Impact of Globalization on Human Resources Management in Africa: Evidence from Nigeria

This study assessed the impact of globalization on key areas of human resources management among Nigerian organizations. The need for this study arose as a result of paucity of empirical studies that sought to assess the impact of globalization on human resource management in Nigeria.  The background rationale for the study was further highlighted by the consensus among Nigerian scholars that if Nigerian organizations must keep pace with competition which a globalized world has made more complex, they must properly manage their key area of comparative resource strength which is human resources. In the light of the above, this study specifically investigated the impact of globalization on the changes in HR policies of Nigerian organizations; its impact on the mobility of skilled staff and its relationship with income and compensation structure of Nigerian organizations. A sample size of 385 personnel was determined from the total population of 13,446 of the selected 8 multinational firms from oil, banking and manufacturing sectors. Survey design method was used and data were collected using questionnaire and structured interview. The analysis of data and interpretation of results yielded the following findings: Many Nigerian organizations have changed their HR policies as a result of global factors; most highly skilled staff have left Nigerian organizations in search of greener pastures overseas and most Nigerian organizations, within the sectors investigated have reviewed their income and compensation structure upward so as to retain their staff and cope with the scramble for few existing skilled personnel. Key Words: Globalization, Human Resources Policy, Labor Mobility, Compensatio

Natural Resources, Fuel Exports and Corruption Policy in Africa

Theoretical explanations of corruption in Africa are inconclusive. Economic downturn and poverty are the effects of poor resource management in Africa. Yet, neopatrimonialism also stands as an alternative explanation. This survey differentiates these two theoretical alternatives to understanding corruption in Africa. It examines 54 African countries using the corruption perception index of 2017, finding that fuel-exporting countries in Africa are more corrupt than non-fuel exporting countries, with a large associated effect size (Cohen’s d =.94). The situation of fuel-exporting countries may be linked with resourcecurse theory (poor resource management) and the extractive theory of corruption (neopatrimonialism), while that of non-fuel-exporting countries only with the extractive theory of corruption (neopatrimonialism). African nations involved in the exportation of fuel resources are 94% more likely to be more corrupt than those that are not

An Evaluation of the Contribution of Value Added Tax (Vat) To Resource Mobilization in Nigeria

Taxation as an instrument of fiscal policy has been a source of revenue to nations. This work sets to evaluate the contributions of Value Added Tax (VAT) to resource mobilization in Nigeria. The Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method of simple regression analysis was employed to determine the relationships between VAT and Real Gross Domestic Product (RGDP), VAT and Current Revenue (CREV), VAT and Internal Revenue (INREV); also the impact of VAT on RGDP, CREV and INREV. The general conclusion is that the VAT is an ideal form of taxation in Nigerian tax system and has significantly contributed to resource mobilization as well as capital formation to the economy. The recommendation is that all that are involve (both payer and administrator) should be adequately motivated to enable each in his/her own sphere perform well to ensure higher levels of efficiency and effectiveness. Key words: Revenue, Taxation, Resource mobilization, Sales tax, Capital formation, Consumption

Environmental Scanning: An Imperative for Business Survival and Growth in Nigeria

There is no doubt that the business environment of the 21st Century has been more volatile and challenging than those of centuries before it. This volatility is largely the consequence of globalization that has turned the world into a global village where event in one region transmits to others almost immediately. In spite of this environmental turbulence, organizations must effectively depend on its environment for operations and survival. This paper sought to assess the place of environmental scanning as a means of business survival and competitiveness in Nigeria. This study used mainly secondary data which it analytically adapted to suit its unique objectives. Findings generally reveal that environmental scanning is critical to business survival not only in Nigeria, but in other parts of the world. Nigerian specific data reveal that educational level of managers significantly impact on their tendency to scan the business environment. It also found out that informal sources are more used to gather data from the environment than formal sources and that customers and competitors are the most unpredictable and yet, the most attended factors of the environment. Key Words: Environment Scanning, Business Growth, Competitiveness, Surviva

Financial Intermediation and Private Sector Investment in Nigeria

The symbiotic relationship between adequate funds to real sector and speed of economic growth is not in contention. Consequently, the successive Nigerian governments have made several policy attempts in the last three decades at ensuring that funds are channeled to savings deficits. These efforts notwithstanding, the economy at a glance, seems not to have made remarkable progress. What is more, there is dearth of empirical studies specifically targeted at assessing the specific contribution of financial intermediation to economic growth in Nigeria. It is this gap that this study sought to fill.  To realize the goal of this study, we adopted Private Investment (PRIVET) as the regressand and Financial Savings as a ratio of Real Gross Domestic Product (FS/RGDP), Credit Extended to Private Sector by deposit money banks (CEPS), Prime Lending Rate (PLR) & Real Gross Domestic Product (RGDP) as the regressors. The study employed econometric method to construct a multiple regression model to analyze the long-run relationships among variables. The results showed that three out of the five coefficients are statistically significant at 5% level. CEPS and PLR conformed to the theoretically expected signs, while FS/RGDP, RGDP and DUM did not. Hetroscedasticity test carried out suggests that OLS assumption of constant variances over time was not violated. Ramsey Reset test indicates that the model is well specified. The findings indicate that although some progress is noted, much is remained to be done to ensure enabling environment conducive for investment growth and expansion of domestic capacity Keywords: Private Sector Investment, Prime Lending Rate, Financial Intermediation, financial system, financial institutions, multiple regression model

Evaluation of Supply Chain Management Effects on Consumer Preference for Cowpea Quality Features and Price Trend in Niger State

The concerns of dwindling food supply and over dependence on imported foods in Nigeria, especially in the face of dwindling foreign exchange, has prompted attention of experts on how to improve production and marketing of home-grown local food crops. The study assessed the quality characteristics and price preferences of consumers of Cowpea in the Niger State, Nigeria. The study adopted the survey design using quantitative research strategy. Primary data was collected from 600 famers over a 30-month period through the instrumentality of questionnaire. Hedonic price model was used to estimate the relationship between price and cowpea characteristics, and the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) analytical technique to investigate the impact of intrinsic characteristics on price in five varieties of cowpea. The regression analysis revealed that the respective value of R2 for Chanchaga markets is 0.72 and Bida markets is 0.77 which means that 72% and 77% of changes in the price of cowpea is explained by the changes in quality characteristics of cowpea in each market. The results indicated that consumer valued high protein content, sucrose content and dry matter content as the most important attributes as such they attracted higher prices. The study recommends among others that increase in protein content would make cowpea more attractive for the food industry and will have a positive impact on consumers’ nutritional health

Attaining Inclusive Growth in a Developing Economy on the Wings of Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises

A typical disturbing feature of most developing countries is a sprawling disparity between economic growth as measured by increase in gross domestic product and concrete progress in real welfare of the citizenry measured by standard of living, access to employment and poverty reduction. Contrary to natural logic, available evidence suggests that both variables are inversely related.  There is equally a consensus among scholars of inherent potential of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as a veritable agency for income and prosperity spread and thus a vehicle for inclusive growth. This paper empirically investigates the nexus between MSMEs and inclusive economic growth. With data ranging from 1980 to 2016, it specifically built econometric model to capture the link between Gini coefficients (proxy for inequality gap) and identified key determinants of viable MSMEs sub-sector: volume of credit to MSMEs, MSMEs’ contribution to national output, lending cost, cost of doing business, and infrastructural financing. With error correction model technique of analysis, findings revealed that MSMEs has the potential to provide growth that will spread prosperity to the majority of citizenry thereby narrowing inequality gap and reducing poverty. The paper recommends policy shift in favour of creating environment to promote the growth of MSMEs

Global variations in diabetes mellitus based on fasting glucose and haemogloblin A1c

Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) are both used to diagnose diabetes, but may identify different people as having diabetes. We used data from 117 population-based studies and quantified, in different world regions, the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes, and whether those who were previously undiagnosed and detected as having diabetes in survey screening had elevated FPG, HbA1c, or both. We developed prediction equations for estimating the probability that a person without previously diagnosed diabetes, and at a specific level of FPG, had elevated HbA1c, and vice versa. The age-standardised proportion of diabetes that was previously undiagnosed, and detected in survey screening, ranged from 30% in the high-income western region to 66% in south Asia. Among those with screen-detected diabetes with either test, the agestandardised proportion who had elevated levels of both FPG and HbA1c was 29-39% across regions; the remainder had discordant elevation of FPG or HbA1c. In most low- and middle-income regions, isolated elevated HbA1c more common than isolated elevated FPG. In these regions, the use of FPG alone may delay diabetes diagnosis and underestimate diabetes prevalence. Our prediction equations help allocate finite resources for measuring HbA1c to reduce the global gap in diabetes diagnosis and surveillance.peer-reviewe

The effectiveness of monetary policy in tackling inflation in emerging economy

This study decided to investigate the success and failure of monetary policy in tackling inflation in order to achieve desired economic objectives by making use of the econometric procedure in estimating the relationship between the variables. The method of data analysis is the ordinary least square1 multiple regression. The results of our analyses showed that the instruments of monetary policy would have had a greater impact on inflation if inflation were not of structural nature. As a conclusion, the financial system needs to be strong, sound, viable, and shock-resilience in order to achieve the standard of a sustainable economy.Este estudio decidió investigar el éxito y el fracaso de la política monetaria para hacer frente a la inflación con el fin de lograr los objetivos económicos deseados mediante el uso del procedimiento econométrico en la estimación de la relación entre las variables. El método de análisis de datos es la regresión múltiple por mínimos cuadrados ordinarios. Los resultados de nuestros análisis mostraron que los instrumentos de política monetaria habrían tenido un mayor impacto en la inflación si la inflación no fuera de naturaleza estructural. Como conclusión, el sistema financiero debe ser fuerte, sólido, viable y resistente a los impactos para alcanzar el estándar de una economía sostenibl