The Impact of the Leadership of Defense SMEs on CFSI Management Performance: Focusing on the Mediating Effects of Data and Configuration Management

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the response capabilities of defense SMEs to prevent the influx of counterfeit, counterfeit, and suspect items (CFSI), which have emerged as a critical risk to the defense industry due to the increasing complexity of global supply chains.Methods: Data from 172 SMEs were used among the companies subject to the 2025 quality level diagnosis of military supplies manufacturers. Analysis was conducted using SPSS 18.0 and AMOS 18.0, and the causal relationship between variables was verified through a SEM, and the significance of the mediating effect was confirmed through the Sobel test.Results: 1) Leadership was found to have a statistically significant positive impact on data management, configuration management, and CFSI management performance. 2) Data management and configuration management had significant positive effects on CFSI management performance, and the relationship between leadership and CFSI management performance was verified to have a partial mediating effect. 3) Descriptive statistical analysis results showed that data management competency was significantly lower than configuration management competency, confirming the vulnerability of the data-based management system.Conclusion: This study demonstrates that leadership in defense SMEs can effectively reduce CFSI risks by strengthening core process capabilities, including data management and configuration management. The findings suggest that effective CFSI response requires moving beyond visual inspection-based practices and focusing resources on ensuring data quality and systematic configuration control, with management support. In particular, it suggests that improving relatively weak data management capabilities is an urgent task for defense SMEs.