ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION (EO) AND BUSINESS SUCCESS OF FOOD AND BEVERAGE FIRMS IN SOUTH-SOUTH, NIGERIA.

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and Business Success of Food and Beverages Firms in South-South, Nigeria. The research design adopted for this study was a cross-sectional survey research design. The population of this study was consisting of two hundred and eight (208) food and beverage firms in south-south region of Nigeria as retrieved from Nigerian Food and Beverage Industry Report (2023) and business directory. The census approach enabled the researcher to study the entire population with a focus on the managerial staff (Marketing manager, Accounting Managers, and operations manager). To generate data for the study, the questionnaire was distributed in the frame of three (3) copies per firm. A total of six hundred and twenty-four (624) respondents was used as the study subjects. The instrument used in this study was a structured   questionnaire. The descriptive analysis was done using descriptive statistics which include mean and standard deviation. The inferential analysis which serves the purpose of hypotheses testing was done using spearman rank order correlation Coefficient at 0.01 significance level. The partial correlation was used to analyses the controlling variable which is organizational culture. All analysis for this study was carried out using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0. The study revealed that there is a significant relationship between Entrepreneurial orientation (Innovativeness, Proactiveness, Risk Taking) and Business Success(financial success, social success, market success) of Food and Beverages Firms in South-South, Nigeria with Organizational Culture as a moderating variable. The study concluded that firms with a high level of entrepreneurial orientation tend to achieve greater success across financial, social, and market measures. The study recommended among others that Food and beverage firms should create an environment that encourages creativity and experimentation among employees to drive product innovation.