Technological Innovation Strategies and Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises in South-South Nigeria
Abstract
The present research examines the impact of technology innovation for SMEs in the South-South region of Nigeria, referring to the technologies, such as mobile payment, social media marketing, innovative communication technology, enterprise resource planning, and data analytics. In this regard, the research design used in the study is descriptive research with a correlational research method. Primary data were collected through a structured questionnaire from 399 SMEs, selected through simple random sampling. Descriptive, correlation and regression analysis were carried out in order to determine the extent of relationship between technological advancement and performance measures such as; revenue increase, brand equity, employee productivity, efficiency in operations and organizational decision-making. The results revealed that 72 % of the respondents stated that they experienced a major boost in operational efficiency from the use of the ERP systems, and 65% stated that the social media marketing exposed their brands to more awareness. In addition, 68 percent of the SMEs said the use of innovative communication technologies boosted employees’ productivity. Multiple regressions were positive and highly correlated to the customer satisfaction, which stood at 0.85 and p < 0.05 for mobile payment solutions and 0.78, p < 0.05 for data analytics tools for decision-making effectiveness. These results highlight the importance that technological advancement holds in improving SME performance and sustainability in the region, as well as provide suggestions for policymakers and business owners to embrace the use of such technologies if they want to survive in the long-run.
Keywords
Technological innovationsSMEsSouth-South Nigeriarevenue increasebrand
equityemployee productivityefficiency in operations and organizational decision-making.
References
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