Journal of Business and entrepreneurial

January - March Vol. 6 -2 - 2202

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e-ISSN: 2576-0971

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Receipt: 14 September 2021

Approval: 09 January 2022

Page 21-28

Considerations of the University-Enterprise link in

the Short Cycle Sustainable Trade Training

Program

Consideraciones del vínculo Universidad Empresa en el

Programa de Formación de Ciclo Corto Comercio

Sostenible

Julia Ileana Deás Albuerne

Rafael Montejo Veliz*

Karen Gutiérrez Echevarría*.

ABSTRACT

In order to give immediate response to the demand for qualified

personnel for production, services and local development in

Cuba, and the continuity of higher studies, students at the

intermediate level can opt for short cycle programs, in which

the training process has an important component in the link with

professional practice, therefore, the objective of the work is to

expose the authors' criterion of the conception of labor practice

in the Higher Level Training Program Short Cycle Sustainable

Commerce. Research methods were used to deepen and

compile materials that allowed characterizing the importance

and necessity of the link between the university and society.

Labor practice is an important link in the application of the topics

included in the academic component, especially in the short

cycle university training, in this case to the commercial activity.

Keywords: labor practice, university-business link

PhD. in Economic Sciences, Universidad de La Habana, Havana, Cuba,

juliaileana@rect.uh.cu, https//orcid.org/0000-0001-9460-2042

* Msc. in Management, University of Havana, Havana, Cuba,

montejo@fcf.uh.cu, https//orcid.org/0000-0003-0965-3289.

* MSC in Accounting, University of Havana, Cuba, Havana, Cuba,

karen@fcf.uh.cu, https//orcid.org/0000-0001-9017-3674.

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RESUMEN

Para dar respuesta inmediata a las demandas de personal calificado para la producción los

servicios y el desarrollo local en Cuba, y la continuidad de estudios superiores, los estudiantes

del nivel medio pueden optar por los programas de ciclo corto, en los cuales el proceso de

formación tiene un componente importante en la vinculación con la práctica profesional , por

ello, el objetivo del trabajo es exponer a criterio de los autores la concepción de la práctica

laboral en el Programa de Formación de Nivel Superior Ciclo Corto Comercio Sostenible. Se

utilizaron como métodos de investigación para profundizar y compilar materiales que

permitieron caracterizar la importancia y necesidad del vínculo de la universidad con la sociedad.

La práctica laboral es un eslabón importante en la aplicación de las temáticas incluidas en el

componente académico sobre todo en la formación universitaria de ciclo corto, en este caso a

la actividad comercial.

Palabras clave: práctica laboral, vínculo universidad empresa

INTRODUCTION

In 2018, the institutionalization of the Short Cycle Higher Education Level as a subsystem

of Higher Education is approved in Cuba and entrusts the Ministry of Higher Education,

hereinafter MES, (Resolution 98 , 2018 ); in issuing the complementary rules that

respond to the provisions of the legislation (Decree Law 359, 2018) in its second

resolution expresses the aspects to be taken into account for the implementation of this

level of education, among which are the duration of the curricula, entry requirements,

and the fact that the opening of such training programs respond to the needs of bodies

and agencies of the Central State Administration, national entities and Provincial

Councils , reconciled with the Ministry of Labor and Social Security; it is in the

universities where the training process takes place, and where the fact of maintaining

the efficient link between the university and employers is expressed in order to achieve

greater quality, support and joint work throughout the teaching process.

It is worth noting that the principles governing the short-cycle training program are

those of Cuban higher education, among which is the link between study and work,

which means that the theory will be based on what they need to apply in practice and

then in their workplace.

The problem faced by Cuban universities at present with this type of short-cycle training

is manifested in the following question: how to guarantee that in the work practice

developed by the students, the missions that allow them to achieve the expected

competencies of the graduate of this program are carried out. ?

For this reason, the objective of this work is to expose, according to the authors' criteria,

the conception of the labor practice in the Higher Level Training Program Short Cycle

Sustainable Commerce. It is worth mentioning that the authors did not have any conflict

of interest in the conception and development of the work.

There have been several scenarios in which the relationship between the university and

society has been presented and analyzed, and this link must have an integral approach

and continuous interaction; several academics have stated that universities have a

decisive influence on the economic, social and cultural development of their

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environment, based on their substantive processes: education, research and outreach or

liaison. (Jimenez, 2016)

In the case of Cuba, higher education has been characterized for being in constant

improvement, that is why for several years the strategy has been aimed at interrelating

university processes, constituting its main challenge, the fundamental aspect to achieve

this interrelation is the fact of strengthening the university-industry link: "The mission

triptych of the university: training, research and extension, must satisfy and respond to

the needs of society" (Ríos & Busto, 2013). (Ríos & Busto, 2013). According to the

authors, university management is facilitated through this link, in terms of educational

infrastructure, material resources and scientific research, among others.

Among the principles that govern the training programs in Cuban universities, including

those of short cycle, is the Marti's principle of the study-work link, through this action

the student makes contact with society, applying the knowledge acquired and

materializing what is conceived in the model of the professional, being of great

importance the formation of values inside and outside the institution. (Ríos & Busto,

2013)

von Feigenblatt, (1201) The work practice synthesizes the essential objectives of training

for being the means to establish the theory-practice relationship, maximum expression

of learning and consolidation of knowledge and skills and to develop capacities for

creation and decision making according to the characteristics of the problems that arise.

(Elena, 2014 )

The work practice is the organizational form of teaching work that aims to promote an

adequate mastery by students of the modes of action that characterize the professional

activity, through their participation in the solution of the most general and frequent

problems present in the professional or social scenario in which they are inserted and,

at the same time, to promote the development of values that contribute to the formation

of an integral professional, suitable for their future performance in society. (Resolution

No. 02 /18 of the MES), hence the importance of pre-professional practices in higher

education students in any university is unquestionable, since it enhances the interaction

of the actors involved in this process of student training.

There have been several experiences of the so-called professionalization system in the

educational system, in this sense, educational models called school-work have been

developed in some countries, as well as the so-called short careers or higher university

technician, very typical of countries that apply in their educational system the practical-

theoretical principle, where interaction with the professional world of companies is of

utmost importance. (Ramírez, 2017).

For this type of short-cycle training programs, since their duration is from 2 to 3 years,

the conception of work activity is of utmost importance, constituting 20% of the hours

of the Study Plan, so that the theory-practice link must become a predominant element

in the student's training, favorably influencing his future professional life, since this

conception starts from the professional problems that are nothing more than situations,

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conflicts, inconveniences, etc., inherent to the profession that he must solve in his

subsequent performance.

The practical training of a university student, more than a mandatory curricular

component, should become an exercise of continuous personal and professional

learning, since it constitutes the beginning of their professional life. In this sense, to

achieve this insertion in the working life, it is necessary for the university to be closely

linked to its environment, having a favorable impact on the economic and social

development of its community, its territory and the country, which in turn contributes

to the quality development of the university processes.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Different methods were used in the research, which are described below:

1. Historical - Logical: As a basis for the theoretical foundation for the study,

conceptualization and analysis of the research, characterizing its behavior around

the research topic. Starting from the necessary link between the university and

the company and its close relationship with the substantive university processes,

in particular with the extension or linkage and within it the labor practice as an

organizational form of the teaching process.

2. Analysis - Synthesis: Used throughout the research carried out, specifically to

deepen and compile materials that allowed characterizing the importance and

necessity of the link between the university and society.

3. Induction - Deduction: It was used to determine, from the information gathered,

the conclusions that allowed responding to the problematic situation posed in

reference to the university-enterprise link in the short cycle training programs,

in particular to the development of labor practices as a form of teaching

organization.

RESULTS

The development of the internship begins with the search for the host organization and

culminates with the evaluation that is carried out within the framework of a process that

sets its responsibilities based on the defined objectives, where the results achieved are

measured, the integration of the student and of course all this with the follow-up by the

tutors.

During the internship, the student is jointly supervised by a teacher tutor and a tutor

from the host organization. The evaluation will be based on the work carried out in the

company, the written report and the oral presentation before a panel formed by the

company/organization and the university, on the basis of criteria that allow the evaluation

of the competences expected individually at each stage.

The progress of the practice should respond to the exercise of study culmination, where

tutoring from projects reaches a professional dimension to the academic knowledge,

which implies promoting the accompaniment by professionals at different stages with

the aim of developing the professional skills of the future graduate.

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It is considered that there are topics that could be integrated into the work practice,

such as: entrepreneurship, standardization, economic intelligence, sustainable

development and project management. These aspects will provide students with an

entrepreneurial spirit since they will be involved in a methodological process of creation

and transfer of a company, and will be permanently related to national and international

standards in the different areas of management, as well as to the problems of sustainable

development of companies and organizations, and in this way they will participate in

strategic decisions and bets.

The Labor Practice in the Short Cycle Training Program Sustainable Commerce.

At the request of the Ministry of Domestic Trade (MINCIN), the Study Plan

corresponding to the Short Cycle Training Program Sustainable Trade was conformed,

which complies with the requirements established by the Quabana higher education.

(Resolution 98 , 2018 )

For this purpose, the National Commission of the Career is created, whose governing

center is the University of Havana, which chairs it, with the participation of

representatives of the Ministry of Domestic Trade (MINCIN) from this moment on, and

of the universities whose territories are interested and have the conditions for the

development of the program.

As background, the Faculty of Accounting and Finance of the University of Havana, which

will implement the program as part of its training process, signed a Collaboration

Agreement with the Knowledge Management Center of Domestic Trade, subordinated

to MINCIN, whose objective is to establish complementation and cooperation relations

for academic, labor and research training activities in different areas of knowledge,

including COMMERCIO. In its third agreement of the aforementioned agreement, the

company commits itself to the placement of undergraduate students for the realization

of the labor-research component, for which the tutoring activity of the professionals of

the commerce activity becomes essential.

In the professional's model, the following was established as the profession's object of

work: the wholesale and retail commercial activity of goods and services, and as fields

of action: the commercialization of wholesale and retail goods of gastronomic, lodging,

technical and personal services. The general objective is that at the end of the program,

students should be able to: efficiently execute internal trade activities in accordance with

legal and ethical norms in correspondence with the constant updating of the Cuban

Economic Model.

In the conception of the Teaching Process Plan for the Higher University Technician

Sustainable Commerce is conceived for 2 years, defining the objectives by years and on

this basis the academic and investigative work component that responds to them.

(Resolution 98 , 2018 ).

It is conceived in a scheme of three cycles: General Training, Financial Economic

Accounting Training and Specialized Training, organized in such a way as to guarantee

their integration. In the authors' opinion, labor practice is the important link in the

integration of the subjects included in the academic component, and will be the

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materialization of the university-enterprise link, which is why the fields of action and

spheres of action express the specific sector to which the program is directed, since

commercial activity is developed in various sectors of the economy, although MINCIN

is the body that regulates this activity in Cuba.

The work activity of students in the first year is conceived as a systematic practice, in

the first semester as a familiarization with the activities of internal trade in MINCIN

organizations, and in the second semester begins to link with the research component

associated with an activity where the interests of the agency are reconciled taking into

account the demands and that of the students; It is at this moment where the practice

professionals come into play, those who must be categorized as teachers of higher

education by the university level of the program, of course always in coordination with

the supervision of the teachers of the corresponding higher education centers.

Already in the second year, this investigative work link should be outlined, aimed at the

development of the work of culmination of study, so it should be concentrated,

systematically accounting for the progress made to date, in particular, it should be

conceived based on the diagnosis of the selected topic in the entity where he/she

performs his/her work activity.

In order to achieve the above, the authors specify that the academic component should

be focused on the commerce sector, in a conception of education at work and

interdisciplinarity, without forgetting both the national and international environment in

which the activity is developed. In order to ensure that the work practice in the Short

Cycle Sustainable Commerce Training Program is the link between the integration of

the topics included in the academic component and the professional activity, the

following questions should be answered:

What should be the composition of the faculty that contributes to the fulfillment of the

program's objective?

Are the academic activities organized in such a way as to encourage the approach to the

practice of the profession, in this case the commercial activity?

Does the way the internship is conceived in this program facilitate the link between

university and company?

This type of short cycle training in Cuban higher education is very young, to the fact that

university training in commercial sciences has been revitalized, since it was interrupted

in the 60's of the last century, that is why in the opinion of the authors there is a strong

methodological work to develop that to begin with give answers to the aspects pointed

out in the questions to achieve a marked approach to the practice in the profession, in

this case the commercial activity.

CONCLUSIONS

As it is stated, labor practice is the organizational form of the teaching work that aims

to promote an adequate mastery by the students of the modes of action that

characterize the professional activity, particularly in the Short Cycle Training Programs

that are distinguished by their theoretical-practical approach, taking into account the

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above, which is based on the experience of the authors in the conception and

implementation of the Sustainable Commerce Program, the following conclusions are

reached:

The Short Cycle Training Programs should be distinguished by their theoretical-practical

approach, being the work practice the predominant element in the student's training,

which should have a favorable influence on their future professional life, since this

conception is based on providing solutions to professional problems in the business

environment.

The academic component should be conceived in terms of what students need to apply

in their work practice and in their future professional life, all with an entrepreneurial

spirit and with participation in decision-making, which should contribute to strategic bets

that modify the environment with a criterion of sustainability.

The academic component of the Short Cycle Training Program Sustainable Commerce

should be developed in the conception of knowledge and relationship of the national

environment, particularly with the activity of domestic trade, all with a criterion of

interdisciplinarity based on the values included in the curriculum.

In its methodological conception, the labor practice, being the important link in the

materialization of the university-business link in its integration with the topics included

in the academic component, should focus on the fields of action and spheres of action

expressed in the designed Study Plan; in the specific case of Sustainable Commerce, since

the activities are directed towards internal commerce, it is necessary to take into

account the conformation of the faculty and the forms of teaching organization that

guarantee the success of the training process.

REFERENCES

Council of State (2018, October 24) Decree Law 359/2018. Official Gazette of the

Republic of Cuba (59) (Extraordinary), 1199-1200

https://www.gacetaoficial.gob.cu/es/decreto-ley-359-de-2018-de-consejo-de-

estado

Ministry of Higher Education (2018, June 21) Resolution 02/2018. Official Gazette of the

Republic of Cuba (25) (Ordinary), 647-709.

https://www.gacetaoficial.gob.cu/es/resolucion-2-de-2018-de-ministerio-de-

educacion-superior

Ministry of Higher Education (2018, October 24) Resolution 98/2018 Official Gazette of

the Republic of Cuba (59) (Extraordinary), 1200-1203

https://www.gacetaoficial.gob.cu/es/resolucion-98-de-2018-de-ministerio-de-

educacion-superior

Elena, A. R. (2014 ). Professional practices and internships from comparative legislation.

Latin American Journal of Social Law. , 19, 111-132. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1870-

4670(14)70666-9.

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