ABSTRACT

The general objective of the study was to examine the effect of industrial clusters on the marketing performance of industrial firms in South East Nigeria. The specific objectives were to; determine the effect of inter-firm alliance on sales growth of firms in selected industrial firms in South East Nigeria; examine the effect of inter-firm alliance on competitive advantage of firms in selected industrial firms in South East Nigeria; determine the effect of technological capability on sales growth of firms in selected industrial firms in South East Nigeria; determine the effect of technological capability on competitive advantage of firms in selected industrial firms in South East Nigeria, ascertain the effect of government incentives on sales growth of firms in selected industrial s in South East Nigeria; ascertain the effect of firms government incentives on competitive advantage of firms in selected industrial firms in South East Nigeria; and to determine the joint effect of industrial cluster (inter-firm alliance, technological capabilities and government incentives,) on the marketing performance (sales growth and competitive advantage) of firms in selected industrial firms in South East Nigeria. The population of the study comprised of operators of firms in selected industrial clusters in South East Nigeria and was 21,420. The Taro Yamane sample size determination formula was used to obtain a sample of 400 respondents the study. Convenience sampling which is a non-probability sampling technique was used in the study because of the nature of the respondents. The data generated in the study were presented and analysed according to the stated objectives of the study. A further test of hypotheses was done using simple and multiple regression model. Findings showed that inter firm alliance exerts positive and significant effect on sales growth and competitive advantage of firms in selected studied firms in South East Nigeria. This indicates that the joint actions undertaken by firms in South East Nigeria industrial clusters strengthen the growth of their business. 4lso, technological capability exerts statistically significant and positive effect on sales growing and competitive advantage of firms in selected clusters South East Nigeria. Furthermore, government incentives have significant and positive effect on the sales growth and competitive advantage of firms in the studied industrial clusters in South East Nigeria. The study recommended that firms in the South East Nigeria industrial clusters should establish alliances with partners outside the clusters. Externally, strategic alliances beyond trade, import and local assembly should be improved by firms in the cluster to seek partnerships on training and knowledge transfer.