1.0 Introduction

In Nigeria today, there is a rapid change in the business environment such that the product-market competition is ever increasing among industries, information technology improving in various industries as the day goes by in a way that firms use internet facilities and social network to advertise and market their products and services. To compete successfully in this present competitive business environment, firms continually need to make some strategies and take some actions by improving product quality and productivity, reducing product cost, promoting product and process innovations, and improving product speed to the market and customers’ goodwill. Firms therefore need to strive to be at par with the global change, achieving competitive advantage position and enhancing performance relative to their competitors (Muogbo, 2013). Strategy is a detailed plan for a business in achieving success. Since business is a high-stakes game, a poorly planned and executed strategic move could result in loss of millions of dollars, thousands of jobs, or even bankruptcy of business (Dauda et al., 2010). This calls for strategic management in order to develop an effective strategy. Thus, strategic management comprises the set of decisions and actions that result in the formulation and implementation of plans designed to achieve a firm’s objectives. Strategic management is the process of making decision, planning, coordinating and taking some actions by the top managers of a company in order to achieve set goals and objectives. Decisions are of little use unless they are acted upon. Firms must take the necessary actions to implement their strategies. This requires top managers to allocate the necessary resources and to design the organization to bring the intended strategies to reality (Dess et al., 2005). Because it involves long-term, future-oriented, complex decision making and requires considerable resources, top-management participation is crucial. Wheelen and Hunger (2007) articulated that initially strategic management was of most use to large firms operating in multiple industries. Increasing risks of error, costly mistakes, and even economic ruin now forced today’s professional managers in all organisations to take strategic management seriously in order to keep their firms competitive in an increasingly volatile environment. The study of strategic management has drawn so much attention among business practitioners and academic researchers in the last two decades as globalization came fully into limelight. As more industries become global, strategic management now becomes an increasingly important tool to keep track of international developments and position the firm for long term competitive advantage. In developed countries as well as in developing ones, much has been written on strategic management in form of books.

2.0   Objectives of the paper

The main aim of the paper is examine the relationship between strategy and firm performance. The specific objectives of the paper are:

1.  to determine the effect of strategy management on firm performance

2.  to determine the factors affecting firm performance in Nigeria

3.  to proffer solution to the problem faced by most firms in Nigeria

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