Microenterprises’ internal capability landscape and how it relates to the firms’ global performance (GP) is sparsely studied and understood. Discrete relationships between a capability and GP may have some empirical evidence, but how microenterprises’ capabilities quantitatively relate to each other and together to GP still had no answer. Our model investigates the impact of dynamic managerial capabilities (DMCs) and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) on operational capabilities (OCs), and of those on GP, moderated by competitive intensity (CI). The data were acquired in a survey by questionnaire to 402 Portuguese microenterprises and treated using covariance-based structural equation modeling. We confirm that DMCs and EO have a positive, statistically significant, and substantive impact on OCs, explaining over half its variance, where any relation to GP is fully mediated by OCs. Furthermore, we found that OCs hold a positive, statistically significant, and substantive impact on GP, explaining nearly a quarter of its variance. CI as a moderator, with a marginal effects analysis, shows limited significance in a short range of values and never any substantive significance. Our results highlight that, for a healthy microenterprise business ecosystem, a great deal of attention and capacitation must be given to microenterprises’ managers, specifically their DMCs, EO, and, eventually, OCs.

Purpose: While organizational dynamic capabilities (DCs) are understood as crucial to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)’ success, the configurations of individual-level capabilities and meta-capabilities, in the form of dynamic managerial capabilities (DMCs) and organizational change capacity (OCC), in which that outcome can be observed are not clear. We answer this research question while considering the firm’s internationalization as a moderator.Design/methodology/approach: We conduct a two-stage fsQCA analysis, with data obtained through a questionnaire.Findings: Our results indicate two equifinal main paths. Managerial cognition of DMCs and the change processes capacity of OCC are incredibly relevant conditions for determining the outcome of DCs in SMEs, with a peripheral role of the remaining OCC dimensions. Internationalization moderates this relationship. In internationalized firms, as the second path, organizational learning, the capability to change contexts and human capital gain prominence.Research limitations/implications: We offer important insights into the contingencies of the development of DCs in SMEs, highlighting the importance of configurational thinking. More than one or other related dimension, the conjunction of DMCs’ and OCC’s dimensions determines the presence of DCs. Furthermore, we highlight the importance of considering the internationalization of the firm.Originality/value: No study has approached DMCs and OCC as capability antecedents of DCs in SMEs, disentangling interrelated antecedents and thus determining the sufficient conditions for their formation. The consideration of the moderation of internationalization further expands the contextual relevancy of these antecedents. Methodologically, we are one of the first studies to utilize newly improved procedures to study moderation in a configurational analysis.

Entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and dynamic managerial capabilities (DMCs) are beneficial to the development of organisational dynamic capabilities (DCs) in SMEs. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of detailed understanding of the development of DCs. No study has approached how DMCs with EO transfer to become organisation-wide DCs, much less with a configurational approach. This article considers the dimensions of DMCs: human capital, social capital and managerial cognition, and those of EO’s: innovativeness, risk-taking and proactiveness in conjunction. This is in contrast with the underlying assumption of independent effects. The authors survey Portuguese SMEs in a wide range of industries and treat the data through fsQCA, performing a necessity and sufficiency analysis for the presence and absence of DCs. The findings indicate that the dimensions of EO and DMCs are sufficient for consistently determining the presence of DCs in SMEs. Managerial cognition has a symmetric core role in their presence and absence. For the presence of DCs, innovativeness or proactiveness is additionally required.

The conceptualization of administrative distance exists for over 20 years. Despite its ubiquity, we found an unsatisfactory theoretical and practical depth when it comes to its operationalization, and studies that narrow onto its development are scarce. We have set, therefore, to improve both the theoretical scope and measurement of administrative distance. We achieved this using an inductive approach, which allowed us to infer from observed results, such observation suggesting the addition of the variables in the Doing Business Report, as they capture a previously omitted and relevant aspect of administrative distance: bureaucratic efficiency. We use a reference model, featuring a panel random-effects regression, as a benchmark for the study of our proposal. Our results showed an improved model with a significantly higher explanatory capacity while observing that the new measure is both significant and independent from the existing administrative distance measure, being complementary. This work opens several avenues for future research, having meaningful consequences for the development of better institutional distance models.

This article investigates the relationship between top managers’ dynamic managerial capabilities and the international overall performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). It addresses the limited understanding of the mediating effects of digital maturity and the moderating effect of market turbulence on international overall performance. Data was collected using a questionnaire survey applied to international Portuguese SMEs. The responses were analyzed using covariance-based structural equation modeling and path analysis using IBM® SPSS® Amos™. The main results show evidence of a positive impact of dynamic managerial capabilities on international overall performance and digital maturity. Additionally, we found a mediating effect of digital maturity between dynamic managerial capabilities and international overall performance, and a negative moderation of market turbulence between digital maturity and such performance, contributing to the enlightenment of top managers’ dynamic managerial capabilities as an antecedent of international overall performance, international overall performance, and digital maturity as a mediator on this relationship.

RESUMO Este artigo investiga a relação entre as capacidades gerenciais dinâmicas de gestores de alto escalão e o desempenho global internacional de pequenas e médias empresas (PME). A pesquisa contribui para a compreensão dos efeitos mediadores da maturidade digital e moderadores da turbulência do mercado no desempenho global internacional, cujo conhecimento é ainda limitado. Os dados foram recolhidos por meio de questionários entregue a PMEs. As respostas foram analisadas pelo método de modelação de equações estruturais e análise de caminho usando IBM® SPSS® Amos™. Os nossos resultados observam o impacto positivo das capacidades gerenciais dinâmicas no desempenho global internacional e na maturidade digital. Corroboramos o efeito mediador da maturidade digital entre as capacidades dinâmicas gerenciais e desempenho global internacional, contribuindo para a investigação das capacidades gerenciais de gestores de alto escalão como antecedente do desempenho internacional e para a maturidade digital como mediador nessa relação.