Introduction
The importance of changes in insurance services in the economy is dependent on the amount of growth of assets and increasing competition between financial sectors, management control systems, methods and formal actions that are based on information that managers apply in organizational activities to maintain or change patterns. Turbulent environments tend to encourage companies to react more quickly to change. This requires more formalization of management controls, which affects the development of innovation. In this regard, these questions arise that; what kind of interactive management controls are used by managers in different organizations? Are there patterns among companies that follow similar strategies? Is there a relationship between the use of management controls and gaining a competitive advantage in organizations and enterprises? More than three decades ago, Robert Simons provided a framework for understanding how to manage business strategies, Management Control Systems (MCS). In this system, performance control and measurement techniques are particularly important for the successful implementation of the company's strategy and business strategy. Simons believes that four levers are needed in an organization to create a balance for predictable goal achievement and creative innovation: belief systems, boundary systems, feedback systems, and measurement systems that can be diagnostic or interactive. In this article, it is examined how the framework of Simons' strategic control model can be used to create a competitive advantage with the mediating role of innovative performance in insurance companies.
Methodology
The present study is a correlational and applied one and the data collection has been done in the field.The statistical population of the research is managers and experts of insurance companies in Ardabil province, which were totally 1200 people among which 291 people were selected by stratified random sampling method and using Morgan's table. To collect data about the main components of the research, from Huang and Lee (2018) innovative standard questionnaire with 7 items and Hill and Jones (2010) standard competitive advantage questionnaire with 8 items, questionnaires made by researchers of diagnostic control systems with 5 items, interactive control systems with 5 items; belief control systems with 5 items; Border control systems with 5 items in the form of Likert scale and 5 options were used. In order to determine the validity of the questionnaire, five university professors with management expertise reviewed the questionnaire in terms of content and form in a preliminary test and made suggestions regarding better clarification of some questions and after summarizing, the final questionnaire comments in the form of research was set. In order to investigate the main purpose of the research, Spss23 software was used to determine the normality of the data and to evaluate the conceptual model of the research by modeling structural equations with smart pls 3 software. 
 Results and Discussion
The results of the data normality test show that all research variables are significant at the 5% error level, and in other words, none of the research variables follow a normal distribution. According to the findings, in order to check the reliability of each of the items, the factor load of each of the observed variables is considered on the corresponding latent variables. Usually, factor loadings higher than 0.4 are acceptable and significant at the 0.05 level. The results showed that the factor load of all the items are higher than the desired level. In the case of the mediating variable of innovative performance, 46% of the total effect of control systems on competitive advantage is created through the mediating variable of innovative performance. The t-statistic value for all paths is higher than 1.96 and it shows that all the obtained path coefficients are significant, and in this sense, the main assumption of this research, that is, Simons control systems has an effect on competitive advantage with the mediating variable of innovative performance, is accepted. The degree of flexible culture is directly related to the emphasis on controlling beliefs, and controlling beliefs is a key element of control when companies operate with a flexible culture. Thus, control beliefs drive the control system because we found that control levers work together in mutually reinforcing combinations.
Conclusion
Effective usage of strategic control levers helps insurance managers coordinate the company's environmental, social, and economic initiatives, which in turn improves organizational performance. It can be said that in survival insurance companies, success and as a result, competitive advantage depends on capabilities and competencies and controls that should be developed and used in the best way to adapt to changes. Also, rewarding employees who come up with new ideas and implementing them to improve product innovation, service quality, and significantly reduce costs ultimately creates a distinct advantage for insurance ompanies.
Human plays an essential role in gaining a competitive advantage, and the most important competitive advantage of insurance companies is the optimal use of competent resources and conducting controls to increase the power and motivation of its forces. In short, it can be said that the managers and experts of the insurance industry will be inspired by the Simons control model to develop strategies to gain competitive advantage and determine the technical and attitudinal gaps of their subsidiaries, and it is suggested that by offering products in a new way to customers, insurance companies can prove their competitive advantage over competitors by satisfying them in payments and receipts and performing detailed controls on customers and subsidiaries.