The Influence of Competitive Aggressiveness and Environmental Uncertainties on Business Performance in Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigates the influence of competitive aggressiveness and environment uncertainties on the business performance of Nigerian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The respondents consisted of two hundred and twenty-two (222) business owners and professional managers that were randomly drawn from hose firms that are registered with organized bodies like Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industries (LCCI) and National Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI) within the Lagos metropolis. The Entrepreneurial Orientation Scale was developed and used to collect primary data for this study. The hypotheses formulated were tested and results of data analyses revealed that competitive aggressiveness has significant impact on business performance in Nigeria (r=0.256 and t=3.924; p≤0.05), not to accept hypothesis 1 and ‘r’ and ‘t’ coefficients (r=0.219 and t=3.328; p≤0.05) showed that environmental forces influence entrepreneurial orientation constructs, not to accept hypothesis 2. The study concluded that sampled firm’s competitive aggressiveness and environmental uncertainties are both significantly related to business performance. These implied that, the dynamism of the Nigerian business environment made most businesses to be competitively aggressive with a view of increasing business performance