Self-regulation as a basic competence in the productive development of micro entrepreneurs in depressed environments: Case Province of Guayas - Ecuador

The microenterprise in Ecuador has a participation of approximately 90% of the productive activity of the country, with the Province of Guayas being the region with the highest percentage of representation, around 25% of the total. Microenterprises are an important source of employment; and, for most micro entrepreneurs, they are generators of self-employment. Ecuadorian microenterprises, in a percentage close to 70%, are managed only by the micro entrepreneur and do not employ additional people. Currently, these companies do not tend to grow, and are considered as survival companies; factor that has high incidence as one of the causes that maintain depressed environments; that are conceptually defined as areas with high rates of poverty and extreme poverty, a very particular characteristic in developing countries, such as Ecuador. Under this premise, 379 micro entrepreneurs located in the region under study were surveyed, using the competency assessment questionnaire developed by Boyatzis in 1991, and applying a new 360 degree instrument called Emotional Competency Inventory, ECI 2.0 (Hay Group McClelland Center for Research and Innovation, 2005), whose data show the level of knowledge that micro entrepreneurs have about their basic competencies, classified into four groups: self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness, and relationship management. In the present study, self-regulation is analyzed, whose detail is reflected in the related sub competences: 1) emotional self-control, 2) transparency, 3) adaptability, 4) achievement, 5) initiative, 6) optimism. The results of this analysis present to the micro-entrepreneurs, as individuals who qualify with a high degree of self-control, a lot of optimism and great initiative. In addition, they are considered adaptable to changes, and willing to achieve, through the transparency of their actions. These resulting elements should be used by the academy or institutions related to micro entrepreneurs, to promote support programs that enhance these skills, and contribute to the development and productive growth of the microenterprise sector.