Entrepreneurial Creativity and Innovation: Strategic Influence on Technological Advancement of Small Businesses in Nigeria

Abstract

The advancement in global technological applications in businesses behoves on SMEs to tap into the numerous advantages that comes with this evolution. As a result, most SMEs are being left behind due to lack of strategic creativity and innovation, which is the ability to continuously transform knowledge and ideas into new products, processes and systems for the benefit of the firm. Hence, this study empirically examined how creativity and innovation can facilitate sustainable technological advancement of agro-allied small businesses in Delta State Nigeria. This study adopted the cross-sectional survey design, a sample size of four hundred and eighty seven (487) small businesses registered with the Delta State government. Data generated were analysed using descriptive analytical techniques, while hypothesis was tested using multiple regression. The result revealed that, creativity and innovation have capacity to facilitate technological advancement of agro-allied small businesses in Delta State Nigeria, it was therefore recommended that, efforts should be made to support the manufacturing of agro-allied indigenous technologies to promote both local manufacturers and develop innovative creation of local technologies and tools to boost agro-allied business revolution in Nigeria, also small agro-business owners should acquire relevant technical expertise to boost their ability to improvise in order to remain operational and productively grow the business.