STRATEGIC THINKING AND COMPETITIVENESS OF SELECTED ONLINE RETAIL STORES IN LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA
Abstract
Competition is a universal social activity that exists in all sorts of organisations. Competitiveness is a superiority that offers an organisation an advantage over its competitors and the potential to produce more value for the company and its shareholders. Given the contributions that online retail stores have made in most developing and developed countries around the world by reducing buyer stress, saving shoppers' time, and increasing sales and profits faster compared to traditional stores and the traditional way of shopping, online retail stores face challenges from factors such as product differentiation and cost, political factors, economic, social, technical, and cultural factors, the quality and quantity of natural resources and workforce characteristics, which are probably due to the inadequate application of strategic thinking. Hence this study examined the effect of strategic thinking on competitiveness of selected Online Retail Stores in Lagos State, Nigeria. Survey research design was adopted. The population was 325 management and technical staff of six selected online retail stores in Lagos State, Nigeria. Total remuneration method was adopted and a sample size of 298 was found usable. A multistage sampling technique was adopted. A structured and validated questionnaire was adopted for data collection. Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients for the constructs ranged from 0.662 to 0.922. The response rate was 91.6%. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential (multiple and hierarchical regression) statistics. Findings revealed that strategic thinking dimensions had positive and significant effect on the competitiveness of the selected online retail stores in Lagos State, Nigeria (Adj. R2 = 0.815, F(3,293) = 426.616, p = 0.000). The study concluded that strategic thinking dimensions affect the competitiveness of the selected online retail stores in Lagos State, Nigeria. The study recommended that the online retail stores owners and managers should be strategically thinking so as to be able to anticipate the actions of their competitors and stay ahead to gain more firm competitiveness.
Keywords: Strategic thinking, System thinking, Reflecting thinking, Reframing thinking, Firm competitiveness
CITATION: Egwuonwu, T. K., Durugbo, C. M., Egwakhe A. J., & Ajike, E. O. (2022). Strategic thinking and competitiveness of selected online retail stores in Lagos State, Nigeria. The Strategic Journal of Business & Change Management, 9 (2), 1329 -1341.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.61426/sjbcm.v9i2.2336
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