This was a research study that holds much relevance to Business Strategy Students, Scholars and Policy Makers particularly in Nigeria, but with possible applicability to other third world countries. Understanding how many small Chinese and Japanese manufacturers have been able to leverage firm specific strategic factors to achieve global relevance and competitive advantage remains critical to poor countries development. Manufacturing is potentially very lucrative in Nigeria, though the context is bedeviled by high operating cost, lack of infrastructural supports, low patronage and policy inconsistency. This study examined how despite the challenges, leading manufacturing firms had weathered the storms to stay above the waters. In summary, leveraging firm strategic factors had accounted for certain manufacturing successes even in Nigeria.