Organizational Learning and Corporate Social Responsibility Drivers of Performance in SMEs in Northwestern Mexico

Luis Enrique Valdez-Juárez, Dolores Gallardo-Vázquez and Elva Alicia Ramos-Escobar
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Luis Enrique Valdez-Juárez: Faculty of Business Administration, Technological Institute of Sonora, Guaymas Sonora 85400, Mexico
Dolores Gallardo-Vázquez: Department of Financial Economics and Accounting, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Extremadura, Badajoz 06006, Spain
Elva Alicia Ramos-Escobar: Faculty of Business Administration, Technological Institute of Sonora, Guaymas Sonora 85400, Mexico

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 20, 1-23

Abstract: The main objective of this article is to examine the effects of the organizational learning and corporate social responsibility (social, economic and environmental) practices that exert on the financial performance of SMEs (small and medium enterprises). The research is based on a sample of 343 companies of which 19.8% belong to the primary sector, 26.6% to the secondary sector and 53.6% to the tertiary sector of the northwestern region of Mexico. The data were collected from February to May 2018 with the support of a self-directed structured survey of company managers. For the analysis and validation of the results, the statistical technique of the structural equations model (SEM) based on the variance was used to validate the structured relationships in this investigation through PLS (partial least squares). These analyses were prepared with the support of SmartPLS version 3.2.8 Professional. The results indicate that OLE (organizational learning) is a key element to strengthen CSR (corporate social responsibility) practices and increase financial performance in these types of companies, and that CSR is key to increasing financial performance. In addition, it was found that the OLE is a variable that mediates the relationship between CSR and financial performance. The work contributes to the development of the literature of organizational learning, the theory of resources and capabilities, and stakeholder theory

Keywords: organizational learning (OLE); corporate social responsibility (CSR); social responsibility (SOR); economic responsibility (ECR); environmental responsibility (ENR); small and medium enterprises (SMEs) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:20:p:5655-:d:276201

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