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This study seeks to understand how micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) can be innovative while developing their reputation. In doing so, this study focuses on companies classified as promoters of Colombia's "orange economy," which relates to the country's cultural and creative diversity. Firms with a non-technological emphasis also require knowledge, innovation, and reputation to perform better. In this regard, the study is based on the work of Hormiga and Garcia-Almeida (2016) who proposed the relationship between accumulated knowledge and innovation as background of reputation. In this paper, the purpose is to understand the internal reputation-building process carried out by MSMEs and the variables that intervene. Therefore, this research accounts for how MSMEs can build their reputation through innovation and accumulated knowledge. For this, a survey was conducted in 320 orange economy MSMEs located in Bogotá, Colombia, and the relationship of these variables was statistically tested through a quantitative analysis of multivariate data. Innovation was found to not impact the performance of companies, but this can be associated to factors that were not considered in this research. However, it is proposed to refine the original model by considering the manager's perspective. It is recommended that entrepreneurs invest resources in accumulating internal (tacit) knowledge to improve skills that enhance reputation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: During the study of the bryoflora of Bogotá, individuals of Syntrichia papillosa were found in urban localities. The aim of this contribution is to confirm the presence of this epiphytic species to the Colombian flora. Materials and methods: Living plants and herbarium material from the Natural History Museum (BM), the New York Botanical Garden (NY) and Jardín Botánico José Celestino Mutis (JBB) herbaria, were analyzed. Recently collected specimens were deposited in JBB. Results: A conspectus of the morphological features of the species based on herbarium specimens are provided, along with morpho-anatomical photographs. Further, the presence of the species in different localities belonging to the area around Bogotá was confirmed. Conclusion: This paper confirms the presence of Syntrichia papillosa in the surroundings of Bogotá. This species is known from Asia, Australia, Europe, New Zealand, North America, Africa, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, and Ecuador. Thus, the genus Syntrichia is represented in Colombia by eight taxa: S. andicola, S. bogotensis, S. breviseta, S. fragilis, S. kingii, S. lacerifolia, S. laevipila and S. papillosa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper seeks to establish an Industry 4.0 maturity model for manufacturing SMEs. This research presents the characteristics of the proposed model, which takes the elements and the scope of the fourth industrial revolution, as well as the dimensions and assessment scales of some maturity models already applied. Likewise, this document shows the modeling process and the model's validation in SMEs in the city of Bogotá-Colombia. Design/methodology/approach: To determine the criteria of the maturity model, 6 major stages have been established: Literature Review, Development of the model; Validation of the model; Application of the model; Data analysis; and Conclusion and Recommendations. Findings: Considering the validation of some maturity models shown in the literature review, and aligned with the purpose of this article, 8 dimensions have been established to measure the maturity level of SMEs: Service; Operations; Quality; Products; Documented information-Big Data; Leadership and strategy; Communication; and Culture and people. A model has been generated that allows evaluating the degree of compliance in each dimension for manufacturing SMEs. The model can be applied to companies in any industry. Also, it can determine the degree of implementation compliance of companies in the same sector. Research limitations/implications: According to the literature reviewed, SMEs, especially those in Latin America, still do not have a culture of applying the elements of Industry 4.0. Therefore, in the research, it was not easy to understand the intrinsic variables of Industry 4.0 that SMEs have applied in different areas, which does not allow us to have the current context of SMEs and from that perspective to have a better simulation of the business model maturity. Practical implications: The model presented in this document serves as a basis for SMEs in Latin America to establish a baseline measurement in relation to the application of Industry 4.0 elements in companies. Social implications: What is intended with this work is to frame a baseline so that companies can understand their current maturity level in terms that industry 4.0 could cover. Likewise, they can generate actions for the appropriation of new technologies that allow them to be more competitive. This document can be taken and applied by those entrepreneurs companies who wish to measure their operations. Originality/value: The essential point for the generation of the maturity level measurement model is focused on determining the necessary dimensions on which the evaluation is based. In the literature found, most models focus their dimensions on measuring the digital in their processes and tangentially evaluate the organizational structure and the relationship between them. Additionally, the authors who address the organization as a whole do not reveal the details for SMEs to self-evaluate. The models found have only been implemented to evaluate one company alone or individually. This model presents the core dimensions holistically and explicitly, taking important criteria such as quality, service, communication, and the culture of all employees. Additionally, it shows in detail the model that allows SMEs of the manufacturing sector to self-assess themselves in each dimension and in turn the degree of the business sector in which they are or belong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper analyses the success factors and barriers of sustainable continuous improvement practices in terms of company's maturity level. The key factors are necessary to establish strategies that reduce the risk of improvement failure and increase the company's maturity level. Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents a multi-case analysis of the success factors in the implementation of continuous improvement. This lead to comparison between the factors identified from the literature review and the practice of the continuous improvement programs in four large successful companies located in Bogota, Colombia applying Bessant's maturity model. Findings: The results identified five success factors and three barriers that companies should consider while implementing sustainable continuous improvement programs. The key success factors are availability of resources; management commitment; employee participation in improvement task identification; clear and realistic objectives; and, finally, existence of a leader. The major barriers are lack of alignment between organizational and continuous improvement objectives; lack of motivation in the team; and, resistance to change. The results confirm that, in spite the high maturity, it is necessary to align the organizational and continuous improvement objectives. Research limitations/implications: Since this research is a multi-case study, it is limited in terms of results generalizability for companies of different sizes, sectors and context. The academic and practical contribution of this paper is providing a better understanding of sustainable continuous improvement practices in Latin-American emerging economies. Originality/value: The present research provides an integral analysis of the key success factors, the barriers, the level of maturity and the behaviours that the companies should implement to achieve the sustainability of continuous improvement in emerging economies such as Colombia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - Urban mobility is one of the most relevant themes in discussions regarding quality of life in large urban centers worldwide. It is a challenge that local governments have been facing due to a significant growth in the urban population. The purpose of this study is to analyze the changes in public transport made by the local government in the city of Bogotá, Colombia Design/methodology/approach - It is an in-depth case study of a qualitative nature, based upon primary (interviews and observation) and secondary data. Data was collected in Brazil and Colômbia. Findings - The case signaled a significant change process by improving urban mobility through the implementation of successful public policies and strategies. The findings indicated that transforming a chaotic public transport system into a point of reference in this field is a notable effort. Practical implications - This study provides insights to public administrators that manage organizations that operate complex systems and pluralistic contexts Originality/value - This paper contributes to the field by discussing a unique case study in which the administration of a large capital of a South American country promoted a substantial change in the urban mobility system, tackling obstacles and developing an efficient approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transmission dynamics of the coronavirus—COVID-19—have challenged humankind at almost every level. Currently, research groups around the globe are trying to figure out such transmission dynamics under special conditions such as separation policies enforced by governments. Mathematical and computational models, like the compartmental model or the agent-based model, are being used for this purpose. This paper proposes an agent-based model, called INFEKTA, for simulating the transmission of infectious diseases, not only the COVID-19, under social distancing policies. INFEKTA combines the transmission dynamic of a specific disease, (according to parameters found in the literature) with demographic information (population density, age, and genre of individuals) of geopolitical regions of the real town or city under study. Agents (virtual persons) can move, according to its mobility routines and the enforced social distancing policy, on a complex network of accessible places defined over an Euclidean space representing the town or city. The transmission dynamics of the COVID-19 under different social distancing policies in Bogotá city, the capital of Colombia, is simulated using INFEKTA with one million virtual persons. A sensitivity analysis of the impact of social distancing policies indicates that it is possible to establish a 'medium' (i.e., close 40% of the places) social distancing policy to achieve a significant reduction in the disease transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzed the labor participation of recent Venezuelan migrants in Colombia. For this, a mixed methods design was used. First, some characteristics of Venezuelan migrants were compared with natives. Second, five individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with Venezuelans with informal jobs in Bogotá. Venezuelan migrants participated more in the labor force than natives. However, 9 out of 10 Venezuelan workers did not have social security, despite having more education than the natives. It suggests the existence of a segmented labor market with multiple and confluent vulnerabilities. Also, it is observed the importance of migrants' social networks to obtain a job. Finally, it is proposed to apply public policies that help migrants regularize their documentation and join formal jobs according to their skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global contribution of all kinds of organizations to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is noteworthy. Calculating, reporting, reducing, and compensating for carbon footprints are the appropriate steps to take to guide companies toward a path that is compatible with their country's objectives for the fulfillment of the Paris Agreement. In Latin American countries, carbon footprint reporting is limited and incipient. This paper aims to start closing this gap by assessing the carbon footprint of a university operating in the city of Bogotá, Colombia. Based on a city input-output table (IOT) nested in a multiregional input-output (MRIO) table framework, we estimate the three categories of the carbon footprint (scopes 1, 2, and 3) identified by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol using an improved multiregional tiered hybrid analysis of the university's energy and other input expenditures. Our results show that 94% of the entire institution's footprint is attributed to scope 3, which represents indirect emissions linked to the upstream value chain. The results allow us to identify emission hotspots and their impact on the supply chain, which can be helpful for reducing costs and encouraging organizations, users, and suppliers to make more sustainable decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the impact of active demand–side management strategies, including Energy Management Systems (EMS), Photovoltaic Systems (PV) and changes in the domiciliary energy consumption habits is analyzed. In order to perform the study, the city of Bogota and the municipality of Cajica in Colombia -South America were selected, since, despite of their proximity, these places are exposed to different solar radiation levels. Based on this, two photovoltaic system designs with different technical specifications were proposed to analyze their behavior with respect to energy consumption and cost, when implemented together with a change of domiciliary energy consumption habits in lightning circuit usage. The implementation of these strategies allows achieving energy savings between 18 % and 27 %, according to the chosen photovoltaic system, and mainly due to changes in the energy consumption habits of users. Likewise, the interconnected system achieves a decrease of CO 2 emissions between 85 % and 86 % approximately in this circuit, making a contribution to the environmental care. Nevertheless, the Active demand-side management (ADSM) strategy regulation is one of the challenges that Colombian government must undertake, so the domestic user receives economic incentives that motivate him to modify his consumption and acquire new technologies that facilitates its adoption. The implementation of this strategies in national and international contexts may contribute significantly to a more efficient electric power systems in general, because it starts from the active participation of residential users with elements such as their own electricity generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Armed conflict in Colombia has a history of 50 years that continues to this day. According to the Victims Record of Colombia, from 1985 to 2013 2.683.335 women have been victims of the armed conflict. Women have been described as the main victims of the armed conflict, especially in the Colombian cultural context that in some regions is still considered to be a 'machista' and patriarchal one. In contrast, some authors have explicitly stressed Colombian women's agency instead of positioning them only as victims. Some of them are described as 'survivors' of the war, emphasizing their impressive resistance to the outcomes of war and forced displacement. In contrast to the background of these scholarly discussions, our study focused on how displaced women living in Bogotá themselves articulate their experiences of agency and victimization. This paper will therefore explore how women, in reconstructing their life stories, expressed the tussles between victimization and agency. Methods: We used qualitative methods conducted within an ethnographic approach. Based on ten years of experience in the neighborhood and one year of fieldwork, we collected the life stories of twenty internally displaced mothers, and ran eight workshops with them. We analyzed the narratives with a specific focus on how women expressed victimization and agency in four important periods in their life that related to the process of displacement: when they left home, when they became pregnant, when they were forced to leave their towns, and when they arrived in Bogotá. Results: Participants' life stories showed how they struggled with agency during their lives. They were victims of abuse and violence during childhood and finally decided to leave their homes. They decided to have their babies despite the fact that they were abandoned by their partners and families, and after doubts about and attempts to have an abortion. Throughout the process of displacement the participants had been engaged in ambiguous relationships with armed groups. Finally they arrived in Bogotá and faced adverse circumstances but were looking for better opportunities for them and their children. Conclusion: The analysis of how internally displaced women narrated their life stories showed us that the concepts that dominate scholarly debates about agency, victimization and survivorship do not do justice to the life stories of the participants in our study. These stories show that changes with a major impact were loaded with ambiguity and were characterized by helplessness, lack of control and agency simultaneously. The reconstruction of these life stories goes beyond the stereotype of displaced women as only 'victims', but points also to their agency and courageous decisions they made in contexts that were not controlled by them and where support was often lacking. Instead of label them, it is important to understand the complexity of the life experiences of IDW, in order to build policies that offer them aids as victims, but also build policies and intervention programs that empower them as agents in order to support them during resettlement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]