Does uncertainty moderate the relationship between strategic flexibility and companies’ performance? Evidence from small and medium pharmaceutical companies in iran

Abstract

The business environment has become complicated—full of risk and uncertainty over and above companies’ control— therefore companies must find mechanisms to enhance their performance in the light of this instability. The Iranian market is one of the best examples of unstable markets because of its political and economic circumstances; despite this, the pharmaceutical industry in Iran is considered one of the best industries, which is still working efficiently. The aim of the study is to investigate the impact of strategic flexibility on the performance of Iranian SME pharmaceutical companies, by considering the effect of environmental uncertainty as a moderator. The study is a cross-sectional one. Primary data was collected from 113 companies by using an adopted questionnaire. The questionnaires were forwarded to managers at these companies, a purposive (selective) sampling technique was used to collect the data, and the total number of responses that were valid for statistical analysis was 228. The response rate was 67.25%. The results showed that strategic flexibility positively affects companies’ performance. Supply and demand uncertainty moderate the relationship between strategic flexibility and companies’ performance.