THE MODERATING EFFECT OF DIGITAL MARKETING BETWEEN IT BUSINESS ALIGNMENT FACTORS AND SMEs PERFORMANCE IN IRAQ

Abstract

The rapid changes in the business environment have made organizations consider the implementation of various strategies to face the fierce competition in the worldwide market. Such a competitive situation has become increasingly challenging for many organizations and SMEs in particular. This paper sets out to investigate the collaborative impact of digital marketing and small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector alignment influences on the success of Iraq's IT companies. To achieve this aim, seven particular hypotheses suggested by the RBV theoretical view (Human factor, communication, governance, competency, collaboration, and IT investment) were seamstress to determine the theorised relationship between applying IT business alignment factors (Human factor, communication, governance, competency, partnership, and IT investment) and the digital marketing and SMEs results. The research allows the use of a quantitative method to collect data from a survey (questionnaire) of 60 objects and a five-point Likert scale. A total of 228 SME-sector members, executives, and IT workers (84% response rate) took part in the report. Data processing was done using Smart PLS 3.2.9. The findings of the path analysis of partial least squares (PLS) support variables in their hypothesized direct relationships with a SMEs performance. The analysis results suggest that digital marketing partially moderator the relationship between IT business alignment factors (Human factor, communication, Governance, competency, partnership, and IT investment), and the SMEs performance. The paper advances several recommendations that can be beneficial for researchers to conduct further research in this area as well as to policymakers and managers in their efforts to enhance the SMEs performance in the future. Lastly, this research presents the theoretical, empirical, and practical implications as well as limitations and recommendations for future investigations.