**Cultural and Social Value Drivers of SME Performance: A Bibliometric Review

Abstract

This study maps research on cultural and social value drivers of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) performance using a bibliometric approach. A structured search of Scopus-indexed journal articles published between 2016 and 2024 yielded 325 records. Keyword co-occurrence analysis was conducted in VOSviewer using full counting and all keywords, with a minimum occurrence threshold of four and selection of the top fifty keywords based on total link strength. The resulting network indicates a dense conceptual core centered on social capital, performance, innovation, organizational culture, and competitiveness, suggesting that cultural and relational value constructs are most often discussed through the lenses of capability-building and competitive advantage. Beyond this core, connected themes emphasize entrepreneurship and leadership, knowledge management and sharing, and sustainability-oriented concepts, indicating that performance is increasingly framed in terms of more than purely financial outcomes. The review also shows that local wisdom appears as a connected but less dominant stream, while digitally oriented and resilience-related themes are becoming more visible in recent publications. Overall, the findings provide a clear overview of the field's thematic structure, highlight underexplored conceptual boundaries, and identify future directions for improving construct clarity, measurement consistency, and comparative research across sectors, countries, and institutional settings. These insights can support more targeted theory development and evidence-based SME policy design.