Business Environmental Factors and Competitiveness Among Pharmaceutical Companies in Kano Metropolis Nigeria

ABSTRACT This study was conceived to investigate the business environmental factors and determine their relationship with the competitiveness of pharmaceutical companies in Kano Metropolis North Western Nigeria. The study comprises of thirty two pharmaceuticals manufacturing companies. The study adopted a descriptive correlation and cross sectional survey designs. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were employed. Three hundred and twenty (320) researcher-devised questionnaires were distributed to respondents comprising personnel in sales, distribution, pharmacists, distributors and dealers of the companies of manufacturing pharmaceutical companies in Kano Metropolis, Nigeria. Thirty two (32) Management questionnaires were also distributed to management staff in an attempt to capture data on areas which were assumed only top managers could have the privilege of having such information. Interviews were conducted with five key respondents who are management staff and senior staff of the companies being investigated. The study found a significant relationship between business environmental factors and competitiveness among the pharmaceutical companies in Kano metropolis, leading to the rejection of the null hypothesis of no significant relationship between business environmental factors and competitiveness, the study also found a negative insignificant relationship between business strategy and competitiveness. Using hierarchical regression the study also establishes a non significant moderating effect of business strategy on competitiveness. This leads to the non rejection of the null hypothesis of no significant mediating effect of business strategy on competitiveness. All these findings have a far reaching effect on the firms in the study and therefore, the study recommends among others that; pharmaceutical companies in Kano metropolis should explore the environment more, because there is positive correlation between factors in the environment and their competitiveness.