Exploring the Innovative Practices of Small and Medium Confectionery Enterprises and Their Performance in Bida, Niger State, Nigeria

Dr. Ahmed Abdulkazeem

Volume 8 Issue 1 | Jun 2025

DOI: 10.31841/KJEMS.2025.185

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Abstract

Although several confectionery businesses in Bida Niger State are yet to know how technology adoption and process improvement help in improving SMEs performance, these things are very vital to business success. This study examined innovative practices of the small and medium confectionery enterprises (SMEs) and their business performance in Bida, Niger State, Nigeria. The survey research design was used because it is accurate, cost-effective, and able to collect data from a large population within a limited time frame. The study was designed for the Managers of the registered bread bakeries within the Association of Master Bakers, Bida branch, and this was meant to ensure reliability and standardization. Thus, 55 bakery managers constitute a total population with a computed sample size of 48 respondents from the Raosoft formula. Structured questionnaires were used to collect primary data, and simple random sampling was applied to ensure the sampling objective and security. Technology adoption (B = .161, p = .171) does not appear to produce any statistically significant effect on SMES' performance, whereas process improvement (B = .635, p < .001) does, and it is significant at a p = .000 level, signifying strong statistical significance. Technology adoption (.165) has much less effect than the .635 process improvement. Through this study, it is demonstrated that innovation is a necessity for the sustenance of SMEs' success in the confectionery sector. The research shows that technology adoption has not demonstrated substantial improvements because employees need better training and proper tool utilisation. Organisations of SMEs should fund training initiatives that develop worker capabilities for using modern technologies to optimize their potential advantages. Therefore, the research recommended that process optimization, technological advancements, and developing skills will improve the performance required for continuous investment.
Keywords: Innovative Practices, Performance, SMES, Innovativeness, Confectionery