Title: Collaborative managers' networks and a multidimensional approach to SMEs' firm performance: a framework for measuring manager dynamics

Authors: Francisco Javier Álvarez-Torres; Giovanni Schiuma; Gabriela Citlalli López-Torres

Addresses: Department of Natural and Exact Sciences, University of Guanajuato, Mexico ' Department of Finance, Technology and Management, LUM University 'Giuseppe Degennaro', Italy ' Department of Economic and Administrative Sciences, University of Aguascalientes, Mexico

Abstract: Firms must be strategically resilient amid technological changes and global crises. Managerial networks represent an opportunity to enhance firms' performance and are considered the future of the organisational paradigm. Measuring the impact of network variables on a firm's performance is complex, especially in the context of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). There is little research in the literature on how to measure the variables related to a network and how they are linked to a company's performance. This study aims to determine how collaborative managers' networks (CMN) impact SME performance and is measured using a multi-level approach. The study proposes an empirical investigation using a system of partial least squares (PLS-SEM) of structural equations modelling, obtaining data from 170 SMEs. Based on the empirical results, the paper shows that CMN positively and significantly impacts firm performance. However, this relationship differs across the three dimensions of firm performance analysed.

Keywords: networks; SMEs; managers; performance; collaboration.

DOI: 10.1504/IJETRADE.2024.138679

International Journal of Electronic Trade, 2024 Vol.1 No.2, pp.159 - 183

Received: 31 Dec 2023
Accepted: 02 Mar 2024
Published online: 23 May 2024 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article