Competitive Intelligence and Small Business Sustainability in a Precarious Working Environment: Evidence from Selected Cleaning Services Companies in Lagos State
Abstract
Small businesses are continuously seeking for better insight for their capacity to compete
effectively due to competitive pressures from new sources and faster dissemination of
both innovation and imitation facilitated by forces of globalisation. However, various
studies have shown that most small businesses in Nigeria experience inconsistency in
service delivery, employment stability and barely survive a few years after inception. This
is a threat to economic growth as small businesses account for about over 50% of GDP
of any country. Advancing adequate reasons for small business failure in Nigeria has
posed a serious challenge over the years. This study aimed at examining the effect of
competitive intelligence on small business sustainability in selected cleaning services
companies in Lagos State. A survey research design, stratified sampling technique and
simple regression analysis were used for this study. A well-structured questionnaire was
administered to the respondents who consist of top executives, supervisors and cleaners
working in the selected cleaning services companies in the three senatorial districts
(Lagos Central and Lagos East districts consisting of five local government areas, while
Lagos West district consist of ten local government areas) in Lagos State and offering
janitorial services only. A sample size of 400 respondents was arrived at using a Rao soft
sample size calculator out of the total population of 1535 personnel. The hypotheses were
tested using simple linear regression. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS. The
study found that competitive intelligence had a significant effect on small business
sustainability in the selected cleaning services companies in Lagos State (B=0.606; R2=
.357; p<0.05). The study recommended implementation of organisational justice as
panacea for retaining quality human capital capable of sourcing the requisite
information needed for strategic decision making and business sustainability. In addition,
businesses should adopt human resource policies and practices that could elicit
information from both the internal and external environment.
