ABSTRACT
This study was carried out to examine the entrepreneurial skills of business education on students’ capacity for enterprises development in federal universities in South- south Nigeria. Seven research questions and seven null hypotheses guided the study. The research adopted a descriptive survey design. The population for the study comprised 416 Business education students made up of 203 male and 213 female students. The population was manageable, hence census was adopted. The instrument for data collection were a 70-item researcher developed questionnaire titled: Entrepreneurial Skills of Business Education and Students’ Capacity for Enterprises Development Questionnaire (ESBESCEDQ). The instrument had a 4-point response scales of Very High Extent, High Extent, Low Extent, and Very Low Extent with 4, 3, 2, and 1 ratings respectively that addressed the research questions. The instrument was face validated by three experts: one from Business Education, one from Entrepreneurship from University of Uyo and one from measurement and evaluation from college of education, Michael Okpara university of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia state. The reliability of the instruments was determined using Cronbach alpha statistic which yielded, .83, .82, .84, .81, .83, .81, .84, .84, for the various sections of the instrument and overall coefficient index of .84. The data were collected by the researcher with the help of two research assistants who were trained for the purpose. Out of 416 copies of the instrument administered, 402 copies representing 96% were returned and used for data analysis. The Mean with standard deviations was used to answer the seven research questions raised for the study while t- test statistic was used to test the seven null hypotheses that guided the study at .05 level of significant. The results showed among others that students’ opportunity recognition skills, product distribution skills and human relation skills to a very high extent impact on the capacity of Business education students’ to develop business enterprises while book-keeping skills, office management skills, ICT skills and communication skills to a high extent impact on the capacity of Business education students’ to develop business enterprises. Sequel to the findings, it was concluded that business education graduates with the relevant entrepreneurial skills would provide the knowledge, understanding, and attitudes needed to run small businesses of their own and to perform effectively in the business world as a producer of goods and services. It was recommended among others that Government should employ business education lecturers that possess entrepreneurial skills who will in-return inculcate such skills to business education students.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page i
Declaration ii
Certification iii
Dedication
iv
Acknowledgment v
Table of Contents vi
List of Tables ix
Abstract xi
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study 1
1.2 Statement of the
Problem 13
1.3 Purpose of the Study 14
1.4 Research Questions 15
1.5 Hypotheses 16
1.6 Significance of the Study 17
1.7 Scope of the Study 19
CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Conceptual Framework 20
2.1.1 Opportunity recognition skills and students’ capacity
for enterprise
development 20
2.1.2
Product distribution skills and students capacity for enterprise
development 23
2.1.3 Book-Keeping skills and students capacity
for enterprise development
26
2.1.4 Office management skills and students
capacity for enterprise
development 30
2.1.5 Information and communication technology
(ICT) skills
and students capacity for enterprise
development 33
2.1.6 Human
relations skills and students capacity for enterprise
development 37
2.1.7 Communication skills and students capacity
for enterprise development 41
2.1.8 Concept of entrepreneurship 45
2.1.9 Concept of business education 49
2.1.10 Entrepreneurial skills of business education 52
2.1.11 Concept of enterprise development
2.2 Theoretical Framework 56
2.2.1. Schultz’s human capital development theory
(1960)
56
2.2.2 Bruner's theory of instruction (1960) 59
2.2.3 Ajzen and fishbein theory of reasoned action
(1980)
61
2.3 Review of Empirical Studies 63
2.4 Summary of Review of Related Literature 80
CHAPTER 3:
METHODOLOGY
3.1 Design of the Study 83
3.2 Area of the Study 83
3.3 Population for the Study 84
3.4 Sample and Sampling Techniques 85
3.5 Instrument for Data Collection 85
3.6 Validation
of the Instrument 86
3.7 Reliability of the Instrument 86
3.8 Method of Data Collection 86
3.9 Method of Data
Analysis 87
CHAPTER 4: DATA PRESENTATION
AND ANALYSIS
4.1 Results
Presentation 88
4.2 Summary
of major Findings 101
4.3 Discussion
of Findings 103
CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary 110
5.2 Conclusion
111
5.3 Implications
of the Study 112
5.4 Recommendations 113
5.5 Limitations
of the Study 114
5.6 Suggestions for Further Research 114
References
120
Appendices 129
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE
PAGES
4.1:
Mean analysis of responses of male and female business education
students on
the extent opportunity recognition skills impact capacity
of business education students to develop
business enterprises
in federal
universities 88
4.2: T-test
analysis of mean ratings of male and female business education
students on the extent opportunity recognition
skills impact capacity
of business
education students to develop business enterprise in federal
universities 89
4.3: Mean analysis of responses of male and female business education
students on
the extent product distribution skills impact capacity of
business
education students to develop business enterprises in federal
universities
90
4.4: T-test analysis of mean
ratings of male and female business education
students on
the extent product distribution skills impact capacity
of business
education students to develop business enterprise in
federal universities
91
4.5: Mean analysis of responses of male and
female business education
students on
the extent book-keeping skills impact capacity of business
education
students to develop business enterprises in federal universities 92
4.6: T-test analysis of mean
ratings of male and female business education
students on
the extent book-keeping skills impact capacity of business
education
students to develop business enterprise in federal universities 93
4.7: Mean analysis of responses of male and female business education
students on
the extent office management skills impact capacity of
business
education students to develop business enterprises in federal
universities
94
4.8: T-test analysis of mean
ratings of male and female business education
students on
the extent office management skills impact capacity of
business
education students to develop business enterprise in federal
universities
95
4.9: Mean analysis of responses of male and female business education
students
on the extent ICT skills impact capacity of business education
students
to develop business enterprises in federal universities 96
4.10: T-test analysis of mean ratings
of male and female business education
students on the extent
ICT skills impact capacity of business education
students to develop
business enterprise in federal universities 97
4.11: Mean analysis of responses of male and female business education
students on
the extent human relation skills impact capacity of business
education
students to develop business enterprises in federal universities 98
4.12: T-test analysis of mean ratings
of male and female business education
students on
the extent human resources skills impact capacity of
business
education students to develop business enterprise in federal
universities
99
4.13: Mean analysis of responses of male and female business education
students on
the extent communication skills impact capacity of business
education
students to develop business enterprises in federal universities 100
4.14: T-test analysis of mean ratings
of male and female business education
students on
the extent communication skills impact capacity of
business
education students to develop business enterprise in federal
universities
101
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND
TO THE STUDY
Entrepreneurship is a process of bringing together creative and
innovative ideas, combining them with management and organization skills in
order to combine people, money and resources to meet an identified need and
thereby create wealth (Usoro, 2016). It is the willingness and ability of an
individual to seek out investment opportunities, establish and run an
enterprise successfully. Entrepreneurship is thus, the process of learning the
skills needed to assume the risk of establishing a business. Entrepreneurship
refers to an individual’s ability to turn ideas into action. It includes
creativity, innovation and taking calculated risks, as well as the ability to
plan and manage projects in order to achieve objectives. The knowledge of
entrepreneurship supports people in their day today life activities thus
enhancing economic survival (Marques, 2015).
Entrepreneurial
skills are business skills which an individual acquires in the course of
education that enables them to function effectively in changing business
environment as an entrepreneur or a self-employed. Richard (2015) noted that
entrepreneurial programme offer male and female students the tools to think
creatively and to be an effective solver. One of the methods adopted by
government, through education to tackle unemployment has been the introduction
of entrepreneurship development as a course in the educational system.
Entrepreneurial skills can encompass a broad range of various skill sets like
technical skills, leadership and business management skills and creative
thinking. Because entrepreneurial skills can be applied to many different job
roles and industries, developing your entrepreneurial skills can mean
developing several types of skill sets. For instance, to be successful business
owner, you may need to develop your business management skills. To build and
maintain successful project teams you might need to improve your leadership and
communication skills.
Akpotowoh and Amahi (2017) stated that the skills acquired in
business education promotes training in entrepreneurship as well as equipping
graduates with requisite skills to establish and run small businesses of their
own. Entrepreneurial skills are simply business skills which individuals
acquire to enable them effectively function in the turbulent business
environment as an entrepreneur or in self-employment. Nevertheless, the various
skills embedded in business related programmes vis-à-vis business education
need to be explored and learnt by prospective graduates for them to succeed as
later entrepreneurs and or to aid them for economic survival in a turbulent
economy. However, graduates of business education without the relevant
entrepreneurial skills will find the labour market most unrewarding and
unfavourable in terms of creating jobs, instead they will be seeking jobs where
non-exists (Marcel, 2015).
The concept of employability has in recent times remained the focus
of government, employers, job seekers and educators. However, graduates are
concerned with what actually constitutes employability skills. Employability
skills which are synonymous with entrepreneurial skills refer to a group of
important skills instilled in each individual in order to produce productive
workforce. For individuals, employability depends on the Knowledge, Skills and
Abilities (KSA) they possess. Employability skills or entrepreneurial skills
are the skills needed by individuals to function effectively in the world of
work either as an employee or an employer of labour(Okechukwu, 2015).
Chestnut, (2017) stated that business growth and development depends
on a business operator to acquire entrepreneurial ability and also identify
opportunity in the environment. Enterprise development can be referred to the
creation of new enterprise or the redevelopment or expansion of existing
enterprises. The critical success of any enterprise development are the
viability of the business idea. Aggressive and continuous enterprise
development creates jobs, funds and task for local, states and federal
governments and increase the aggregate standard of living. Magida, Saba and
Namkere (2016) stated that to ensure the successful development of an
enterprise, business operators must acquire entrepreneurial skills. Business
operators are people who can operate either small, middle or large businesses.
Entrepreneurial skills influence the growth, development and operation of
business enterprise.
Usoro (2016) stated that Business Education is designed with the
primary purpose of upgrading skills or providing individuals with the necessary
skills required to obtain gainful employment. It programmes are thus geared
toward entry into a particular job and the administration of the programme
towards the achievement of the goals. Business Education is a programme in
education that prepares male and femalestudents for entry into and advancement
of jobs within the business. It is an educational programmes which involve
acquisition of skills, knowledge and competences which make the
recipient/beneficiary proficient. It is an umbrella under which all business
programmes take a shield such as marketing, business administration,
secretarial studies and accounting. The programme of Business Education equips
male and female students as well as every individual with accounting skills,
management skills, secretarial/computing skills, marketing skills among others.
Business education is that aspect of educational programme that provides the
knowledge, skill, understanding and attitudes needed to perform effectively in
the business world as a producer and/or consumer of good and service (Usoro,
2016)
Business education program aims at imparting saleable skill in the
recipients. Asuqwo in Ezeabii (2016) outlined the objectives of business
education as follows:
1.
To provide opportunity for particular job preparation or
vocation studies/masses in order to make them render effective and efficient
services in office, distributing and services occupation.
2.
To provide the
opportunity for student and the public to develop and understanding the
business and economic system of the nation so as to enable them participate
actively as producers and consumer of good and services.
3.
To enable
students/individuals have career consciousness an economic understanding of the
free enterprise system.
4.
To prepare students/individuals based on their interest and
aptitude with the skills, knowledge and attitudes, needed to enter into a
business occupation, advance profit in it.
5.
To develop in the students and the public, the basic
awareness of the contribution which business, government and office employee
make to economy.
Business Education programme is one of the major programmes offered
in the universities with the central aim of the capacity of the students. One
remarkable and important characteristics of Business Education programme is
that its products can function independently as self-employed and employers of
labour. Business Education programme prepares male and female students for
entry into and advancement in jobs within the business environment. Business
Education is an educational programme which involves acquisition of skills,
knowledge and competences which makes the recipient/beneficiary proficient.
Business
Education therefore prepares youths for vocations and also furnishes them with
relevant information concerning their lives both as citizens and as individual.
In the first instance, it develops in them certain skills, attitudes and
abilities that are relevant to securing jobs in the business world. Secondly,
it gives them insight into general business and acquaint them with general
information that will make them efficient and rational purchasers and consumers
of business product (goods and services).(Osuala in Williams, 2016).
The behavioural
objectives in Business Education, as postulated by Osuala in Williams (2016)
include:
1.
Business Education is an integral part of the total programme
of education; it provides a broad and varied programme of general and
specialized education which helps to meet the needs of all students; it
provides for individual differences through varied learning experiences.
2.
Business Education makes the following unique contributions
to specific goals. These are: Promote for good citizenship through preparation
to become an intelligent and productive wage-earner: Promote an understanding
of our economic system” through developing a better understanding of free
enterprise and the world of business: “Help learners make their post-secondary
school plans” for either employment or advanced training, through courses which
relate to the labour market and post-secondary education in business:“Encourage
initiative and creativeness” through the utilization of personal, employable
competencies in rewarding job situation: “Prepare learners for vocational
future”, through occupational training experience.
3.
Business Education programme serves all students develop
personal skills such as typewriting, computer typesetting and records keeping:
Develop an understanding of basic business principles, economic concepts, and
consumer education practices: Develop skills, attitudes and personal habits
which form a basis for the further development of employable competencies.
4. The
Business Education programme serves a select group of students who desire to
build on basic skills and knowledge to develop competencies which lead to
satisfying and future employment in business.
5. The Business Education programme adds
depth and realism to the teaching – teaching process through meaningful,
working relationships with the local business institute, through specialized
courses which relate to current as well as projected needs and requirements of
employee and through opportunities for first hand, personal experiences and
contacts in the business world which are made available to learners.
Atakpa in Chima
(2014) maintained that the sum total of the knowledge, skills and attitudes
that are required for the successful promotion and administering of business
enterprise from these definitions, it could be deduced that Business Education
is an education for and about business. It combines both theoretical and
practical knowledge, in the same vein it exposes the recipient to the economic
system of his country and equips him with lifelong skills that would enable him
to make reasonable judgment as a producer (entrepreneur), employee or consumer
of goods and services.
Furthermore, one
of the cardinal objectives of Business Education is to provide orientation and
basic skills with which to start a life of work for those who may not further
educational training. While trying to emphasize the goals of Business
Education, Ekpenyong and Ojo (2018) highlighted the goals of Business Education
to include: adopting the various business concepts acquired in class to real
life situation, acquiring skills and competencies required for the performance
of basic jobs such as taking simple administrative decisions and dealing with
correspondence, keeping records of financial and another transactions in the
office, playing productive roles in a free enterprise economy.
Akanbi in Anthony
(2016) posited that the success or failure of a business depends to a large
extent on the entrepreneur’s ability to harness these techniques and
strategies. It includes the ability to exploit potentials business
opportunities and other variables as they present themselves in the business
environment. Information technology service have become the driving engine for
the global economy and the application of entrepreneurial skills and
administrative knowledge has a major role to play in the development of
businesses. The success of information technology communication services would
be determine by the quality of the entrepreneurial skills and administrative
knowledge of their managers.
One of the skills
male and female Business Education are exposed to is the opportunity recognition
skills. Opportunity recognition skills is often considered to be the most
important skills needed for an entrepreneur. Opportunity recognition is the
ability to survey an environment, with a view to identifying particular needs
of the people which has not been met. It is considered to be a prerequisite for
entrepreneurship and business ownership, even though the degree of this skill
may vary for different paths to business ownership. It is often known that
owning and managing a business venture especially managing it towards growth is
a function of capturing and exploiting a series of opportunities.
Wasdani and
Manimala (2015) stated that Opportunity
recognition skill has been recognized as one of the skills needed to be
self-reliant and able to start and manage a business successfully. Opportunity
recognition skills is critical because of the fact that is a major driver of
entrepreneurship. Apart from opportunity recognition skills, accounting skills
is another entrepreneurial skill of Business Education. Akande in Udoudo (2016)
posited that accounting skills are the totality of skills ranging from
financial and non-financial record keeping, directing, financial management and
reporting skills that are expected to promote effective decision-making,
performance evaluation and reporting of any business enterprise. Accounting
skill provides a basis for complete and accurate income tax computation, a
basis for sound planning for the future and basis for discussion with partners,
potential investors, and lenders all these are important aspects which enhance
performance of the business. Usoro (2016) stressed that the success of any
business enterprise to a large extent depends on the accounting skills of the
business operator. Accounting skills enables the operator to make good
decisions about the firm without which the business will not be able to stand
the test of time. To succeed in business, the operator of such business must
have what it takes to make right decision, may be with regards to expansion drop
or maintenance of product lines, or any other vital decision and all these to a
large extent depends on the accounting skill of the operator. Accounting skills
facilitate efficient, proper and timely decision making which invariably will
enhance business performance.
Another
entrepreneurial skill of Business Education that is critical to the capacity of
male and female student is product distribution skills, which has to do with
ensuring that what we produced is channeled to the right customers at the right
time and in the right quantity. Product distribution skill is one of the
marketing skills that are required for any business to succeed. Kotler in
Balogun (2016) stated that product distribution is one of the seven aspect of
the marketing mix used to deliver the physical product or service to the buyer
or seller. Gibson in Charles (2017) also described product distribution as
critical element of marketing because it involves getting the product, price,
place, promotion, people, physical evidence, process, right products, in the
right quantity, to the right place and at the right time. The author further
defined product distribution as the process of making goods or services
available for use or consumption by a customer or business user, using direct or
indirect means of intermediaries. In general, product distribution includes all
activities that enable the transfer of material and/or economic power over
tangible and/or intangible goods from one economic subject to another. Product
distribution skill is very crucial because without distribution the best
product will not be delivered and the marketing mix will break down and fail.
Product distribution skill plays a vital role, primarily because it ultimately
affects the sales turnover and profit margins of the organization.
Aside from
product distribution skill, information and communication technology skill is
also very critical for enterprise development. This is because the world is
gradually becoming a global village. Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) is an umbrella term that includes any communication device or
application, encompassing, radio, television, cellular, phones, computer and
networks hardware and software, satellite systems and so on, as well as the
various services and applications associated with them, such as video
conferencing and distance learning. ICT technology are used by skilled
professionals to create, operate, design, maintain, programmes and deploy
information. In a nutshell, ICT connotes technologies (or application of
scientific knowledge) in the communication of information. These technologies
are both hardware and software. Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
skills are the skills required to effectively make use of range of technology
that is applied in the process of collecting, storing, editing, retrieving, and
transferring of information in various forms. According to Nwagwu and Azih
(2016) the world is rapidly turning to a global digital society through the use
of ICT. The way through which information, idea, innovations are spread to the
nooks and crannies of the world has revolutionized the way business
transactions are carried out. In fact, every aspect of human endeavor is
actually affected by ICT and therefore make ICT skill a must have for any
Business Education graduates.
Related to the
ICT skill is the office management skill which is another crucial
entrepreneurial skill of the Business Education. Office management skills as a
skill that focuses on how to combine office information and technical skills
with adequate and relevant business knowledge in solving organizational
problems. Office management skill enables the male and female students to be
hybrid administrative professionals to respond to the demands of a dynamic and
intensely computerized work place. This skill is to make the male and female
student to understand work ethics, habits and also appreciate the encompassing
knowledge and information needed by individuals in order to enter and progress
in employment on a useful and productive base. This is one of the major skills
required in every office organization and for the fact that no business occurs
in a vacuum, office management skills, therefore, build the capacity of male
and female students upon graduation to function well in office (Nwabuona, 2010)
Since
organization comprises of more than one person, there will be need for
communication. The acquisition of appropriate communications skills offers male
and female students the unique strategy for a successful business venture. The
individual in a business environment for example, should be able to communicate
and render his services to consumers so that they would appreciate the content
and value of the product as well as develop, the measures of self-marketing for
the product. Business Education graduates are expected to have possessed
relevant skills and knowledge in these areas of communication to avoid business
failure and to run businesses effectively (Nwabuona, 2010).
The
entrepreneurial skills of Business Education that deals with the effective
management of humans is human relations skills. Human resource is the most
important of all resources in any organisation. It is the major drive of
organisational growth. Human being is very dynamic and is therefore very
necessary for business operators to be able to manage these resources in a way
that the goals of the enterprise will be actualised. Human relations skills are
needed for facilitating effective interaction with personnel and customers.
These skills include decision making, negotiation, counselling among others.
Osamwonyi inTafame (2015). Identified human relations skills to be one of the
major determinants of organisation success and business growth. Based on the
above entrepreneurial skills of Business Education, its programme can be
adjudged as a programme targeted towards the human capacity of male and female
students.
Comfort (2017)
described Capacity as the process by which individuals and organizations
obtain, improve and retain the skills, knowledge, tools, equipment and other
resources needed to do their jobs competently. It allows male and female
students and organizations to perform at a greater capacity. It is often
referred to as the process of strengthening the skills, competencies and
abilities of people so as to make them to be self-reliant and more useful to
themselves, community and the nation at large. It is about the non-profits
ability to deliver its mission effectively now, and in the future. Capacity
covers human resources development and the strengthening of managerial systems,
institutions development that involves community participation and creation of
an enabling environment. It is a dynamic process which enables individuals and
agencies to develop the critical social and technical capacities to identify
and analyze problems as well as proffer solutions to them.
Azikiwe in Job (2015) while describing
capacity viewed it as the process by which an individual, irrespective of
gender or any other forms of discrimination, are equipped with skills and
knowledge they need to perform effectively in their different callings.
Capacity could also be defined as the ability to enable the people to make use
of their creative potentials, intellectual capacities and leadership abilities
for personal as well as national growth and development.
Capacity can also
be seen as a means of planning for people to acquire knowledge and advanced
skills that are critical to a country’s economic growth and its standard of
living. And individual empowerment is the planned programmes that will impart
skills which will enable the recipient put the knowledge and skills acquired
into productive uses to solve wide range of individual and national problems.
Capacity from the human capital point of view could be explained to mean when
people possess the needed knowledge and advanced skills that are critical for
individual growth as well as the country’s growth and development. In the
context of Business Education, the capacities of male and female students are
built towards enterprise development (Azikiwe in Job, 2015).
Enterprise
development has to do with the development of business whether small scale or
medium scale business. Capacity for enterprise development is the ability of
male and female student to use the skills learnt in a way that will be able to
create job for others. It is the process of starting and owning a business that
provides goods or services to people in exchange for money. Enterprise
development is actually described by Emeruwa in Ukpong (2015) as the process of
tapping opportunities through effective identification, mobilization and
organization of resources in exchange for financial gains in the form of
profit. It is a process of starting and running a business enterprise. It
involves investing capital in resources and in development of products and
service to create a viable commercial enterprise.
1.2 STATEMENT
OF THE PROBLEM
Entrepreneurial
skills are business skills which an individual acquires in the course of
education that enables them to function effectively in changing business
environment as an entrepreneur or a self-employed. Business Education as a
course of study is directed towards developing the learner to become productive
in teaching, paid employment and self-employment. The specific objectives of
Business Education curriculum are to prepare male and female students who have
requisite skills in Business Education, principles and practice in accounting
management, marketing and information and communication technology (ICT),
curriculum design and evaluation in Business Education, development of
instructional materials for Business Education, supervision and administration
of the Business Education program in secondary schools, entrepreneurship and
other skills needed for manpower development.
Business Education is aimed at producing a competent, skillful and dynamic
business teachers’ office administrators, businessmen and women that will
effectively compete in the world of work. Business Education graduates do
suffer from unemployment and most employers of labour continue to reject them
on the grounds that they lack basic skills.
Business Education students
are meant to have been exposed to skills that would make them to be more useful
in the labour market and have a competitive advantage over their colleagues.
Not only that, it is expected that upon graduation, Business Education students
should have been well grounded and well equipped with entrepreneurial skills
such as opportunity recognition skills, accounting skills, product distribution
skills, ICT skills, office management skills, communication skills, creativity
skills among other skills. These skills are supposed to have been deployed by business
education students to either set up a small-scale business or improve their
employability. This seems not to be the case as there is still high rate of
unemployment among them especially in the south-south geo-political zone of
Nigeria. It therefore, becomes necessary to begin to assess the skill of
Business Education curriculum and how far it has helped develop the
entrepreneurial capacity of the students., The possibility of securing jobs is
therefore becoming more difficult while a number of unemployed graduates of
Business Education keep soaring on yearly basis. Most employers have also complained
that most graduates of the programme lack adequate skills and knowledge for
entrepreneurship and that they are ill-prepared for labour market. However,
with these laudable skills, can Business Education graduates start and run a
business? Some may fold up because they lack basic skills and the capacity for
enterprise development. It is against this background that the study is
designed to investigate the entrepreneurial skills of business education on the
capacity of students to develop business enterprises in Federal Universities in
South-South Nigeria.
1.3 PURPOSE
OF THE STUDY
The main purpose of this study was to determine the impact of
entrepreneurial skills of Business Education on the capacity of students to
develop Business Enterprises in Federal Universities in south-south Nigeria.
Specifically, the study was designed to determine:
1.
the extent to which opportunity recognition skills impact on
capacity of male and female Business Education students to develop business
enterprise in federal universities in South-South Nigeria.
2.
the extent to which product distribution skills impact on
capacity of male and female Business Education students to develop business
enterprise in federal universities in South-South Nigeria.
3.
the extent to which book keeping skills impact on capacity of
male and female Business Education students to develop business enterprise in
federal universities in South-South Nigeria.
4.
the extent to which management skills impact on capacity of
male and female Business Education students to develop business enterprise in
federal universities in South-South Nigeria.
5.
the extent to which ICT skills impact on capacity of male and
female Business Education students to develop business enterprise in federal
universities in South-South Nigeria.
6.
the extent to which human relation skills impact on capacity
of male and female Business Education students to develop business enterprise
in federal universities in South-South Nigeria.
7.
the extent to which communication skills impact on capacity
of male and female Business Education students to develop business enterprise
in federal universities in South-South Nigeria.
1.4 RESEARCH
QUESTIONS
This study was guided by the
following research questions:
1.
To what extent does opportunity recognition skills impact on
capacity of male and female Business Education students to develop business
enterprise in federal universities in South-South, Nigeria?
2.
To what extent does product distribution skills impact on
capacity of male and female Business Education students to develop business
enterprise in federal universities in south-south Nigeria?
3.
To what extent does book-keeping skills impact on capacity of
male and female Business Education students to develop business enterprise in
federal universities in south-south Nigeria?
4.
To what extent does management skills impact on capacity of
male and female Business Education students to develop business enterprise in
federal universities in south-south Nigeria?
5.
To what extent does ICT skills impact on capacity of male and
female Business Education students to develop business enterprise in federal
universities in south-south Nigeria?
6.
To what extent does Human relations skills impact on capacity
of male and female Business Education students to develop business enterprise
in federal universities in south-south Nigeria?
7.
To what extent does communication skills impact on capacity
of male and female Business Education students to develop business enterprise
in federal universities in south-south Nigeria?
1.5 HYPOTHESES
The following null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of
significance:
H01: There is no significant difference between the mean rating of
male and female business education students regarding the extent to which
opportunity recognition skills impact on the capacity to develop business
enterprise in federal universities in south-south Nigeria?
H02: There is no significant difference between the mean rating of
male and female business education students regarding the extent to which
product distribution skills impact on the capacity to develop business
enterprise in federal universities in south-south Nigeria
H03: There is no significant
difference between the mean rating of male and female business
education
students regarding the extent to which book-keeping skills impact on the
capacity
to develop business enterprise in
federal universities in south-south Nigeria.
H04: There is no significant difference between the mean rating of
male and female business education students regarding the extent to which
management skills impact on the capacity to develop business enterprise in
federal universities in south-south Nigeria
H05: There is no significant difference between the mean rating of
male and female business education students regarding the extent to which ICT
skills impact on the capacity to
develop business enterprise in federal universities in south-south Nigeria.
H06: There is no significant difference between the mean rating of
male and female business education students regarding the extent to which Human
relations skills impact on the capacity to develop business enterprise in
federal universities in south- south
Nigeria
H07: There is no significant difference between the mean rating of
male and female business education students regarding the extent to which
communications skills impact on the capacity to develop business enterprise in
federal universities in south-south Nigeria
1.6
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
In view of the central position of graduates of Business Education
to the economic development of Nigeria, the study would be of significance to
Business Education lecturers, students, curriculum planners, Business Education
teachers, federal and state government, scholars and researchers. The findings
of this study would yield relevant data required for lecturers to assess the
level of successes recorded in their efforts towards the capacity of students
for self-development. It would enable them identify possible lapses and areas
they may need to make adjustments. This would thereby strengthen, sustain and
expand the skills and training provided to Business Education students in
higher institution in Nigeria.
The results of this study would serve as a guide for Business
Education curriculum planners to review curriculum contents of the programme in
federal universities in Nigeria in order to meet the global requirements and
the prevailing job/skills in the country. This would help to provide students
with vital skills in addressing the problem of unemployment after graduation.
Besides, the results of this study would help the curriculum planners in
collecting usable and reliable data required to support advocacy by various
interest groups for a better and practical education. This would highlight the
areas of inadequacy that the planners would intervene to address identified
skill-gap.
The findings of this study would assist Business Education
curriculum planners in Nigeria, in collaboration with employers of labour, to
design Business Education curriculum that would meet the skill needs in the
fieldwork. The results of this study would serve as guide for Business
Education curriculum planners to see how the entrepreneurial skill of Business
Education could be well imparted on student of Business Education in the
universities.
This would help in meeting the global requirements and the prevailing
job/skills in the country. This study would also be beneficial to students of
Business Education as it would help strengthen their entrepreneurial skills and
thereby enable them to be self-employed and employers of labour after
graduation. The results of the study would further provide Business Education
teachers with appropriate knowledge of instructions and strategies that would
enhance teaching and learning. This would help to develop the potentials and
skills of learners for self-employment. Finally, the findings would stimulate
further research and expand the frontier of knowledge.
1.7 SCOPE OF
THE STUDY
The scope of this study is on entrepreneurial skills of business
education and students’ capacity to develop business enterprise in federal
universities in south-south, Nigeria. Specifically, the study focused on seven
entrepreneurial skills of Business Education which are: opportunity recognition
skills, book-keeping skills, product distribution skills, ICT skills, office
management skills, communication skills and human relations skills, and how
these skills impact capacity for enterprise development of Business Education
students. The study was restricted to federal universities in south south,
Nigeria, hence private and state universities were not inclusive. These Federal
Universities include University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, University of Calabar,
Cross River State, University of Benin, Benin-City, Edo State and Federal
university, Otueke, Bayelsa State. The study was delimited to Business
Education students, because at these levels they have been sufficiently exposed
to the entrepreneurial skills considered in this study.
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