COMPETITIVE DYNAMICS AND CORPORATE PERFORMANCE OF SELECTED FLOUR MILLING COMPANIES IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

The intensity of competition among players in the Flour Milling industry in Nigeria necessitated the development of a business strategy to out-perform one another and achieve desired level of performance. Competitive pricing was therefore a common strategy adopted by these firms. Less attention was paid to competitive behaviour, people management practices, supply chain strategy, the external business environment and product offering which could assist in building competitive strengths and superior performance. As a result of the negative effects of competitive pricing, operations are being downsized along with attendant staff redundancy, job losses and a consistent drop in the financial results of all players in the industry. This study evaluated the competitive dynamics and corporate performance of selected flour milling companies in Nigeria.

The study adopted a survey research design. The population for the study consisted of 3,424 staff of selected Flour Milling companies in Nigeria. The staff were stratified into management and senior staff as respondents. A sample size of 500 was randomly drawn from the population. A validated questionnaire was adapted for the study. The Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient for the constructs ranged between 0.78 and 0.86. A total of 500 copies of the questionnaire were administered, with a response rate of 91.4%. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential (Pearson Product moment correlation and hierarchical regression) statistics.

The findings revealed that there were significant relationships between Competitive Behaviour and Corporate Performance (r=0.599; p = <0.05); People Management Practice and Corporate Performance (r = 0.697; p <0.05); Supply Chain Strategy and Corporate Performance (r = 0.633; p <0.05); External Business Environment and Corporate Performance (r = 0.647; p <0.05) and Product Offering and Corporate Performance (r = 0.733; p <0.05). It also revealed significant moderating effect of Competitive Capability on the relationship between Competitive Behaviour and Corporate Performance (F = 83.635; R2 = .440; R2 Change = .087; p <0.05); People Management Practice and Corporate Performance (F = 44.669; R2 = 0.500; R2 Change = 0.045; p = <0.05); Supply Chain Strategy and Corporate Performance (F = 66.230; R2 = 0.474; R2 Change = 0.067; p <0.05) and External Business Environment and Corporate Performance (F = 48.462; R2 = 0.476; R2 Change = 0.051; p <0.05). However, Competitive Capability did not significantly moderate the relationship between Product Offering and Corporate Performance (F = 2.296; R2 = 0.598; R2 Change = 0.002; p = 0.130>0.05).

The study concluded that competitive behaviour, people management practices, supply chain strategy, product offering and external business environment significantly relate with competitive capability and produces desired corporate performance.  It recommended that flour milling companies should strategically harness the opportunities in competitive dynamics to strengthen their competitive capability and achieve desired corporate performance.

Keywords: Competitive dynamics, Corporate performance, Competitive pricing, Competitive capability, Competitive behaviours