Abstract
AbstractOwing to the growing inability of the state to provide employment for citizens globally, SME growth now appeals to many people as the solution to employment generation and by implication, economic growth and development. Flowing from the capabilities based view (CBV) theory, this study investigated SME competitiveness and employment creation to explain how SME competitiveness can contribute to national income through employment creation using SME growth as a mediator. The design was a cross-sectional survey of 93 respondents from SMEs in Nigeria. The study used a structured questionnaire to collect the research data and used structural equation modelling to analyse the data. The results indicate that product innovation and product differentiation have significant relationships with employment generation owing to their capacity to enhance SME growth. Secondly, SME growth mediates the relationship between SME competitiveness (product differentiation, innovation and imitation) and employment generation. This study differs from previous ones through its use of product line, innovation, differentiation, and imitation in a single framework to operationalise SME competitiveness as well as the mediation of the relationship between SME competitiveness and employment generation with the growth rate of SMEs. In addition, the study makes a theoretical contribution through the use of a firm’s activity based capabilities to demonstrate its competitiveness.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Reference64 articles.
1. Abubakar I, Mohammad HI (2019) Linking product line strategies to competitive advantage: an empirical study of Nigerian food and beverage industry. SEISENSE J Manag 2(4):65–78. https://doi.org/10.33215/sjom.v2i4.166
2. Akerejola WO, Okpara EU, Ohikhena P, Emenike PO (2019) Availability of infrastructure and adoption of point of sales of selected small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Lagos state, Nigeria. Int J Acad Res Bus Soc Sci 9(1):137–150
3. Akiri SE, Onoja E, Kunanzang PS (2016) Entrepreneurship and job creation in Nigeria. Int J Econ Bus Manag 2(3):61–67I
4. Akinbola OA, Abiola OO, Ajonbadi HA (2014) Causes and symptoms of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) business failure in Nigeria. Rev Manag Econ Eng 13(1):263–282
5. Al-Haddad L, Sial MS, Ali I, Alam R, Khuong NV, Hong T, Khanh T (2019) The role of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in employment generation and economic growth: a study of marble industry in emerging economy. Int J Financial Res 10(6):174–187
Cited by
2 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献，注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献，订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献