VENTURE ETHICS PRACTICES AND COSTOMERS SATISFACTION OF SMALL AND MEDIUM SCALE INDUSTRIES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The study examined venture ethics and customers satisfaction of small and medium enterprises in Rivers state. Ethics is based on broad principles of integrity, transparency, and fairness, and success is based on customer satisfaction, profitability, and growth.. It was found in the study that integrity has a positive relationship with profitability, no relationship with customer satisfaction, and a positive relationship with growth of SMEs in Rivers state. Transparency has a positive relationship with profitability, customer satisfaction and growth of SMEs in Rivers state. Fairness has a positive relationship with profitability, customer satisfaction, and growth of SMEs in Rivers state. It was also found that organizational culture moderates the relationship between venture ethics and firm success of SMEs in Rivers state. It was concluded that SMEs in Rivers state need to go beyond the traditional way of doing business and imbibe ethical practices in their day to day business activities in order to remain competitive in the fast changing business environment. Otherwise, they will experience business failure since businesses no longer rely only on good products; but on ethics (integrity, fairness and transparency) to succeed. It was recommended among others, that SMEs in Rivers state should teach their employees ethical practices for genuine and proper customer satisfaction and emulate ethical standards found in large organizations irrespective of their insufficient funding.