Smart Organizations in Mexico: from theory to practice in the Knowledge Society

Abstract

This article offers a reflective analysis of intelligent organizations (IOs) in the Mexican business context, focusing on the practices and strategies of Grupo Bimbo, AeroMéxico, and Softtek. The study addresses the challenge of these companies' actual capacity to transcend traditional approaches and consolidate themselves as entities capable of continuously learning, adapting, and reinventing themselves. Using a robust theoretical framework and a qualitative methodology, the work identifies and compares the degree to which these organizations embody the fundamental pillars of IOs—organizational learning, knowledge management, open innovation, and sustainability—as well as the sectoral nuances that enrich the landscape. The analysis of business news, used as a source of competitive intelligence, reveals how continuous learning, distributed leadership, the strategic use of technology, and social responsibility are manifested in the institutional communication of the companies studied. The central issue of the article is the tension between theory and practice: while IOs are presented as an ideal model to address current complexity, reality shows uneven adoption processes, with significant achievements, but also with persistent challenges in the transition towards smarter and more sustainable organizational models.