Several investigations are commonly found in marketing literature but there are relatively few theoretical and empirical researches that associate marketing with corporate social responsibility (CSR). There are even less empirical investigations that relate these two important constructs with firm reputation of enterprises aimed to small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) which shows a clear void in literature regarding the existing relation between CSR activities, brand image of products or services created by enterprises and their firm reputation. For this reason, the main objective of this research paper is the analysis of the existing relation between CSR activities, firm reputation and brand image of products or services of SMEs by using a sample of 308 enterprises from Aguascalientes State. The results obtained show that CSR activities have positive and significant effects in both the firm reputation and brand image of products or services created by SMEs.

Knowledge absorptive capacity (ACAP) is a key dynamic capability that boosts business innovation, particularly in developing economies. However, scarce studies focus on ACAP and technological innovation (TI) in the context of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Therefore, this study aims to examine the effects of two different types of knowledge absorptive capacities to generate TI in the context of the Mexican manufacturing industry and determine whether realized absorptive capacity (RACAP) mediates the relationship between potential absorptive capacity (PACAP) and TI. This analysis was carried out through an empirical study of predictive type and quantitative approach. A survey-type questionnaire was randomly applied to a sample of 249 SMEs. The survey confers 200 managers’ opinions on the manufacturing industry in Mexico. The outcomes obtained through the variance-based structural equations (PLS-SEM) approach revealed that PACAP significantly influences RACAP, whereas, RACAP does impact TI and has a full mediating effect on the relationship between PACAP and TI. Nevertheless, although the significant direct effect of PACAP on TI is not verified, this research demonstrated the significant indirect effect of PACAP on TI. The findings reveal important implications for managers and decision-makers who must direct their strategies and ensure that the external knowledge acquired is assimilated by their employees so that PACAP will result in the transformation and exploitation of the internal and external knowledge acquired (RACAP), converting it into new products and processes.

Knowledge management has been recently considered in business administration