Correlation Between Innovative Leadership Practices and Growth of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Otukpo Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria

UMORU, Raphael Sunday1; ONMONYA, Ogezi Cephas; OKLA, Stanley Ochoche

doi:10.64348/zije.2025201

Authors

UMORU, Raphael Sunday1 Author
ONMONYA, Ogezi Cephas Author
OKLA, Stanley Ochoche Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.64348/zije.2025201

Abstract

This study investigates the Correlation between Innovative Leadership practices and Growth of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Otukpo Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. The study aimed to identify commonly adopted innovative leadership practices, examine their influence on business growth, and explore the barriers hindering their adoption. It was a quantitative research design which deployed a structured questionnaire that was administered to 120 SME owners and managers via simple random sampling method. Descriptive statistics and inferential analysis was used to analyse data. The results indicated a positive and significant correlation between innovative leadership practices and growth of SMEs, with key practices being strategic decision-making, openness to change and customer oriented innovation. The study recommends targeted training, improved funding mechanisms, and supportive policy frameworks to foster innovation-driven leadership among SMEs. In this study, the literature has been added in terms of the context-specific information about the role of leadership innovation in increasing the performance of SMEs in the semi-urban contexts of Nigeria.

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