Kriselipsis and Inverted Complementarity Diversity (ICD)

The objective of this chapter is to introduce the concept of kriselipsis (crisis-scarcity relationship) and the ICD (inverted complementarity diversity) within the literature related to the family business. To achieve this goal, the authors combine a conceptual and a descriptive study with the analysis of cacao and shrimp value chains with the use of data from the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Investment of Ecuador. Findings show that, as there is a constant crisis-scarcity relationship (kriselipsis) in microenterprises and SMEs located in developing countries, the combination of familiness with ICD will reinforce Ecuador to consolidate its raw materials market. This fact will allow Ecuadorian firms to have immediate access to this market to avoid kriselipsis, as well as to have better access to the financial credit-focused on improving their value chains.