Influence of competitive strategies on corporate performance of small and medium enterprises: a case from Nigeria

Purpose. The objectives of the study were to identify whether adoption of cost leadership strategy assist in reducing the cost operation of small and medium enterprises and also to determine the effect of differentiation strategy on the sales turnover of SMEs, Series of questions were asked using the questionnaire adopted by the researcher. Methodology / approach. Two hypotheses were proposed and tested in the study. Samples of 125 were drawn. The data were analyzed using simple frequency tables and regression analysis. However, for the purpose of this study the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was employed. To ensure the accuracy of the study this research used the Yamane formula in determining sample size. The coefficient alpha (Cronbach’s alpha) was used to test the reliability of the measurement scale. Results. The study critically examined the influence Competitive Strategies on Corporate Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises. The research found out that cost leadership strategy has significant effect on cost reduction of small and medium enterprises indicating that when firms are adopt good cost leadership strategy, they tend to reduce their cost of operations. Originality / scientific novelty. The results of regression analysis revealed that adoption of competitive strategies usually impacts positively on the performance of the SMEs and that competitive strategy has significant relationship on company’s market share. Therefore it is important for small and medium enterprises to learn more innovative ways of pleasing and satisfying the needs of employees at work to increase sales turnover of their business. Practical value / implications. This study has further proven that organizations achieve a great efficiency gain by engaging in high differentiation strategy by creating products to respond to the evolving market. Based on the above findings, it is recommended that Competitive Strategies should be adopted in a way that would boost the performance of the SMEs organizations in general.