Application of Probability Theory in Small Business Management in Nigeria

The paper is on the application of probability theory in small business firms in Nigeria. It looks at the rate small business firms fail despite the programmes of government directed at their survival. The continued failure has resulted in a wide gap between the haves and the have-nots. The application of probability theory in small business is examined to find the implications and in restoring the gap between the rich and the poor through better and informed decisions. The survey design was adopted in the study.  The instruments for gathering data for the study were mail questionnaire and interview guide. The population of the study was 1625 small firms in Enugu State, South East Nigeria. A sample size of 345 small firms was considered adequate for the study.  The findings indicate that probability theory has wide application in small business firms; probability shows specificity in business situations and is inevitable in this era of information overload caused by ICT. It is recommended that small business firms especially those in the fashion industry should learn and apply probability theory since there line of business was more prone to chance occurrences. Keywords: Probability Theory, ICT, Specificity

Evaluating the Challenges of Human Resource Management in Nigeria

The study is on Evaluating the Challenges of Human Resources Management in Nigeria. The human resource is the most important resource of any organization and any effort sparred in motivating the workforce will pay off.  In this era of globalization, organizations are not only paying for their inefficiencies, they are also paying for the global inefficiency, and environmental degradation.  There is a wide gap between the manager of human resource in manufacturing firms in Nigeria and the human resource. The paper examines challenges posed by individuals, governments and unions on human resource management in Nigeria.  It is found among other things that there are challenges of human resource management in Nigeria which include: workplace diversity, incursion of religious and ethnic groups and changing mix, demand and values of workforce. It is concluded that the human resource management has involved into an open complex social system. It is recommended that an EIS should be in place to ensure online information flow and that external interference in the recruitment and promotion of human resource should be minimized to avoid making the human resource manager a rubber-stamp. Keywords: Workplace Diversity, Complex Social System, EIS, Globalization, Ethnic Group

Managing innovations in telecommunications industry in Nigeria

Of all the challenges faced by managers today, the management of technological innovation (MTI) is one of the most demanding. Get it right and firms create value and profit. Get it wrong and firms can face serious and perhaps terminal problems, losing money, workers, and reputation. This will lead to revenue loss, company closures and increased unemployment. The objective of this study was to assess the level of innovation in Nigeria's telecommunications industry. The aim was to ascertain how innovative the operators in the industry are which in turn determines how competitive the industry is. Data was collected from available literature on the telecommunications industry. The study proved that there are innovative activities being carried out by the various operators but there is still a lot of room for improvement. The study also found out that government and regulatory authorities need to do more in the area of infrastructural development and policy formulation to ensure a level playing field for both the old and new entrants. The study recommended that all stakeholders in the telecommunications industry, especially the regulator, shareholders, sponsors/directors, top management, and the government, should ensure that there is an innovation strategy in place which should be managed to ensure a high level of productivity and competition amongst the various operators. The study concluded that most of the service providers do not have designed corporate innovation strategies or processes. Furthermore, there are no agents of innovation and innovation teams across the various organizations; champions who will assist the project manager with the implementation and tracking of ideas, innovations and changes. Therefore, there is the need by the various service providers to breakdown functional barriers in their various organizations. However, it is equally important for these organizations to minimize the impact of hierarchies so that a seamless flow of ideas is made possible

The effect of workforce diversity on organizational performance of selected firms in Nigeria

Workforce diversity includes the differences and similarities of the employees. Organizational performance is the extent to which the organizational objectives and goals are being achieved. Most business organizations fail in Nigeria because galvanizing diverse workforce to work as a team has been ineffective in terms of policy, training, exposure and approach to specific and overall goals. This has made profitability index difficult to measure in Nigeria. The objectives of the paper are: To determine whether workforce diversity has a positive influence on customer related issues; and to ascertain the effect of education as a tool, on the management of workforce diversity to enhance high profitability index. Findings revealed that workforce diversity has a positive effect on customer related issues in an organisation. In addition, it is found that education as a tool could be effectively utilized in managing workforce diversity to enhance high profitability. Workforce Diversity has been identified as a tool to improved organizational performance and has been as old as the first organization in Nigeria right from the barter system era of the early 1750 and at the industrial revolution and scientific management periods of 1911 to the modern epoch. A combination of the use of secondary data, oral interview, and content analysis was adopted. A spearman’s rank correlation coefficient of 0.95 was obtained. Findings in line with the objectives revealed positive influence of workforce diversity on organizational performance of the selected organisations in Nigeria. Conclusion and recommendation was drawn along that regard

Technical staff motivation in Nigeria : a strategic imperative

The paper is focused on the strategies to motivating technical staff in Nigeria. Nigeria is an emerging economy with various challenges imposed by globalisation and climatic change agents. Strategies adopted and their efficacy in motivating technical staff are expected to result in better appreciating and handling of environmental/climatic changes, satisfaction and improved productivity of the staff. The study investigated the peculiar characteristics of technical staff, the effects of monetary rewards on the technical staff, the effects of ‘private practice’ and non-provision of work on technical staff. A sample of 110 technical staff was selected. The findings indicate that junior technical staff (artisans and foremen) preferred monetary rewards, while senior technical staff (technical officer cadre) preferred non-monetary rewards. More of the technical staff preferred provision of work and ‘private practice’ as motivational strategies/tools. It is concluded that a technical staff who is provided with work and who is allowed ‘private practice’ is more likely to be committed to his/her job and would avoid strike. It is recommended that technical staff should be given time of their own to engage in ‘private practice’ and should always be provided with job to avoid loss of skill

The impact of effective inventory control management on organisational performance : a study of 7up Bottling Company, Nile Mile Enugu, Nigeria

This study took into consideration the relationship between effective system of inventory management and organization performance in the Seven-up Bottling Company, Nile Mile, Enugu. The researchers were motivated to embark on this study, in order to bring to fore the importance of effective inventory control system on organizational performance as it relates to the bottling company. A total of eighty-three respondent constitute the sample for the study. Four research questions and four hypotheses were generated and tested at 10% (that is 0.10) significant level using descriptive statistics and non-parametric test. The result of the analysis showed that flexibility in inventory control management is an important approach to achieving organizational performance. It was found that organizations benefits from inventory control management by way of easy storage and retrieval of material, improved sales effectiveness and reduced operational cost. The study also found that there is a relationship between operational feasibility, utility of inventory control management in the customer related issues of the organization and cost effectiveness technique are implemented to enhance the return on investment in the organization. Effective inventory control management is recognized as one of the areas management of any organization should acquire capability. It is recommended that organizations should adopt the inventory keeping method that best suit their operations

Improving Production Planning and Control through the Application of Breakeven Analysis in Manufacturing Firms in Nigeria

The study was on Improving Production Planning and Control through the Application of Breakeven Analysis in Manufacturing Firms in Nigeria. Manufacturing in Nigeria cannot be left out of the global connectivity in technological breakthrough of our time.  Ideals, policies and procedures for achieving global connectivity very often lead to business effectiveness and efficiency. In production planning and control, tools for achieving success are varied. Today manufacturing firms in Nigeria are almost extinct. Poor planning and control of productive systems arise and make operations less efficient. Manufacturing firms fail as a result of operational inefficiency and ineffectiveness. The problem of the study therefore was the incessant closure of manufacturing firms in Enugu urban, Nigeria. The study sought to ascertain the practical application of breakeven analysis in production planning and control; to determine the relationship between the application of breakeven analysis in production planning and control and the frequency or rate of meeting due dates; to ascertain the relationship between the application of breakeven analysis in production planning and control and profit generation and to ascertain the relationship between the application of breakeven analysis and the generation of scrap in manufacturing firms.  The study was conducted using the survey approach. The area of study was Enugu Urban, Nigeria; the idea of choosing Enugu Urban being the growing clusters of firms or industrial parks in urban areas in Nigeria. Two sources of data were utilised in the study: they included primary and secondary sources. The primary sources were personal interview and the administration of questionnaire to the CEOs or managers in-charge of production planning and control in the affected firms. Out of a population of 300 manufacturing firms including block industries, 171 firms were sampled. The sample size of 171 was chosen after applying the Taro Yamane formula for the determination of adequate sample size. Out of 171 firms sampled 150 firms returned the questionnaire accurately filled; that gave 88 percent response rate. The close-ended questionnaire was utilised. The validity of the instrument was tested using content analysis and the result was good. The reliability was tested using the Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient. It yielded a reliability co-efficient of 0.82 which was also good. The data were analysed using frequency tables, and simple percentages. The hypotheses were tested using Chi-square test of independence and the contingency table. It was found that a significant relationship existed between application of breakeven analysis and scrap generation; that breakeven analysis could be applied in production planning and control to improve on due dates, profit and to reduce scrap generation. It was concluded among others that the application of breakeven analysis was more likely to lead to efficiency, profit generation, scarp reduction and meeting of due dates. It was recommended that beakeven analysis should be taught in secondary schools and that it should be applied in the short run by manufacturing firms; and that block industries should be more conscious in the application of breakeven analysis in production planning and control. Keywords: Breakeven Analysis, Production Planning and Control, Global Connectivity, Efficiency

The Impact of Effective Inventory Control Management on Organisational Performance: A Study of 7up Bottling Company Nile Mile Enugu, Nigeria

This study took into consideration the relationship between effective system of inventory management and organization performance in the seven-up bottling company, Nile Mile Enugu. The researchers were motivated to embark on this study, in order to bring to fore the importance of effective inventory control system on organizational performance as it relates to the bottling company. A total of eighty-three respondent constitute the sample for the study. Four research questions and Four hypotheses were generated and tested at 10% (that is 0.10) significant level using descriptive statistics and non-parametric test (chi-square that is, ). The result of the analysis showed that flexibility in inventory control management is an important approach to achieving organizational performance. It was found that organizations benefits from inventory control management by way of easy storage and retrieval of material, improved sales effectiveness and reduced operational cost. The study also found that there is a relationship between operational feasibility, utility of inventory control management in the customer related issues of the organization and cost effectiveness technique are implemented to enhance the return on investment in the organization. Effective inventory control management is recognized as one of the areas management of any organization should acquire capability. It is recommended that organizations should adopt the inventory keeping method that best suit their operations. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n10p10