Impact of Interorganisational Learning Factors on the Performance of Micro and Small Businesses

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyse the influence of interorganisational learning factors on the performance of Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) participating in a Local Productive Arrangement (LPA) network; specifically, the clothing arrangement located in the city of Santa Cruz do Capibaribe, in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. Three aspects were analysed in the performance of the MSEs: cooperation, innovation, and market. For this, a quantitative survey method was employed, with a sample of 301 respondents, analysed through the modelling of structural equations of the PLS type. The results indicate a complex model with the variable interorganisational learning characterised as being of second order, as it is filled by first-order variables of reflexive characteristic, which obtained validation in the measurement and structural assumptions. The model suggests that interorganisational learning positively influences the performance of cooperation, innovation, and market of the MSEs that constitute the LPA.