Quality and productivity management for strengthening, consolidation, and sustainability of msmall business associations in Otavalo county

Abstract

The research was conducted with the small business associations of Otavalo County, which feature different industries. There are approximately 20 small business associations in the county of Otavalo, the majority in the handicraft area, a minority is located in the community tourism area and two or three instances in the area of agricultural production. Given the reality of Otavalo, the research was conducted with all small business associations regardless of the production area. It is important to clarify the research objective, which is not conined to individual entrepreneurs, but only existing associations with formal or informal production in rural or urban Otavalo. Associativity as a competitive strategy for microenterprises is fundamental to the research, which is aimed at designing a comprehensive model of quality and productivity to allow existing small business associations to have better and more expansive tools for decision-making and sustainability over time. The scope of this research, allows us to provide and clarify the factors involved in the management of small business associations in Otavalo, how to face dificulties in management and key issues to promote the quality and productivity to develop competitiveness in these companies and generate employment, as part of a management model, which is based on the quality approach and focuses on customers and continuous improvement activities. It introduces technical guidance and tools to train professionals that support the small business associations with accompanying processes in different areas of production not only in Otavalo County, but also in the province of Imbabura.
The model of productivity and quality management is a viable proposition, an intervention aimed at comprehensive, friendly methodologies and tools, allowing entrepreneurs to work together on a proitable business model and develop an effective organization, and to provide services and beneits to its associates. This management model is designed to work primarily on three components: the organizational, the business, and the social business; making clear that the quality approach cuts across all components and covers the basic instruments which are incorporated in: the organizational plan, the business plan, and joint matrix-business partner.