Why SMEs in Argentina Stop Growing: Marketing and Communication as the New Sales System.

Thursday, July 16, 2026, 5:45 AM

Session: SOC Poster Session (Virtual 1) (Virtual)

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) represent more than 99.4% of total registered companies in Argentina , yet they are going through a crisis of chronic stagnation. This paper analyzes the underlying causes of this operational and financial paralysis through a dual focus. Methodologically, the research quantifies the severe exogenous restrictions of the environment and employs System Dynamics to model the endogenous structures and behavioral archetypes that limit scalability. The results reveal a hostile ecosystem marked by tax asphyxiation , a bureaucratic burden consuming 900 hours per year , and severe financial restriction. Simultaneously, through the "Growth and Underinvestment" and "Success to the Successful" archetypes , the study demonstrates how conservative mental models and the avoidance of structural investment in intangible assets generate severe organizational bottlenecks. It is concluded that, while a public agenda oriented toward mitigating macroeconomic barriers is imperative , the survival of the sector requires an internal paradigm shift. Marketing and communication must consolidate as the central infrastructure of revenue generation to build symbolic value and community , demonstrating that surviving in the contemporary economy does not depend strictly on having greater transactional efficiency to "sell more," but on building the reputation to "be chosen more".