Journal of Business Management & Accounts Studies ISSN: 2581-7973 Volume 2 Issue 1, 30 April 2019 PP. 9-14 INTRAPRENEURSHIP ACTIVITIES AND SMES ACHIEVEMENT OF SELECTED AGRIC BUSINESS IN ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA. 1TIJANI, OmofolasayeOmobolanle; 2OMODANISI, Elijah Ope; and 3 OKUNBANJO, OlajideIdowu (Corresponding Author) 1,2Department of Business Administration and Marketing, Babcock University, Ilisan, Ogun State, Nigeria 3Department of Business Administration, OlabisiOnabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, Nigeria Keywords Abstract Locus of control The trend of globalisation has turned the ways the characters SMEs operators displayed in Competency achieving their goals and objectives. This has made employees in organisations to possess and Psychological contract showed their entrepreneurial characters within the organisation. The objective of the study is to Risk taking examineentrepreneurial activities and SME's achievement in Ogun State. Locus of control, SMEs achievement competency, psychological contract and risk taking were used as indicators for entrepreneurial activities. Survey research was adopted and data were collected through administered questionnaires to the SMEs on Agri-business in Ogun State. 80 questionnaires were used to run the analysis through regression analysis. It was found that entrepreneurial activities have a significant effect on agribusiness SMEs in Ogun State. The study recommended that SMEs operators should create a platform in form of policies, support systems, structures and resources that will encourage employees to behave entrepreneurially within the organisations; and also, employees that behave entrepreneurially should be rewarded on regularly bases 1. INTRODUCTION been identified as being essential for driving positive firm performance in competitive or challenging environments and creates competitive Intrapreneurship is vitally important for organizational differentiation through new products or services (Joanna, 2015). economic development where corporate entrepreneurial activities Covin and Slevin (1991) viewed intrapreneurship as firm- occur within existing organizational structures (Antoncic&Hisrich, level behaviour patterns that exist on all organizational levels and 2001). Nations, organisations and teams arguably need reflects the top management philosophy and practices. Antoncic and intrapreneurship at the individual level in order to generate collective Hisrich (2003) pointed out that economists are now increasingly intrapreneurship. Organisations as an entity do not have ideas, the transferring their attention to the role and contribution of entrepreneurs people who work within them do. Ideas that are successfully developed within the larger organisation. They referred to these as and implemented provide the root of competitive differentiation, “intrapreneurs”, emphasising that it is characteristic of the intrapreneur problem-solving, opportunity-finding and ultimately create the to behave as an entrepreneur and recognising entrepreneurs according intellectual capital that sets organisations apart from each other. to their economic behaviour.According to Hashimoto and Nassif Intrapreneurship is linked with improved growth and (2014),entrepreneurial characteristics such as ability to take risk, desire profitability (Covin&Slevin, 1991; Antoncic, 2007) and as a feature of for autonomy and achievement, goal orientation and intrinsic successful organisations (Pinchot, 1985), including the growth of small motivation and control are often viewed as individual characteristics to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (Camelo-Ordaz et al, 2011). It has favourable for the development of intrapreneurialbehaviour. 9 | Page 30 April 2019 www.jbmas.jarap.org TIJANI, OmofolasayeOmobolanleet al/Journal of Business Management and Accounts Studies (JBMAS) 1.1 Statement of the Problem the individual level of entrepreneurship. Amo (2006) proposed that Business activities in the modern days have passed the corporate entrepreneurship is a top-down process, i.e. a strategy that traditional means of employee working in organisations with no management can utilize to foster more initiatives and/or improvement innovative ideas to aid in achieving the organisational goals. For efforts from their workforce and organization. In contrast, organisations to achieve its stated goals and missions.intrapreneurship intrapreneurial activities is bottom-up, related to proactive initiatives of activities are important. Intrapreneurial skills have been valued so low individual employees to improve work procedures or products and/or and disconnected from SME‟s achievement and this disconnection to explore and exploit business opportunities. Proactiveness and seems to be one of the major factors responsible for business failure in innovativeness stress slightly different aspects of Nigeria.In the opinion of Nightingale and Coad (2014),the success rate intrapreneurialbehaviour. Proactiveness studies do not capture the first, of start-ups business is low,and with a low rate of survival. Most of the divergent stage of the entrepreneurial process opportunities can only be SMEs hardly survive their first three years in operation.Mokaya (2012) exploited after they have been recognized, and after some sort of opined intrapreneurship stimulates organisational growth. It could be creative idea has taken shape (Shane, 2003). said that SMEs with no intrapreneurship activities will find it difficult Nielsen (2000) talked about intrapreneurial activities as a to achieve growth. transition process leading to privatization, specifically addressing According to Mokaya (2012), intrapreneurship could be former state held companies in former socialist republics. Nielsen stimulated byorganizational internal factorsChiang, Jiang, Liao& Klein begins by looking at four key benefits of intrapreneurial activities (2012) established that the type of contract induces employee within this context. Firstly it can help bridge the contradiction between commitment which will aid in ascertaining employees innovation “commercial and guardian ethics syndrome. Secondly, it facilitates ideas. Chiang et al., (2012) further stated that psychological contract organizational learning about market based systems. Thirdly, it can be add value to intrapreneurship in an organisation. Orji (2014); Kuteyi seen as a politically acceptable transformation, and finally it enables (2013), opined that considering the increasing harsh business lower cost strategic experimentation. He notedthat intrapreneurial environment, and increased risk in which SMEs find themselves in activities as a strategy has potential problems that include it being Nigeria, the only impetus to survival lies in the SMEs operators and incremental and thus lacking the feeling of a big change. Furthermore the employee competency, ability to take calculated risk. It is political and legal constraints may need to be modified and new necessary to find out if all these are not considered by SMEs operators employee rewards and protections will be needed. The process of to achieving their business purpose creating something new with value by devoting the necessary time and In addition, it was observed that most of the past studies on effort, assuming the accompanying financial, psychic, and social risks, intrapreneurship were focus on corporate organisations such as banks, and receiving the resulting rewards of monetary and personal insurance firms, manufacturing firms among others, there was little satisfaction and independence (Hisrich& Peters, 2002). Intrapreneurs research efforts on intrapreneurship and SMEs in Ogun State. It is act within organizational boundaries and thus are less autonomous than against the backdrop that this study wants to examine intrapreneurship independent entrepreneurs, reap fewer financial benefits of their activities and SMEs achievement inAgric Business in Ogun State entrepreneurial engagement and take fewer personal risks. Antoncic and Hisrich (2001) opined that previous views of 1.2 Objectives of the Study firm-level intrapreneurial activities can be classified into four dimensions: new business venturing, innovativeness, self-renewal and The main objective of the study is to examine proactiveness. The informal work context plays an important role in intrapreneurialactivities and SME's achievement in Ogun State. Other stimulating intrapreneurial behaviour amongst employees. Mokoya specific objectives of the study are to: (2012) definesd eight dimensions of intrapreneurship. The key 1. Examine the effect of locus of control on SME‟s dimensions are i) new ventures (autonomous or semi- autonomous); ii) achievement in Ogun State. New Businesses (existing market or product); iii) product/service 2. Investigate the effect of competency on SME's innovation; iv) process innovation; v) self-renewal; vi) Risk taking achievement in Ogun State. (losses, opportunity costs); vii) Proactiveness and viii) Competitive 3. Evaluate the effect of psychological contract on SME's aggressiveness (aggressive posturing towards competitors). achievement in Ogun State. 4. Examine the effect of risk on SME's achievement in Ogun State 2.1.2 Locus of control Locus of control refers to people believing that the success they achieve in life is determined by their own traits or behaviour 2. LITERATURE REVIEW (internal locus of control) or that their success is determined by external factors such as fate (external locus of 2.1 Conceptual Review control)(Oyeniyi&Adeniji, 2010).Hurrell, Jr., Levi,