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The objective of this study is to analyze the influence of the intellectual capital of SMEs on innovation and organizational performance in the context of an emerging country.

The sample consisted of 259 industrial SMEs from the Cordoba, Argentina. The data were analyzed by partial least squares–structural equation modeling (PLS–SEM).

The study provides empirical evidence that the three components of intellectual capital generate positive and significant effects on innovation in processes and products. Structural capital is the component that has the greatest effect on innovation. It also showed a positive and significant relationship between innovation in processes and performance, contributing to the scarce empirical literature in the context of SMEs.

The research exposes limitations that uncover a path for future. First, the work uses as the only source of information, the consultation at the highest level of the company. Second, the study covered only industrial companies. Future studies should focus on other sectors and countries.

The results may have important practical implications for SME owners and managers and offer a vision of the influence of intellectual capital on the innovative capacity of the organization.

The value of work lies in establishing the importance of intellectual capital in the environment of an emerging country such as Argentina, given the low level of knowledge that exists in this area.

The objective of this study is to analyze the influence of the structural capital of SMEs in the capacity of innovation and organizational performance, in the context of an emerging country.

The sample consisted of 259 industrial SMEs from the province of Córdoba Argentina. The data was analyzed by Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS–SEM).

The study provided evidence that acquisition of information and knowledge management, organizational culture and structure, systems and processes have positive and significant effects on the innovation capacity of SMEs. Only the communication and cohesion component did not show positive and significant results on it. It also showed a positive and significant relationship between the capacity for innovation in processes and performance, contributing to the scarce empirical literature in the context of SMEs.

The research exposes some limitations that uncover a path for the development of future lines of research. In the first place, the work focuses on the use of a single source of information, the consultation at the managerial level of the company, without considering other representative variables to measure the capacity for innovation. Second, the study covered only companies in the industrial sector and country. Future studies should focus on other sectors and countries.

The results of the study can have important practical implications for the owners and managers of SMEs. The results offer a vision of the dimensions of structural capital that most influence the innovative capacity of the organization. This is especially useful given that in the context of Argentina there is a low level of knowledge and structural capital is key to being more competitive. The managers of SMEs can thus increase the innovative potential of the company and favor the acquisition of information and knowledge and improve its processes and systems to contribute to the development of innovation capabilities to make SMEs more competitive.

The results obtained can be useful for those responsible for making public policy decisions, since in the knowledge of the economy to maintain a developed state and nation, it is necessary to include as one of the main issues on the national agenda the improvement of intellectual capital of its people to promote the competitiveness of companies.

The research contributes to the development of intellectual capital literature focused on the generation of innovation and performance in the perspective of SMEs in emerging countries.