Process Innovation Capability and Performance of Indigenous Oil and Gas Companies in South-South, Nigeria

This study examined the relationship between process innovation capability and performance of indigenous oil and gas companies in South-South, Nigeria. The study adopted the cross-sectional research survey design. Primary data was generated through structured questionnaire. The population of this study was thirty-three (33) registered and functional indigenous oil and gas companies in South-South, Nigeria. In this study the researcher adopted a census sampling technique to study all the 33 indigenous oil and gas companies in Rivers State because the population was small. However, preliminary field survey revealed that there are at least five (5) employees in each of the indigenous oil and gas companies in Rivers State. The reliability of the instrument was achieved by the use of the Cronbach Alpha coefficient with all the items scoring above 0.70. The hypotheses were tested using the Spearman’s Rank Order Correlation Coefficient. The tests were carried out at a 0.05 significance level. Findings revealed that there is a significant relationship between process innovation capability and performance of indigenous oil and gas companies in South-South, Nigeria. Therefore, the study concludes that an improvement in process innovation will lead to improved performance of indigenous oil and gas companies in the South-South, Nigeria. Similarly, market innovation was a key driver for the performance indigenous oil and gas companies in the South-South, Nigeria. Hence, the study recommends that the management of indigenous oil and gas companies should stipulate policies that provide and enhance platforms for process innovation so as to improve their performance. There is need also to invest in process innovation strategies that would optimize the HR practices around innovation, resource mobilization, revenue allocation and monitoring and evaluation to ensure efficiency in the innovation practices. Keywords: Process Innovation Capability, Performance, Sales Volume, Profitability, Growth