This study investigates the influence of Marketing Intelligence on Business Competitive Advantage: A study of Diamond Bank Plc, Nigeria. Five objectives were identified and translated into five research questions which aptly answered by subjecting them to a test of hypotheses. A Descriptive research was used to survey 292 members of the staff of Diamond Bank in Lagos, Central Regional branches and head office. Out of which 285 responses were obtained, while 6 responses were destroyed because they were not properly filled. Also, data was collected through a self-administered questionnaire, as Pearson correlation, T-test and Regression were used to test the hypotheses statements. However, the result of the findings revealed that marketing intelligence sub-constructs such as internal records, competitor's sales data, marketplace opportunity, competitors' threats and competitors' risks have significant and positive influence on business competitive advantage. Thus, it can be concluded that marketing intelligence as sensitive information has enabled the bank to successfully acquire more profit, expand the branch network all over the country, perform better than its rivals in the market and increase its business competitive advantage.

Background There has been a piqued interest in alternative agricultural production systems that are environmentally friendly due to concerns on how sustainable it is to grow conventionally. However, in the producer’s point of view, economic returns are an important issue in decision-making in adaptation. The purpose of this study is to assess the economic risk of conventional and organic sweetpotato production in the Southeastern US. The primary and secondary data were used for the analysis. We identified risk variables in stochastic profit function and performed Monte Carlo simulation in analyzing profitability and economic risk of conventional and organic production systems. Results Findings from the meta-analysis suggest lower sweetpotato yields and higher selling prices, are to be expected in the organic sweetpotato production systems compared with the conventional. A higher probability of having positive net return from organically grown sweetpotato compared to conventional production systems was observed. Conclusions Increase in unit cost leads to a decrease in net profit in both conventional and organic production systems. Sweetpotato price has more effect on net return compared to its yield in conventional production systems. The higher selling price, lower yield and lower unit costs provide a higher net profit return for the organic sweetpotato production systems. Unit cost in conventional production was noted to be higher in general, inferring conventional sweetpotato production could potentially experience a higher variability in net farm income. Despite the high production cost, however, farmers are encouraged to go into sweetpotato production as it appears to be profitable. Further studies should be conducted on conventional treatments without synthetic pesticides and fertilizers as these systems perhaps, may display lower external input costs that might make them more profitable similar to organic systems.

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The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of market segmentation on competitive advantage in the Nigerian telecommunications service sector in the Lagos state. Motivation: The Nigerian government's decision to liberalize the communication industry has increased rivalry among enterprises, implying that a market segmentation approach will improve both transaction flow and the quality of life. As a result, enterprises in the telecommunications sector must look beyond their financial capabilities and concentrate their efforts on developing a market positioning strategy that results in competitive advantage. Therefore, this study seeks to identify segmentation dimensions and their influence on competitive advantage and performance holistically: The focus was designed to establish the effect of factors of market segmentation such as measurability, accessibility, size, homogeneity, uniqueness and sustainability of a market segment on competitive advantage in the Nigerian telecom service industry. Data: A study of some selected telecommunications companies in the Lagos State, Nigeria, was adopted. Both purposive and accidental sampling was used to select a sample of 370 members of the population involved in the study using the Taro Yamane. Tools: Simple percentages and frequency tables were used as descriptive statistics, while Pearson correlation and Regression analysis were used for hypotheses testing. Findings: The study results indicate that measurability, accessibility, uniqueness, and size of a market segment are the most significant market segmentation variables that affect business competitive advantage in the Nigerian telecommunication industry. As such, to achieve competitive advantage through market segmentation, these variables must be well identified and strategically attained. Contribution: By comprehensively integrating and connecting the characteristics of market segmentation to competitive advantage, this study provides an understanding meaning to market segmentation based on the conceptual model. The study's implications for policymakers include that they should enhance these segmentation factors by incorporating additional characteristics outside of market segmentation to complement the market segmentation variables examined in this study in order to maintain competitiveness. Additionally, marketers may leverage customer relationship management (CRM) to create profitable market segments capable of recruiting new clients and lowering customer retention costs.