EFFECT OF ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION ON - MEDIUM . ENTERPRISES PERFORMANCE IN NORTHCENTRAL REGION OF NIGERIA

The study investigates the effect of entrepreneurial orientation on small and medium enterprises performance ofNorth central region inNigeria. It specifically sough to find out how the components of entrepreneurial orientation such as innovativeness, risk-taking, proactiveness, autonomy as well as competitive aggressiveness affect the small and medium enterprises performanceinNorthcentral region. Primary data was collected usingfive point Likert scaling questionnaire and analysed by using regression. Data, obtained for the purpose of this study was prior to the analysis, undergo different validity and reliability scrutiny so as to eliminate all forms of errors arising from analysis. The findings of the study reveal that components of entrepreneurial orientation (such as innovativeness, risk-taking, proactiveness, autonomy as well as competitive aggressiveness) have positive and significant effect on the small and medium enterprises performance in Northcentral region. This results, therefore, call for intensive effort by the government, SMEs owners/managers and specialized agencies (like SMEDAN) Government should ensure adequate provision of a conducive macroeconomic environment (such as uninterrupted electricity and water supplies, easy access to credit facilities, good road networks etc.) to serve as a solid plat form for the SMEs to become entrepreneurial oriented.