Ije Ubi

The paper examines strategic entrepreneurship practices and performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria’s hospitality industry. The necessity of this study is due to strategic entrepreneurship practices and the performance of SMEs in Nigeria’s hospitality industry is being critical for providing a solution as to how entrepreneurs can exploit and explore the business environment and remain competitive. The purpose of the paper was to examine the relationship between strategic resource management and the quality of SMEs services/products, as well as ascertain the relationship between entrepreneurial innovation and increased sales volume of SMEs in Nigeria’s hospitality industry. A survey design was used as a questionnaire instrument and had been constructed and issued among 400 sampled respondents drawn from 1,294 employees from selected SMEs of the Nigerian hospitality industry, 365 respondents were filled and retrieved. This represents 91.25% of the total sample administered. The multiple linear regression techniques were used to test the research hypotheses. The results showed that strategic resource management and entrepreneurship innovation have a significant influence on the performance of SMEs in Nigeria. The result also showed that strategic resource management enhanced performance of SMEs in Nigeria and entrepreneurship innovation supports creativity of organizational performance. Therefore, managers should progressively incorporate new decision-making styles, processes, and behavior that will place a firm in a competitive and advantageous position during penetration into a new market.

Acknowledgments
We express our gratitude to anonymous reviewers, the Journal editor, and all the authors whose works were used in one way or the other in this paper. We thank Mrs. Comfort Innocent Okoi for her untiring effort in type-setting and editing work. Our gratitude goes to the management of selected supermarkets, eateries/fastfood, hotels, and stores in Nigeria for approving prompt responses to our questionnaire instruments on strategic entrepreneurship practices and the performance of small and medium enterprises in Nigeria.

Satisfying the consumer and contributing to societal well-being have been globally acknowledged, and these developments consequently boost corporate image, attract investors, increase stock prices, enhance firm value, and enable industrial and other firms to contribute to national development. This paper examines how product responsibility and philanthropy affect the performance of industrial goods firms in Nigeria. A sample of 7 firms was selected from 24 listed firms after employing a judgmental sampling technique and using secondary data and a quantitative research method. Data validation and analysis were aided by econometric views statistical software, panel data regression, fixed and random effects estimators, stationarity test, cross-section dependence test, Durbin-Watson test, and Hausman test. The study revealed that investment in product responsibility, as evidenced by the rising stock turnover rate, is value-enhancing in Nigeria {B1 = 0.076807, P = 0.0171 or P < 0.05}, while philanthropic donation is value destroying {B1 = –0.369535, P = 0.5817 or P > 0.05}. It was concluded that consumers’ confidence in corporate institutions can enhance corporate value, while investment in philanthropy is not usually value-enhancing when done irresponsibly and non-strategically. The study, therefore, recommended that investment in product responsibility should be consolidated to sustain the rising stock turnover rate, while investment in philanthropy should be done strategically and responsibly to make it value-enhancing.

Acknowledgment
This research was based on Nnamdi Azikiwe University Ph.D. Dissertation funded by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (Tetfund), Nigeria. University of Calabar in Nigeria is highly acknowledged for funding the PhD dissertation through its Tetfund platform.

Eighty percent of listed manufacturing firms in Nigeria (4 out of 5 firms) had negative and fluctuating returns on equity eighty-three percent of the time (5 out of 6 years), while inexplicable fluctuations in philanthropic expenditures, labor costs, and creditor days correspondingly occurred during the 6-year period under review (2018–2023). This study looks at how social initiatives affect the value of listed manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Its specific goal was to determine whether a firm’s value (measured as return on equity) is influenced by the cost of corporate giving, the cost of employee well-being, and the time taken to settle creditors. Data were obtained from the financial reports of 5 companies. the sample of which was judgmentally drawn from 16 listed companies using a quantitative method of research. EViews statistical package was used to analyze data. It was found that investments in social initiatives as supported by corporate giving {B1 = 0.010162, P = .2691 or P > .05}, employee well-being {B2 = .012285, P = .3836 or P > .05}, and obligations to creditors {B3 = .012018, P = .8327 or P > .05} are not value-enhancing in Nigeria’s manufacturing sector. In light of the above, it was concluded that listed companies in the manufacturing sector in Nigeria are not legitimately and strategically investing their resources in social initiatives, and corporate value is consequently not enhanced and maximized.