ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION AND SUSTAINABLE GROWTH OF POULTRY AND FISHERIES BUSINESSES IN CROSS RIVER STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study was carried out to analyse entrepreneurial orientation and sustainable growth of poultry and fisheries businesses in Cross River State, Nigeria. The specific objective of the study was to examine the nexus of the dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation and sustainable growth of agribusiness firms. Multistage sampling procedure was employed to select 301 respondents across the three agricultural zones of the State. Structured questionnaire was used to collect data from business owners. Analytical techniques include; confirmatory factor analysis, employment growth model and regression analysis. The study revealed that innovativeness was negatively significant to employment implying that employment is minimized as innovativeness increases. Risk-taking was positively related to employment implying that as firms increases employment, the level of risk taken increases. Pro-activeness had a negative relationship with employment implying that as firms becomes more proactive, the recruitment of workers is minimized. The study concluded that innovativeness, risk-taking and pro-activeness were significantly related to sustainable growth of enterprise. It was recommended that in order to stimulate growth, agribusiness should always introduce high value-added products/services, aimed at enhancing customer satisfaction through quality improvements, competitive pricing, embrace reasonable risktaking behaviour and constantly monitor the enviromment for new opportunities.