Strategic archetypes in Mexican metalworking SMEs: differences in innovation and absorptive capacity over performance/Arquetipos estratégicos en PYMES metal-mecánicas mexicanas: diferencias en innovación y capacidad de absorción sobre su desempeño/Archetypes strategiqu.es dans les PME mexicaines de metal-mecanique : differences d'innovation et capacite d'absorption par rapport a leur performance

After several years of booming, today the Mexican metalworking industry faces a complex environment largely due to foreign policy changes. Nevertheless, most small-and-medium-sized entrepreneurs do not perceive what is to come because they are busy attending the demands of the present market, which has allowed them to obtain a stable performance in the short term. This research analyzes the explanatory value of innovation and potential absorption capacity, which was conducted on the performance of different strategic archetypes in small-and-medium-sized entrepreneurs of the Mexican metalworking industry, based on the typology proposed by Miles and Snow (1978). With data from surveys applied to 197 SMEs in three regions of Mexico, a non-experimental transactional quantitative-correlational type of research was developed. Half of the interviewees were found to be analysts, for whom innovation and potential absorptive capacity have an explanatory value of 32.3% on performance. The rest of the interviewees feature defender archetypes, in which innovation has an explanatory value of 56.8%. According to Chow's Test, these differences are not significant in the final performance result. It is concluded that small-and-medium-sized business analysts and advocates develop capacities that allow them to make the necessary adjustments that the environment dictates along the way, generating different competitive advantages that help them achieve similar results in the short term, Keywords: Strategic Archetypes, Absorption Capacity, Innovation, Performance. Después de varios años de auge, hoy la industria metal-mecánica mexicana se enfrenta a un entorno complejo derivado en gran parte, de los cambios de la política exterior. Sin embargo, la mayoría de los pequeños y medianos empresarios no perciben lo que está por venir porque están ocupados en satisfacer las demandas del mercado presente, que les ha permitido obtener un estable desempeño en el corto plazo. Esta investigación analiza el valor explicativo de la innovación y capacidad de absorción potencial y realizada sobre el desempeño de los distintos arquetipos estratégicos en pequeños y medianos empresarios de la industria metalmecánica mexicana, a partir de la tipología propuesta por Miles y Snow (1978). Con datos de 197 encuestas levantadas a PYMES de tres regiones de México, se desarrolló una investigación no experimental transaccional de tipo cuantitativa correlacional. Se encontró que la mitad de los entrevistado