The impact of strategic planning on the performance of small and medium-sized businesses in Nigeria

View/ open
Author
Obaje, Arome
Date
2020Type
Thesis
Publisher
Cardiff Metropolitan University
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This cross-sectional research explores the relationship between strategic planning practices and performance of SMEs in the Nigerian service-related sector, to establish empirically whether adopting strategic planning impacts performance, as previous studies covering the developed world have found.
It appraises the attitudes to and perceptions of SME owners and managers in Nigeria towards strategic planning, to determine if strategic planning adoption impacts on performance. It also attempts to ascertain the extent to which SMEs in the Nigerian service-related sector make use of strategic planning and the role the peculiar Nigerian socio-cultural dynamics (such as the patronage culture, corruption, religion, societal norms, and education) play in hampering adoption. It intends to provoke debate about and generate awareness of the need for Nigerian SMEs to plan strategically for continuity. It also presents a framework for deducing the relationship between strategic planning and SMEs’ effectiveness from the Nigerian perspective.
A mixed methods approach was adopted and primary data were collected from owners and managers of SMEs, using both questionnaires (136) and semi-structured interviews (20). The findings indicated a low level of strategic planning adoption among Nigerian SMEs, partly due to the social factors mentioned. They corroborate findings from extant research covering the developed world, that adopting strategic planning impacts positively on the performance of SMEs. The study suggests that systematic re-orientation is required, for SME owners in Nigeria to embrace the concept of long-term planning for continuity, and for responsible government agencies to actively promote it.
Finally, this study extended and expanded the scope of previous research by proposing a model suggesting that the decision to adopt strategic planning depended partly on the business and owners’ attributes, and partly on the socio-cultural influences of the business location and business owners’ socio-cultural orientation.
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, subject and abstract.
-
Effect of financial and non-financial incentives, organisational culture and leadership styles on employee motivation and how the impact influences the performance of employees: Empirical evidence from the Nigerian public sector
Aluko, Henry (Cardiff Metropolitan University, 2019)The Nigerian government have applied several reforms to develop the performance of its workforce; in particular, how best to motivate the public sector employees to achieve this end. This research examines employees’ ... -
An Investigation into Corporate Social Responsibility in Small and Medium Enterprises in South Wales
Griffiths, Thomas (Cardiff Metropolitan University, 2014)This thesis adopted a subjective, mixed-method approach towards investigating the attitudes of Small Medium Enterprises owners and managers with regards to Corporate Social Responsibility. The work involved both semi-structured ... -
Green remediation of old vehicles
Surdolov, Asen (Cardiff Metropolitan University, 2014)The Electric, Hybrid and Natural Gas Vehicles (NGV) help to significantly improve the air quality and contribute to the implementation of the European directives for development of comprehensive alternative fuels strategy ...