The Relationship between Technological Capabilities and Organizational Impact: Direct and Indirect Routes for Employed and Self-Employed Personal Fitness Trainers

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between technological capabilities, individual impact, market agility and organizational impact in employed and self-employed personal trainers hired by fitness centers. The study was performed with 259 personal trainers. Exploratory Factor Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis and a Structural Equation Model were used. The results showed, for the employees, positive relationships between all variables, except for the relationship between individual impact and organizational impact. In contrast, for self-employed personal trainers, only the relationships of technological capabilities with market agility and individual impact, and between the latter and organizational impact, were positive. While the individual variables of the employees show positive relationships with the organizational variables analyzed, this impact could not be determined in the performance of the self-employed. These results are discussed in relation to the previous literature, and possible causes for the differences found between employees and self-employed personal trainers are pointed out. This study's findings indicate that the promotion and consolidation of personal trainers' technological capabilities (TCs), whether they are self-employed or employees, will be key for the fitness centers where they work, by directly influencing the individual impact of the trainers on them and in the organizational performance.