Digital transformation and innovation, dynamic capabilities to strengthen the financial performance of Mexican SMEs: a sustainable approach

Figures & data

Figure 1. Theoretical/operational research model.

Table 1. Sample characteristics.

Sector	Frecuency	Micro	Small	Medium	Total	%	Male	Female	University degree	Without a university degree
Services	1628	1082	335	211	1628	39.5%	62.2%	37.8%	67.0%	33.0%
Trade	1373	834	381	158	1373	33.3%	58.2%	41.8%	48.1%	51.9%
Manufacture	1120	338	358	424	1120	27.2%	88.2%	11.8%	77.4%	22.6%
Total	4121	2254	1074	793	4121	100%

Table 2. Internal consistency of indicators.

Indicators	Factor loading	CA	CR (rho_a)	CR (rho_c)	AVE
Digital transformation (DT)		0.915	0.916	0.915	0.575
Digital strategy		0.770	0.771	0.768	0.525
Significant resources are invested in digitizing the business	0.675***
The degree of process automation is high in my company	0.717***
We use digitalization in the management and processes of the company	0.778***
Digital orientation		0.908	0.909	0.908	0.665
Own website	0.833***
E-commerce on Marketplace (Amazon or equivalent)	0.818***
Social networks for commercial purposes	0.850***
Digital banking	0.812***
ERPs (integrated management systems)	0.762***
Financial performance (FP)		0.885	0.886	0.885	0.524
Liquidity level	0.770***
Cash flow level	0.752***
Level of financial solvency (debt and independence)	0.705***
Speed of adaptation to market changes.	0.741***
Sales growth rate	0.756***
Increase in economic benefits (contribution margin)	0.679***
Return of investment	0.655***
Technological innovation (TI-STI)		0.875	0.876	0.875	0.636
The use of new technology has improved products and services	0.819***
The knowledge, creativity and experience of employees in the use of technology has driven the creation of new products	0.746***
The use of new technology has improved production and marketing processes	0.828***
The use of emerging technologies has promoted digital platforms	0.795***
Non technological innovation (NTI-DUI)		0.890	0.891	0.890	0.730
Increase in investment in technology and innovation is a priority for the company	0.853***
Supplier and customer experience is vital to improving innovations	0.834***
The interaction with suppliers, clients and other companies allows us to detect opportunities and solve problems in our innovation processes	0.875***

*** p < 0.001.

Table 3. Reliability and validity of the constructs.

Construct	Alfa de Cronbach	rho_a	rho_c	AVE
_01 Digital Transformation _(DT)	0.915	0.916	0.915	0.575
_02 Financial Performance _(FP)	0.885	0.886	0.885	0.524
_03 Technological Innovation _(TI)	0.875	0.876	0.875	0.636
_04 Non-Technological Innovation _(NTI)	0.890	0.891	0.890	0.730

Table 4. Discriminant validity of the model: Fornell and Larcker criterion.

Construct	DT	FP	TI	NTI
_01 Digital Transformation _(DT)	0.907
_02 Financial Performance _(FP)	0.287	0.769
_03 Technological Innovation _(TI)	0.432	0.497	0.853
_04 Non-Technological Innovation _(NTI)	0.433	0.493	0.639	0.906

Table 5. Discriminant validity of the model (HTMT).

Construct	DT	FP	TI	NTI
_01 Digital Transformation _(DT)
_02 Financial Performance _(FP)	0.325
_03 Technological Innovation _(TI)	0.498	0.563
_04 Non-Technological Innovation _(NTI)	0.497	0.554	0.950

Table 6. Model hypothesis test.

Hypothesis	Path coefficient	SD	T value	p Value	F^2	Explained variance (R^2)	Percentil 5% (CI)	Percentil 95% (CI)	Bias-corrected 5% (CI)	Bias-corrected 95% (CI)	Result
H1: (DT) -> (FP)	0.066***	0.014	4.542	0.000	0.001	1.4%	0.041	0.089	0.041	0.089	Empirical support
H2: (DT) -> (TI)	0.426***	0.013	33.915	0.000	0.123	14.1%	0.404	0.446	0.405	0.446	Empirical support
H3: (DT) -> (NTI)	0.427***	0.012	34.226	0.000	0.130	14.5%	0.407	0.448	0.408	0.448	Empirical support
H4: (TI) -> (FP)	0.269***	0.027	9.831	0.000	0.022	15.2%	0.221	0.313	0.222	0.313	Empirical support
H5: (NTI) -> (FP)	0.239***	.028	8.635	0.000	0.005	13.2%	0.195	0.287	0.196	0.287	Empirical support

*** p < 0.001; **p < 0.01; *p < 0.05; ^†p < 0.1; n.s.: not significant.

Table 7. Internal consistency of indicators.

ítems	Factor loading	CA	CR (rho_a)	CR (rho_c)	AVE
Sustainability Strategies (SUS)		0.940	0.940	0.951	0.737
Environmental criteria in the selection of suppliers	0.864***
Environmental criteria in the management of plastic packaging and derivatives	0.816***
Environmental criteria in process design	0.856***
Environmental criteria for energy management	0.820***
Environmental criteria in water management	0.802***
Environmental criteria in waste management	0.795***
Environmental certifications (e.g. ISO14001, 26001/EMAS)	0.854***

*** p < 0.001.

Figure 2. Moderating effect in the research model.

Table 8. Moderating effect hypothesis test.

Hypothesis	Path Coefficient	SD	T value	p Value	Result
H6: (SUS) x (NTI) -> (FP)	0.018n.s.	0.031	0.595	0.276	Unsupported
H7: (SUS) x (TI) -> (FP)	0.075***	0.029	2.557	0.005	Confirmed
H8: (SUS) x (DT) -> (FP)	0.102***	0.016	6.327	0.000	Confirmed

*** p < 0.001; **p < 0.01; *p < 0.05; ^†p < 0.1; n.s.: not significant.

Table 9. Configurational invariance and the compositional invariance.

Construct	Correlation	Correlation of permutation means	5.0%	p Value	Result of invariance
Digital Transformation (DT)	1.000	1.000	1.000	0.175	Yes
Financial Performance (FP)	1.000	1.000	1.000	0.312	Yes
Technological Innovation (TI)	1.000	1.000	1.000	0.219	Yes
Non Technological Innovation (NTI)	1.000	1.000	1.000	0.197	Yes

Table 10. Differences in path coefficients (multigroup analysis).

Structural relationship	Path coefficients (Group_female)	Path coefficients (Group_male)	Original difference	Permutation mean difference	5.00%	95.00%	p Permutation value
H1: (DT) -> (FP)	0.015	0.014	0.001	0.001	−0.051	0.051	0.479
H2: (DT) -> (TI)	0.278***	0.366***	−0.088	0.001	−0.045	0.047	0.000
H3: (DT) -> (NTI)	0.295***	0.365***	−0.070	0.000	−0.047	0.048	0.004
H4: (TI) -> (FP)	0.463	0.362	0.101	0.005	−0.332	0.354	0.310
H5: (NTI) -> (FP)	0.094	.217	−0.123	−0.005	−0.362	0.337	0.287

***p < 0.001; **p < 0.01; *p < 0.05; †p < 0.1; n.s.: not significant.

Table 11. Adjusted R² value differences (multigroup analysis).

Construct	R^2 adjusted (Group_female)	R^2 adjusted (Group_male)	Original difference	Permutation mean difference	5.00%	95.00%	p Permutation value
Financial Performance (FP)	0.310	0.333	−0.022	0.001	−0.061	0.064	0.266
Technological Innovation (TI)	0.077	0.133	−0.057	0.000	−0.030	0.032	0.000
Non Technological Innovation (NTI)	0.086	0.133	−0.047	0.000	−0.031	0.033	0.004

Data availability statement

The data and the questionnaire used in the study are available to other authors who require access to this material.