In order to facilitate the dissemination of research papers of interest to our readers based on the importance or juncture of the topics they present, from this year on, we have decided to prepare one of our issues with a dossier. In particular, this edition of Innovar is special, insofar as it includes a dossier section with seven research works that incorporate small and medium-sized enterprises (SMES) as their object of study.

This selection arose from the fact that SMES are key players in Latin American and Colombian productive networks (in particular), as shown by their participation in the total number of companies (99.5%) and the generation of formal employment (60%) in the region (Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económicos [OCDE] & Banco de Desarrollo de América Latina [CAF], 2019). However, these organizations are also affected by several interrelated problems, such as low access to formal financing, lack of planning, weak information systems for decision-making, and low innovation and productivity levels ("10 errores...", 2018; "Los desafíos...", 2018); which partially explains their high probability of bankruptcy, especially during the first five years (about 45% of SMES go bankrupt in their first year of activity).

The above makes it relevant to study what factors, for example, affect SMES innovative activities, or how human resource management is related to their financial performance, as this could serve as a starting point to design effective public policies that promote their growth and survival. In addition, it is curious that, although the selection of papers for this issue was made according to their progress in the editorial process, there is some emphasis on topics such as capacitybuilding in the use of information technologies or innovation in SMES, which are known for their potential to generate new business opportunities and business growth (Confecamaras, 2017). This allows us to be optimistic about the response of our readers to the works in this special delivery and their potential to contribute to SMES management, especially in the Latin American context.

The first paper in this edition is titled "Determinants of Innovation Skills of MSMES at the Metropolitan Zone of the Valley of Mexico", by Ana Lilia Valderrama Santibáñez and Omar Neme Castillo, from the Instituto Politécnico Nacional de México, and Mario Alberto García Meza, from the Universidad Juárez del Estado de Durango. This work, in the first place, measures innovation skills through a questionnaire of 40 items applied in 2017 to representatives of 1,010 micro and small companies located in one of the 76 municipalities of the metropolitan area of the Valley of Mexico. Subsequently, authors consider some variables that could be linked with innovation skills. In this regard, they find that the educational level, gender, and experience of the individual in the company are positively related to such skills, which suggests as an alternative policy, for example, the promotion of entrepreneurship in family MSMES led by women with postgraduate studies.

The second research paper in this issue is "Model for Human Talent Management in Service-Sector SMES in Barranquilla, Colombia", written by Adriana Vera-Barbosa, Corporación Universidad de la Costa, and Ana Beatriz Blanco-Ariza, Simón Bolivar University. This work suggests a model for human resource management that is expected to contribute to the competitiveness of SMES of the services sector. This model was built using the responses to a survey applied in 2016 to 30 members of the Colombian Association of Small and Medium Businesses (ACOPI) in the city of Barranquilla. In particular, this research addresses some activities that must be carried out in a continuous and articulated manner in order to improve human management and assist the achievement of business objectives, such as creating a competencies handbook, strengthening candidates' selection process, and developing and implementing evaluation plans based on competencies, as well as establishing improvement plans.

The third article is a contribution by Professors and researchers Beatriz Helena Díaz-Pinzón, María Teresa Rodríguez-Villabona and Juan Carlos Espinosa-Moreno, from the National University of Colombia at Bogotá, titled "Capacity Model in Information Technologies in Colombian MSMES". This work presents and validates a model to assess information technology (it) capacity in a sample of 517 MSMES. By means of factor analysis, this study establishes that the proposed model incorporates four categories: organizational cohesion capacity of the it area, strategic IT capacity, IT infrastructure, and external relation capacity. According to the results, the first two categories are the most important, which supports recommendations such as strengthening strategic IT knowledge by managers and other IT-related personnel, and encouraging articulated work by key players, an endeavor that in the Colombian context could be led by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies.

The next contribution is titled "Characterization and Analysis of Business Incubation Systems in Costa Rica: The Case of Public Universities", authored by Professor María Stella Stradi Granados, Universidad Estatal a Distancia, Costa Rica. This paper illustrates the business incubation system run by public universities in Costa Rica -based on the application of interviews- and compares Costa Rican incubators with those from two other Latin American countries (Chile and Mexico) using data collected through digital questionnaires. This study finds that Costa Rican system includes 81 characteristics that, in turn, refer to eight categories (constituent aspects, directive profile, organizational model, management strategies, operational resources, strategic alliances, project management, and student relationship). Likewise, the author mentions that state funding of this type of initiatives in Costa Rica is not enough, especially if countries such as Chile, Mexico or Spain are taken as benchmark.

The research paper "Innovation Management in Technology-based Enterprises: The Case of Incubated Companies" is the fifth contribution of this dossier on SMES. This work derived from a collaboration between Euler Sánchez Ocampo and Franciele Regina Leandro, from the Fluminense Federal University, and Antonio lacono, from the University of São Paulo, both in Brazil. Through the analysis of six case studies, this research examines the innovative activity in technology-based companies (TBCS) that have gone through a formal incubation process. In this regard, their work finds some deficiencies, such as that TBCS do not count on standardized processes for carrying out market share or consumption habits studies that allow to identify new business opportunities, nor they have financially structured investment plans. This situation implies making decisions that could put their survival at risk. In addition, authors establish that, unfortunately, TBCS do not incorporate evaluation and auditing practices during the execution of the projects, so that they fail to identify solutions in a timely manner, affecting their performance.

The next work is "Analysis of ICT Companies from a Financial Perspective. Evidence for Software and Video Games SMES", prepared by Argentinian researchers María Belén Guercio, Lisana Belén Martínez and Hernán Vigier, from the Universidad Nacional del Sur and the Universidad Provincial del Sudoeste. In line with the previous work, this paper evaluates the financing decisions of TBCS in two sub-sectors: video games development (VC) and software and computer services (SCS). Using a sample of 80 Argentinian SMES, authors conclude that SMES funding during their first years comes from the companies' own resources, although with the transition to a growth stage funding is specifically replaced by debt with private companies, in the case of VC subsector, and public subsidies, when it comes to the SCS subsector. Among other recommendations, the need to promote the participation of venture capitals and angel investors in the financing of these organizations through public policy instruments is discussed.

This dossier closes with the research work "Relationship between the Formality Degree of Human Management Practices and the Productivity of MSMES. Review Article", written by Diana Maturana, from the Universidad Tecnológica del Chocó Diego Luis Córdoba, and Verónica Andrade, from the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana at Medellín. This is a literature review on the potential relationship between the formalization level of human resource management practices and MSMES productivity. Based on the analysis of 42 publications, authors conclude that this association is mediated by aspects such as market behavior and the type of leadership by the management of the company, in addition to staff efficiency.

In addition to the contributions devoted to SMES, this issue also includes three research works in the Public Administration section. The first of these is titled "Open Government and Transparency in Mexico: Longitudinal Study 2015-2018", by Rodrigo Sandoval-Almazan from the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico. This article reviews transparency practices in Mexico, taking as a starting point the websites of the 32 Mexican states, to later design a measurement based on five components (legal obligations, open data, collaboration, co-production, and institutional arrangements), which allowed to build the Ranking of State Transparency Portals for the period 20152018. The author concludes that -although there was generally a favorable evolution of the respective indicators between 2015 and 2017, especially regarding open data, collaboration and institutional arrangements- there is a marked setback for 2018 results.

Professors Óscar Carrera-Mora, María Ovando and Luis Villafuerte, Universidad Veracruzana and Universidad Popular Autónoma de Puebla, introduce the paper "Citizens' Perceived Efficiency and its Relationship with the Use of E-Government Municipal Services". Their work studies whether a citizen's perception on the efficiency of online public services affects their use of e-government tools. Data for these variables was collected through a survey applied to a probabilistic sample of 383 citizens of the town of Orizaba, in Veracruz (Mexico), selected from a population of 27,000 users of the property tax payment service (either at the counter or by Internet). After conducting a quantitative analysis, the authors find there is a positive association. This allowed suggesting some policy recommendations, such as the need to improve users' experience of e-government web platforms in terms of availability and simplicity.

Closing this section, we present the paper "Generating Good Public Innovation Practices from the Regions: "Think with i", by Ricardo Gaete Quezada, Sebastián Acevedo Muñoz, Gabriel Carmona Robles and Olga Palta Layana, Professors at the University of Antofagasta. This work systematizes the experiences of a project in Chile called "Regional contest of good public innovation practices in the Antofagasta Region", which constituted a space for public officials to present ideas and proposals aimed at improving the operation of state entities. It is concluded that, although there is great interest toward innovation in the public sector, two issues constrain this process: the lack of dissemination of good practices and the scarce training in this regard.

This edition of Innovar journal is completed by a review of the book Power and Sacrifice. Organizations' New Speeches [Poder y sacrificio. Los nuevos discursos de la empresa] (Alonso & Fernández-Rodríguez, 2018), by Professor and researcher Ernesto Gantman, from the Faculty of Economic Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires. This review provides a detailed presentation of the critical approach of the authors of the book regarding the role of contemporary management literature in the legitimization of the current economic and social order, whose emphasis on individualism and competitiveness has generated disruptions in the public and private spheres. Ernesto Gantman recommends this book since, in his opinion, it invites to rethink the role of management ideologies (in areas such as production, marketing and public administration) in the promotion of the economic, political and social models that have fostered inequality and job insecurity.

I am sure that the initiative of incorporating a dossier for contributing to the rapid dissemination of research on current affairs and disciplinary significance will be well received by our readers, so that it becomes a tradition for future editions. It remains only to extend a heartfelt thanks to Innovar journal editorial team and the broad network of collaborators (authors, reviewers and the members of the Editorial and the Scientific committees) who make this publication possible, but especially to Juan David Ardila, our Associate Editor until last September. I wish him all the best in his new academic and personal projects.