INSTITUTIONAL PRESSURE AND STRATEGIC COST MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION IN NIGERIAN AGRICULTURAL FIRMS

This study investigates the influence of institutional pressures specifically regulatory policies, cultural norms and social expectations, and technological advancements on the implementation of strategic cost management (SCM) practices and their subsequent effect on decision-making in sustainable agricultural firms in Nigeria. A cross-sectional survey design was adopted, using stratified and purposive sampling to collect primary data through structured questionnaires administered exclusively to respondents with vast knowledge and direct involvement in cost management practices across the 63 agricultural firms listed in the Nigerian Bulletin Index 2023, yielding 171 valid responses. The data were analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) in Smart-PLS 4.0. The results reveal that all three institutional pressures significantly and positively affect SCM implementation, with technological advancements showing the strongest influence (? = 0.685, p < 0.001), followed by regulatory policies (? = 0.462, p < 0.001) and cultural norms and social expectations (? = 0.420, p < 0.001). Reliability was generally acceptable, and discriminant validity was confirmed as all HTMT values remained below 0.85, although some AVE values fell below 0.5, indicating weaker convergent validity for certain constructs. The findings highlight the critical role of regulatory compliance, cultural alignment, and technology investment in enhancing SCM effectiveness among Nigerian agricultural firms. However, the cross-sectional design limits causal inferences, the sample of 63 firms restricts statistical power and generalizability beyond listed sustainable agricultural firms, and the observed measurement overlaps suggest that the instrument requires further refinement in future studies.