Inter-Firm Relations: Networks, Networking and their Variants- A Nigerian Perspective

Abstract

The assertion that private enterprises constitute a major driver of national economic development has been convincingly established. It has indeed been noted that economic development is most sustainable when an economy is undergirded by its own small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as opposed to foreign-owned businesses- as useful as they are. Entrepreneurs, that is, those individuals who create and run SMEs are revered because through their entrepreneurial activities, development benefits of job creation, poverty reduction, innovation, as well as improvements in productivity, national income and living standards, among others, are unleashed within national economies. Because of these critical contributions, developed and developing countries alike strive to nurture dynamic SME sectors, through various forms of support such as financing, training, and many others. This paper considers another approach to nurturing SMEs, and this approach revolves around helping entrepreneurs appreciate the need for banding together in various forms of inter-firm relations. In other words, besides the usefulness of institutional assistance from the state and external donors, much growth comes from the cooperative activities of entrepreneurs themselves. This paper, therefore, considers the prospects, challenges and strategies for improvements of inter-firm relations within the Nigerian context.