Conference Paper

Business Strategy and Firm Performance: Implications for Corporate Governance and Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa (A Study of Rite Foods Limited, Nigeria)

This study assessed the impact of business strategies (cost leadership, product differentiation, and focus) on organizational performance using Rite Foods Nigeria Limited. A survey and case study research design were used, where primary data was obtained from Human Resources (HR), Administration and Procurement unit employees of Rite Foods Nigeria Limited, using a structured questionnaire. Data were collected from a population of 83 employees which also served as the sample. Analysis was performed on the data utilizing the SPSS; while the hypothesized relationships were examined using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Results indicate a significant and positive association of the strategic variables (i.e. Cost leadership, differentiation strategy, focus strategy) to the performance of firms with p-values less than 0.05. The overall model (F-statistic) was also found to be significant (F=26.102) which represents the predictive value of business strategy in the equation for organisational performance. This study concludes that effective adoption of competitive business strategy positively influences firm performance. The study provides some recommendations that organization managers should manage the competitive advantages on cost leadership strategy by implementing efficient operations and costs management strategies to achieve economies of scale while also considering differentiation strategy and focus strategy. Keywords: Business Strategy, Cost leadership policy, Product differentiation and Focus strategy and Firm Performance