PRODUCT PORTFOLIO ANALYSIS AND THE GROWTH OF SMALL AND MEDIUM SCALE ENTERPRISES IN NIGERIA: The Akwa Ibom State Experience

14 PAGES (3879 WORDS) Marketing Paper
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ABSTRACT:
Many multi products or services SMEs fail to pay attention to the use of product portfolio analysis concept despite the fact that the application of the concept is a sine qua non for the achievement of the profit maximization objectives. This study focused on the impact of product portfolio analysis on the growth of small and medium scale enterprises in Nigeria: Akwa Ibom State experience. The population of the study comprised all registered SMEs in Akwa Ibom State. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. Questionnaire was used as instrument for collecting data for the study. Data collected were analyzed using Pearson product movement correlation coefficient. The study revealed that product portfolio analysis can lead to growth of SMEs through increase in sales volume, high profitability, exposure of resources wastage, and provision of data for better decision making. Furthermore, the study revealed that SMEs encounter some challenges in conducting product portfolio analysis. Some of these challenges include reduced forecasting accuracy; increased inventory driven costs and order cycle time; increase costs for operations, Research and Development, marketing and administration; and complexity of product lines that confuse customers, sales representative, and channel partners. It was recommended among others that small and medium scale enterprises should take time to examine the market share and relative profit made by each brand of product or service before including it in their portfolios of investment.

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