Different Models of Career Reinvention and Retooling in The Post-Pandemic Era

To contribute to human capital development in readiness for the Post-pandemic era, this paper discusses different models of reinvention/retooling as a resilience strategy in the face of vulnerabilities in the labour market. Using a critical literature review (CLR), this paper discusses different models of career reinvention/retooling, including the imperatives in the Post-pandemic era. At the end of the CLR, three insights emerged. First, the twelve (12) different models of career reinvention/retooling in readiness for the Post-pandemic era are task, position, knowledge, occupation, expertise, technical skills, attitude, brand/value, conceptual skills, competencies, managerial skills and entrepreneurial skills. Second, the different models of career reinvention/retooling are imperative because of environmental factors such as economic recession, pandemic/epidemic organisational downsizing, outsourcing, change management, mergers & acquisitions, the emergence of new technologies, globalisation waves, demographic shifts, climate change, migration, and disruptive business models in the labour market, among others. Third, career reinvention/retooling requires tripartite collaboration from critical stakeholders, particularly governments, employees, and business organisations. The paper concludes with policy, managerial and theoretical implications, and suggestions for future research

Entrepreneurship Development through Corporate Social Responsibility – A Study of the Nigerian Telecommunication Industry

Beyond the conventional meaning of CSR as a voluntary obligation for enhancing the social, economic and environmental wellness of the society, the developmental-oriented CSR is emerging and requires exploratory and empirical investigations. This research attempts to fill the gap in this direction by examining the Entrepreneurship Development through Corporate Social Responsibility – A Study of the Nigerian Telecommunication Industry. In specific terms, the research seeks deeper understanding of CSR and Entrepreneurship with a view to refocusing both constructs as support mechanisms for small enterprise development in Nigeria. Considering the multidisciplinary nature of this research, an extensive review of literature was carried out which provided deeper insights into the research problem. Arising from the review of literature, the human capital theory and stakeholder theory provided the required theoretical grounding for the study. For easy triangulation, the study adopted a mixed research methods (an amalgam of qualitative and quantitative research methods). The target population for the study was the Nigerian telecommunication industry, which comprised the 24 telecommunication companies and the 65 million proxy telephone users. Lagos state was preferred as the sample location. From the target population, sample sizes of 9 telecommunication companies and 384 telephone users were selected with justifications using purposive sampling and snowballing sampling respectively. The qualitative aspect of research used interview instrument for data collection. The interview data from 9 interviewees were analysed using content and thematic analyses. The quantitative research on the other hand used web-enabled questionnaire instrument for data collection. Out of the 384 telephone users targeted, only 369 responses were analysed, using descriptive and inferential statistics (Chi-Square Test, Friedman Rank Test, Structural Equation Modelling and Multiple Linear Regression Analysis). At end of the investigation, it was found that the stakeholders’ perception of CSR is largely a philanthropic perspective; while the perception of entrepreneurship in the same industry is the act of setting up businesses for self-employment and wealth creation. Furthermore, the dominant CSR activity is sports and entertainments, while entrepreneurship development was poorly supported. With regards to the potentials, the study found that CSR is a potential means for funding entrepreneurship education; funding start-up venture capital for unemployed graduates/trainees; funding business clusters and technology business incubation centres for small businesses; funding purchase of equipment and tools for poor artisans, craftsmen and petty traders in disadvantaged host communities; and also CSR could be an effective instrument for political risk mitigation in hostile communities like Niger-Delta and Northern Nigeria. Finally, it was found that there is a relationship between CSR and entrepreneurship in the Nigerian telecommunication industry, but the predictability of CSR dimensions on entrepreneurship is weak. The study has therefore enriched the literature with an enhanced understanding of CSR incorporating entrepreneurship, as opposed to viewing CSR in terms of social, economic and environmental dimensions. The study concludes with a discussion of the academic and practical implications of the findings as well as recommendations for further research in this multidisciplinary field

Exploring the theological foundation of Corporate Social Responsibility in Islam, Christianity and Judaism for Strengthening Compliance and Reporting: An Eclectic Approach

Religion in the contemporary times has potentials from which conventional models and theories could leverage for public wellbeing. Considering the moral and ethical dimensions of corporate social responsibility (CSR), understanding this nebulous concept from the religious lenses could help strengthen CSR compliance and reporting in the industrial societies, where religions play direct and indirect role in corporate governance and people‘s lifestyle. This paper explores eclectic sources to provide answer to the questions: Does CSR have theological foundation in Islam Christianity and Judaism? Can religions strengthen CSR and fortify compliance and reporting? The authors sourced the required qualitative data from journal articles, Islamic jurisprudence, Judaic sources and Biblical texts as well as relevant online resources on the subject. The extractions from eclectic sources were subjected to content analysis from which conclusions on the two questions were established. The findings indicate that CSR has theological foundation in the three religions, and religious ethics and values could be potent drivers for strengthening CSR and reporting

Spatio-Temporal Audit of Nigeria's Industrial Policies and Entrepreneurship Development Interventions from 1946 to 2013

Spatio-Temporal Auditing (STA) entails a critical examination of performance of economic policies and development programmes within a defined context, space and time. This paper employs the STA to critique Nigeria’s industrial policies (IPs) and entrepreneurship development interventions (EDIs) from 1946 to 2013 with a view to answering the salient question: Has Nigeria’s industrial policies and entrepreneurship interventions impacted on technological progress (TP), wealth creation (WC) and employment generation (EG) in the economy? The authors sourced the required qualitative data from Nigeria’s industrial policy documents, development working papers, journal articles and relevant online resources on the subject. The data were subjected to content analysis (CA) and thematic analysis (TA) from which objective conclusions were made. The key conclusion from the paper is that Nigeria’s development policies targeted at industrial and entrepreneurship development have not produced the desirable and measurable performance results; rather they put Nigeria into huge economic deficits. The paper supports the argument for the adoption of a Sustainable Development Triangle (SWT) with a collaborative synergy from Government agencies, Corporations and Small Entrepreneurs in the nation’s developmental process. The proposed SDT, unlike previous development policies is sustainable and unlikely to generate a dependency culture, a critical factor for policy failure in Nigeria

Redressing the Energy Challenge of Gas Flaring in Nigeria: The MEEs Approach

This paper examines the need to redress gas flaring activity in Nigeria considering the negative social-economic effects of this unethical practice. The paper makes use of secondary data enriched by the narrative-textual case study (NTCS), an emerging social science research method widely used in Management, Entrepreneurship and Economics (MEEs). The authors observe that gas flaring became endemic in Nigeria because the nation's regulatory agency lack the political will to stop gas flaring recklessness of the major multinational oil companies. The authors therefore counsel on the need for policy makers to be more proactive in enforcing extant gas policy and sanctioning erring multinational oil companies. The paper concludes that energy challenge of gas flaring can be redressed through the formulation of national gas flaring policy, enforcement of national policy & international protocols on gas flaring, sanctioning of culpable multinational companies, optimal gas utilisation through energy liberalisation, adoption of Public Private Partnership (PPP) model and genuine political will on the part of government

Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Economic Growth in Nigeria

This paper underscores the importance of entrepreneurship as a realistic mechanism for sustainable economic growth in Nigeria considering the experiences of developed nations like the United States and vibrant economies like China and India. The paper discusses that entrepreneurship has been instrumental in economic growth, balanced regional development and job creation in most dynamic economies, where technology is changing at a faster rate and the product lifetime cycle is shrinking. The methodology adopted in this paper is the narrative-textual case study (NTCS); it is a social science research method that relies on the information and data from several sources for problem-solving or problem-identification. The paper reveals that the right business environment for entrepreneurship is lacking in Nigeria on account of the challenges of frequent power outages, bad roads, multiple taxes extortion of money from SMEs by government officials, lack of genuine support service for SMEs and expensive transportation/telecommunications costs have all combined to inhibit entrepreneurship and economic growth. The paper therefore concludes that government should focus on capacity building, improving infrastructure, judicious utilisation of the oil wealth and enabling environment thereby leading to sustainable economic growth