Title: Causal analysis of company performance and technology mediation in small and medium enterprises during COVID-19

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant changes in companies and affected the operational capacity of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) worldwide, pushing them further towards technology adoption and innovation. However, the extent to which the impact of use of e-commerce, technology, and digitalization on companies’ sales, operations, customer satisfaction, and their overall performance during COVID-19 has not been investigated. The aim of this study is to conduct a path analysis assessment of performance and technology mediation in SMEs during the pandemic. The path analysis suggests existence of statistically significant partial mediation by the mediator variables (SMEs’ digitalization, use of technology, and use of e-Commerce during COVID-19) between independent variables (SMEs’ operation, sales, and customer satisfaction) and the dependent variable (SMEs’ performance). Operation, sales, and customer satisfaction directly affected SMEs’ performance during COVID-19. There was also an acceleration in the SMEs’ technology transformation during this period.