Types and characteristics of small firms in Latin America: A micro supply chain perspective

Small firms serve as the building blocks of the economic structure in Latin America. This study
develops a characterization of the profiles of small firms and their managers based on
demographic, environmental and intrinsic variables. The research studies 48 small companies
from the manufacturing and service sector in Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and Uruguay. The cluster
analysis generated seven different groups: four service providers and three manufacturers.
Among the four small service providers, the youngest and highly educated profile, the “Young
financers”, have higher supply chain practices scores than the “Experienced record-keepers”. In
the case of the small manufacturers, the “One-show-man” managers, whose low headcount
contravenes with the years of existence of the firm, have lower scores than the “Experienced
delegators”. In comparison to the service sector, where the most educated have the highest
levels of adoption, in manufacturing, the firms with higher number of employees and older
managers, have the highest scores.