There is evidence that indicate a positive relationship of learning orientation (LO) with organizational performance in SMEs of emerging economies. However, there are only few studies that investigate how each one of the dimensions of learning orientation (LO) contributes to variables of results such as competitiveness and organizational performance. The purpose of this study is to analyze the direct effects of each dimension of the construct (LO) with organizational performance and competitiveness, from a quantitative cross-sectional study implemented in 400 SMEs of Aguascalientes city, Mexico using SEM technique. The findings reveal that there is a direct and significant relationship between commitment to learning and shared vision with competitiveness; open-mindedness turned out to have a non-significant positive relationship with competitiveness. While the relationship of open-mindedness and commitment to learning have a positive and significant influence on organizational performance, not so shared vision that has a negative and significant influence on organizational performance. The originality of this paper, is that there is limited contributions of the relationship of LO with each dimension of competitiveness, and performance in SMEs worldwide. Among the implications found it is that the existing evidence may result different in other economies and large businesses. Keyword : learning orientation, competitiveness, organizational performance, SMEs, commitment to learning, open-mindedness, shared-vision

Innovation is a strategic capacity for organizations as they face new and greater challenges, such as processing a vast amount of information and knowledge, as well as responding quickly to increasingly uncertain changing environments. The objective of this is to evaluate, in an empirical way, a model that presents three causal relationships between theoretical constructs in a group of 250 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the state of Aguascalientes. The first one refers to whether organizational commitment has a positive and significant influence on the levels of learning orientation; the second is verifying if the organizational commitment has a positive and significant influence on the levels of inno­vation; and finally, inquiring if the learning orientation has a positive and significant impact on the level of innovation. The proposed model—which presents good adjustments—is validated through structural analysis using the confirmatory modeling strategy. Results are presented and they indicate that organi­zational commitment does have a positive and significant impact on the levels of learning orientation in the organization. Furthermore, learning orientation influences in a positive and significant way SMEs’ innovation in Aguascalientes. However, organizational commitment fails to show a significant positive influence on the innovation of SMEs in Aguascalientes.

In the literature, there are various studies relating positively the entrepreneurial orientation to business performance. In such studies a great deal of variables have been introduced to measure business performance, among the variables most accepted by researchers and academics are profit and business growth. Therefore, it is possible to consider that entrepreneurial orientation plays an essential role in business growth. For that reason, this paper has the objective to analyse the existing relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and growth, by using a random sample of 318 small and medium-sixed enterprises in México. The results obtained show that proactivity, risk taking and innovativeness along with the competitive aggression and autonomy have significant and positive effects on small and medium-sized enterprises’ growth.

Resumen En la actualidad, los mercados se han visto cada vez más competidos, en donde las pequeñas y medianas empresas se han encontrado con nuevos desafíos para el correcto desempeño ante estos retos, uno de ellos es el de incrementar su innovación, para lo cual la búsqueda de capacidades que les lleven a lograrlo se vuelve de vital importancia en la toma de decisiones gerenciales. Es por ello, que el objetivo del estudio fue analizar la orientación emprendedora en la innovación de pequeñas y medianas empresas en México. Se determina la influencia de las dimensiones de proactividad, capacidad de innovación y toma de riesgos en la orientación emprendedora en la innovación de 400 pequeñas y medianas empresas de un país emergente como México. La investigación fue de carácter cuantitativo, transversal, para lo cual se aplicó un cuestionario a la alta gerencia, analizando los datos a través del modelaje de ecuaciones estructurales. Los resultados indican que las dimensiones de toma de riesgos y proactividad influyen positiva y significativamente, en cambio, la de capacidad de innovación tiene influencia positiva más no significativa, concluyendo que implica comportamientos organizacionales con propensión hacia mayor aceptación a riesgos de mercado y mejor reacción a tendencias y cambios. Abstract At present, markets have been increasingly competitive, where small and medium-sized companies have encountered new challenges for the correct performance before these challenges, one of them is to increase their innovation, for which the search skills that lead them to achieve it becomes of vital importance in managerial decision making. That is why the objective of the study was to analyze the entrepreneurial orientation in the innovation of small and medium-sized companies in Mexico. The influence of the dimensions of proactivity, innovation capacity and risk taking in the entrepreneurial orientation in the innovation of 400 small and medium-sized companies in an emerging country like Mexico is determined. The research was quantitative, transversal, for which a questionnaire was applied to senior management, analyzing the data through the modeling of structural equations. The results indicate that the dimensions of risk taking and proactivity have a positive and significant influence, whereas the innovation capacity has a positive but not significant influence, concluding that it implies organizational behaviors with a propensity towards greater acceptance of market risks and a better reaction to trends and changes

El objetivo de este estudio es analizar el impacto que tiene la hostilidad ambiental empresarial en el rendimiento financiero de las PYMES exportadoras del Estado de Aguascalientes, México en el marco de la pandemia originada por Covid-19. Se llevó a cabo un estudio empírico con una muestra de 120 pequeñas y medianas empresas exportadoras del Estado de Aguascalientes, México durante los meses de Julio a Octubre de 2020. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que las condiciones desfavorables originadas por Covid-19, en conjunto con otras condiciones ya existentes antes de la pandemia, afectan de manera negativa pero no significativa los rendimientos financieros de las PYMES exportadoras del Estado de Aguascalientes. Las conclusiones muestran que la dificultad de las empresas para acceder a los canales de distribución y al capital, así como la obsolescencia que presentan en sus productos o en su giro debido a las nuevas condiciones del mercado, afectan de manera negativa su rendimiento financiero.

The issue of agribusiness represents at the present a challenge for management due to the evolution of technology, the market and particularly the changing needs of consumers. Entrepreneurial orientation is a strategy that positively influences the performance of business, however in the study of this relationship, the results are still inconsistent since a group of scholars in the subject noted that the strength of the relationship changes according to the context is empirically evaluated. The study contributes to evaluate the strength of the relation of entrepreneurial orientation and business performance in the context of 81 small and medium agribusinesses of Aguascalientes, México. The data are analyzed by structural equations and the results indicate that entrepreneurial orientation has a strong positive relationship in the performance of agribusiness.