Based on the approach of the Original Institutional Economics, this paper studies the instinct of workmanship, pecuniary instincts and ceremonialism in companies that belonged to the Expopyme Program in the city of Barranquilla from 2000 to 2007. In order to identify if the Expopyme Program is successful in promoting exports, 31 firms were interviewed from a sample of 210 companies that belonged to the program. According to the results, it was found that the workmanship instinct prevails over the pecuniary instinct or the ceremonialism behaviour within the firms that attended the Expopyme Program in Barranquilla. In conclusion, the Expopyme program is useful as a program of export promotion, insofar as it contributes to the development and improvement of SMEs.