This study examines the relationship between strategic orientations (market orientation and learning orientation), digital openness, and the performance of SMEs in Northwestern Nigeria. Recognizing that SMEs play a critical role in economic development yet face significant challenges in digital adoption, this research explores how market and learning orientations, combined with digital openness, can enhance firm performance. Using a cross-sectional survey, data from 512 SME managers and owners across Katsina, Kano, and Kaduna states were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings indicate that both market orientation and learning orientation have a positive direct influence on SME performance. However, digital openness emerged as the strongest predictor of performance, demonstrating its pivotal role in mediating the relationship between strategic orientations and performance outcomes. Crucially, the study finds that learning orientation acts as a foundational antecedent, exerting a stronger indirect effect on performance via digital openness than market orientation. These results emphasize the importance of digital transformation for SMEs in emerging markets, suggesting that a focus on digital capability development, coupled with a learning-oriented culture, can significantly enhance firm competitiveness. This study contributes to the field by empirically establishing an integrated model where digital openness acts as the essential transmission mechanism, resolving conflicting findings regarding how strategic orientations translate into success in resource-constrained environments.
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Badamasi et al. (2025) studied this question.