Resumo

FERRER, Juliana. Competitiveness in Social Marketing: Strategic Conjunction for Strengthening Small Industries  in Zulia. Revista de Ciencias Sociales [online]. 2007, vol.13, n.3, pp.468-483. ISSN 1315-9518.

The purpose of this article is to analyze competitiveness from the viewpoint of social marketing for small industries in Zulia. Based on a descriptive, field investigation, information was collected using random sampling related to the number of transforming companies. The universe studied consisted of 487 small companies, from which a sample size of 59 small businesses of national origin was obtained, selected randomly. Conclusions were that small national businesses have an incipient competitive level manifested in low technological development, high degree of down time, inefficient production systems, conventional business strategies and restricted relations with social actors. The study recommends initiating a competitive transformation process that would permit integrating business initiatives with incentive policies agreed on with the social agents involved, contributing thereby to endogenous development through the search for strategies that strengthen the future life of the sector

Palavras-chave : Competitiveness; social marketing; small business; endogenous development; social agents.