EKE-EJEE Johnson Uchenna WALI Andy Fred NWULU Chinyere Stella
Department of Marketing, Faculty of Administration and Management
Rivers State University Nkpolu-Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt.
Abstract
This study investigated the impact of supplier risk abatement on competitiveness of firms in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector. Anchored on resource dependence theory, the study examined key outcomes of business competitiveness – cost saving, organizational responsiveness and procurement cycle time. The study adopted causal research design with a cross-sectional approach. The population of the study comprised 20 major downstream oil and gas companies operating in Nigeria. The population is small, hence all the companies were studied. However, 86 respondents provided data for the study through a semi-structured questionnaire designed in 5–point Likert scale. The study found that supplier risk abatement has strong positive and statistically significant impact on cost savings, a moderate positive and statistically significant impact on organizational responsiveness, and a very strong positive and statistically significant impact on procurement cycle time of firms in Nigeria’s downstream. Based on these findings, this study concluded that supplier risk abatement has a positive and significant impact on competitiveness of firms in Nigeria’s downstream oil and gas sector; and recommended that firms in Nigeria’s downstream oil and gas sector should design comprehensive supplier risk management systems, including risk mapping, financial health monitoring, contingency sourcing, and joint crisis management protocols with suppliers.
Keywords: business competitiveness, cost savings, organizational responsiveness, procurement cycle time, supplier risk.