Strategic planning, innovation, and firm reputation in Vietnamese SMEs: Integrating social cognition, diffusion of innovation, and institutional theories

Vietnamese SMEs, facing rapid growth and rising competition, require effective strategic planning to maintain business performance. Despite the recognized importance of innovation and reputation, there is a lack of research that integrates multiple theoretical perspectives to explain how these elements interact within emerging markets such as Vietnam. This study aims to examine the impact of strategic planning on business performance, focusing on the mediating roles of process innovation and firm reputation through the combined lenses of social cognition theory, diffusion of innovation theory, and institutional theory. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), specifically partial least squares (PLS-SEM), data from 342 SMEs in Vietnam reveal that strategic planning significantly enhances business performance, with process innovation acting as a stronger mediator than firm reputation. This study contributes a novel framework that integrates cognitive, innovation diffusion, and institutional factors to explain how strategic planning drives innovation and reputation, thereby enhancing performance in emerging-market SMEs.