UN, 2015, 2016)
The SDGs illustrate the system saturation and the ways to amend it and to
assure its continuity. As this is a system, part of the solution lies in the way
companies act and interact (as the system elements). Therefore, building and
maintaining competitive businesses is very important to sustainability (Lahti,
Wincent & Parida, 2018).
Climate change has a wide-ranging impact on ecosystems, societies, and
economies. It also increases pressure on livelihoods and food supplies, including
food from the fisheries and aquaculture sector (WTO, 2009; FAO, 2012).
Competitiveness is sustainable while the company develops the capacity
to produce indefinitely at a rate that does not deplete the resources it uses and
requires to function and does not produce more pollutants than its environment
can absorb. (Berkes, Colding & Folke, 2008)
The decisive element for the company is its capacity for analysis and
transformation, considering that it is immersed in an ever-changing system. It
requires the ability to learn from reality, a critical vision for constructing
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sustainable competitiveness (Martín & González, 2016). It is considered that
dimensioning the environment, society, and governance (ESG) contributes to this
critical vision. These three dimensions emphasize collaboration and encourage
collective action and responsibility. It is so mainly because of the impact of
individual actions of stakeholders.
ESG AND GRID-GROUP CULTURE THEORY!
Grid-group culture theory!based on the idea of Mary Douglas (Douglas,
n.d.) from the intersection of solidarity towards the group and status or society
position determination provides an insightful and comprehensive picture.
(Figure 1)
Figure 1. Grid-Group Culture Theory: Innovation Approach
Source:: Kubus (2020).
This theory offers different cultural modalities to conceive complex
realities. The arrangement of elements within the dimensions is not definitive
and may vary between apparently equal entities and within them.
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It is expressed through quadrants, defined by two scales previously
advanced. The first scale, the gradient of the group, is determined by the level of
perception of the linkage of the constituents of the collective or group,
manifested in terms of solidarity. Another dimensional axis is formed by the
degree of the hierarchy of the group, how individuals assume and can vary or
exchange their roles within it. It implies the determination exercised by the
group's structure, and the status within it.
Thus, the spaces created would give rise to four types of attitudes and
ways of perceiving reality:
•The fatalistic one, also called atomized subordination implies superior
forces or destiny that govern the position in the group and that is not
easily influenced by its individual members
•The individualist attitude embraces the 'self-regulatory' dynamics where
the good of the individual leads to the good of the system as a whole, in
style of the invisible hand of the market
•The hierarchical one that entails the need for institutional and geopolitical
governance
•Egalitarian factionalism has the vision of 'a commons' management,
where a shared and collective vision of solidarity is required.
•Afterwards, the dimension of a hermit, generally distanced from culture,
has been added (Stolz, 2014).
•An exciting reading of this dimensioning is given by the natural
environment behavior perception against the perceived status quo.
•In the case of the hierarchical view, there is a perception of an implied
order, but with a threshold, or critical point after which the issues can
escape from management capabilities and lead to a sudden change in the
environment (for instance, 2º global warming).
•In the vision of egalitarian factionalism, the environment is perceived as
fragile, changing that can only be protected thanks to the collective effort.
Individualism attitude allows to find a place within a given environment
thanks to individual ability to survive and look for the (innovative) ways
to get ahead that in turn can move forward the system itself. Meanwhile,
the fatalistic vision implies a field of greater forces, where little or nothing
affects the status quo, the impulse exerted by the individual is found
meaningless.
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Long-term issues are positioned mainly in the hierarchical quadrant with
a strong vision of relationships between the different elements, such as health or
defense sectors. Science or business, in general, are in general located within the
individualistic quadrant, with mechanisms such as price setting through the
market or scientific status through peer review. These procedures in turn allow
economics or science to advance.
The groups of hippies or hackers, also open-source communities, would
be within the field of egalitarian vision.
Military groups responding to superiors' orders without understanding or
agreeing with their goals can be representative of fatalistic vision. However, the
defense sector will be positioned in the hierarchical quadrant if it implies
following a conscious and shared vision.
Each quadrant presents different ways of perceiving reality, preferences
for management or governance, different forms of pressure and punishment to
align behaviors, different communication models, and different response
capacities in the face of adversity.
The forms of reward and punishment to align behaviors would imply
incentives and financial resources allocation to align behaviors within the
individualistic model. In the hierarchical model, there are chains of command
that can use recognition or status within the group, coercion, consideration of
betrayal, and expulsion. In an egalitarian case, love, empathy, and compassion
define the reward. There would be all and none of these forms within the
fatalistic world.
Peer-to-peer communication in egalitarian or collective vision is vibrant,
but it depends on its size because of the bandwidth issues, growing with the
group dimensions. Hierarchy works with bottom-up and bottom-down
communication, giving it more speed and less ambiguity. In the individualistic
vision, market signals or scientific prestige would be applied. In the fatalistic
dimension, information bubbles would frequently form.
In the case of reality perception, the hierarchical group will see it through
the conflict of interests, the egalitarian one through management of groups and
people, the individualistic group through interests and incentives, while the
fatalist one will generally be at the expense of the superior forces.
What is interesting is that these worldviews, while competing, are also
and necessarily complementary. As it has been seen, depending on the context,
there can be an oscillation among different quadrants. They are all right, and at
the same time, none of them has an absolute vision. Nevertheless, it is necessary
to see all these dimensions together in order to address complex issues that
represent our reality.
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Apart from the previously mentioned individualistic vision where
everybody acts in its interest in this way contributing to the common good, at the
opposed high end of solidarity and structural implications it introduces the
hierarchic vision.
This outlook is similar to the one implicit in the European Union policies,
with its triple!helix approach!of actors such as!Government!providing the
physical and legal infrastructures for productive activities of!Industry!and
research and education activities of!Academia (Galvao et al., 2019; Gkoumas &
Christou, 2020; Quartey & Oguntoye, 2021). Recently European Union includes
as well the!Society (Kubus, 2020), which in grid-group culture schema is
especially present on the Collective quadrant, characterized by high solidarity
but low organizational structuring and determination. The fatalist vision is left as
a warning for a structural disempowerment.
Moreover, the!sustainability!question approach can also be structured
throughout this vision, providing for an overall picture of different positioning
regarding the!Natural Environment (González et al., 2018).
From the currently reigning individualistic perspective, nature has the full
capacity of renewal, companies are to be centered on the profit generation and
the environmental damage is just a collateral damage of this process. It can
anyway be amended through technology and innovation. In principle, the
natural environment issues are to be dealt with only when the society raises its
strong concerns.
It is somehow complementary with the reactiveness of the fatalist point of
view, which considers nature as capricious and independent of human actions.
From the collectivist perspective, instead, the natural environment needs a
careful consideration and care. This last point of view, in turn, complements the
hierarchical vision of critical or no return point. Due to the environmental crisis,
collectivist and hierarchical vision seem to permeate the European Union,
however it is reticent to strongly redirect the free market and oppose the
neoliberal standpoint.
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Figure 2. Grid-Group Culture Theory: Natural Environment Approach
Source: Kubus (2020).
Indeed, in the current configuration, it seems, that the individualistic
vision is for success-oriented free market and the hierarchic outlook is mainly for
the government levels. The competitiveness and innovation have an
interpretative flexibility and are prone to the social shaping due to the contextual
factors of amplified framework.
In order to allow this level playing field, the difference in the
characteristics and structures of each actor that determine its participation in the
power play need to be carefully balanced when and where required by
government and academia bodies, industry lobbies but especially social and
environmental entities with their strong solidarity ethics.
All things considered, these competing but also complementary
perspectives indicate a need for a careful innovation ecosystem outlook. It should
embrace the multilevel perspective as well, with the strong highlight on the
society mindset and landscape level influencing the sociotechnical regime and
niche levels (Geels, 2005).
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ESG CRITERIA, INDICATORS, AND PRINCIPLES FROM BUSINESS
PRACTICE
The term dimension can mean "importance of something". Based on this
meaning, the environmental, society, and governance dimensions are implied in
the actions of companies. In other words, these three are essential for the
decision-making and actions of companies.
Regardless of whether the strategists are aware of these dimensions, the
actions derived from their decision-making will affect reality. It can lead to
another meaning of dimension: facet, side or aspect of something. The company's
actions lead to environmental, social, and governance outcomes.
Unfortunately, in the short term, the company's negative effect on the
environment, society, or governance often goes unnoticed —especially when
decision-making refers to a highly competitive and speed-rewarding
environment (for instance, time-to market aspect).
Adverse effects may be detected much later when the damage is
irreversible or very significant from a systemic perspective—considering that a
system is a "set of elements that are related to each other in an orderly way and
contribute to a certain common objective."(Elinor Ostrom, 1990).
The company is an open system that is a part of other larger and more
complex systems. The environment, society, and governance are three
overlapping systems in which the company is immersed. This immersion of the
company in these three systems is based on the dimensions that are usually
described when criticizing or evaluating the actions of companies and their
degree of responsibility for said actions.
From the perspective of adaptive systems (Preiser et al., 2018; Roundy,
Bradshaw & Brockman, 2018), all systems are interconnected, and inevitably
influenced by each other. Thus, the company impacts the environmental, social,
and governance systems; but these three in turn influence the company. The
impact on the company in principle can be detected and controlled by the
strategists. However, not all impacts are necessarily detected, and therefore not
all are controlled. Furthermore, in many cases even if an influence can be
detected it can be out of reach or control.
This situation helps to understand the ambivalence of corporate social
responsibility and how a company can be certified by CSR bodies, even if it sells
products harmful to health or pollutes some other regions of the world.
Understanding the influence that larger systems (society is perhaps the most
perceptible one) have on the company explains this contradictory situation.
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The company certified as socially responsible covers some aspects that
allow it to achieve the distinction, but in other aspects, it is forced to adapt to the
system's logic. Even when there is a will to detect all the impacts that the largest
systems have on the company, there is always a large proportion of unknown
influencing factors.
The question is: what are we doing so that theoretical advances increase
knowledge about the effect of the environment, society, and governance in the
company? From a theoretical perspective, there are multiple studies on this
(Aboud & Diab, 2018; Yoon, Lee & Byun, 2018; Duque-Grisales & Aguilera-
Caracuel, 2021), but few present or derive prescriptive models that support
companies in practice and allow them to control their negative influence on the
three systems.
This is probably why, when approaching ESG systems from business
practice, the company is taken as the issue center—the company as the cause of
everything negative that stems from the logic of the other three systems. It is a
partial and wrong position, the company keeps a degree of responsibility for
what happens outside it, but not all responsibility can to be assumed by the
business.
Despite this, a prescriptive approach that starts from the company is
justifiable. It is justified because the aspects that the strategist controls are
described in this approach. It convinces by offering greater operational efficiency,
brand value, cost of capital, and risk management, and as a result, ESG is an
increasingly valued aspect when choosing an investment (PWC, 2022; S&P
Global, 2022).
Considering that it is the strategist and, therefore, the company who have
to control, direct and measure their influence on the environment, society, and
governance helps to modify decision-making, actions, and even organizational
culture. It awakes the company members awareness of these elements. The
company members, the people, are part of the other three systems. Outside the
company, they have other roles and their actions feed other systems (consumers,
investors, neighbors, relatives, among many others). However, there is more to
that.
ESG systems are more extensive and maintain their own inertia (Moradi et
al., 2021; Albert, 2018; Choi & Yi, 2018; Seyed, Poorbehroozan & Ghorban, 2021).
This inertia forces the company to direct its actions towards their adaptation. It is
a situation that can turn off or weakens decision-making, even when formally
considering ESG criteria. It occurs because the criteria are prescriptive. They
provide an adequate mechanism to make strategists aware of ESG systems, but
they are not enough.
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Reducing the perception and reality of the three systems to a set of rules
(ESG criteria) is only effective in a mechanistic and predictable world. However,
unfortunately, the reality is unpredictable, dotted with highly complex multi-
dimensional functioning.
That is why in business practice, reference is made to criteria construction
and application. A criterion is a judgment or discernment. To discern means
distinguishing something from something else, pointing out the difference
between them. The ESG criteria help the strategist discern or distinguish the
dimensions in their decision making, the results achieved, as well as their
assessment.
Therefore, they become a set of rules that when given high importance can
guide decision-making. The strategist considers them a rule to the extent that he
is convinced that they affect the value of the company and the perception of
investors about business expectations. The companies have started from the three
criteria to form their indicators. The SIKA (2022) indicators are shown in the
annex to the chapter. They are based on the three types of criteria:
a) Environmental criteria are related the company's activity and its impact on
the environment, both direct and indirect. It is not just about considering
operating costs. It has to do with the ecological footprint of the members of
the company and the environmental cost of its operations: pollution and
consumption of water, electricity, air, and other natural resources. The
question is how much a company contributes to the generation of carbon
dioxide and global warming. Humans cannot avoid the impact, but they can
mitigate it. One way to mitigate it is to understand the processes and the
transformations it implies, to look for alternatives in generating and using
resources. It should lead as well to cycles and their times and disinvolvement
comprehension. The indicators are greenhouse gas emissions, renewable
energy, energy efficiency, resource depletion, and chemical pollution. Tables 1
and 2 of Annex I show SIKA's environmental indicators in the last four years.
There the annual indicators are compared, and the mitigations in the
environmental impact are shown.
b) Social criteria are related to the company's activity within society, especially
those stakeholders that maintain a direct relationship (employees,
shareholders, customers, suppliers, creditors, or population of the locality
where they operate). The company-society relationship is complex if the
mindsets or imaginaries, both collective and individual, and the social
constructions are considered. In reality, the social commitments that the
company presents are not always those that society needs. Society can believe
that it needs something, but it is possible that it does not need it, even though
it demands it from the company and the company corresponds to satisfy the
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demand. In the same way, it is possible that the company, together with
society, disregards what is needed. Only once the impact is sufficiently high
on both, they proceed to assimilate the error and look for ways to correct it.
Unfortunately, many times society points to the company as the only
responsible for the mistake or deviation in its activities, even when both
parties have played a leading role. The nature of the company many times
stems from the society exerting pressure to divert commitments towards
what is perceived and not what is needed. The company is interested in
improving its brand image, attracting talent, and building customer loyalty.
Thus, the company will do what society expresses as an expectation towards
its role as a socially responsible company, although society can also be wrong.
The indicators are health, education, human rights, workers' rights, and
controversial business practices. Tables 3 and 4 of Annex I show the social
indicators of SIKA (2022). SIKA exposes more social criteria indicators than
the Environmental and Governance criteria.
c) Governance criteria relates to power systems of the company. This criterion
considers the decision-making power that senior management employees
have and that can contravene the interests of the shareholders. The situation
that was learned in the nineties of the last century is expected not to happen
again. It includes the power of the internal customer, that can weaken the one
of the external customers (e.g. agency issues). In this way, the criteria of
governance address how the company is managed and the degree to which
the external or the company's own rules and regulations, comply with them.
The indicators are the quality of management, the culture, and the risk profile
of the company and, in particular: accountability, governing bodies,
transparency, and lobbying. Table 5 of Annex I shows the SIKA indicators
(2022).
The expectation with these three criteria is that strategists' decision-
making considers their costs and benefits. It is expressed in the following
questions: What is the environmental, social, and governance cost or benefit?
How to link the environmental benefit with the social benefit and governance?
Which dimension should be given more importance?
When it comes to these questions, there are endless answers, as many
answers as each reality requires. Therefore, it is not surprising that the business
community considers principles that are the basis of the answers. The principles
are as follows (RSS,2022).
Principle 1: Investment and processes
Incorporate ESG issues in investment analyzes and decision-making processes.
Principle 2: Practices and Policies
Be an active owner and include ESG issues into ownership practices and policies.
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Principle 3: Adequate Disclosure
Seek adequate disclosure of ESG issues by the invested entities.
Principle 4: Acceptance and implementation
Promote the acceptance and implementation of the Principles in the investment
sector.
Principle 5: Work together
Work together to increase the effectiveness in applying the Principles.
Principle 6: Reports and progress
Each of those involved will issue reports on their activities and progress
concerning the application of the Principles.
From the company perspective, the vision of ESG helps to build a more
sustainable system. However, the pressure exerted by the global system can be
stronger than the company's pressure on the system. For this reason, it is crucial
to approach ESG from a global perspective.
SOVEREIGN ESG
Strategists make decisions that require assessing the environmental, social,
and governance risks and opportunities associated with their investments. This
perspective on a global 'Better Data' system helps channelling financial flows
towards more sustainable activities. The investment strategies are to be aligned
with the Sustainable Development Goals to the extent of the ESG criteria
consideration when analyzing the global environment. In this way, the company
can be on the right track to develop sustainable competitiveness. For this
purpose, the World Bank (WB, 2022) created a database that offers sovereign ESG
data. They increase transparency around the sustainability performance of
countries.
The database is based on the Global Program on Sustainability (GPS). This
foundation provides governments and investors with information and tools to
improve their understanding of sustainability criteria (WB, 2022).
The Sovereign ESG Data Framework incorporates data relevant to
achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The data content is organized into
topics that the World Bank considers crucial for financial sector representatives
while assessing the contribution of investments or policies to sustainable
development (WB, 2022).
The World Bank groups the indicators based on the three criteria.
However, they have slight variations compared to those included in the business
perspective. This variation is due to two different visions. In one perspective, the
ESG is based on the company's impact on the environmental, social, and
governance dimensions. The ESG outlook is based on the global scenario and,
therefore, the indicators are grouped in a way that make it easier to visualize the
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environmental, social, and governance aspects by regions, countries, or localities.
In this second and final vision, the company comes under ESG pressure.
According to the World Bank (WB, 2022), the criteria show the sustainability of a
country's economic performance and are defined as follows.
a) Environment. It address es natural resources' endowment,
management, and complementarity and their risk or resilience in the face of
climate change and other natural hazards. This criterion considers the
internalization of environmental externalities created by economic activity. It
also represents access to sustainable energy and food security, i.e. crucial
factors for a stable long-term economic growth. The corresponding indicators
are emissions and pollution, the provision and management of natural
capital, energy use, and security, environment/climate risk, and resilience
and food security. Table 6 of annex 2 shows some of these indicators by
region.
b) Social. It describes the effectiveness in meeting the basic needs of the
population and poverty reduction, management of social and equality
problems, and the investment in human capital and productivity. It also
includes demographic criteria relevant to stable long-term economic growth.
The indicators are as follows: education and skills, employment,
demographics, poverty and inequality, health and nutrition, and access to
services. Table 7 of Annex 2 shows some of the indicators by region.
c) Governance. Describes the institutional capacity to support long-term
stability, growth, and poverty reduction. This category also represents the
strength of a country's political, financial, and legal systems and their ability
to address environmental and social risks. The indicators are human rights,
government effectiveness, stability and the rule of law, economic
environment, gender equality, and innovation. Table 8 of Annex 2 shows
some of these indicators by region.
Unfortunately, the database is incomplete. It presents limitations for
decision-making in the short term. It can lead to biases in decision-making.
However, the absence of indicators does not necessarily mean the absence of
actions in favor of the environment, society, or governance.
CONCLUSIONS
Companies are under pressure to respond to competition with new and
innovative economic activities. Activities that do not exhaust the system in its
three areas (social, ecological, and financial). Sustainable competitiveness
requires entrepreneurial activity to build or transform businesses to mitigate
poverty, climate change, and the adverse effects of economic crises.
Environmental, Social and Governance Approach for Competitiveness
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Sánchez-Gutiérrez, J. & González-Alvarado, T.

Especially developing countries bear the main burden of the effects of
climate change as they strive to overcome poverty and promote economic
growth. However, climate change can be an opportunity to contribute to
economic development within the framework of sustainability as long as this
vision is not fatalistic.
The vision of ESG and RSC from the company outlook is helpful to avoid
the fatalistic vision and build a more sustainable economic system. However, the
pressure exerted by the global system is strong and not all can be changed by the
companies only. Therefore, and in practice any contribution of the ESG approach
will only be seen in the very long term. Furthermore, it needs to be adopted as a
universal three-dimensional vision.
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Home Office and Productivity:
Social Approach During the
Pandemic
Gerardo Yanez-Betancourt
Universidad Iberoamericana Torreón, Mexico
Areli-Marcela Ibarra-Muñoz
Universidad Iberoamericana Torreón, Mexico
Werner-Horacio Varela-Castro
Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila, Mexico
Ma. Del Rosario Estrada-Retes
Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila, Mexico
INTRODUCTION
The “Home Office,” also known in Mexico as telecommuting, is a working
modality where workers can carry out their professional activities
remotely, without physically appearing at the company's facilities.
Although Garcia (2020) mentions, "this form of work has been in operation for
years, thanks to the expansion of the use of the internet, the development of
different digital tools and the possibility that some professions can be carried out
from home".
The importance of this issue lies precisely in the fact that the COVID-19
pandemic led more companies and institutions to implement it to continue their
activities during the health emergency. In this way, the confinement, decreed by
the Federal Secretary of Health in March 2020, was a forced result of the
appearance of the COVID-19 pandemic in the world, reason that after a few
weeks and to safeguard many of the existing jobs, most of the administrative
workers had to work remotely from their homes (home office or telecommuting).
Despite this, Mendoza (2021) mentions that COVID-19 had its initial
repercussions on the labor market. The results of his research indicate that, based
Home office and productivity: social approach during the pandemic
Yanez-Betancourt, G.; Ibarra-Muñoz, A.; Varela-Castro, W. & Estrada-Retes, M.
27

on the initial economic shock, in the short term, the Mexican economy
experienced a period of stagnation in the employment levels of the economically
active population, with the possibility of recovery in the following years.
Likewise, Salas et al. (2020) describe in their article the "probable"
magnitude of the changes in income distribution, poverty, and extreme poverty
in the country in the metropolitan areas of the Valley of Mexico, Guadalajara, and
Monterrey, as well as in the City of Mexico, according to different hypotheses of
the behavior of labor income based on information available until the start of the
pandemic and that consider the closures of so-called non-essential activities and
their impact on specific occupations.
The pandemic appeared during the context of an incipient process of an
increase in real wages and employment that began in 2019. The slowdown in the
activities derived from the health emergency in Mexico and the world caused an
increase in poverty and extreme poverty, the growth of inequality measured by
the Gini index (Lakner et al., 2022).
On the other hand, Aguilar and Lira (2020), in their article on the
COVID-19 pandemic, talk about the Mexican automotive industry, which is one
of the most important industries.
The Mexican automotive industry represents a significant segment of the
economy, on which a significant mass of workers depends directly and indirectly,
and which, given this unusual scenario, was one of the first industries that were
forced to suspend work immediately.
It is crucial to know what companies and the federal government have
done to face this emergency scenario and if these measures have been sufficient
to maintain the usual dynamism of this industry, as well as to preserve the health
and labor safety of workers in different entities of the country during the
pandemic.
Therefore, the authors Martinez and Veloz (2020) question to what extent
the Mexican state is responsible for the economic damage with the measures
adopted to counter the pandemic. On the other hand, Landa et al. (2020) carried
out an analysis that reveals that technological dependence, the weak productive
linkages of the industrial manufacturing sector, and the high concentration of
Mexican exports in the world market: conditioned the vulnerability of the
economy before the outbreak of the pandemic.
For this reason, it is important to know how the Home Office will
influence the productivity, competitiveness, formal employment, and economy of
companies in the context of COVID-19 in Mexico.
The answers to these questions will be useful for those who make
decisions. Since as described in a study carried out by Rodríguez (2020), "It is
necessary that people who telecommute are duly trained and have the developed
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Sánchez-Gutiérrez, J. & González-Alvarado, T.

skills necessary to fulfill said task and thus ensure success in meeting the
objectives of companies and the continuity of businesses and institutions."
It highlights the need to close the technological gap between Mexico and
developed countries (Blomström, Kokko & Zejan, 2000; Esquivel & Rodrıguez-López,
2003); otherwise, competitiveness will be lost. Based on what was previously
described, this research seeks to know, among other aspects, a new way to
increase productivity and labor competitiveness in organizations, as well as
knowing the changes in the labor market for the effective hiring of “Home
Office” in commercial and industrial activity and its possible repercussions on
employment (Fadinger & Schymik, 2020; Kaushik & Guleria, 2020; Hill, Ferris &
Märtinson, 2003).
According to the objective of this research, the following was structured:
firstly, a review of the literature on the relevance of the adaptation of the "home
office" by organizations in the face of the current crisis generated by COVID-19,
as an alternative to being able to continue working from home; secondly, as part
of the methodology, an own instrument was developed, which was applied to a
sample of 59 subjects, and thirdly, an analysis of the results obtained is made and
finally, the main conclusions are presented.
CONTEXTUAL FRAMEWORK
Telecommuting in times of COVID-19. Telecommuting or Work from Home
Teleworking is one of the flexible work modalities (Felstead & Henseke
cited in Ramos et al., 2020). One of the main elements is information and
communication technologies to maintain contact with supervisors and
colleagues.
Studies have shown that telecommute people take more effort to fulfill
their objectives and do not mind lengthening the working day for this purpose,
verifying a more significant commitment to their organization. Among the
benefits of this modality, the increase in personal performance was determined
due to the flexibility of schedules and the autonomy of activities. Among the
disadvantages are problems that affect mental health, such as: due to working
long hours, a feeling of insecurity at work, lack of time control, and frustration
due to problems in coordinating activities.
Likewise, the difficulty of separating work and family spaces (Hill, Ferris
& Märtinson, 2003; Ng, 2010; Patton, 2020; Hill et al., 1998) was identified when
both coincide and the lack of mental disconnection from work problems (Table
1).
Three critical productivity elements affect people: 1) individual factors
such as gender and social status, 2) social factors such as relationships with
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Yanez-Betancourt, G.; Ibarra-Muñoz, A.; Varela-Castro, W. & Estrada-Retes, M.
29

clients, supervisors, colleagues, and family, and 3) situational factors. Such as
resources and distractions.
Table 1. Advantages and Disadvantages of the Home Office
Source: own elaboration taken from Ramos et al. (2020).
Due to health, crisis charges other additional aspects to those mentioned
above. Among the consequences of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, work-
related insecurity problems have become more acute, with an estimated
reduction in employment of 6.7% (ILO, 2020), affecting above all sectors where it
is not possible to adopt an alternative work modality as is the case of small
businesses.
At the same time, other elements are added that affect the world
population, such as uncertainty and fear —competitiveness and sustainability in
the strategic management of global companies in times of COVID-19.
The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most transcendental events in the
life of humanity (Ballesteros et al., 2020). Among them are the social and
economic consequences that directly affect the development of business
organizations.
Companies see the need and responsibility to lead a more assertive and
agile direction in terms of decision making in a changing and unpredictable
environment; it is necessary to find new forms, programs, and action plans to
improve the management of companies.
Advantages
Disadvantages
* Greater commitment of the worker with the
organization
* Increased personal performance
* Flexibility of schedules
*Autonomy of activities
* Long working hours
* Feeling of insecurity at work
* Lack of time control
* Frustration due to problems coordinating
activities
* Difficulty separating work and family spaces
* Lack of mental disconnection from work
problems
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Sánchez-Gutiérrez, J. & González-Alvarado, T.

Figure 1. Business Management in the Health Emergency
Source: Own elaboration (ECLAC, 2020; Ballesteros et al., 2020).
As shown in Figure 1, the companies face health emergencies by applying
occupational health and safety protocols, the deployment of teleworking, new
digital tools, labor flexibility, and the reorganization of working hours. In an
environment of rapid change and market uncertainty, many companies have
been forced to innovate, re-evaluate how they operate and change their business
models.
This chapter mentions that most companies have registered significant
drops in their income and have difficulties maintaining their activities. For
example, they have serious problems meeting their salary and financial
obligations and difficulties accessing financing for working capital.
Although the crisis affects all companies, the impact is much more
significant in the case of micro-enterprises and SMEs due to their weight in the
business structure, which translates into extensive business closures and job
losses.
The impact has been very different depending on the sector and the type
of company. Several of the heavily affected sectors, such as commerce, hotels,
and restaurants, have many micro and small businesses, which have been more
affected.
So news like the following is expected: Teleworking could increase
productivity in Spain between 1.4% and 6.2%. A few years ago, Stanford
University economics professor Nicholas Bloom carried out an empirical study
on the benefits of teleworking in terms of labor productivity (Rodríguez & Pérez,
2021).
This analysis was based on the results of an experiment lasting almost a
year in one of the largest tourism services companies in the world and concluded
that remote work improved the performance of workers by no less than 13%.
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Yanez-Betancourt, G.; Ibarra-Muñoz, A.; Varela-Castro, W. & Estrada-Retes, M.
31

However, the same study indicates that this improvement occurs when
there is an adaptation to the employees' preferences, or, in other words, the
increase in the workers' performance goes from 13% to 22% when teleworking is
voluntary and not mandatory.
It is necessary to consider that telecommuting is not exempt from a certain
"stigma", as the time spent in an office is associated with the worker's
commitment to the company. The Stanford University study, for example, finds a
negative relationship between telecommuting and career advancement. If we
consider two equally productive employees, the probability of obtaining a
promotion will be greater for those who work physically in the office: about who
works remotely.
Figure 2. Scenarios in Spain Regarding the Impact of Teleworking on Productivity
Source: Own elaboration (Canals, 2021).
Canals (2021), to make a first approximation of the impact of teleworking
on productivity in Spain. Starting from the estimates of said study on the impact
of teleworking on worker productivity, they take the percentage of employees in
Spain who could potentially carry out their work remotely (estimates that speak
of 33%). Moreover, they apply the "transfer rate".
It is that: to get the most out of teleworking, it is not enough that the type
of job can be carried out remotely. It is also necessary that the person wishes to
do so and have the appropriate conditions in place, with a room of own or with a
broadband internet connection.
Thus, both analysts point to two possible scenarios (Figure 2). In the one
considered "most favorable," they consider the high band of the range of
productivity increase reported by Nicholas Bloom (30%).
They also consider a high “transfer rate” of 75%, which means that a large
part of the workers likely to work remotely want and meet the conditions to do
so. In a second scenario, much less favorable, they consider the low band of the
productivity increase range (20%) and a low “transfer rate” of 25%. Thus, the
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Sánchez-Gutiérrez, J. & González-Alvarado, T.

widespread adoption of teleworking can increase Spanish productivity between
1.4% and 6.2%.
Can productivity be measured in telecommuting? Accurately measuring the
level of activity of employees in teleworking, it is essential to have a strategy and
an organizational culture (Capell, 2020). The Covid-19 pandemic and the state of
alarm forced Spanish companies to implement teleworking in all those positions
where it was possible.
Due to the circumstances, many companies were not prepared either at a
technological level or at a corporate culture level, which is why one of the main
concerns of companies is that the productivity of teleworking is lower than in
person. If they want to accurately evaluate their employees' performance,
companies must focus on a framework of objectives, with its corresponding key
performance indicators (Key Performance Indicators. KPI).
A correct corporate and digital culture will be critical for this model to
work without affecting productivity, quite the contrary. The National Institute of
Statistics (INE) in Spain itself indicates in 2006 that teleworking was 5.2%; in
2019, it rose to 8.3%. However, in 2020 there was a difference due to the
pandemic of 22.3%. Likewise, it mentions that teleworking is between 5 and 22%
more productive than face-to-face employees, while some international reports
report different figures, but in any case, positive (Epdata, 2021).
Figure 3. Keys to Evaluate the Productivity of Teleworkers
Source: own elaboration taken from Capell (2020).
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Yanez-Betancourt, G.; Ibarra-Muñoz, A.; Varela-Castro, W. & Estrada-Retes, M.
33

As shown in Figure 3, companies must consider the following
considerations:
1) The definition of objectives. In addition to being transparent and
realistic, these must be specific, measurable, affordable, results-oriented, and
time-bound.
2) Communication and transparency. Keeping communication channels
open between the company and remote workers is vital to boosting productivity.
A good communication flow will allow us to help employees understand what
their task is, offer them support to adapt to their new work reality, answer their
questions and take care of the cohesion of the entire team.
3) Clear and understandable tasks and processes. Not only will they help
the worker understand what to do, but they will also make it easier to objectively
evaluate their performance.
4) Objective metrics to evaluate productivity. Aligned with work by
objectives and results orientation, it is recommended that the company opt for
objective indicators to avoid possible biases when evaluating employee
productivity.
5) First, monitor the tasks that add the most value. To evaluate workers'
performance, rather than tracking all their actions, it is essential to define which
objectives and tasks are priorities and focus on their monitoring.
6) Have the right tools. Technology is of great help to monitor the work
performance of remote workers. Technology can almost double the number of
highly productive employees in the organization.
There are many solutions available on the market. From performance
evaluation software, which offers us benchmark data with which to compare the
productivity of employees, to tools that calculate how much time an employee
spends working on the computer or that allow us to follow the progress of each
project, identify those responsible, delivery dates (Capell, 2020).
Telecommuting: strengthening work in times of the COVID-19 pandemic. In
Costa Rica, with the declaration of a pandemic, directive No. 073-S-MTSS
establishes a series of inter-institutional coordination measures to guarantee
compliance with the protocols of the health authorities and implement
teleworking guidelines in state offices on the health alert (Montero et al., 2020).
As can be seen in Figure 5, it is essential to mention that this measure is
temporary for the public sector, even though several state agencies have
implemented this practice in their institutional work for years, focused on
professional positions and that, in addition, impacts operating costs in the use of
space or infrastructure.
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Sánchez-Gutiérrez, J. & González-Alvarado, T.

Meanwhile, teleworking is a common practice that has a lesser impact on
the transition from face-to-face work to a remote modality. The preceding is a
response to the new demands of the market and interaction with clients. It breaks
with the paradigm that works is subject to a specific place.
It is verified that for the performance of teleworking positions, these can
be carried out in any place with facilities through connectivity, modern
technologies, communication, security measures in labor matters and work risks,
and the parties' commitment.
The regulations approved on teleworking for Costa Rica post-COVID-19
encourage organizations to adopt the guidelines to internal protocols and
policies. So, it clarifies the responsibilities, duties, and rights of employers and
collaborators (Figure 4), which must be guided by internal or external experts
that guarantee the implementation of safety measures for occupational and
occupational health, and that indirectly affects social and family health, since the
home becomes an extension of the office.
The new global reality means that the labor market must rethink and
evolve towards new concepts of doing things. Teleworking anticipates the
national emergency in the case of Costa Rica for some sectors of the industry,
strengthening certain companies that have this alternative to face the demands
and needs of their strategic partners, based on compliance with quality standards
and security in the provision of goods and services, with only access to virtual,
remote or distance work (Montero et al., 2020).
Figure 4. Telecommuting in the Public and Private Sector
Source: Own elaboration taken from Montero et al. (2020).
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Yanez-Betancourt, G.; Ibarra-Muñoz, A.; Varela-Castro, W. & Estrada-Retes, M.
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The pandemic triggered 31.3% unemployment. The Mexican unemployed shot
up 31.3% throughout 2020, compared to 2019, in one of the expressions of the
crisis derived from the pandemic (Villanueva, 2021). Additionally, the
Economically Active Population (PEA) was reduced, full-time jobs were lost, in
micro-businesses and the informal sector (Villanueva, 2021); doubling
underemployment and the volume of people who are not in the labor market
because they do not see opportunities.
Between the last quarter of 2019 and the same period last year, the
unemployed: population actively looking for a job without finding it went from
1,942,000 to 2,549,000. Despite the high degrees of informality that help reduce
the open unemployment rate in the country.
The number of people who have been looking for a job between six
months and a year grew by 332%. Among the most affected groups, the
population aged 45 to 64 saw a 53.4% increase in unemployment, followed by
those aged 25 to 44, which increased 38.8%.
Figure 5. Effects of the Pandemic on Employment in Mexico
Source: Own elaboration (Villanueva, 2021).
By educational level, it advanced 51.3% among those who have completed
elementary school and 39.1 percent for high school graduates, even college.
Except, the government sector and international organizations, where the
number of workers increased by 145 thousand; social services that did it in 50
thousand; and construction in 46 thousand, there is no economic activity that has
not seen its total workforce reduced.
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In December, the employed population totaled 53 million 331 thousand
workers, 2 million 352 thousand less than in December 2019. In addition, as a
result of the pandemic, the underemployed population increased by 3 million
840 thousand, to reach 8 million 103 thousand workers, of whom one in 10 seeks
additional employment.
It is accompanied by the loss of one million 383 thousand full-time jobs, 9
percent less than at the end of 2019, and an increase of 76.6 percent in
temporarily absent; but maintaining the employment relationship (Villanueva,
2021).
RESEARCH PROBLEM
The research problem can be defined based on the lack of knowledge of
how the COVID-19 pandemic, the digitalization of technology, and the current
communications of the "home office" restrict the productivity and
competitiveness of companies.
Principal objective
Determine how the home office influenced the productivity and
competitiveness of companies
Specific objectives
Know how the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico will
influence the occupation of the economically active population
Hypothesis
HT: There is the "Home office" as a work technique that influences the
productivity and competitiveness of companies
Research Method
The research is explanatory; since it is essential to indicate that this work
was explicity developed to correlate in the best waworkersy 1) how the home
office influenced the productivity and competitiveness of companies in the
Laguna Region in Mexico and 2) the effects on the occupation of the
economically active population as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico.
METHODOLOGY
Scope and limitations
As characteristics of the method used in this project, it would be said that
it is an investigation that is mainly at an explanatory level and not experimental,
since there was no deliberate manipulation of the variables, that is, there are no
conditions or stimuli to which the subjects were exposed.
Research, nor was any situation constructed to see its effects. It is
transversal because the research revealed how the home office influences the
productivity and competitiveness of companies, and a study was not carried out
Home office and productivity: social approach during the pandemic
Yanez-Betancourt, G.; Ibarra-Muñoz, A.; Varela-Castro, W. & Estrada-Retes, M.
37

over time. It is from the field because the surveys were carried out in the
interviewees' habitat or workplace and were not removed from their
environment to carry out the research.
Sample size and description
An Own elaboration instrument was applied to a sample of 59 subjects;
the said instrument comprises 50 interval questions with a Likert scale from 0 to
6 and 4 nominal variables that characterize the sample. This instrument was
validated by obtaining Cronbach's alpha, where a value of 96.0% was obtained,
which has high reliability and content validity, also presenting an estimation
error of 3.08%.
Of the total of the 59 subjects surveyed, 69% are women and 31% men,
with an average age of 34 years, 93% being trusted employees and 7% unionized,
of which the level of studies is 61% bachelor's degree, 36% master's degree and
3% doctorate.
RESULTS
Univariate data analysis
In Table 2, Frequency Distribution by Gender, the vast majority of those
interviewed are female (69.49%), and the rest (30.51%) are male. In Table 3,
Frequency Distribution by Position, the vast majority of those interviewed are
trusted employees (93.22%), and the rest (6.78%) are unionized.
Table 2. Distribution of Frequency by Gender
Source: Own elaboration made with NCSS.
Table 3. Frequency Distribution by Position
Source: Own elaboration made with NCSS.
In Table 4, Distribution of Frequency by Studies, it is observed that of the
interviewees, the vast majority have a bachelor's degree (61.02%), 35.59% have a
master's degree, and only 3.39% have a doctorate.
Gender
Frequency
Cumulative
Frequency
Percentage
Accumulated
percentage
Histogram
Female
41
41
69.49
69.49
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|||
Male
18
59
30.51
100
||||||||||||
Position
Frequency
Cumulative
Frequency
Percentage
Accumulated
percentage
Histogram
Trusted
employee
55
55
93.22
93.22
||||||||||||||||||||||||
||||||||||||||
Unionized
4
59
6.78
100
||
Environmental, Social and Governance Approach for Competitiveness
38
Sánchez-Gutiérrez, J. & González-Alvarado, T.

Table 4. Frequency Distribution by Studies
Source: Own elaboration made with NCSS
In Table 5, Frequency Distribution by Age, it can be seen that the vast
majority of those interviewed are between 27 and 41 years old (28.81%), 27.12%
are between 20 and 27, 8.47% are between 41 and 48, and the rest (6.78%) are
between 48 and 55 years old.
Table 5. Frequency Distribution by Age
Source: Own elaboration made with NCSS.
Multivariate factorial analysis
To determine if the study contained valid variables, three initial tests were
performed: Determinant of the correlation matrix, KMO, and Bartlett's sphericity.
The test shows that the validity of the study (Table 6) is based on the coefficient
of the determinant of the correlation matrix with an almost zero value
(1.245E-028), where a correlation is observed at a regular level of sample
adequacy of the variables in 63.7% initial in KMO.
Table 6. KMO Tests, Bartlett Test, and Determinant
Source: Own elaboration made with SPSS
In addition, the Chi-square (2602.3) is at an acceptable level, which is why
when correlating the variables, significant data were obtained through which the
Studies
Frequency
Cumulative
Frequency
Percentage
Accumulated
percentage
Histogram
Doctorate
2
2
3.39
3.39
|
bachelor's
degree
36
38
61.02
64.41
||||||||||||||||||||
||||
Master's degree
21
59
35.59
100
||||||||||||||
Age
Frequency
Cumulative
Frequency
Percentage
Accumulated percentage
Histogram
20 to 27
16
16
27.12
27.12
||||||||||
27 to 34
17
33
28.81
55.93
|||||||||||
34 to 41
17
fifty
28.81
84.75
|||||||||||
41 to 48
5
55
8.47
93.22
|||
48 to 55
4
59
6.78
100
||
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of
sample adequacy.
.637
Bartlett's sphericity test
Approximate chi-square
2602.3
G. L.
1225
Sig.
.000
Correlation matrix
Determinant
1,245E-25
Home office and productivity: social approach during the pandemic
Yanez-Betancourt, G.; Ibarra-Muñoz, A.; Varela-Castro, W. & Estrada-Retes, M.
39

initial hypothesis was approved, the minimum validity factor in the Bartlett
sphericity test is 1225, whose significance is close to 0.000, which indicates that it
is significant at 95% confidence (α < 0.05).
Table 7 shows the total explained variance of 70.2%, where the variables
are reduced to communalities and the maximum level of explanation of the
survey for the investigation is determined; a minimum acceptable level is 50%.
Table 7. Total Variance Explained
Source: Own elaboration made with SPSS.
The rest is explained with the theory contained in the literature. With this,
the model for the application of the home office in companies is complemented
to see the impact that this has had on their productivity and competitiveness.
Table 8. Exploratory Re-Test of Reliability of Unit Factors
Source: Own elaboration with the results achieved in the project "Impact of the Home
Office on the productivity and competitiveness of companies”.
Factor
Initial eigenvalues
Sums of the squared loadings
of the extraction
Sum of the squared
saturations of the rotation
Total
% variance
%
accumulated
Total
% variance
%
accumulated
Total
% variance
%
accumulated
1
17.8
35.6
35.6
17.4
34.9
34.9
6.8
13.6
13.6
2
5.2
10.4
46.0
4.9
9.8
44.6
6.0
11.9
25.5
3
2.7
5.4
51.5
2.2
4.5
49.1
4.9
9.7
35.2
4
2.1
4.3
55.7
1.9
3.9
53.0
3.0
6.0
41.2
5
2.0
4.0
59.7
1.5
3.1
56.0
3.0
6.0
47.2
6
1.9
3.8
63.4
1.4
2.9
58.9
2.6
5.2
52.4
7
1.6
3.1
66.6
1.3
2.6
61.6
23
4.5
56.9
8
1.5
2.9
69.5
1.2
2.4
64.0
2.0
3.9
60.8
9
1.3
2.6
72.1
1.0
2.0
66.0
1.8
3.5
64.3
10
1.2
23
74.4
1.1
23
68.3
1.7
3.4
67.8
11
1.1
2.1
76.6
1.0
2.0
70.2
1.2
2.5
70.2
Number of factor
Name Factor
Variables
Cronbach's Alpha
F1
Productivity and
competitiveness
CarCom11
CarOrg10
CarProd12
CarProd13
ProdLabor04
HabMent09
MercLab08
924
F2
Employees
acreautoe35
MejProdE34
WithPodAd40
ExtSecEc36
ConPodAd38
ComEmpl37
893
F3
Commercial and
industrial activity
MejPres27
BestActMer26
MejActIn25
AddComp21
AlcaMet23
890
F4
Increase in
demand
IncDemaBi44
IncProdBi43
881
F5
Telecommuting
Implem03
IncrEqui19
703
F6
Economy and
unemployment
Economy02
Performance1
882
Environmental, Social and Governance Approach for Competitiveness
40
Sánchez-Gutiérrez, J. & González-Alvarado, T.

As can be seen in Table 8, for the significance of the factors to be studied, a
Re-Test was carried out, considering a minimum value of 0.6 to explore the
significance of the individual factors. Based on tradition, the reliability value in
exploratory research must be equal to or greater than 0.6; among these authors,
Nunnally (2009): even establishes that in the first phases of the investigation, may
be a reliability value of 0.6 or 0.5 be sufficient.
Based on the above, the six (6) significant factors in terms of reliability and
individual validity are described in the subsequent parts, as shown in Table 8,
which refers to the Re-Test of Cronbach's alpha, the factors: 1 Productivity and
competitiveness (0.924), 2 Employees (0.893), 3 Commercial and industrial
activity (0.890), 4 Increase in demand (0.881), 5 Telework (0.703), 6 Economy and
unemployment (0.882), all with Cronbach's alpha more significant than 0.6
exploratories with Eigenvaluesgreater than one.
Table 9. Productivity and Competitiveness
Source: Own elaboration.
!Table 10, Productivity and Competitiveness, shows that the interviewees
agree that many times (Me => 4) due to the pandemic and the home office, this in
influenced the productive (CarProd12), competitive (CarCom11), and
organizational characteristics of the companies (CarOrg10), just as it influenced
the productive characteristics of the workers (CarProd13), as well as influenced
labor productivity (ProdLabor04) allowing the development of mental skills of
workers (HabMent09) and the labor market in the national territory (MercLab08)."
Table 10. Employees
Source: Own elaboration.
FACTOR 1
LOAD F
N
min
max
Me
Md
Mo
Des Est
Sk
K
CarCom11
.860
59
1
6
4,271
4
4.0
1.3239
-.430
-.315
CarOrg10
.785
59
1
6
4,237
4
4.0
1.3044
-.314
-.641
CarProd12
.757
59
1
6
4,305
4
4.0
1.3803
-.453
-.490
CarProd13
.744
59
0
6
4,153
4
6.0
1.5292
-.565
-.325
ProdLabor04
.688
59
1
6
4,034
4
3
1.3641
-.147
-.698
HabMent09
.650
59
1
6
4,186
4
4.0
1.3706
-.182
-.887
MercLab08
.618
59
1
6
4,441
4
6.0
1.3553
-.300
-.819
FACTOR 2
LOAD F
N
min
max
Me
Md
Mo
Des Est
Sk
K
acreautoe35
.856
59
0
6
3,237
3
2
1.5574
-.071
-.540
MejProdE34
.755
59
0
6
3,441
3
3.0
1.3680
-.060
-.048
WithPodAd40
.722
59
1
6
3,678
4
3.0
1.3447
-.306
-.475
ExtSecEc36
.717
59
1
6
3,780
4
4.0
1.4863
-.226
-.730
ConPodAd38
.612
59
1
6
3,492
3
3.0
1.4065
.056
-.749
ComEmpl37
.604
59
1
6
4,220
4
4
1.3780
-.248
-.909
Home office and productivity: social approach during the pandemic
Yanez-Betancourt, G.; Ibarra-Muñoz, A.; Varela-Castro, W. & Estrada-Retes, M.
41

It can be seen in Table 10, Employees, that the interviewees regularly agree
that the home office increases the self-esteem of the employees (AcreAutoe35),
improves the productivity of the company (MejProdE34), allows conserving the
purchasing power of the consumer (ConPodAd40), in addition to having the
possibility of being extended to all economic sectors (ExtSecEc36), it also makes it
possible to preserve the purchasing power of real wages (ConPodAd38) and
highlights that it is more comfortable for employees (ComEmpl37).
Table 11. Commercial and Industrial Activity
Source: Own elaboration.
Table 12, Commercial and Industrial Activity, shows that the interviewees
agree that many times (Mo => 4) the home office improved the provision of
services (MejPres27) as well as commercial activity (MejActMer26), and industry
(MejActIn25). As well was able to increase the company's competitiveness
(AumComp21) and enabled the organization's goals to be achieved (AlcaMet23).
Table 12. Demand Increase
Source: Own elaboration.
It can be read in Table 12, Increase in Demand, that the interviewees
regularly agree that the home office increased the demand for goods and services
(IncDemaBi44), so the production of goods and services also increased
(IncProdBi43).
Table 13. Telecommuting
Source: Own elaboration.
!Table 13, Telework, shows that the interviewees agree that many times
(Me => 4), the current pandemic influenced the implementation of the home
office of the companies (Implem03) and increased the equipment for the
necessary telework at home (IncrEqui19)."
FACTOR 3
LOAD F
N
min
max
Me
Md
Mo
Des Est
Sk
K
MejPres27
.836
59
0
6
4,102
4
5.0
1.5613
-.737
-.056
BestActMer26
.722
59
0
6
4,034
4
4.0
1.3641
-.654
.416
MejActIn25
.721
59
0
6
3,881
4
5.0
1.5434
-.552
-.489
AddComp21
.681
59
1
6
4,254
4
4.0
1.3721
-.354
-.493
AlcaMet23
.662
59
1
6
4,780
5
6.0
1.3008
-1,277
1,604
FACTOR 4
LOAD F
N
min
max
Me
Md
Mo
Des Est
Sk
K
IncDemaBi44
.803
59
1
6
3,661
3
3.0
1.3723
.106
-.958
IncProdBi43
.771
59
0
6
3,492
3
3.0
1.4783
.117
-.486
FACTOR 5
LOAD F
N
min
max
Me
Md
Mo
Des Est
Sk
K
Implem03
.680
59
1
6
4,949
5
6.0
1.1806
-1,200
1,417
IncrEqui19
.632
59
0
6
4,610
5
6.0
1.4022
-.933
.859
Environmental, Social and Governance Approach for Competitiveness
42
Sánchez-Gutiérrez, J. & González-Alvarado, T.

Table 14. Economy and Unemployment
Source: Own elaboration.
!Table 14, Economy and Unemployment, shows that the interviewees agree
that many times (Mo = 4), the current pandemic had a considerable influence on
the decline of the Mexican economy. (Economy02) and in unemployment in
Mexico (Performance1).
Multivariate Structural Equation Model Analysis
On the other hand, to determine and corroborate the set of latent variables
(factors with validity), four additional tests were carried out using the Structural
Equations Model as described in Table 15, as well as the relationships between
the factors: Productivity and competitiveness, Employees, Commercial and
industrial activity, Increased demand, Telecommuting, Economy and
unemployment, when eliminating non-significant variables, a good fit of the
model and the acceptance parameters of the Chi-square relationship (390.6) and
degrees of freedom (240) were achieved, with a level of significance (p) of 0.000, a
root mean square residual (RMSEA) of 0.104, a Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) of 0.828,
an NFI of 0.695, IFI of 0.9191 and a minimum value of the discrepancy function
(CMIN/DF ) is equal to 1.303 of the model and a (CFI) comparative fit index of
0.850. (Cea D’Ancona, 2004).
Table 15. Tests of the Structural Equations Model
Source: Own elaboration.
These values indicate that the model is consistent and good goodness of
fit, which corroborates and confirms the initial hypothesis. In Figure 6, it is
observed that the latent variables F1 Productivity and Competitiveness is the
FACTOR 6
LOAD F
N
min
max
Me
Md
Mo
Des Est
Sk
K
Economy02
.854
59
1
6
4,508
4
4.0
1.2370
-.331
-.435
Performance1
.709
59
1
6
4,644
5
4
1.2143
-.528
-.105
Omission Model Test
Chi-squared
390,624
G. l
240
Sig.
0
Defect Model Test: CMIN
Chi-squared
390,624
G. l.
240
Next (CMIN/DF)
1,628
Omission Model Test: Baseline
Comparisons
NFI Delta 1
695
IFI Delta 2
649
TLI
828
CFI
850
Defect Model Test:
RMSEA Comparison
Next (RMSEA)
104
LO
85
HI
122
Home office and productivity: social approach during the pandemic
Yanez-Betancourt, G.; Ibarra-Muñoz, A.; Varela-Castro, W. & Estrada-Retes, M.
43

source of the correlation with F2 Employees, F4 Increase in demand, F5
Telecommuting and F6 Economy and unemployment allow, according to the
model, to affirm that the home office that people are carrying out has had an
impact on the productivity and competitiveness of companies, so Figure 7 and
Table 14 corroborate what is established in the Work Hypothesis.
Figure 6. Structural Model
Source: Own elaboration.
CONCLUSIONS
The interviewees established that in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, a
new way was developed to increase the productivity and labor competitiveness
of both organizations and their employees since it changed the format of the
labor market from face-to-face to telecommuting, forcing them also to change
skills. The new productivity of workers supports companies in all economic
sectors to maintain the possibility of implementing the "home office" effectively.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Home Office had a better
provision of services in commercial activity and industrial activity, despite the
difficulties; the demand for goods and services increased so it was necessary to
increase the production of companies. Without forgetting that the companies had
to provide their collaborators with all the necessary equipment for teleworking..
Additionally, among the results specifically obtained, the following
advantages of implementing the home office are distinguished:
• Employees develop new job skills
• Labor productivity is motivated
Environmental, Social and Governance Approach for Competitiveness
44
Sánchez-Gutiérrez, J. & González-Alvarado, T.

• The labor market in Mexico is restructured
• The self-esteem of the employees is increased
• Savings in transport costs
• Reduces transportation time and the need for transfers
• Improves time management to achieve established goals
• Improvement in the provision of services of the company and its
competition
• In many companies, increased demand for goods and services
by users
• In many companies increased the production of goods and
services
• The pandemic accelerated the implementation of the home
office
Despite this, the Mexican economy was negatively affected by COVID-19,
reflecting a small proportion of unemployment in the population, which
encouraged the development of a new way to increase productivity and
competitiveness of labor and organizations.
Due to the above, a model was structurally confirmed that shows the
relationships between the factors: Productivity and Competitiveness, Employees,
Increase in demand, Teleworking and Economy and unemployment, which
proved to be very significant in their correlations, so these values indicate that
the model it is consistent and with acceptable goodness of fit, which allows,
according to the model, to affirm that the home office that people are carrying
out has had an impact on the productivity and competitiveness of companies.
In this way, the working hypothesis that establishes that the "Home office"
as a work technique influences the productivity and competitiveness of
companies in the face of Covid-19: was corroborated and verified.
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Innovation Capabilities: An
Environmental Approach
Alba-Rocío Carvajal-Sandoval
Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia
Octavio Hernández-Castorena
Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, Mexico
Braulio Adriano-Rodríguez
Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia
Noé Velasquez-Espinoza
Universidad Externado de Colombia, Colombia
INTRODUCTION
Nowadays, innovation has been recognized as a factor of analysis in
creating future scenarios based on in-depth diagnoses carried out in
organizations outside their sector and business activity (Carvajal, 2019).
In this regard, Schumpeter (1935; 1950) states that companies must be innovative
because of customers' dynamics and natural demands for constant improvement.
As a result, it is crucial to be at the cutting edge and take advantage of the
areas of opportunity in the products (and even of the services) to be in the clients'
preference. The relationship between innovation and company performance is
abundant in the literature (Duréndez & García, 2008; Moradi et al., 2021; Li et al.,
2021; Latifi, Nikou & Bouwman, 2021; Hutahayan, 2021)), and, in general, the
importance of innovation is known by big enterprises that participate in the
market.
If the organization is innovative, its flexibility will give it more
extraordinary performance and make it more competitive. Since it will have a
greater capacity to adapt to changes in the environment, to respond promptly to
market demands as well as to meet customer needs considering the changing
needs of the environment as a whole to obtain better results (Drucker, 1985; Miles
& Snow, 1978). Faced with the urgent need to give importance to the issue of
innovation, entrepreneurs need to determine how necessary it is to innovate
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processes, systems, or work methods even if their organizations are small and
medium-sized companies. That is why the purpose of this research paper
attempts to identify the innovation capabilities that influence the factors of
change for better performance in manufacturing SMEs in Aguascalientes.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Innovation capabilities
Innovation capabilities are natural talents that organizations have to make the
best use of their resources. Their purpose is to improve their relations strategies
among organizations and with the environment where they develop, speaking
productively, by considering as a basis their technological capabilities (Quintero
et al., 2021; Hafeez et al., 2002).
Morales and Díaz (2019), who quote Kim (1997), also establish that the
technological capabilities at the level of individual companies can be subdivided
into four essential elements that show specific subsets of production of required
skills in order to carry out processes of technological change.
The first one (production capabilities) refers to all the necessary skills to
achieve an efficient operation of the enterprise comprised of the standard
technical parameters necessary to adapt and improve within the current
technologies as a reaction to the market's changing conditions.
A second subset is the investment capabilities, the skills needed to expand
production capacity and create new products. It involves not only the
identification, preparation, and attainment of technology, but also the design,
construction, and operation of the acquired equipment, as well as the ability to
carry out internal analysis of profitability, feasibility of new projects, and the
engineering capacity to execute, coordinate and supervise them to have increased
competitive organizations (Boyaci & Yildiz, 2017; Conner, 1991; Penrose, 1959).
Finally, another subset is linkage capabilities, which refers to the skills
necessary to receive and transmit knowledge from other companies and
institutions such as supplying companies, specialized services, subcontractors,
consultancy, and technological institutes, among others (Carvajal, 2019).
The essential functions of innovation capabilities are critical in order for
organizations to operate in a systematic and coordinated manner, so the internal
processes are efficient and meaningful with other structures, either internal or
external to the company (Carlsson, 2002).
In this regard, innovation capabilities need to be comprehensive and
trigger competitiveness, high performance, use of technology and strengthen
knowledge as well as the development of organizations (Guan & Ma, 2003; Yam
et al., 2004; Gilsing & Nooteboom, 2006; Quintero et al., 2021).
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In addition, however, it can also denote those improvements that, despite
not being on the international frontier, contribute to a substantial increase in
productivity at the level of a particular company (Carvajal, 2019; Tidd, 2001).
The directors of innovative companies recognize the importance of
competitiveness to avoid falling by the wayside (Morales & Díaz, 2019).
Additionally, the organization needs to strengthen its internal
development. In order to have more excellent knowledge, optimize their
experience and develop their skills in an environment of permanent
improvement to have more significant competitive advantages (Richardson,
1972; Nadler and Tushman, 1980; Baden-Fuller, 1995).
From this perspective, it is essential to highlight that the most effective
organizations contain a solid structure in their internal processes. The solidity is
from their ability to innovate necessary elements of change and a comprehensive
view beyond the structuring of their operational mechanisms that allow and
guarantee the efficiency in their natural internal systems of operability (Nadler &
Tushman, 1997; Quintero et al., 2021).
Research and Development activities in organizations are one of the
primary sources of growth in business productivity. However, several empirical
studies reflect a sustantial disparity between companies when benefiting from
their innovative activities. However, this difference is explained by productivity
and knowledge and efficiency differences (Manjón & Añón, 2009).
That is why it is essential to understand the importance of the capacities
produced by innovation and that the use of knowledge leads public authorities
to make permanent efforts for research in technology transfer of innovation
systems (Arnold & Thuriaux, 1997).
Nevertheless, the only common trait in all the definitions regarding
technological innovation is that innovation implies the concept of novelty, and
the market acts as a regulatory agent and promoter of innovation, but this
demands knowledge and skills, so it becomes a sustainable competitive
advantage (Tidd, 2001).
CHANGE FACTORS
It is pretty evident that organizations are constantly in the process of learning
about the changes that are required in the business environment, and this
depends on the typical demands of clients, the market, the social and
governmental adjustments as well as the permanent internal improvements that
are perceived by all company personnel considering that they have a constant
interest in improvement (Lusthaus et al., 2002; Prieto et al., 2015).
Therefore, allows considering that companies, faced with the urgencies of
change, need strategies that allow them to adapt to the new conditions of
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survival as well as improvement focused, obviously, on better performance,
management quality, and responsible integration in the social-productive sphere
(Prieto et al., 2018).
In this regard, it is essential to highlight that the change factors are
intended to be significant support. These guarantees that the adjustments made
in the organizations have a better work culture, better use of technologies,
readjustments of processes of the activity they have, and of course, a greater
focus with competitive advantages that allow organizations to have a better
performance regardless of their commercial activity (Schermerhorn, 2005).
On the other hand, it is a reality that nowadays, no organization is
considered operationally stable due to how it perceives the market and the
clients’ needs (Newstron, 2011). Therefore, those responsible for this type of
company need to be attentive to internal technological, strategic, and
organizational improvements (Prieto et al., 2018).
In this regard, the present research paper has the purpose of analyzing
each one of the dimensions that integrate the innovation capabilities and how
they affect the factors of change in SMEs manufacturing companies in
Aguascalientes, as well as exploring their level of competitiveness in the market
(Carvajal, 2019; Tidd, 2001). In this regard, the following hypothesis is
established:
H1: Are innovation capabilities key elements that influence change factors in the
improvement of manufacturing SMEs in Aguascalientes?
METHODOLOGY
The following section contains the methodological design implemented in this
research paper describing how the empirical work was developed:
a) Due to its approach, the analysis of the study is quantitative under the
scheme of the use of statistical techniques and measurement instruments (Pita &
Pértegas, 2002; Ferrán, 1996).
b) The method used in this research paper is deductive, as explained by
Sánchez (2012), where the analysis of each of the elements that make up the
study model will be carried out in-depth, which was analytical according to the
book of “The Analytical Method as a Natural Method” by Echavarría (2010).
Likewise, the method requires a hermeneutical analysis since it is crucial to
describe and interpret particular meanings that derive the depth of the study of
the present investigation (Cárcamo, 2005).
c) The type of research was a descriptive and correlational analysis (Pita &
Pértegas, 2002).
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d) Regarding the data collection techniques, the analysis requires an
inferential analysis once the statistical analyses are available, which are
constituted by a Cronbach's alpha reliability analysis (George & Mallery, 2003;
Nunnally, 1967), descriptive analysis, and a Person correlation analysis (Joe,
1997), with the support of the version 25 SPSS software.
e) A survey of two blocks identified as Innovation Capabilities and
Change Factors was implemented.
f) The sample is stratified random with a sample of 156 units
(manufacturing SMEs of Aguascalientes State, Mexico).
MEASUREMENTS DEVELOPMENT
Regarding the instrument implemented in the present research to the
manufacturing SMEs of Aguascalientes State, it was designed with two blocks
identified as Innovation Capabilities and Factors of Change measured with a
Likert scale from one to five where one corresponds to “totally disagree”, and
five corresponds to “totally agree”. Figure 1 shows the theoretical model used in
this research paper.
Figure 1: Theoretical model of the research paper
Source: Compiled by the authors based on Carvajal (2019)
The theoretical model is an adaptation of Carvajal (2019) to analyze how
the managers or owners of the manufacturing SMEs in Aguascalientes perceive
the innovation capabilities of companies regarding the factors of change.
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RESULTS
In this section, the reliability results of the instrument applied to the managers or
owners of the companies located in Aguascalientes State, Mexico, are shown. It is
essential to mention that the value of Cronbach's Alpha was used for the
reliability of the instrument, which indicates that it needs to meet some
acceptance conditions.
If the result is 0.7 or higher, the construct is considered acceptable and
reliable for validation (Frías, 2014). However, for investigations in the
experimental phase, it is permitted to continue with the study regardless of the
references made by George and Mallery (2003) and Nunnally (1967) about
having values of 0.6 (questionable analysis). Below are the results obtained from
the instrument used in this research by block or factor.
Regarding the general data obtained from the empirical work, the SMEs
located in Aguascalientes State, Mexico, was used as the object of study. A
measurement instrument was applied to the managers or owners of these
companies in a sample of 156 units.
The results obtained show that the oldest company has had commercial
operations since 1926, and the most recent one was created in 2019. Furthermore,
the results of the reliability analysis, shown in Table 1, confirm the validity of the
instrument by exceeding the value of 0.7 established by Frías (2014).
Table 1. Reliability Analysis of the CHANGE FACTORS block
Source: Compiled by the authors
The reliability analysis for the change factors block complies with the
minimum allowed in the Cronbach's Alpha analysis (minimum 0.7), so it block is
considered reliable for its application in the fieldwork. Similarly, Table 2 shows
the reliability results of the innovation capabilities block.
Factor
Cronbach's Alpha
Change Factors
966
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Table 2. Reliability analysis of the INNOVATION CAPABILITIES block.
Source: Own elaboration.
The results of Table 2 indicate that each factor integrated into the
Innovation Capabilities block meets the minimum value of 0.7 required by the
reliability analysis for an evaluation instrument. Regarding the general data,
Table 3 shows general data of the companies surveyed regarding their type of
company and type of productive processes.
Table 3. Form of ownership and Type of Production
Source: Own elaboration.
Table 3 shows that 31 companies carry out manual activities and are
national private companies, while 32 of the manual processes organizations are
state-owned companies. Few enterprises have automated processes in which the
national private sector has the most companies with these working conditions
(12). It is essential to describe that 35 companies do not have a record of their
relationship with ownership and type of production process. On the other hand,
Table 4 shows the type of company and the production processes.
Table 4. Type of Company and Type of Production Processes
Source: Compiled by the authors.
Type of Production Process
Property Form
Automated
Semi-Automated
Labor intensive
Total
National Private
12
23
31
66
State
5
15
32
52
Mixed
2
1
0
3
Total
19
39
63
121
Type of Production Process
Number of employees
Automated
Semi-Automated
Labor-intensive
Total
From 1 to 11
15
27
51
93
From 12 to 50
1
10
8
19
over 51
0
1
1
2
Total
16
38
60
114
Factor
Cronbach's Alpha
Importance of the Environment
906
Innovation of the Enterprise
940
Innovation Impacts
947
Collaboration and Marketing
944
Organization
947
Environment
930
Knowledge
952
Technology
970
Organizational Culture and Executives:
956
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Table 4 reflects that micro-companies have the most manual processes
internally (51). The companies with the most automated processes are micro with
15 and one small enterprises. It is worth noting that the companies surveyed
have not been interested in automating internal processes that allow them to
expand their productive capacity. 42 companies did not present the number of
employees and the type of production processes.
Similarly, in the present research, a Pearson Correlation analysis was
carried out in order to analyze which dimension of the Innovation Capabilities
block has the most significantt impact in the Change Factors block and with this
infer in which companies there are elements that can be key for higher
competitiveness in the market. Table 5 shows the results of the Pearson
Correlation.
Table 5. Results of the Pearson Correlation for the Change Factors and Innovation
Capabilities blocks
Source: Own elaboration.
For the Pearson correlation analysis with the aspects of the Change Factors
and Innovation Capabilities blocks, the results are 100% positively significant,
which indicates that, for managers and owners, any relation among these factors
is important for the performance and growth of their organizations.
Furthemore, the analyses show that, for entrepreneurs, any integrated
element as a factor of change is significant and relevant to improve any activity
that is related to innovation regardless of its form of expression and approach,
either by product or service, so the theoretical model is highly recommended for
any research approach in the uses that can be considered applicable.
Factors
Change
Factors
Importance of the Environment
Pearson correlation
.758**
Next (2-sided)
.000
Innovation of the Enterprise
Pearson correlation
.646**
Next (2-sided)
.000
Innovation Impacts
Pearson correlation
.569**
Next (2-sided)
.000
Collaboration and Marketing
Pearson correlation
.626**
Next (2-sided)
.000
Organization
Pearson correlation
.749**
Next (2-sided)
.000
Environment
Pearson correlation
.671**
Next (2-sided)
.000
Knowledge
Pearson correlation
.759**
Next (2-sided)
.000
Technology
Pearson correlation
.769**
Next (2-sided)
.000
Organizational and Management Culture
Pearson correlation
.618**
Next (2-sided)
.000
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Discussion
Considering that small companies still tend to carry out manual or semi-
automated operations, with the results obtained, it can be seen that the
innovation capabilities considered in the evaluation instrument for this research
significantly benefit the operational