ABSTRACT
The main objective of this research was to understand how firms achieve innovation performance by being strategically oriented. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect the data from 350 SMEs in Sialkot, Pakistan. The findings suggested that strategic orientation had a significant effect on innovation performance. Moreover, the effect of strategic orientation on exploitative integration was statistically significant. The effect of entrepreneurial and market orientation on explorative integration was not significant; however, learning orientation had a positive impact on explorative integration. Supply chain integration had a positive and significant influence on innovation performance. Importantly, exploitative integration mediated the relationship between strategic orientation and a firm’s innovation performance. Strategic orientation, directly and indirectly (exploitative), showed to have a positive influence on innovation performance. Taking initiatives to promote it throughout the firm will have a significant influence to enhance the firm’s performance.
