MEDIATING ROLE OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS ON STRATEGY AND PERFORMANCE: INNOVATION AND COMPETITION PERSPECTIVE

Considering SMEs' contributions to investment, employment, tax, and export, they play a vital role in the economy. Increasing competition, changes in customer expectations, and global market expansion can dramatically affect the sustainability and competitiveness of SMEs. Therefore, companies, trying to keep up with the changes in their environments and maintain their positions, are to constantly monitor their external environment, collect information and prepare alternative competition plans. Within the scope of this study, the effect of competition and information management strategies of SMEs on innovation and firm performance, along with the mediating effect of information systems, were investigated. Our findings indicate that competition and information management strategies positively affect the firm and innovation performance of the companies. It was also concluded that the information systems partially used mediated the relationship between strategy and performance, strengthening the existing relationship and improving firm performance.