Muriel Balbi from Infobae interviewed Mariano Mayer, who is the National Secretary of Entrepreneurs and SMEs of Argentina. During the interview, they analyzed the phenomenon that is occurring between large companies and entrepreneurs.

According to Mayer, large companies are going through a breaking point, as they realize that for over 30 years they have focused too much on efficiency and created little value.

Technological advances and the demands of new generations have prompted the emergence of entrepreneurs with ideas that have an impact on the lives of millions of people. In many cases this has been a terrible blown for large corporations, which have greater levels of pressure to innovate.

The big difference is that these entrepreneurs know how to generate value. Balbi says the “what creates value in this new Era of Knowledge are: ideas, knowledge, clever solutions that have an impact on the lives of millions of people.”

Considering this context, lots of companies have decided to move forward using “open innovation”, a strategy that enables enterprises to go beyond their limits and work together with external professionals in the development and implementation of projects.

Mayer states that large companies also face other challenges. For instance, they tend to have trouble attracting and retaining talent. The main reason is that Generation Y does not function under the same criteria and incentives than previous generations. They need to work in a place where they find purpose, a mission. Therefore, companies must work on aligning their own goals with the goals of the people they employ.  Incentives must be aligned too. Managers must encourage innovation and let it flow from the bottom of the company to the top.

According to Mayer “mostly due to disruptive technological advances, companies need to truly start innovating, not only to be more competitive but also to be sustainable”.

The secretary of entrepreneurs and SMEs believes that a possible outcome idea is that companies shall reduce their fixed structures and start thinking in more modular structures. Technology allows this and it fits the needs of people who mostly demand more flexibility.