Dr Abimbola A. Adegbuyi1 Dr Shaista Noor2 Prof. Adegbuyi, Omotayo Adeniyi (Ph.D)3
1&2Teesside University International Business School, United Kingdom
3Visiting Professor, Faculty of Business and Management, Victorial University, Kampala, Uganda. Email: info!vu.ac.ug
Abstract
The study examined the mediating impact of demographic factors on the relationship between strategic orientation and business performance that could lead to success in small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) in South-West Nigeria. A stratified and purposive selection strategy was used to pick 400 respondents from SMEs in the region. Smart PLS 3.0 was used to analyse 381 completed questionnaires, resulting in a 95.25% response rate. The results showed that age and gender had no significant impact on SME performance, however experience does, with a value of 0.796. The study’s findings also show that dimensions of strategic orientation—such as cultural orientation, market orientation, learning orientation, entrepreneurial orientation, and technological orientation—have a significant correlation with SME business performance indicators such as effectiveness, sales turnover, and operational efficiency in South-West Nigeria. As a result, the study suggests, among other things, that the current study be strengthened further to improve the performance of Nigerian SMEs. The owner’s experience is regarded as critical for the effectiveness and sustainability of SMEs, with a minimum of five years of company experience recommended.
Keywords: age; experience; gender; performance; SMEs