FRUGAL INNOVATION AND FIRM COMPETITIVENESS IN NIGERIAN AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY

Abstract

This paper examinedthe relationship between frugal innovation and firm competitiveness in the automobile industry in Nigeria. The study adopted the cross-sectional survey research design. The target population of this study consisted of all the registered locally manufacturing automobile companies in Nigeria. There are 36 locally manufacturing automobile companies registered with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and they are spread across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria (Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, and the National Automotive Design and Development Council, 2020). The entire thirty-six (36) automobile firms were studied. The study subject consisted of 288 managers of the 36 manufacturing automobile companies in Nigeria in the frame of 8 per firm. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain data from the respondents.The questionnaire was validated through face and content analysis while its reliability was determined using CronbachApha method. The data collected were analyzed statistically using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (r)..