Resource Management Competencies Required by Small and Medium Scale Entrepreneurs in Enugu State, Nigeria.
ABSTRACT
The study was carried out to determine human and material resource management competencies required by small and medium scale entrepreneurs for economic success in Enugu State. Six research questions were addressed while six null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance.
The study adopted a descriptive survey research design and was carried out in Enugu State. The population for the study consisted of 262 respondents which are made up of 173 registered small and medium scale entrepreneurs and 89 Business education lecturers drawn from higher institutions running Business Education programme in the State.
Due to the manageable size of the population, the entire population was surveyed; therefore, there was no sampling. The instrument for data collection was a structured 90-item questionnaire titled: Resources Management Competencies Questionnaire (RMCQ).
The questionnaire is made up of seven sections. The instrument was validated by three experts. These involved two lecturers from Business education unit of the Department of Vocational Teacher Education, and one lecturer from the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Development Research (CEDR) all from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
To determine the reliability of the instrument, the instrument was administered to 10 small and medium scale entrepreneurs and 10 Business education lecturers in Anambra State. Cronbach Alpha reliability method was used to obtain coefficients of 0.82 for financial resource management.
0.87 for business inventory, 0.75 for human resource, 0.78 for information management, 0.80 for time management and 0.79 for equipment and facilities management competencies while an overall reliability coefficient of 0.83 was obtained for the entire research instrument.
Data for the study were collected with the help of three research assistants and analyzed using mean for answering the six research question and t-test statistics for hypotheses 1 and 2 while analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test hypotheses 3, 4, 5 and 6 (p<0.05).
The results on the data analysis revealed that small and medium scale entrepreneurs in Enugu State required all the 90 identified resource management competencies for economic success.
Based on the findings and conclusions drawn from the study, it was recommended among others that: governments should help package the identified resource management competencies into teachable programmes for training graduates and retraining entrepreneurs for economic success in Nigerian economy.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE — — — — — — — — — i
APPROVAL PAGE — — — — — — — — — ii
CERTIFICATION — — — — — — — — — iii
DEDICATION — — — — — — — — — iv
ACKNOWLEDGMENT — — — — — — — — v
TABLE OF CONTENTS — — — — — — — — vi
LIST OF TABLES — — — — — — — — — ix
LIST OF FIGURE — — — — — — — — — x
ABSTRACT — — — — — — — — — — xi
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study — — — — — — — 1
Statement of the Problem — — — — — — — 8
Purpose of the Study — — — — — — — — 9
Significance of the Study — — — — — — — 10
Research Questions — — — — — — — — 11
Research Hypotheses — — — — — — — — 12
Delimitation of the Study — — — — — — — 13
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE — — 15
Conceptual Framework — — — — — — — — 15
Small and Medium Scale Enterprises and the Nigerian Economy — — 16
Entrepreneur/Entrepreneurship — — — — — — 20
Resource Management — — — — — — — — 23
Competency — — — — — — — — — 25
Competencies in Human and Material Resource Management — — 27
Theoretical Framework — — — — — — — — 56
Management Entrepreneurship Theory — — — — — 57
Psychology Theory of Entrepreneurship — — — — — 58
Sociological Theory of Entrepreneurship — — — — — 59
Economic Theory of Entrepreneurship — — — — — 60
Skill Acquisition Theory — — — — — — — 61
Related Empirical Studies — — — — — — — 63
Summary of Literature Review — — — — — — — 70
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY — — — — — 72
Design of the Study — — — — — — — — 72
Area of the Study — — — — — — — — 72
Population of the Study — — — — — — — 73
Sample and Sampling Technique — — — — — — 74
Instrument for Data Collection — — — — — — 74
Validation of the Instrument — — — — — — — 75
Reliability of the Instrument — — — — — — — 75
Method of Data Collection — — — — — — — 76
Method of Data Analysis — — — — — — — 76
CHAPTER IV: PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA — — 78
Research Question 1 — — — — — — — — 78
Research Question 2 — — — — — — — — 79
Research Question 3 — — — — — — — — 81
Research Question 4 — — — — — — — — 84
Research Question 5 — — — — — — — — 86
Research Question 6– — — — — — — — — 87
Testing of Hypotheses — — — — — — — — 90
Findings of the Study — — — — — — — — 96
Discussion of Research Findings — — — — — — 104
CHAPTER V: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION — 113
Restatement of the Problem — — — — — — — 113
Purpose of the Study — — — — — — — — 114
Summary of the Procedure used for the Study — — — — 115
Major Findings of the Study — — — — — — — 116
Implications for Business Education — — — — — — 117
Conclusions — — — — — — — — — 118
Recommendations — — — — — — — — 119
Suggestions for Further Research — — — — — — 120
REFERENCES — — — — — — — — — 121
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) occupy a place of pride in virtually every country or state. Due to the significant roles of SMEs in the development and growth of various economies, Onogu (2005) stated that SMEs have aptly been referred to as the engine of growth and catalysts for socio-economic transformation of any country.
The meaning and scope of small and medium scale enterprise is different across the globe. Sharing his own view, Olagunju (2000) described small scale business as all ventures set up to provide satisfaction (utility) for a defined market target and with capital and asset base as low as N5, 000 and as high as N1,000,000.
According to National Institute of Management (2005), small scale enterprises are those enterprises employing between 1-35 people, while the medium scale enterprises employ more than 35 but less than 100 people in the business.
The National Council of Industry (NCI) (2003) described small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) to involve industry with cost excluding land not more than N1million; medium scale with cost excluding land but including working capital not more than N10million.
Medium scale enterprise with total cost excluding land but including working capital above N 40 million.
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