Survival strategies and performance of mipymes in an uncertainty environment

Abstract

This research analyzes the effect of the environment of uncertainty caused by changes in US trade policy on the performance of micro, small and medium- sized enterprises (MIPYMES) exporting mescal from the Central Valles region of Oaxaca, in Mexico. Particularly, it focuses on knowing the strategies that the executives of those companies implemented to face this situation. For this purpose, information was collected from 48 MIPYMES producing mezcal through a structured questionnaire, which is processed through the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. According to the results, the impact of the environment of uncertainty on the performance of MIPYMES is direct and negative, although not significant. However, the implementation of strategies to reduce uncertainty and adapt to the environment intensifies this effect; particularly stability strategies, in the presence of which there is a negative association between political- regulatory uncertainty and business performance.