Esteban Lafuente

Purpose: The study evaluates how the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled strategies (i.e. augmentation and automation) in product logistics influences product operational performance. We also explore if the positive impact of such strategies amplifies in products whose processes are characterized by high levels of operational flexibility and adaptiveness. Design/methodology/approach: The study's empirical exercise uses multi-level regression models on a unique sample that includes information for 139 distinct product lines generated by Costa Rican firms for 2024. Findings: The core findings of the study show that both augmentation- and automation-based AI strategies contribute to product operational performance. It was also found that an augmentation AI strategy leads to superior operational performance in products whose processes have developed adaptability capacities that facilitate rapid product reconfigurations. Research limitations/implications: We highlight the strategic implications of different AI implementation logics at the product level and how they interact with operations' adaptive capabilities to improve coordination between product's managers and customers. Practical implications: The results provide actionable insights into how to configure AI technologies to support customization across product lines. By highlighting the significance of digital technologies for product logistics, the study establishes critical pathways to strategize digital technologies' implementation processes. Originality/value: This study focuses on the strategic implementation of AI technologies at the product level, where critical logistical tasks such as configuration, customization and delivery occur. By focusing on the product as unit of analysis, the study offers a unique perspective to explore the potential of AI strategies, which might differ significantly in terms of their alignment with product-specific processes and operational goals.

Problem and Objective. Previous studies have suggested that export orientation is often associated with higher levels of competitiveness, innovation, employment growth, and workforce development. However, this relationship has not been consistently observed among small and medium-sized firms (SMEs). Against this backdrop, the present study emerged from an undergraduate capstone project conducted by a Business Administration student. The study aimed to examine whether different types of market orientations among SMEs are linked to employment growth, human capital development, and women’s equity participation. Method. Data from 136 Costa Rican SMEs participating in the Global Competitiveness Project were used, collected with the involvement of researchers from TEC’s School of Business Administration, following a quantitative, cross-sectional, and correlational design. Results. Findings show that exporting SMEs experience greater employment growth, but no significant differences in human capital development or women’s ownership participation, suggesting that internationalization may serve as an effective pathway to stimulate job creation in these firms.

In an increasingly competitive environment, firms face important challenges for digitalizing their processes and develop new products. Evidence shows that the key lies in co-innovation, establishing collaborative strategies, and leveraging digitalization to foster product innovation. A study conducted as part of a doctoral dissertation in the School of Business at the Costa Rica Institute of Technology (TEC) examined the role of strategic collaborations, internal research and development (R&D) teams, and digitalization on product innovation. This article summarizes the most relevant findings and their practical implications for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Latin America.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of TEC Empresarial. To celebrate this milestone, this editorial note offers an insider’s perspective about the journal’s evolution. We highlight recent trends that are impacting our mission and discuss how recent contributions address these issues. We highlight key achievements in the journal’s development and review the contribution of the most cited publications. We also emphasize scientific rigor, internationalization, and openness as guiding commitments for the journal’s future roadmap. In this note, the anniversary is presented as both a celebration of collective achievement and a renewed commitment to responsible scholarly impact.

Digitalization is reshaping SMEs’ competitiveness; however, research shows that the performance effects of digitalization processes are far from clear. Digital technologies create value through capability-building and strategic orchestration processes, and this editorial introduces the eight papers included in the special issue which adopt a mechanism-oriented view of the digitalization-performance connection. The contributions included in this special issue integrate different theoretical lenses and methodological approaches to explain heterogeneous outcomes resulting from digitalization processes. The papers highlight operational mechanisms (e.g., digital technology integration and innovation routines) and strategic mechanisms (e.g., digital strategy development, managerial and contextual factors) that shape financial, innovation, sustainability-oriented, and strategic-related performance dimensions. The special issue reinforces the view that digitalization is a complex organizational process. The editorial concludes by identifying promising directions for future research on digital capability complementarities, and digital transformation risks.

Corporate diversification theory is being reshaped by data and AI, yet evidence on how multi-business firms should organize AI across their portfolios remains scarce. We address a corporate-strategy question that is increasingly central in the digital era: should AI be implemented as a corporate-wide policy or tailored at the business-unit level, and does the answer depend on the nature of the product offering? Drawing on the theory of the firm and recent arguments about digital diversification, we theorize that the performance impact of AI implementation locus is contingent on whether business units manufacture smart products—offerings with embedded narrow AI that operate within interconnected value ecosystems. Using a unique dataset of 667 manufacturing product lines from Spanish firms, we show that across the full sample neither implementation locus dominates unconditionally. However, the interaction with smart products reveals a clear pattern: for non-smart product lines, corporate-wide AI implementation is associated with superior market performance, consistent with internal economies of scope; for smart product lines, business-unit AI implementation yields superior performance, consistent with ecosystem-facing specialization and interoperability demands. The findings contribute to the emerging literature on digital diversification by showing that AI governance should be treated as a portfolio design problem, centralizing what truly scales while decentralizing what must remain close to product architectures, customers, and ecosystem interfaces.