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Purpose - Currently, strengthening small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in terms of competitiveness is a key economic issue. However, the problem is that many SMEs lack the internal competence required to cope with a rapidly changing market structure. Such problems can act as an obstacle to economic development, yet most SMEs in Korea are dealing with this problem today. A company's source of competitive advantage is changing from quantity to quality, facility to knowledge, and hardwork to creativity. Under such circumstances, a company should place learning and sharing of knowledge and continuously creating new knowledge as its priority. This study aims to identify the effect of a chief executive officer's (CEO) compassion and forgiveness - positive factors in organizational emotion - on learning organization activities and organizational performance, through a theoretical comparison. Research design, data, and methodology - For this study, SMEs based in Daejeon and Chungcheong area were selected. To secure credibility of the data, the subjects were selected among those who have been working at the business for six months or longer. The survey was conducted for 30 days from March 5, 2015 to April 5, 2015. Both offline and online surveys were conducted. Fifty companies were chosen and 700 questionnaires were distributed, with 506 used for analysis. Fifty subject companies (25 from Daejeon, 10 from Chungnam, 10 from Chungbuk, and five from Sejong) were selected and the objective, target, and survey content were explained to a manager at each company either face-to-face or on the phone. Of the total of 700 questionnaires distributed via mail or e-mail, 78.6% or 550 copies were returned. Excluding 44 insufficient questionnaires, the remainder, 506 questionnaires, were used for analysis. Results - This study analyzed how the CEO's compassion and forgiveness affects learning organization activities and organizational performance. First, compassion of the CEO at the SMEs directly affected the learning organization activities and indirectly affected the organizational performance. Second, forgiveness of the CEO at the SMEs did not affect the learning organization activities and organizational performance directly or indirectly. Conclusions - The study conclusions are as follows. First, CEO compassionate behavior at the SMEs was a significant variable that directly and indirectly affected learning organization activities and organizational performance. Therefore, the CEO of an SME can create a positive organizational atmosphere through compassionate behaviors in the organization. Second, the forgiving behavior of the CEO did not have direct or indirect effects on learning organization activities and organizational performance. However, the reason for a CEO to continue his or her forgiving behavior is because it strengthens employee resilience, commitment, and self-efficacy to protect the organization from negative influences such as layoffs, risks, and wrongdoings. The action of forgiveness does not have direct or indirect effects. However, the CEO shall continue such behavior to strengthen members' physiological resilience, commitment, and self - effectiveness, and to protect the organization from risks including layoff and external negative factors.