Iberoamerican Business Journal

Vol 3 N° 2 | Enero 2020 pp. 04-017 ISSN:2521-5817 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22451/5817.ibj2019.vol3.2.11030

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Escuela de Postgrado Neumann Business School

1

Research Professor, Department of Administration University Center for Economic and Managerial Sciences.

University of Guadalajara Periférico Norte 799 Edif. G201-7 Núcleo Universitario los Belenes.

E-mail: josevargas@cucea.udg.mx

2

Doctoral student in Economics and International Business. General Coordination of Research and

Postgraduate, Autonomous Intercultural University of Sinaloa. Los Mochis Unit; General Manager at Metro

Pizza S. de RL de CV

E-mail: mariozazueta@metropizza.com.mx

Entrepreneur´s profile and factors that influence the potential of

business internationalization

Perfil del emprendedor y factores que influyen en el potencial de la

internacionalización empresarial

José G. Vargas-Hernández, M.B.A.; PhD.

1

, Mario Guadalupe Zazueta-Félix

2

Recibido 25 de octubre del 2019 - Aprobado 30 de diciembre del 2019.

Entrepreneur´s profile and factors that influence the potential of business internationalization

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Escuela de Postgrado Neumann Business School

Trading outside the political

borders of Mexico is essential in terms of

macroeconomic stability in this country,

through the export channel, which is

currently highly integrated into the

economic activity of our northern

neighboring country. 79.95% of Mexican

exports in 2017 went to the United States

of America with a worth of US $ 327,358

million. This paper attempts to describe

the contextual framework of international

entrepreneurship and the importance of

the entrepreneur's profile in relation to

success in doing business abroad.

KEYWORDS: Entrepreneur's

profile, International Business, Successful

Businessman.

El comercio fuera de las fronteras

políticas de México es esencial en

términos de estabilidad macroeconómica

en este país, a través del canal de

exportación, que actualmente está

altamente integrado en la actividad

económica de nuestro país vecino del

norte. El 79.95% de las exportaciones

mexicanas en 2017 fueron a los Estados

Unidos de América con un valor de US $

327,358 millones. Este artículo intenta

describir el marco contextual del

emprendimiento internacional y la

importancia del perfil del emprendedor en

relación con el éxito en hacer negocios

en el extranjero.

PALABRAS CLAVE: perfil del

emprendedor, negocios internacionales,

hombre de negocios exitoso.

This paper’s purpose is, according

to Hernández, Fernandez and Baptista

(2014) to present an argument, backed

by evidence, to detect or identify

keywords, approaches, concepts,

variables and potential definitions, to find

examples, and from then interpret the

conclusions.

Entrepreneurship in external

markets for a company that employs 100

or up to 250 people in the case of the

industrial sector (SME) in Latin America is

ABSTRACT

RESUMEN

INTRODUCCIÓN

cv

José G. Vargas-Hernández, M.B.A.; PhD., Mario Guadalupe Zazueta-Félix

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Escuela de Postgrado Neumann Business School

OBJECTIVE

BACKGROUND

extremely arduous, comparable to large

companies or even the same size but

they do not even try. There is research

that illustrates that 10.8% of

entrepreneurs have the possibility to

internationalize, but these efforts are not

competitive enough (Amorós,

Etchabarne, and Felzensztein, 2012).

That is why the presence of SMEs is little

in the international arena.

We found answers in several

cases, of proven success and failure,

where they indicate causes or different

reasons to achieve or not achieve

internationalization. In some cases, we

found internal details of the

organization, for example:

inconsistencies on organization,

production, or financial aspect, among

others Pavón (2010). Likewise, what we

are looking for in this research from the

theoretical perspective is to identify and

analyze the factors and characteristics

of the entrepreneurs that influence the

potential of business

internationalization.

To identify and analyze the

personality factors or elements that

influences the potential for

internationalization of a business from a

theoretical perspective.

The organizations arise through

actions that are intended to create value

and meaning to each man's actions to

undertake. Thanks to the contributions of

Oviatt and McDougal (2005), located

chronologically in the late twentieth

century, entrepreneurship is known as a

progressive action of man to break down

borders: international entrepreneurship

comes to mark the combination of

behaviors of man with the outside world

where we can point out innovation,

proactivity with the firm purpose of not

only trying but creating value in the

company.

Entrepreneur´s profile and factors that influence the potential of business internationalization

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Escuela de Postgrado Neumann Business School

The human condition does not

escape trial and error, so dealing with

entrepreneurship issues is trying to build

a career based on mistakes and learn

from them in order to pursue goals set for

the growth of a company. Therefore, to

take entrepreneurship outside the borders

implies a growing demand, as well as an

imminent risk for SME’s. Therefore,

international entrepreneurship is

conceptualized as the ability of a

company to execute a successful export

sales plan.

International entrepreneurship is

framed into economic globalization, which

means that it contributes to the

generation of gross revenues for one or

more economies to the new jobs for

foreign markets and investing directly in

these countries, and on the other hand

generating profits for the domestic market

with the revenue what came from

international markets in which the

company invests.

The base of the increase in wealth

of a country can be considered to be

international trade, the reason or the

foundation according to the economy.

The place where the paradigm of

efficiently marketing of goods-based

economy was developed, was the

European continent between the

sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. At this

time the fundamental premise was to take

into account the trade surplus as a

privileged economic indicator. This is how

priority was given to the export of goods

before the domestic market as a source

of income.

Trade Liberation is attributed to

economist and philosopher Adam Smith,

who pushed the theory of absolute

advantage as an advocate and driving

idea of international trade. Smith was

convinced that once the borders were

opened for products from foreign

markets, the economy of the countries

would benefit. So, once the country's

economy adopted this theory, through its

mercantilists and with the reasons given

by the liberal economy, in addition to

enriching it, it would contribute to the

formalization of international trade.

Definitely no country could grow and

develop alone. It is thanks to the export of

merchandise that an entity or country

creates relationships that lead it to form a

commercially organized community with

the rest of the world.

José G. Vargas-Hernández, M.B.A.; PhD., Mario Guadalupe Zazueta-Félix

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Escuela de Postgrado Neumann Business School

Once a country manages to form a

commercial community with other

countries and they achieve identity, that

is, to recognize themselves as buyers

and/or sellers, creating a market

relationship. Naturally this relationship

requests merchandise that implies

supply. Supply is generated by the

demand for the goods that organizations,

governments or individuals require from

each other.

It is then established that the

world’s economies, regardless of the

geographical zone in which they are,

according to the liberal economic

ideology is immersed in globalization;

naturally, this modern economy was the

precursor to neoliberalism.

The economic political paradigm

that has prevailed over the last thirty

years so far in Latin American countries is

the neoliberal one, where these countries

open their borders and cease to have

customs as an import barrier to export

management trading offices such as

economic development engine. That is

why they are constantly fighting for the

reduction of trade barriers; their idea is to

extinguish any commercial barrier. These

countries are not interested in national

protection but rather in the support for the

free market.

The trade liberalization presented

by Adam Smith, formulates the

convenience of doing international trade

between countries, based on their

guarantees and profits. Smith’s theory

emphasizes the margin that the

government must take in this process and

encourages the country to specialize in

production issues and its foreign trade.

These results must achieve

overproduction by guaranteeing coverage

considering the needs of other countries.

Therefore, it is recommended that

each nation produce what it specializes

on, to be able to buy other products to

other countries at a lower cost. Concepts

such as specialization, division of labor,

value cataloging are products of Adam

Smith's mind; as well as the subsequent

emergence of the so-called serial

production. We find John Stuart Mill,

David Ricardo and Bertil Ohlin among

others who are thinkers who have

enriched Smith's theory. As for Stuart Mill,

he focused on dealing with the freedom of

man in all aspects, including, of course,

marketing and devoting himself to

Entrepreneur´s profile and factors that influence the potential of business internationalization

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Escuela de Postgrado Neumann Business School

whatever is of greater value to his

interests (Roldán, 2019).

In the case of David Ricardo

(1772-1823), he wrote about the

comparative cost in his equation, starting

from the labor cost and the relations

between nations at the time of

commercialization, taking into account the

advantages of foreign trade (Selva,

2019). Those who improved the state of

the art of international trade were

Heckerscher and Ohlin considering

competitive advantage as a concept that

does not lie between the differences in

technology in different countries, but

rather in the relativity of various factors.

Many authors now believe that the

superiority of countries, from the

perspective of new factors, is not

determined by the natural resources of

each country. Currently the factors are

related to the ability to innovate new

products to offer them in the changing

market, so they must develop being

productive, competitive, flexible, even

efficient, and they must also prepare the

workforce with skills that promote the

productivity of companies and the

development of the same employees,

innovative entrepreneurs and ready to

present new products, because to catch

the niches agility in the response is

required, as international changes and

demand are changing. Latin American

SMEs in order to survive need to face the

capacity in the international market.

Today marketing has identified the

need as the basis of any marketing

process. That’s why it is important to

launch differentiated and competitive

products and services guiding them to

coincide with the satisfaction between

both parties. History marks that, with the

invention of money, the exchange

(purchase-sale) becomes strong for the

permanent improvement of the

commercial exercise together with

entrepreneurship.

Kotler and Armstrong (2007) say

that business entrepreneurship aims to

achieve a favorable negotiation, with full

success and in turn break down an

essential prior process into two major

activities, firstly, the identification of the

market segment with potential for

attention and with the completion of a

market study. The objective of this

process is to present the best offer as

opposed to the other bidders.

José G. Vargas-Hernández, M.B.A.; PhD., Mario Guadalupe Zazueta-Félix

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Escuela de Postgrado Neumann Business School

The Latin American market and

especially SMEs is constantly motivated

to potentialize themselves to undertake

international trade. Amoros, Etchebarme

and Felzensztein (2012) were the first to

detect and analyze this formally and to

affirm their lack of entrepreneurial

orientation towards the international.

Such guidance (direction) is decisive for

small and restricted markets. If an

international orientation is not found, the

same finite nature of your domestic

market could pay the consequences.

In 1986, Mexico decided to open

up to international trade, approximately

forty years after using an import

substitution policy that aimed to protect

the national business section.

Immediately after that, Mexico directed its

efforts towards trade opening, joining

liberal economic countries as part of

agreements taken before the International

Monetary Fund to recover from major

economic crises. Upon entering the World

Trade Organization (WTO), Mexico

began a career in commercial treaty

signatures.

With that antecedent the historical

stage known as neoliberal period was

opened in Mexico. This organization

presides over international trade, with the

step taken in 1986. With this, Mexico took

one of the most impactful decisions as a

nation, joining the free market and

therefore international business.

This step, which gave Mexico

international trade, is still subject to

studies, although statistics on this are

decisive.

By 1986 when Mexico barely

allowed import substitution, it exported 22

billion dollars; while for 2015, 380, 772

billion dollars were exported (Secretary of

Economy, 2016). In that period, Mexico

went from a petroleum economy (this

commodity is still important for the

Mexican economy) to a manufacturing

economy, being a world leader in the

automotive industry according to data

from INEGI (2017).

Even so, in spite of all this, the

notion of an oil or intermediate goods

economy still exists to this day because

INTERNATIONAL

ENTREPRENEURSHIP: MEXICO IN THE

WORLD

Entrepreneur´s profile and factors that influence the potential of business internationalization

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Escuela de Postgrado Neumann Business School

THE ENTREPRENEUR'S

PROFILE

this has been the policy of transformation

in recent decades. National companies, in

percentage proportion, do not yet

represent a significant growth because

unlike export of products from companies

that make up their products here, they are

really scarce. 8 out of ten pesos exported

correspond to large companies according

to data from the Expansion Magazine

(2011). It is important to highlight the

relevance that every 8 of 10 products are

exported to the United States despite so

many signed treaties (Secretary of

Economy, 2016).

The non-Anglo-Saxon

entrepreneur profile has to be analyzed

from its own historical and socio-cultural

context rooted in pre-Columbian times.

Particularly to refer to the entrepreneur’s

profile, the term "business mentality" is

used. In order to decipher and

characterize these mental molds, an

effort is needed in the construction of the

recognition of one's own business culture

not far from the desirable good practices

of the global context but without leaving

aside the Latin American businessman's

own culture.

In these circumstances we have

the research topic: the profile of the

Mexican businessman, who seeks the

internationalization of his products

through a high diversification of markets

and exported products. The meaning of

"export" can be found in a vast literary

work with the same ultimate intention, this

is the intention mentioned by Pro Mexico

(2018), as a clear and precise disposition

to send or sell the land or industry’s

product to a foreign country. It should be

noted that the services are also

exportable although intangible, without

leaving aside foreign direct investment by

Mexican companies. Those who export

must establish precise objectives with

attainable goals (Bancomext, 2015).

Understanding these meanings of

“international entrepreneurship” gives a

basic guide to the vision of the

international entrepreneur who not only

needs capital, but must also have a

culture of openness and negotiation skills.

It is in this context where

international entrepreneurship walks

between three different and concatenated

areas; in the first place the business

José G. Vargas-Hernández, M.B.A.; PhD., Mario Guadalupe Zazueta-Félix

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Escuela de Postgrado Neumann Business School

SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

AND THE ENTREPRENEUR’S

PROFILE

environment where the development of

negotiation, leadership and alliance

building skills is required, secondly the

national level, where the entrepreneur is

in excessive competition and in the

Mexican case of unfavorable economic

conditions in rates of increase; Finally, we

have the global scope, where the world

entrepreneur must bring Mexican

business culture and its values to an

intricate global economy that is always

being built and reformed between the

homogenization of the global citizen and

the richness of different cultures.

Globalization begins with trade and

goes back to before the Silk Road but is

based on the economy. This is the

cornerstone of international

entrepreneurship that has placed a large

part of the countries, co-participation in

the delivery of values and products

between nations, organizations and

individuals. Currently the task of the

international entrepreneur is to participate

in the collapse of trade barriers that

currently threaten to rebuild where they

had already been destroyed with the

arrival of nationalist governments.

Countries compete with the entire world

and Mexico is no exception. SMEs are

competing with foreign companies with

enormous advantages, which are

"global" from China, Japan, Germany,

USA, Colombia, Italy, Chile, and so on.

Mexico is recognized for its potential

commercial reach among world

markets. Resulting from the signing of

various alliances with blocks of

countries such as the entire European

continent, North America, Central

America almost entirely and countries of

the Pacific Alliance (Colombia, Peru and

Chile). It is of the utmost importance for

the Mexican entrepreneurs to take

advantage of these resources (not only

NAFTA, now called T-MEC) that provide

them with a competitive advantage in

terms of the decrease or disappearance

of tariffs that countries apply

discriminately to “nearby” countries.

Mexico has an advantage over many

countries by being a leader in the

signing of trade agreements although it

currently misses them.

Entrepreneur´s profile and factors that influence the potential of business internationalization

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Humanity is a place in eternal

construction; it has the ability to develop

cognitively. This can be studied from the

perspective of different perspectives; here

is the humanist perspective. Humanist

theory has as one of its greatest

exponents Carl Rogers (1902-1987), who

wrote about an actualizing tendency; that

is to say, it is prone to improve or

decrease but always changing and this is

what makes it transform permanently.

Rogers affirmed (1957) in one of his

articles, published in the Journal of

Counseling Psychology:

“My experience is that man is a

member of the human species, basically

trustworthy and whose deepest

characteristics tend towards development,

differentiation, cooperative relationships;

whose life tends fundamentally to move

from dependence to independence; whose

impulses naturally tend to harmonize in a

complex and changing pattern of self-

regulation; whose total character is such

that it tends to be preserved and improved

and to better preserve its species, and

perhaps to lead it towards its wider

evolution. In my experience, discovering

that an individual is truly and deeply a

unique member of the human species is

not a discovery that arouses horror.

Rather, I am inclined to believe that being

human is to penetrate the complex process

of being one of the creatures of this planet,

more widely sensitive, responsive, creative

and adaptable” (Brazier, 1997, citing

Roger, 1957).

We also find another part of the

article "The Humanist" originally

published in 1957, where he adds:

“Therefore, the conduct of man is

exquisitely rational, moves with orderly and

insightful complexity towards the goals that

your body strives to achieve. The tragedy

for most of us is that our defenses prevent

us from realizing this rationality, so that we

consciously move in one direction while our

organism is moving in another” (Brazier,

1997, citing Roger, 1957).

Looking for works on personality

characteristics linked to corporate

exports, we indirectly have the work of

Alfred Adler (1870-1937). For him

"human beings are goal-oriented

organisms" (Bottome, 1939).

Personal growth is the first object of

study in the theory of human behavior.

Not having a direction, an entrepreneur

would lead a life without philosophy of

desolate, nihilistic style. The personal

growth of the international entrepreneur

must be fed beyond economic growth and

with personal growth.

José G. Vargas-Hernández, M.B.A.; PhD., Mario Guadalupe Zazueta-Félix

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Escuela de Postgrado Neumann Business School

According to Bottome (1939), Adler

pointed out the fact that it was imperative

to maintain an objective view, attached to

social events in the construction of the

archetype of the employer. An

entrepreneur with values and vision is not

only a good person but a good leader. He

clarifies that it would be necessary to

study the personality of the individual for

a better understanding of what is

happening in the world. A world without

values is the product of the personal

growth of its inhabitants.

When the vision is directed by the

superego of the person, this tends to get

preeminent goals. In the absence of a

balance between the ego and the

superego, the business vision can be

unbalanced and the desire for power

increased. International entrepreneurship

requires the use of empathy with others.

Engler (1996) in this regard refers to the

period of childhood, in a different way to

Freudian, because he elaborates

questions on how it is that what happens

to us at a later age at the stages of

psychosexual development. Engler

mentions the inferiority that prevails in

childhood and that if it is not attended to,

it can lead the employer to anti-social,

hedonistic and even autocratic conditions

and actions, as compensatory measures.

The personality of the entrepreneur

when he has the idea of exporting his

products is part of Adler's individual

psychology. Which suggests that people

have a life direction towards achieving

their goals naturally. The social

environment in which the individual is

immersed during the development of his

childhood and preteen life affects this

process. The theory falls to

entrepreneurship as an activity or conduct

that results from the skills and beliefs of

the individual in their personal growth to

face challenges and fears, their ability to

develop and train with time management

skills and communicate effectively with

social groups.

The ability to construct a self-image

would be integral to balance the

entrepreneur’s capabilities and from then,

to develop his and his company’s growth

with the relevant actors involved in the

process. Entrepreneurship is difficult and

requires effort and self-determination.

With companies this time I am referring to

the definition that the Royal Spanish

Academy makes to the word, not to its

business project. Action or task that

Entrepreneur´s profile and factors that influence the potential of business internationalization

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Escuela de Postgrado Neumann Business School

CONCLUSIONS AND

RECOMMENDATIONS

involves difficulty and whose execution

requires decision and effort.

Entrepreneurship is difficult and requires

efforts and important self-determination.

From an aforementioned theoretical

perspective, we demonstrate if there is a

relationship between successful profiles

and products in entrepreneurship. Of

course, out of the qualities of personality

in relation to the profile of the

entrepreneur, the most outstanding thing

is: desire to conquer, push, courage,

overcome fear, overcome ignorance and

of course, bureaucracy.

In order to make recommendations

on the needs of future research on the

characterization of the Mexican

international entrepreneur, we propose to

examine a random sample in which

various variables are evaluated that allow

describing the object of study as the

status of the entrepreneur in the

organization, this may be from the

participation that it has as a shareholder

or the institutionalization of the same

company, either a family business or a

corporate structure; a second variable

would be the reasons that entrepreneurs

have to be a part of the business, are

they intrinsic or extrinsic?.

The intrinsic ones can become the

self-determined motivation and openness

that they have to the challenges, their

personality traits, while extrinsic factors

would be the social motivators such as

the family, the schoolmates, the partners

and friends, their romantic partner, in

general, its social environment could be

decisive in an entrepreneurial culture by

looking at the individual within an

ecosystem. Another research variable

would be their attitude and actions

towards international entrepreneurship, in

terms of personality such as chauvinism

and nationalism or openness and respect

for other cultures.

Previous experience can also be a

fundamental variable in the international

entrepreneur. Examining the difficulties

that entrepreneurs have experienced

starting and running their businesses and

knowing the risks involved in

entrepreneurship are research variables

that could be related to the personality

characteristics of entrepreneurs in terms

José G. Vargas-Hernández, M.B.A.; PhD., Mario Guadalupe Zazueta-Félix

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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