Corporate Planning and Sustainability of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Anambra State, Nigeria

This study analyzed corporate planning and sustainability of Small and Medium Enterprises in Anambra State. Specifically, the study examined how strategy formulation, implementation, and evaluation affect technical innovation, competitive advantage, and operational efficiency of SMEs in Anambra State. Three research questions and hypotheses were developed to meet the study objectives. A survey research design was adopted in the study A population of 1737 Anambra State SMEs was studied. Taro Yamane formula yielded a 325-person sample. Structured Questionnaire was used as the survey instrument to elicit data from the respondents. The hypotheses were tested with the aid of SPSS version 25 using simple regression analysis. The findings revealed a significant positive effect between strategy formulation and technological innovation, strategy implementation and competitive advantage and strategy evaluation on operational efficiency of SMEs in Anambra State. The study, therefore, concludes that corporate planning has a substantial impact on SMEs’ sustainability in Anambra State, Nigeria. The study further asserts that strong corporate planning methods will help SMEs expand and sustain their firm. We recommend that SMEs need to work with a well-formulated strategy as it gives business a sense of direction and focus, implement their strategy properly to gain effectiveness and competitiveness, and regularly evaluate their business strategies to detect performance lapses and take corrective and preventive measures.