JONAED

Business enterprise and its environment are mutually interdependent. One of the ways through which SMEs attain success in their business operations is through effective handling of macro environmental forces. The study sought to determine the awareness level of SMEs managers’ on the influence of macro-environmental forces on their business operations in Anambra State. Two research questions and four null hypotheses guided the study. Descriptive survey design was adopted. The research population comprise of 811 managers of small and medium enterprises registered with the Anambra State Ministry of Commerce and Industry. A sample size of 243 SMEs managers was selected for the study using proportionate stratified random sampling. A structured and validated five point rating scale questionnaire containing 18 items was used for data collection. Cronbach Alpha method was used to establish the reliability of the instrument which yielded coefficients of 0.73 and 0.85 for the different two clusters with an overall coefficient of 0.79. The researcher administered the instrument with the help of three research assistants in the state. Data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions while t-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were employed to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that SMEs managers’ in Anambra State were highly aware of the influence of technological and political environmental forces on their business operations. The researchers recommended among others that, SMEs managers’ should liaise with government at all levels for steady allocation of funds geared towards improving various infrastructural systems of the nation for stress free business operations, SME managers should lobby the government through legal legislation to have business incentives in terms of tax breaks to a certain level of profitability in order to encourage their financial status to access loans from financial institutions.