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This study aims to explore the mediating role of competitive advantage and the moderating role of competitive intensity in the relationship between innovation capability (IC) and small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) performance and between strategic flexibility (SF) and SME performance.

The study adopted a survey research design. The data were collected from a conveniently selected sample of 159 SMEs in Nigeria using a self-reported questionnaire. Mediation and moderation analyses were performed using Hayes' PROCESS macro v3.

Results showed that IC and SF positively affect SME performance. Also, competitive advantage significantly mediates the relationship between IC and SME performance and between SF and SME performance. Additionally, competitive intensity positively and significantly moderates the relationship between IC and SME performance but fails to significantly moderate the relationship between SF and SME performance.

The findings have managerial implications for SME owners and managers. The findings suggest the need for SMEs to develop more IC and increase their SF. Thus, SME owners and managers should invest more in developing IC and SF. More specifically, they should invest more in research and development, the development of intellectual capital (consisting of human capital, structural capital and relational capital) and new technologies, products, services and processes. Also, they should nurture an innovation culture, encourage creative and innovative acts and allow employees to experiment with new ideas without hindrances.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is the first to provide empirical evidence of the mediating role of competitive advantage and the moderating role of competitive intensity in the relationship between IC and SME performance and between SF and SME performance in the context of emerging economies such as Nigeria. The study validates dynamic capabilities theory by demonstrating that IC and SF are dynamic capabilities that give SMEs a competitive advantage and enhance their performance.

Drawing upon stewardship and resource-based view theories, the purpose of this study is to empirically examine the impacts of management committee effectiveness (MCE), member economic participation (MEP), innovation (INNOV) and internal control systems (ICS) on the performance of employee-based savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs) in Nigeria.

This study adopted a survey research design. Thus, a structured questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of 295 members of six employee-based SACCOs in Nigeria. To test the study hypotheses, partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), through SmartPLS version 2, was used.

The results show that MCE, MEP, INNOV and ICS have significant positive links with the performance of employee-based SACCOs. Further analysis reveals that MCE has the greatest impact on performance, followed by MEP, ICS and INNOV, respectively.

The findings provide practical and managerial implications for members and management committees of employee-based SACCOs.

There is a paucity of studies on the impacts of MCE, MEP, INNOV and ICS on cooperative performance. This study contributes to the literature on cooperatives by demonstrating the positive impacts of MCE, MEP, INNOV and ICS on cooperative performance in a single study.