[01] John Nkeobuna Nnah Ugoani, Department of Management Sciences, College of Management and Social Sciences, Rhema University, Aba, Nigeria. [02] Anthony Azuamaka Ugoani, Department of Agricultural Engineering, College of Engineering and Engineering Technology, Federal Polytechnic Unwana, Afikpo, Nigeria.

Manufacturing competitiveness is imperative to enhance economic sustainability and to make meaningful contribution to the GDP of any nation. For example in 2015 while the manufacturing industry in Nigeria contributed about 9 percent to the GDP, in India, the manufacturing sector contributed about 38 percent. This underscores the necessity for manufacturing process re-engineering through standardizing, automating, and streamlining distribution and channel management to ensure effectiveness, competitive advantage and economic sustainability. The most common goals of manufacturers are profitability, sales value, market penetration, new product development and channel management which drives their growth and survival. 145 respondents participated in the study conducted through the exploratory research design, and result of data analysis showed strong positive correlation between marketing management strategy and manufacturing competitiveness and economic sustainability. The study was never exhaustive; therefore, further study could examine the relationship between cost of raw materials and contribution as a way of finding a solution to enterprise failures. It was suggested that manufacturers should always adopt appropriate distribution and channel management approaches to enhance market penetration.

Channel Management, Market Penetration, Market Selection, Manufacturing Process Reengineering, Competitive Advantage, Market Positioning, Franchising, Intermediaries

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