The Effect Of Business Strategy And Ownership Structure On Mission Accomplishment Of Manufacturing Firms In Nigeria

This study examined the effect of business strategy and ownership structure on the mission accomplishment of manufacturing firms in Nigeria with a major focus on the mission statements of two multi-national companies in Nigeria. Resource-based theory and competence-based theory were adopted as theoretical framework for the study. Four other specific objectives leading to four hypotheses were also examined. The research adopted quantitative, structured face-to-face interviews with the staff and members of management of the two companies. Data for this research were obtained from both primary and secondary sources. The primary data were obtained through the questionnaire. The structured interview was intermediated with personal observations in terms of conspicuous display of organizational mission and vision statement in the organizations’ premises. A two-stage probability and non-probability sampling technique was adopted. In the first stage, the two multinational companies were purposively selected among a list of manufacturing companies while in the second stage, a simple random sampling procedure was employed to draw respondents from the selected organizations. A total sample of 384 was planned as indicated by the sampling procedure used. However, only 275 respondents were successfully interviewed in the ratio of 51: 49 for Dangote (company A) and Cadbury Plc (company B) contrary to the 50:50 ratio initially planned. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were employed for data analysis. Descriptive Analyses such as frequency table, mean, pie charts, etc., were employed in describing the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents while Multiple Regression was adopted for the testing of hypotheses one and three while Hierarchical Regression was employed for two and four respectively. From the analysis, overall cost leadership, differentiation and focus strategy are significant predictors of mission accomplishment. Ownership structure does not moderate the relationship between business strategy and mission accomplishment. There is significant relationship between business strategy and firms’ productivity. Ownership structure does not moderate the relationship between business strategy and productivity. Based on the findings, the study concluded that the employment of business strategy increases organizational productivity irrespective of the type, ownership, management and size of the organization. And recommends that, there is need for a thorough environmental scanning in order to select the appropriate business strategy to be adopted in accomplishing the specific aspect of the organization`s mission