Environmental Uncertainty and Entrepreneurial Success

Abstract

This study aims to examine the effect of environmental uncertainty on entrepreneurial success amongst 9,450 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) who are registered members of the National Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME), National Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI) and Association of Small Business Owners in Nigeria (ASBON) in Lagos State.Proportionate stratified random sampling method was used to select samples from the sampling frame.Sample size of 381 used for the study was determined using the formula developed by the National Education Association (1960).Primary data on the dependent variable (Entrepreneurial success) and independent variable (Environmental uncertainty) was collected using questionnaire as research instrument.Environmental uncertainty measures are dynamism, complexity and hostility while measures for entrepreneurial success are profitability, market share, net asset growth, sales growth and government policies.The questionnaire was pretested by a pilot study of 50 selected SMEs.Data obtained from the pilot study was analyzed and based on the result, the questionnaire was slightly modified giving an overall Cronbach's Alpha value of 0.791.The statistics of the model summary reveal correlation co-efficient R = .519indicating that the combined influence of the three predictor