Entrepreneurial Competencies and Performance of SMEs in the Pharmaceutical Industry in Delta State

The study investigated the effect of entrepreneurial competencies on the performance of SMEs in the pharmaceutical industry in Delta State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study focused on the interplays and interactions between marketing competency and pharmaceutical-based SMEs performance, time management competency and pharmaceutical-based SMEs performance, decision-making competency and pharmaceutical-based SMEs performance. The study adopted survey research design. A sample size of 1036 respondents drawn from the population of the study was used for the study and the survey data were analyzed with the statistical tool of ordinary least squares (OLS) multi regression at 0.05 level of significance. The results revealed significant positive relationship between marketing competency and SMES performance, time management competency and SMEs performance, decision making competency and SMEs performance at coefficient values of 0.693, 0.754 and 0.688 with corresponding t-values of 4.526, 3.148 and 2.873 respectively. The findings revealed that emphasis should be on developing effective marketing skills that can enhance competitive advantages and customer focus, training and development of staff on optimization of time and enhancing pharmaceutical based entrepreneurs’ analytical skills and critical thinking for informed decision making in complex situations.