Factors to Foster Organizational Sustainability in Tourism SMEs

Abstract

Small and medium-sized tourism companies (SMEs) strongly depend on their collaborators to achieve competitiveness and sustainability. In this sense, these organizations need to identify those factors that help them to use their resources and efforts to achieve the aforementioned goals. This article proposes a model oriented to organizational sustainability in the tourism sector. A systemic approach was adopted to articulate this research; therefore, the soft systems methodology was applied to structure the problem and express a conceptual model that suggests relationships as an alternative solution to the expressed problem. Partial least squares path modeling was applied to statistically validate the relationships expressed in the construct. Results suggest that the relationships proposed in the construct are valid and may promote organizational sustainability. The ideas developed are restricted to the organizational domain and although the results apply in a Mexican context, this potential limitation can be offset by the multi-methodological approach proposed, extending the model’s application to other types of organizations. This study may enable scholars and managers to improve communication and inter-organizational relationships, allowing organizations to focus their strategies and efforts using systems thinking to increase responsiveness and adaptation.