Paper Title
ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION AND INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN NIGERIA: THE MODERATING EFFECT OF RELATIONSHIP COMMITMENT

Abstract
Abstract:- Purpose - Small businesses play a key role in creating jobs, contributing to tax, export and import revenues, facilitating the distribution of goods, as well as contributing to human resource development. The removal of trade barriers has encouraged the entry of new competitors into previously protected markets. This situation creates pressure on many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in emerging economies such as Nigeria. In recent times, the survival rate of SMEs in Nigeria is fast declining, with 80% of them failing to celebrate their first birth dates due to stiff competition. The initiative taken by entrepreneurs in order to with stand this global competition is central. Prior studies have focused only on examining how entrepreneurial orientation (EO) influenced global competitive advantage of firms in developing economies, specifically in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, this particular study introduces moderating effect of relationship commitment in the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and international competitive advantage (ICA) of SMEs in Nigeria. Methodology: This study adopted a cross sectional and quantitative approach. The targeted sample size was 583 from a total manager population in 3471 SMEs in North Central Nigeria. The total number of usable questionnaires was 522. Using a survey method research design, the research examined three dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation (EO), namely: proactiveness, innovativeness and competitive aggressiveness. Structural equation modeling was employed to examine the relationship among the variables. Findings: The statistical result showed that entrepreneurial orientation has significant influence on international competitive advantage. The results also show that relationship commitment moderate the relationship between EO and ICA of SMEs in Nigeria. Practical Implication: The findings contribute in throwing light on how SMEs’ competitiveness in emerging economies can be enhanced to enable them face challenges posed by competitor influx in the context of an open market economy. Limitations - Even though the study offers a new novel empirical evidence, this study employed a survey questionnaire to collect the data from sample respondents, which may be problematic for generalization. Follow up interviews which employ a qualitative approach or a mixed model would be of great benefit. Finally, the present study is cross sectional and views held by individuals may change over the years. This suggests that future studies should employ a longitudinal approach to test the robustness of the model