Effect of Employee Participation in Decision Making On Performance of Selected Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Lagos, Nigeria

This study examined the effect of employee participation in decision making on   performance of selected SMEs in Lagos, South Western Nigeria. Data was sourced from one hundred and twenty nine (129) employees and twenty seven (27) owner/managers of the randomly selected SMEs, with the aid of questionnaire. The data generated were statistically analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical tools. Results showed that, overall, employee participation in decision making had significant  positive impact on organizational performance  in the SMEs, with (? = 0.597, t = 6.572, P<.01).The implication of this finding  is that Nigerian SMEs should pay attention to human resource management  practices which, they have hitherto, largely ignored, in the course of running their businesses. Increasing employee participation in decision making will impact positively on their growth and potential for survival. Key words: Employee participation, Decision making, Performance, SMEs and Nigeria

A Perfect Metamaterial Absorber

We present the design for an absorbing metamaterial element with near unity absorbance. Our structure consists of two metamaterial resonators that couple separately to electric and magnetic fields so as to absorb all incident radiation within a single unit cell layer. We fabricate, characterize, and analyze a metamaterial absorber with a slightly lower predicted absorbance of 96%. This achieves a simulated full width at half maximum (FWHM) absorbance of 4% thus making this material ideal for imaging purposes. Unlike conventional absorbers, our metamaterial consists solely of metallic elements. The underlying substrate can therefore be chosen independently of the substrate's absorptive qualities and optimized for other parameters of interest. We detail the design and simulation process that led to our metamaterial, and our experiments demonstrate a peak absorbance greater than 88% at 11.5 GHz

Capacity Building And Women-owned Small And Medium Enterprises' (Smes) Performance: Empirical Evidence From Southwest, Nigeria

Women entrepreneurs play a key role in national economies around the world, generate employment and value-added, and contributing to innovation. However, they have been marginalized, culturally excluded from having access to finance, networking, and social progress. This study, therefore, looks at the influence of capacity building on women-owned SMEs' execution. Particularly, the study determines the influence of financial inclusion strategy, social inclusion strategy, entrepreneurial orientation strategy, and networking skills strategy on women-owned SMEs' performance. The study adopts a quantitative methodology, and a structured questionnaire that contains an overwhelmingly closed-ended questionnaire was utilized to gather information for analysis purposes. Judgmental sampling procedures were utilized for information assortment, which is known as a nonprobability sampling procedure. Two hundred and twenty (220) questionnaires were recuperated out of three hundred (300) questionnaires dispersed, giving a recovery rate of 73.3%. Analysis of data was done via frequencies, percentages, correlation analysis, and ordinary least square. The results of the investigation reveal that capacity building components are major predictors of women-owned SMEs' performance. The study also confirms that the capacity building of women entrepreneurs in SMEs through an array of skills in financing, culture re-orientation, risk-taking, and networking are strong predictors of women-owned SMEs' performance. This development indicates that if women who represent virtually half of the Federal Republic of Nigeria population exploit their full potentials and remodel Nigeria from a developing country into an industrial nation by 2030, they must give the most extreme inclination to capacity building

The COVID-19 and Its Effect on Small Businesses in Nigeria: A Rational Choice Theory and an Empirical Approach

The misery and difficulties of the novel deadly infection (COVID-19) are of great concern to analysts, researchers, policymakers, and government agencies over the globe. This investigation examines the effect of the deadly infection (COVID-19) on small businesses in Nigeria, with particular reference to Lagos State. A purposive examining procedure was utilized to choose each of the 321 small businesses owner of Nigeria (ASBON) enlisted in the Lagos Business Directory. Close-ended questionnaires were used to gather data from the members. The data analysis was performed with percentage, mean, chi-square, and component factor analysis. The outcome uncovers that the deadly infection (COVID-19) has injured all the SMEs surveyed. It was discovered that most small businesses are doomed as a result of the negative impact of COVID-19. The assessment using rational choice theory derives that credit accessibility, tax waiver for sectors, the introduction of emergency advances, and flexibility of repayments of existing loans by financial institutions are solid palliative measures that can cushion the effect of the deadly infection (COVID-19)