The effect of culture on Corporate Governance Practices in Nigeria

This study focuses on the effect of culture on the application of corporate governance practices in Nigeria. Corporate governance has been receiving serious attention in emerging markets over the past two decades. But relatively little attention has been given to the study on corporate governance in a country study. The current situations in Nigerian public and private sectors such as the corporate scandal resulting from Lever Brothers Nigeria plc, Siemens, Shell, Halliburton, and Cadbury Nigeria plc, have shown that the issue of fraud, corruption, and corporate scandals cannot be overlooked. Most top management, as this study argues, bring in beliefs acquired from their early childhood into their senior management roles and responsibilities. This study adopts a grounded theory and reports on the effect of culture on the implementation of corporate governance in Nigeria. Based on the interview with 32 staffs, this study identifies the effect of culture that shapes corporate governance and they include abuse of power by top management, weak legal framework, poor recruitment and ineffective control. Although having efficient corporate governance is worth pursuing, this depends on the power of top management, the strength of internal control procedures and the legal framework put in place by management

Empowering Nigerian youths for national economic development: the role of entrepreneurship education

The world over, from USA to Asia, United Kingdom to Africa and Australia to Latin America, entrepreneurship has been promoted as an effective means of stimulating economic growth through the generation of greater  employment opportunities, the development of local technological base and source of foreign exchange earnings. The focus of this study is on the mandatory entrepreneurship course for undergraduate youths in the Nigeria's tertiary institutions. The researchers used structured entrepreneur readiness questionnaire to elicit responses from respondent's who were undergraduates. It was hypothesized and found with the aid of test of proportion that entrepreneurship education imparts entrepreneurial skills and attitudes to students as well as favourably disposes them towards establishing own businesses. This will empower them to contribute positively toward the nation‟s economic development. The researchers recommended that the government should provide a more conducive environment in the form of quality infrastructural facilities and startup financial support to consummate this initiative of entrepreneurship education.Keywords: Entrepreneurship; economic development; technological base; financial suppor

Determinants of Customers’ Satisfaction in the Nigerian Aviation Industry Using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) Model

The aviation industry in Africa‟s most populous nation has been experiencing an explosive growth in recent years with older domestic operators fighting competing new players. The expansion has given Nigerians a wider choice of airlines, many of them flying with new or recently refurbished aircraft, which have helped reverse the country‟s situation for air safety in the wake of a spate of crashes six years ago. This paper applied the Analytic Hierarchy Process to identify the determinants of customers‟ satisfaction in the Nigerian aviation industry. To achieve this aim, a sample of 100 customers were drawn from among customers (air passengers) at the Muritala Mohammed Airport 2 in Lagos, Nigeria, using convenience sampling and snowballing techniques. The quantitative approach was used to analysed the data obtained by using descriptive statistics and the Expert Choice 2000 a software designed to analyse AHP data. Findings show that customers of the aviation industry players derived their satisfaction when operators respond quickly to their requests and provides information in relation to their flights. Although there is little relative preference in terms of customers‟ satisfaction regarding the services provided by the aviation operators in Nigeria, customers‟ satisfaction is derived essentially from how the operators handle their ticketing and reservation services

COMPETITVE STRATEGIES, TECHNOLOGICAL CAPABILITIES AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCE FROM NIGERIAN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY

Abstract: This paper examines the effect of competitive strategies and technological capabilities on organizational performance with emphasis on the Nigerian manufacturing industry. A cross sectional survey design with a well structured questionnaire was adopted in collecting data from the respondents and thereafter, the data was analyzed using a descriptive and a simple regression analyses on statistical package for social science (SPSS). The result suggests that there exists no significant effect of the differentiation type of competitive strategy on organizational performance, while the cost leadership has a highly significant effect on organizational performance. It further revealed that technological capabilities go a long way in influencing the performance of organizations

Corporate governance and elites

Using a qualitative methodology (interviews), we examine the relationship between the effectiveness of corporate governance mechanisms and elitist interventions. In doing this, we identify three elitist groups – political, cultural and religious, and investigate how they shape the legitimacy and effectiveness (or otherwise) of the institutional drivers of corporate governance in Nigeria. We caution the widely-held notion in the literature which suggests that institutions act as a check on the behaviour of elites and influence how elites compete and emerge. Alternatively, we argue that elites, in the presence of institutional voids, can invent, circumvent and corrupt institutions