Financing Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises for Sustainable Growth and Development in Nigeria: A Case Study of Zaria, Kaduna State

Economic growth and development can not be achieved without putting in place well – focused programmes to create employment opportunities, generation of income and reduction in poverty. This can be achieved through provision of credit facilities to small and medium-scale enterprises. This study therefore, has attempted an investigation into the role of financial institutions in financing Small and Medium – Scale enterprises in Zaria Local Government Area of Kaduna State. Using multivariate Logit regressions to analyze a sample of cross sectional data across 40 enterprises, and testing the hypothesis using the log-likelihood statistics, the study reject the null hypothesis that the total amount generated by financial institutions and disbursed to SMEs is not positively correlated with the development of the SMEs sub-sector. The study reveals that boardroom politics, loan repayment records, competition, interest rates value of fixed assets and bureaucratic procedures are some of important factors that determine the ability of prospective entrepreneurs in obtaining loans from financial institutions. It concludes with the recommendations that establishment of functional micro insurance schemes, granting loans to well established firms, removal of all structural and institutional bottlenecks and adoption of the ability to pay criteria in the disbursement of loans are necessary conditions to ensure vibrant SMEs in the country. Keywords: Financial Institutions, Credit Facilities, Small and Medium Scale Enterprise Sustainable Growth and Development, Entrepreneurs

Working capital management policy and the financial performance of food and beverages companies in Nigeria

This study is set to examine the relationship between working capital management policy and profitability of quoted food and beverages companies in Nigeria. The population comprises a sample of ten (10) food and beverage companies quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The study used secondary data for a period of ten (10) years (2005-2014) and was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics with the aid of Stata version 13. Two research hypotheses were formulated and tested. It was found that, there is no significant relationship between receivable collection period (RCP) policy and profitability of quoted food and beverage companies in Nigeria. However, it was recommended that the management should identify the level of inventory which allows for uninterrupted production but reduces the investment in raw materials and minimizes reordering cost and hence increases profitability. The management should reduce their RCP from 53 days on the average to at most 30 days by instituting adequate control and flexible credit policy.peer-reviewe

Determinants of Attitude of Customers towards Usage of Islamic Credit Card: A Study of Graduate Students of Kolej Universiti Insaniah

This study examines the factors that influence the attitude of customers toward utilization of Islamic credit cards among graduate students of Kolej Universiti Insaniah. The factors which are included in this study are perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, knowledge on the Islamic credit card, financial cost and trust. The study adopts the application of the technology acceptance model (TAM) to capture factors which have impact on the usage of Islamic credit cards. The result from the regression shows that trust is the most significant predicting variable on the attitude to use Islamic credit cards with the 24.9% explanation on the variance. Three variables out of the five independents variables; trust, knowledge and financial cost jointly explained 40 % of the variance of attitude toward using Islamic credit cards.  The remaining variables, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness do not have a significant contribution in predicting attitude toward using Islamic credit card. Keywords: Islamic Credit Card, Students, Usag

Conflict Management Strategies and Administrative Effectiveness among Tertiary Institutions in Sokoto Metropolis

This paper examined conflict management strategies and administrative effectiveness in tertiary institutions in Sokoto metropolis. The study employed a correlational survey research design with questionnaire as the instrument of data collection. The population comprised all the eight tertiary institutions in the area. A sample of 168 lecturers were selected as respondents across four tertiary institutions. Two researcher developed instruments titled “Conflict Management Strategies Questionnaire” (CMSQ) and “Administrative Effectives Scale” (AES), with reliability indices of 0.82 and 0.85 respectively, were used for data collection. Data were analysed using Multiple Regression Analysis. The study established a significant relationship between dialogue, competition, prevention, and communication on one hand and administrative effectiveness on the other hand. It is recommended that tertiary institutions institutionalize dialogue as a conflict management strategy because through dialogue, team members develop skills to think together and to accept differences, thereby avoiding crises and improving performance

The practice and challenges of e-Government in Nigeria in the 21st century

This paper investigates the state of the present condition of e-government commitment in Nigeria. It also, examines the difficulties encountered in the implementation process.Layne and Lee (2001) “Stages of growth theory” was adopted to explain the position of Nigeria in the implementation and the challenges it faced on e-government.To do this,this paper used secondary data as a source to collect different articles and report.This paper finds that while e-government is present in Nigeria, it is still in its initial stage.Not only have that, the environment lacked many prerequisites for the survival and continued maintenance of e-governance due to many factors such as inadequate electricity, technical expertise etcetera.It is therefore suggested that both the government and the stakeholders should take it up as a challenge to find quick and lasting solutions to them. There must also be political will and government should have its administrative staff retrained in IT to properly manage the facilities and infrastructure necessary for e-government

[Editorial] Strategies and practices for inclusive manufacturing: 21st century sustainable manufacturing competitiveness

This editorial introduces the purpose of the special issue with the summary of three perspectives of innovations in inclusive manufacturing such as people-oriented, environmental oriented and technology-oriented innovations. The editorial summarises the accepted papers based on the three perspectives of inclusive manufacturing innovation classification. The inclusive manufacturing way forward is discussed in the future research directions section. Overall this call didn’t receive many people-oriented innovation submissions. However, there are a decent amount of work in environmental and technology-oriented innovations. Hopefully, this editorial piece will draw attention towards people-oriented innovation from the manufacturing researchers in the future

Prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility of AmpC and ESBLs producing clinical isolates at a tertiary health care center in Kano, north-west Nigeria

The increase in production of Extended Spectrum Beta Lactamase (ESBL) and Amp C beta lactamase among clinical isolates in our hospitals is of utmost importance. Failure to detect these enzymes in many of our hospitals has greatly led to treatment failure and uncontrolled spread of multi drug resistant pathogens. It was for this purpose that the present study was conducted to determine the prevalence, distribution and susceptibility pattern of Gram negative bacteria producing ESBLs and Amp C beta lactamases in the largest tertiary health care provider in Kano, North-West Nigeria. A total of 75 ESBL and 10 AmpC producing bacteria were involved in the study which were obtained from a study involving 500 Gram negative clinical bacterial isolates from various hospital wards over a period of 9 months from Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), Kano, Nigeria. Isolates were screened for ESBLs and AmpC using Double Disc Diffusion Method and Amp C Disc test respectively. All confirmed ESBL and Amp C producing isolates were tested for susceptibility to sixteen (16) different antibiotics by the Disc Diffusion Method (DDM). The prevalence of ESBLs was high in Shigella spp. (1/2 or 50%), followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae (10/50 or /20%), and E. coli (47/247 or 19.3%) while Amp C producers were detected more in Klebsiella pneumoniae (4%) and E. coli (2.8%). Of the specimens screened, distribution varies between ESBL and AmpC producers, but more prevalent in urinary tract pathogens in both. Highest prevalence of ESBLs and AmpC producers was recorded in intensive care units and surgical wards. ESBL and AmpC production in the hospital is not sex dependent statistically, thought higher in males (52 and 60%) than in females (48 and 40%) for ESBL and AmpC respectively. ESBL and AmpC producers were both sensitive to Imipenem, Nitrofurantoin and Levofloxacin and resistance to Amoxycillin, Ceftazidime and Tetracycline. The study indicates the occurrence of ESBL and AmpC producers in our tertiary health provider, widely distributed in various clinical samples, wardsand sexes and are multi drug resistant posing serious threat in managing life threatening infections.Key words: prevalence, distribution, ESBL producers, Amp C producers, antibiotic susceptibilit

A SURVEY OF THE ORIGIN AND PRACTICE OF THE ISLAMIC ARBITRATION SYSTEM IN NORTHERN NIGERIA

This paper examines the origin and practice of Islamic arbitration system (Ḥākimiyyah) with particular reference to Northern Nigeria. The work traces the origin of arbitration and its application in all works of life particularly in areas where the Shari’ah system is practice in Northern Nigeria. The paper brings into limelight the history and various practices of Hakimiyyah in Islam. It also analyses Hakimiyyah in Northern Nigeria from the pre-colonial era, the Kanem Bornu empire and Sokoto Caliphate especially the role played by the rulers of the various empires in ensuring the Islamic courts plays it role in the arbitration of dispute and other issues among Muslims and non-Muslims. Secondary data approach was adopted in paper where literary materials relevant to the research were utilise. It was concluded in the paper that the early Islamization of the Hausaland and the manner in which Islam was embraced had led to the quick emergence of strong institutions that made Islam to be the major source of social and cultural identity of the people in the area. Islamic legal system as one of those social institutions, was the bedrock upon which the Hausa Muslim states were established, particularly during the reigns of the defunct Kanem Borno Empire and Sokoto Caliphate. These two Muslim empires had produced the unique legal system the like of which had existed only during the early days of Islam

Ethical supply chains: analysis, practices and performance measures

Ethics has been studied in numerous disciplines and its application to various practices has been investigated over the years such as in medicine and law. This has been relatively recently extended into the business arena, and has become a matter of growing interest for many companies. It has led to questions concerning what constitutes ethical behaviour, to what extent ethical practices should be adopted and what benefits a company may derive from its adoption. There are numerous processes involved in the transformation of a product from source to consumer, and these must be managed to produce an optimal balance of business requirements, specifically profitability, and a consideration of the wider impacts they may have or make. The supply chain has become vital to organisational success that companies now compete as supply chains rather than as individual entities. Therefore the ethical conduct of the supply chains has also begun to be scrutinised, both from an internal business performance perspective, and from the increasing concerns held by the numerous stakeholders of the organisation. In light of these developments, this paper explores the notion of ethics as it applies to supply chains. It also examines supply chain ethical practices and demonstrates that there is an empirical relationship between ethical practices and performance. The results show that ethical practices have positive impacts on the performance of the supply chain. Copyright © 2014 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd