The study examines the effect of entrepreneurial orientation, entrepreneurial self efficacy and environmental uncertainty on entrepreneurial success. Three hundred and eighty one (381) samples drawn from a sample population of Nine thousand, four hundred and fifty (9,450) who are small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Lagos State registered with National Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME), National Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI) and Association of Small Business Owners in Nigeria (ASBON) is the sample population for the study. The sample size is determined using the formula developed by the National Education Association (1960) while proportionate stratified random sampling technique is used to select samples. Primary data on both the dependent variable (Entrepreneurial success) and independent variable (entrepreneurial orientation, entrepreneurial self efficacy and environmental uncertainty) are collected using questionnaire this research instrument. Entrepreneurial orientation measures are risk taking, innovativeness and proactiveness; entrepreneurial self efficacy measures are optimism and overconfidence while environmental uncertainty measures are hostility, dynamism and competitiveness. Measures for entrepreneurial success include both financial and non financial measures namely: profitability, market share, net asset growth, sales growth and government policies. The research instrument is pretested using fifty selected SMEs during the pilot study. The data obtained from the pilot study is analyzed. Cronbach’s Alpha values of 0.664, 0.795, o.791 and 0.85 for entrepreneurial orientation, entrepreneurial self efficacy, environmental uncertainty and entrepreneurial success respectively are determined while the global Cronbach’s Alpha value is 0.853. The statistics of the model summary reveal correlation co-efficient R = .532 indicating that the combined influence of entrepreneurial orientation, entrepreneurial self efficacy and environmental uncertainty has a positive relationship with entrepreneurial success. The R square is .272 or 27.2% signifying that the combined influence of the independent variables explains 27.2% of the variations in entrepreneurial success. The value of F (3,206) = 27.060, p <.05, illustrates that the combined effect of the variables was statistically significant in explaining changes in entrepreneurial success. This is confirmed by a p value which is less than the acceptance critical value of 0.05. The multiple linear regression analysis results show the equation for the tested model as ENT_SU = -8.326 + .423ENT_ORIENT + .075ENT_SELF + .203ENV_UNC. The model shows that the regression coefficients results for entrepreneurial orientation (β = .423, t = 6.990, p = .000), entrepreneurial self-efficacy (β = .075, t = 1.154, p = .250), and environmental uncertainty (β = .203, t = 3.119, p = .002) indicate positive and significant relationship with entrepreneurial success. The results show that a unit increase in entrepreneurial orientation, entrepreneurial self -efficacy and environmental uncertainty would lead to an increase in entrepreneurial success in Lagos State by the same proportion. Furthermore, the findings of the study show that entrepreneurial orientation had the highest influence on entrepreneurial success because the p value is 0.000 followed by environmental uncertainty with p value of 0.002, and lastly entrepreneurial self-efficacy with a p value of 0.250. In the model, entrepreneurial self-efficacy is not statistically significant. It can therefore, be concluded that entrepreneurial orientation and environmental uncertainty are significant determinants of entrepreneurship success in Lagos State, Nigeria. Based on these findings, the null hypothesis (H05) which states that entrepreneurial orientation, entrepreneurial self -efficacy and environmental uncertainty has no significant effect on entrepreneurial success is rejected.
Keywords: Entrepreneurial Orientation, Entrepreneurial success, Environmental Uncertainty, entrepreneurial self-efficacy
