EFFECT OF MANAGEMENT SUPPORT AND CORPORATE VENTURING ON ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE OF SELECTED MANUFACTURING FIRMS IN NORTH CENTRAL NIGERIA

This study examined the effect of management support and corporate venturing on the organizational performance of selected manufacturing firms in North Central Nigeria. The study was motivated by the need to determine whether corporate entrepreneurship practices enhance organizational performance within the manufacturing sector. A survey research design was adopted, and the study population comprised 10,059 employees drawn from selected manufacturing firms in North Central Nigeria. Manufacturing firms with a workforce of 200 employees and above and that had operated for more than five years were purposively selected for the study. Using the Yamane (1967) formula, a sample size of 385 was determined and increased by 30% to 501 respondents to improve the response rate. Data were collected using a structured five-point Likert scale questionnaire and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings revealed that management support had a positive but statistically insignificant effect on organizational performance (β = 0.051, p > 0.05), whereas corporate venturing exerted a strong positive and statistically significant effect on organizational performance (β = 0.868, p < 0.05). The study concluded that corporate venturing is a more critical driver of organizational performance than management support among manufacturing firms in North Central Nigeria. The study recommends that manufacturing firms should strengthen corporate venturing through investment in new business opportunities, product diversification, and innovation, while management should complement its support with adequate entrepreneurial resources and an enabling environment to enhance organizational performance