Strategic capabilities and their effects on performance: entrepreneurial, learning, innovator and problematic SMEs

Abstract

This paper analyses the differences among entrepreneurial, learning, innovator and problematic SMEs based on Organisational Learning (OL) and Organisational Innovation (OI) and on the capabilities of personal mastery, transformational leadership, shared vision, absorptive capability, teamwork and organisational performance. This investigation develops a number of testable hypotheses on the influence of these capabilities on performance in the four different groups of organisations we have surveyed. The hypotheses are tested using data from 299 Spanish SMEs. The results show that: (1) personal mastery, transformational leadership, shared vision, absorptive capability, teamwork capability, OL and OI are positively linked and linked to performance in SMEs; (2) entrepreneurial SMEs possess a higher level of these capabilities and performance than learning, innovator or problematic SMEs; (3) learning SMEs make the above strategic capabilities more possible than innovator SMEs or problematic SMEs; (4) innovator SMEs make the strategic capabilities more possible than problematic SMEs; (5) OI is significant and positively linked to performance in innovator and entrepreneurial SMEs; and (6) OL is significant and positively linked to performance in learning and entrepreneurial SMEs.