Strategic drivers' impact on organizational performance and strategic innovation management: The moderating role of business size and age

In today's highly competitive business environment, the issue of strategic innovation becomes essential for firms to obtain a dominant position in the market and achieve higher performance. As a result, it is crucial to identify the type of strategic drivers or capabilities which have a pronounced effect on strategic innovation management practices. However, strategic management scholars have mainly focused on the importance of strategic innovation for firms' competitive advantage and better performance. The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of strategic driving forces: entrepreneurial capability, managerial capability and technical capability on organizational performance and strategic innovation management practices. The study has also examined the effect of firm age and size as moderator factor on both organizational performance and strategic innovation management practices. In this context, data were collected from 217 Ethiopian manufacturing companies located in two federal administrated metropolitan cities (Dire Dawa and Addis Ababa). Hierarchical multiple regression analysis outcomes confirmed that entrepreneurial capability, managerial capability and technical capability which altogether constitutes strategic drivers significantly affects organizational performance and strategic innovation management practices. However, both firm age and size have no significant moderating role on the effect of strategic drivers on organizational performance. Key words: Strategic driver, innovation drivers, strategic innovation, strategic innovation management, organizational performance.