Market Orientation, Entrepreneurial Orientation, Digital Openness and SME Performance in North-Western Nigeria

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in North-Western Nigeria face persistent performance deficits rooted in market volatility, infrastructural constraints, insecurity, and limited strategic digital engagement. This study examines the effects of market orientation (MO), entrepreneurial orientation (EO), and digital openness (DO) on SME performance in North-Western Nigeria. A cross-sectional survey design was adopted, and data were collected from 512 owner-managers of SMEs across Katsina, Kano, and Kaduna States using structured questionnaires. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) via SmartPLS 4 was employed for analysis. Results confirm significant positive effects for all three constructs: digital openness is the strongest predictor of SME performance (beta = 0.342, p less than 0.001), followed by market orientation (beta = 0.198, p less than 0.001) and entrepreneurial orientation (beta = 0.193, p less than 0.001). The model accounts for 68.2% of variance in SME performance (R-squared = 0.682) with substantial out-of-sample predictive relevance (Q-squared = 0.577). These findings establish MO, EO, and DO as complementary yet independently valuable strategic capabilities within the Resource-Based View framework. The study recommends that SME operators cultivate customer intelligence systems, entrepreneurial cultures, and open digital engagement practices simultaneously to achieve sustainable performance improvement in North-Western Nigeria.