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In Ecuador, SMEs represent more than 40% of registered companies, account for 65% of total employment and generate 25% of non-oil GDP. Hence the need to take on the challenges of business competitiveness and the internal limitations prevailing in their national environment. In response to this, this research was developed with the objective of designing a procedure for the competitive management of commercial SMEs in the province of Esmeraldas, Ecuador. The scientific proposal the proposal starts from interrelated elements in three stages, standing out, the diagnostic study, the prospective projection and the control and continuous improvement. The stages of the procedure refer to the application of tools and software that improve decision making. The procedure was validated in the commercial company DEPRODEMAR. The results obtained reflect its contribution to the improvement of the decision-making process, customer satisfaction, export opportunities and local competitiveness. In the period studied, it was possible to increase the income from exports to Chile, increase customer satisfaction to 87%, as well as cooperation with actors in the local economy., En Ecuador, las PYMES representan más del 40% de las empresas registradas, concentran el 65% del empleo total y generan el 25% del PIB no petrolero. De ahí la necesidad de asumir los retos de la competitividad empresarial y las limitaciones internas predominantes en su entorno nacional. En respuesta a ello se desarrolló esta investigación, con el objetivo de diseñar un procedimiento para la gestión competitiva de las PYMES comerciales en la provincia de Esmeraldas, Ecuador. La propuesta científica la propuesta parte de elementos interrelacionados en tres etapas, destacándose, el estudio diagnóstico, la proyección prospectiva y el control y mejora continua. Las etapas del procedimiento refieren la aplicación de herramientas y software que mejoran la toma de decisiones. El procedimiento se validó en la empresa comercial DEPRODEMAR. Los resultados obtenidos reflejan su contribución al mejoramiento del proceso de toma de decisiones, satisfacción de los clientes, oportunidades de exportación y competitividad local. En el período estudiado se logró, incrementar los ingresos por concepto de exportación a Chile, aumentar la satisfacción de los clientes a un 87%, así como la cooperación con actores de la economía local.

La selección de las mejores ideas de emprendimientos y fuentes idóneas de financiamiento, constituyen elementos importantespara la toma de decisiones en las pequeñas y medianas empresas locales. Por esta razón se desarrollaron dosprocedimientos teóricos basados en el análisis multicriterio. La aplicación de los procedimientos en el contexto de un estudiode casos permitió seleccionar la mejor idea de negocio y la evaluación de la fuente de financiamiento asociada a unproyecto relacionado con la creación de una granja avícola, que contribuye a la estrategia de desarrollo local y seguridadalimentaria. AbstractThe selection of the best ideas of entrepreneurship and good sources of financing are important elements in decision-making insmall and medium enterprises. For this reason two theoretical methods based on multi-criteria analysis were developed. Theapplication of the procedures in the context of a case study allowed us to select the best business idea and assessment of the fundingsource associated with a project related to the creation of a poultry farm, contributing to local development strategy andsecurity food.

El desarrollo del turismo en la provincia de Esmeraldas constituye una prioridad que supone la diversificación de la oferta, el incremento de la calidad de los servicios y la creación de emprendimientos que generen satisfacción para los clientes. El objetivo de este artículo es mostrar los resultados de una investigación de mercados para la creación de un emprendimiento turístico en la localidad de Tachina, Provincia de Esmeraldas. Los principales resultados obtenidos por la investigación fueron: la identificación de las preferencias de los clientes potenciales con relación a las ofertas del emprendimiento turístico, la determinación del perfil de los clientes según el mercado de procedencia y la propuesta de un plan de acción para la creación del emprendimiento turístico con enfoque al cliente., The development of tourism in the province of Esmeraldas is a priority that involves the diversification of supply, increasing the quality of services and the creation of enterprises that generate customer satisfaction. The aim of this paper is to show the results of market research for the creation of a tourism project in the town of Tachina, Province of Esmeraldas. The main findings of the research were to identify the preferences of potential customers regarding tourism offers entrepreneurship, profiling customers by market of origin and proposed an action plan for creating tourism venture with customer focus.

Aim Large trees (d.b.h. ≥ 70 cm) store large amounts of biomass. Several studies suggest that large trees may be vulnerable to changing climate, potentially leading to declining forest biomass storage. Here we determine the importance of large trees for tropical forest biomass storage and explore which intrinsic (species trait) and extrinsic (environment) variables are associated with the density of large trees and forest biomass at continental and pan-tropical scales. Location Pan-tropical. Methods Aboveground biomass (AGB) was calculated for 120 intact lowland moist forest locations. Linear regression was used to calculate variation in AGB explained by the density of large trees. Akaike information criterion weights (AICc-wi) were used to calculate averaged correlation coefficients for all possible multiple regression models between AGB/density of large trees and environmental and species trait variables correcting for spatial autocorrelation. Results Density of large trees explained c. 70% of the variation in pan-tropical AGB and was also responsible for significantly lower AGB in Neotropical [287.8 (mean) ± 105.0 (SD) Mg ha−1] versus Palaeotropical forests (Africa 418.3 ± 91.8 Mg ha−1; Asia 393.3 ± 109.3 Mg ha−1). Pan-tropical variation in density of large trees and AGB was associated with soil coarseness (negative), soil fertility (positive), community wood density (positive) and dominance of wind dispersed species (positive), temperature in the coldest month (negative), temperature in the warmest month (negative) and rainfall in the wettest month (positive), but results were not always consistent among continents. Main conclusions Density of large trees and AGB were significantly associated with climatic variables, indicating that climate change will affect tropical forest biomass storage. Species trait composition will interact with these future biomass changes as they are also affected by a warmer climate. Given the import, Aim Large trees (d.b.h. ≥ 70 cm) store large amounts of biomass. Several studies suggest that large trees may be vulnerable to changing climate, potentially leading to declining forest biomass storage. Here we determine the importance of large trees for tropical forest biomass storage and explore which intrinsic (species trait) and extrinsic (environment) variables are associated with the density of large trees and forest biomass at continental and pan-tropical scales. Location Pan-tropical. Methods Aboveground biomass (AGB) was calculated for 120 intact lowland moist forest locations. Linear regression was used to calculate variation in AGB explained by the density of large trees. Akaike information criterion weights (AICc-wi) were used to calculate averaged correlation coefficients for all possible multiple regression models between AGB/density of large trees and environmental and species trait variables correcting for spatial autocorrelation. Results Density of large trees explained c. 70% of the variation in pan-tropical AGB and was also responsible for significantly lower AGB in Neotropical [287.8 (mean) ± 105.0 (SD) Mg ha−1] versus Palaeotropical forests (Africa 418.3 ± 91.8 Mg ha−1; Asia 393.3 ± 109.3 Mg ha−1). Pan-tropical variation in density of large trees and AGB was associated with soil coarseness (negative), soil fertility (positive), community wood density (positive) and dominance of wind dispersed species (positive), temperature in the coldest month (negative), temperature in the warmest month (negative) and rainfall in the wettest month (positive), but results were not always consistent among continents. Main conclusions Density of large trees and AGB were significantly associated with climatic variables, indicating that climate change will affect tropical forest biomass storage. Species trait composition will interact with these future biomass changes as they are also affected by a warmer climate. Given the import

In this article a theoretical procedure is developed for the analysis of the tourist demand. The procedure is structured in different stages that allow on the base of the knowledge of the perceptions and the clients' expectations, statistical methods and modern support software to contribute to the improvement of the process of taking of decisions on scientific and pertinent bases in the tourist destinations., En este artículo se desarrolla un procedimiento teórico para el análisis de la demanda turística. El procedimiento está estructurado en diferentes etapas que permiten sobre la base del conocimiento de las percepciones y expectativas de los clientes, métodos estadísticos y modernos software de apoyo contribuir a la mejora del proceso de toma de decisiones sobre bases científicas y pertinentes en los destinos turísticos.

Most of the planet's diversity is concentrated in the tropics, which includes many regions undergoing rapid climate change. Yet, while climate‐induced biodiversity changes are widely documented elsewhere, few studies have addressed this issue for lowland tropical ecosystems. Here we investigate whether the floristic and functional composition of intact lowland Amazonian forests have been changing by evaluating records from 106 long‐term inventory plots spanning 30 years. We analyse three traits that have been hypothesized to respond to different environmental drivers (increase in moisture stress and atmospheric CO2 concentrations): maximum tree size, biogeographic water‐deficit affiliation and wood density. Tree communities have become increasingly dominated by large‐statured taxa, but to date there has been no detectable change in mean wood density or water deficit affiliation at the community level, despite most forest plots having experienced an intensification of the dry season. However, among newly recruited trees, dry‐affiliated genera have become more abundant, while the mortality of wet‐affiliated genera has increased in those plots where the dry season has intensified most. Thus, a slow shift to a more dry‐affiliated Amazonia is underway, with changes in compositional dynamics (recruits and mortality) consistent with climate‐change drivers, but yet to significantly impact whole‐community composition. The Amazon observational record suggests that the increase in atmospheric CO2 is driving a shift within tree communities to large‐statured species and that climate changes to date will impact forest composition, but long generation times of tropical trees mean that biodiversity change is lagging behind climate change.