Analysis of the Effect of Knowledge Management on Export Performance with an Emphasis on the Mediating Role of Innovation, Case Study: Small and Medium Companies of Isfahan Province

The purpose of this research is to analyze the impact of knowledge management on export performance with an emphasis on the mediating role of innovation.

The statistical population of this research is all employee of small and medium companies in Isfahan province (unlimited), of which 384 people were studied by simple random sampling. The data collection tool was Nonaka and Takuchi's (1995) knowledge management questionnaire, Azizi innovation (2014) and Alipour and Shirin (2017) export performance questionnaires, the validity and reliability of the questionnaires indicated that the data collection tool has validity. And they were very reliable. Analysis of research data was done through structural equation modeling using PLS version 3 software.

The results showed that knowledge management has an effect on innovation and export performance. Also, innovation has an effect on export performance. And finally, the mediating role of innovation was confirmed.

With the design model, it can be expected that the managers of small and medium-sized companies can pay attention to increasing the level of knowledge management in order to increase their export performance, and if they want to have a greater impact on their export performance, they should can pay attention to the mediating role of innovation.