Abstract
The study assessed the effect of External Environment on the Performance of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Benue State. Primary and secondary data were used for the study. Primary data were obtained by the use of a well-structured questionnaire. The study made use of 316 respondents from the SMEs in the selected geopolitical zones in Benue. Demographic data obtained from the study were analyzed by the use of descriptive statistics such as percentages, frequencies and multiple regressions Analysis. The result also shows that a positive relationship between Political environment, Technological environment and competitive environment with Small and medium scale enterprises performance in Benue State and it is in line with a priori expectation and it is statistically significant (p<0.05). This implies that these external environments dimension significantly contributes in varying degree to the performance of SMEs in Benue State. The coefficient of determination R2 for the study is 77.0% indicating that 77.0% of the variations in the model can be explained by the explanatory variables of the model while 23.0% can be attributed to unexplained variation captured by the stochastic term while the Durbin Watson statistics does not suggest that autocorrelation was a problem in the model of the study. It was also recommended among others that since economic environment made a negative contribution to the performance of small and medium scale enterprises in Benue State, management of SMEs should ensure that all factors caused by economic environment is resolved to enhance effective performance of SMEs in Benue State.
Highlights
The environmental analysis is very important for the business managers and entrepreneurs in doing their business because it will help enhance the business capability to increase their business performance
It was noted that organisational performance does not happen in a External business environment are strongly correlated with the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises effective performance, it is an important aspect of achieving an effective performance of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Benue State
Recommendations: Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations are made: (i) The performance of small and medium scale enterprises in Benue State should be strategically pursued as it has been found to be affected by wide array of several factors
Summary
The environmental analysis is very important for the business managers and entrepreneurs in doing their business because it will help enhance the business capability to increase their business performance. By such external environment as variables as sociocultural, legal, political, economic, technology and infrastructural factors This is not to conclude that other factors found in the micro (internal) and intermediate business environments are not important. It is the good performance (effectiveness, efficiency and responsiveness) that can guarantee the sustainability of the organisation in relation to its corporate goals and objectives It must be noted, that amidst the environmental scanning and considering the fact that the Nigerian business environment is fast changing which deserves the means by which future opportunities and problems can be anticipated by organisation and company executives and administrators needs adequate attention (Birkinshaw, Hood and Young, 2005)
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