Corporate Strategy and Management Innovation among Entrepreneurs in South Sudan: A Case Study of Small and Medium Enterprises in Juba City

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to find out if allocation of resources influence management innovation, establish whether portfolio management affect management innovation, investigate if strategic tradeoffs affects management innovation and to what extend do planning flexibility affect management innovation among entrepreneurs in South Sudan, a case study of SMEs in Juba City. The study population consisted of all the small and medium enterprises operating in Juba City which were 12,654 in total. The study adopted descriptive research design. A sample size of 96 SMEs was determined using Cochran formula. Primary data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was structured, having only closed-ended questions. The collected data was analysed through quantitative methods of descriptive and inferential statistics such as correlation and multiple regression models. The tool used was Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 24. The findings established were presented in form of Tables and Figures. The study established that resource allocation has a positive and significant effect on management innovation of SMEs in Juba City; portfolio management also has a positive and significant effect on management innovation of SMEs in Juba City, Sudan; Strategic tradeoffs has a positive and significant effect on management innovation of SMEs in Juba City, Sudan and planning flexibility also has a positive and significant effect on management innovation of SMEs in Juba City, Sudan. The recommendations of the study were SMEs in Juba City should enhance their resource allocation practices such as encouraging innovative behavior to promote management innovation, measuring performance against subjective strategic criteria such as progress on product innovations and investing in technological resources such as IT infrastructure to ; increase their portfolio management practices such as risk taking behavior for expansion of business, and assets allocation to profitable ventures ; enhance adoption of the strategic tradeoff practices such as giving priority to various productive ventures at the expense of the unproductive ventures and substituting ventures with low returns to maximize returns ; improve on their planning flexibility practices such as adopting emergence of a new technology, adjusting with speed to shifts in economic conditions and countering market entry of new competition with speed.