Yamith Alfonso Martínez-Chaparro’s research while affiliated with Pedagogical and Technological University of Colombia and other places

This paper presents the results of an empirical investigation related to the personal factors that influence the disposition of Colombian engineers towards undertakings in their training area. To fulfill this purpose, a quantitative and correlational investigation has been implemented with a methodology similar to the related studies in other geographical areas such as Europe and Asia. Through a factorial analysis, the efficiency of the information collection instrument could be compared to measure key issues of the study such as the willingness to entrepreneurship, leadership, creativity, the willingness to perform professionally as an employee, creativity and intelligence. A confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine the adjustment of the variable measurement model and correlation models and structural equations were used to examine the relationships between the variables. The empirical evidences of this investigation allow to affirm that for the population object of study that there is a significant correlation between entrepreneurial spirit and factors related to the personality of the engineer, but not with creativity and intelligence.

The importance of the micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) sector in the economic and social development of a country is increasingly evident. Despite the promotion of MSMEs, the startup failure rates during the first years of operation are high. This empirical and descriptive study aims to provide a clearer understanding of the influencing factors of the success of startups, including those favored with seed capital from the national government, according to the perception of the owners/managers of these companies. The methodological design of the research contemplates a systematic literature review and two stages that incorporate quantitative and qualitative approaches. The results indicate that the relationship among finance and business networks, strategic planning, product and service innovation, supply chain management, and financing decisions significantly influence the enterprise success beyond the first two years of operation. The main contribution of this work is that it is one of the few that focuses on the entrepreneur’s direct perceptions and not on aggregate economic data.