Service Dominant Logic, Co-production and Co-creation: Model Development and Specifications

This paper set forth to examine the Service Dominant Logic paradigm, which is developed as an alternative paradigm to the Goods Dominant Logic, explore the developments that have occurred since its appearance in the Vargo and Lusch (2004) publication and attempt to identify the variables in this SD logic, as well as, its propositions; service co-production and value co-creation with the aim of verifying whether, or otherwise, the associated marketing variables could be put into operational model-building. The study found that there were identified marketing variables and using the assumption of linear relationship established multiple regression equations, it was found that it is feasible for such models, even more complex ones, conceptually to be developed in the foreseeable future. The paper does not claim to be exhaustive or definitive, but asserts that its usefulness lies in its demonstration that the time has come to start extensive research in making operational the SD Logic, lending it to closer scrutiny and academic/practical marketing investigations and use. Keywords: Marketing, service dominant logic, service co-production, value co-creation, model-building DOI: 10.7176/JMCR/64-03 Publication date: January 31st 202

Impact of Foreign Direct Investment on the Power Sector of Nigeria 1980 – 2014

The study investigated on the role of foreign direct investment on the power sector of Nigeria using time series data for 35years between 1980 and 2014. Power sector output (PSO) serve as the dependent variable while foreign direct investment (FDI), inflation rate (IFR) and trade openness of the economy (OPE) serves as the independent variables. The variables were analyzed using regression method, Augmented Dickey fuller unit root and co-integration test with the aid of a statistical software known as Eview 7. The findings revealed that only FDI and OPE are statistically significant at 5% level based on the t-statistic. The F-statistic also revealed that there is significant impact of the role of foreign direct investment on the power sector of Nigeria due to the overriding effect of trade openness of the economy within the period considered. The Augmented Dickey-Fuller unit root and co-integration test also revealed that the variable are stationary and does not have a unit root problem and that there is only one co-integrating equation of the variables. Among other recommendations, the study suggests that FDI should focus more on Nigeria’s power sector because of the strategic relevance of the sector to the nation’s economy. Keywords: Foreign direct investment, Power sector Nigeri

Econometric Analysis of the Role of Stock Market on Economic Growth in Nigeria (1980 – 2014)

The research study examined the role of stock market on economic growth of Nigeria from the period of 1980-2014. This means that the performance of the stock market is an impetus for economic growth and development. The economic growth was proxied by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) while the stock market variables considered include; Market Capitalization Ratio (MCR), Value Traded Ratio (VTR) and Turn-Over Ratio (TOR). Applying Johansen co-integration, results show that the Nigerian stock market and economic growth are co-integrated. This implies that a long run relationship exists between stock market and economic growth in Nigeria as a result of the F-statistics in Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression analysis which is significant at 5 percent using a two-tailed test. This is a clear indication of the relative positive role the stock market plays on the economic growth of the country. The evidence from this study reveals that the activities in the stock market tend to impact positively on the economy. Among other recommendations, the study therefore suggests that the government should remove impediments to stock market development in the form of tax, legal and regulatory barriers because they are sometimes disincentives to investment. Keywords: Stock Market, Nigeria and Economic Growth

Massification and Quality Assurance in Tertiary Education: The Nigerian Experience

The study sets out to examine massification and its impact on quality assurance in tertiary education and the extent to which lecturer–student ratio,adequacy of infrastructure and pedagogical resources affect quality in tertiaryinstitutions. Two research questions and one hypothesis were posed to guide the investigation. The study, which adopted a survey design approach, has as its population lecturers in tertiary institutions. Through stratified and randomsampling techniques, 432 lecturers and students were selected and the instrument for data collection was questionnaire. The study found that lecturer–student ratio, adequacy of infrastructure and pedagogical resources affect quality in tertiary institutions.Keywords: Lecturer-student ratio; Pedagogical resources; Quality assuranc

Development of a Computational Fluid Dynamics Assisted Sustainable New Product Development Methodology for Flow Handling Equipment Industry

This study presents an assessment of the current state of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) adoption in fluid flow handling equipment industry and demonstrates its utility in the New Product Development (NPD) process through the development of a novel sustainable CFD-assisted NPD methodology. In the flow handling equipment industry, the need for a CFD-optimised methodology in the management of NPD activities is prioritized by the modern global inclination towards increased sustainability practices coupled with the emerging digital industrial revolution. Most fossil-fuelled and green energy sources rely on the control of fluid flow for various purposes such as in valve and piping networks, heat exchangers and wind turbines among others. While fluid flow in either of these systems can be analysed using conventional numerical calculations and experimental methods, CFD as a nascent technology in the digital era, provides a virtual digital environment for simulating, analysing and predicting flow behaviour thereby inspiring sustainable rapid design and development of new flow handling solutions. Despite these recent advancements, some firms in the flow handling equipment industry experience varied challenges in adopting CFD technology and optimizing its integration to the overall NPD process. In the body of literature, mentions of CFD-optimized NPD methodologies are grossly limited. Where feats achieved using CFD are presented, they are mostly recorded as isolated cases during design but seldom as part of a systemic methodology with capacity to influence the entire NPD process itself. The question as to whether the flow handling equipment industry is ready for such a systemic integration of CFD technology is one that this research develops to assess the current practice with a view to developing a systemic methodology in its place. Following a pragmatic inquiry, a mixed methods approach was adopted for the research beginning with a qualitative investigation of six flow handling equipment industry firms in West Yorkshire. Six key respondents from Small, Medium and Large Enterprises in the Valve and Fan industry were each interviewed following preliminary questionnaire sessions. The key findings from the study revealed that ‘cultural perception’, and ‘accessibility’ were key factors that influenced the adoption of CFD technology alongside the original constructs of ‘perceived ease of use’ and ‘perceived usefulness’ highlighted in the standard Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). As a response to the perceived difficulty in adoption of CFD technology, most of the firms outsourced CFD related work or decided not to use the technology at all. Methodically, most of the firms did not appear to be very structured in their approach to NPD but mostly applied modified adaptations of traditional staged NPD processes that were not originally designed specifically for flow handling equipment product development processes. Consequently, a novel CFD-assisted NPD methodology was developed utilizing Systems Engineering principles to provide the industry with a structure for accelerating CFD integration for NPD process in order to stimulate organisational growth and improve sustainable product quality practice within dynamic product lifecycles. Following the development of the new methodology, a pilot test was initiated as the second part of the mixed methods approach, to test the efficacy of the newly developed methodology. A novel hybrid valve design was realised from the pilot test, featuring both linear and equal percentage valve flow characteristics. Other notable novelties from this study include; a new CFD-optimised Technology Acceptance Model to aid in future assessments of CFD-specific technology adoption in flow handling equipment industry, a novel systems engineering process engine for procedural and lifecycle navigation during new product development, and a novel prescriptive product development plan for the novel hybrid valve design. In recommending future work, the author believes more attempts to integrate CFD technology into the NPD process would improve the prospects for faster, cost effective and high quality new product development in the flow handling equipment industry. The new CFD-optimised technology acceptance model can also provide a guide for assessing future trends in CFD technology adoption specifically when used in line with periodic advancements in computing technology or as global sustainability requirements influence organisational practice within the flow handling equipment industry. Technologically, the author recommends development of user-friendly CFD software as well as cost effective commercial CFD codes to accelerate widespread CFD adoption

Organisational capabilities for science, technology and innovation policy formulation in developing countries: the case of Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Science and Technology

It is widely accepted that public policies have an important role in driving science, technology and innovation (STI) initiatives in order to achieve socio-economic and development objectives. Nevertheless, previous research reveals that developing countries still face difficulties in formulating policies to support and promote STI. A possible reason for this is found in the apparent lack of capabilities for policymaking. Capabilities are "a precondition for effective policy formulation in developing countries" (UNIDO, 2005, p.16). However, our knowledge and understanding of what these capabilities are, remain limited. In this thesis I examine the roles that capabilities play in formulating STI policies, the development of these capabilities and their evolution over the years. I group policy capabilities into organisational capabilities – which refers to policy processes and routines – and individual capabilities – which refers to the skills of individual policymakers (Nelson and Winter, 1982; Dosi et al., 2000; Feldman and Pentland, 2003). In order to address the identified gaps in literature, I use the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Science and Technology (FMST) – which in 2012 completed the formulation of a new national STI policy – as an illustrative case for the investigation of these issues. To achieve the aim of the thesis, I address three research questions: (1) What roles do capabilities play in formulating STI policies at FMST and why? (2) How did policy formulation capabilities originally emerge at FMST and why? (3) How have policy formulation capabilities evolved (i.e. changed over the years, from 1986 to 2012) at FMST and why? To collect data, I interviewed key staff at FMST and stakeholder organisations (who participated in the STI policy formulation exercise), in addition to secondary data from relevant policy documents. The data analysis was based on the “explanation-building” technique (Yin, 2009). The findings reveal the various roles that policy capabilities (processes, routines and skills) play in policy formulation; how and why policy capabilities were developed and their evolution over the years at FMST. The results address the aforementioned gaps. The findings should be useful to policymakers, decision-makers and practitioners involved in STI policymaking, research and capability management

Assessment of Cultural Influences on Entrepreneurial Activities of Small Manufacturing Firms in Nnewi, Nigeria

  This study examined the assessment of cultural influences on entrepreneurial activities of small manufacturing firms in Nigeria. The study adopted the survey method with emphasis on small manufacturing firms in Nnewi. 98 manufacturing firms were sampled. The study results agreed that cultural influences affect SME’s/entrepreneur’s ability to succeed and survive. There is need to emphasis the educational and leadership factors by encouraging the age-long individuality of igbo man. Generally, just as other cited authors have sounded a note of warning, the significance of the relationship between factors of entrepreneurial success and the cultural environment should be applied with caution

Proxy contests: Prospects and challenges for corporate governance in Nigeria

The legal authority for management and direction of a company rests with the board of directors, whose duty it is to supervise the general course of business, and to use its powers in the best interests of the company. However, ultimate power resides in the shareholders as the board is brought into managerial office by them via elections in annual general meetings. Yet, whenever the shareholders are dissatisfied with the manner the board of directors is conducting and managing the affairs of the company, such management can be ousted through voting it out during another election. By this, shareholders need no longer be content to sit on the sideline and watch as their shares in a company plummet; they are rather standing up and holding management accountable. This study seeks to explore the theory and practice of 'proxy contest', investigates its application in some other jurisdictions, and considers its prospects and challenges with a view to adopting the practice into Nigerian corporate governance.Keywords: Proxy contest, Corporate governance, Prospects, Challenges, Nigeri

The Relative Importance of Academic Activities: Autonomous Values from the Canadian Professoriate

In this paper, we report findings on the contemporary idea of a university as defined by the relative importance of teaching, research, service, and collegiality in teaching-intensive universities. We also investigate Boyer’s model of scholarship relative to the research–teaching–service nexus. Our findings show that while research is embraced as a key academic responsibility of professors, there is general agreement on the primacy of teaching. Equally, awareness of Boyer’s model exposes faculty to diverse opportunities for scholarship and has the potential to open up faculty members to a new idea of the university.  Dans cet article, nous présentons les résultats d’une recherche portant sur l’idée contemporaine de l’université, telle que définie par l’importance relative de l’enseignement, de la recherche, du service et de la collégialité dans des établissements d’enseignement intensif de niveau collégial ou universitaire. Notre recherche porte également sur le modèle boursier de Boyer, relatif au lien entre recherche, enseignement et service. Nos résultats démontrent que tandis qu’on voit la recherche comme une responsabilité académique des professeurs, il existe une entente générale quant à l’importance de l’enseignement. De même, le fait de connaître le modèle de Boyer, ouvre aux facultés d’enseignement la porte aux diverses opportunités d’obtention de bourses, et amène aussi à sensibiliser le personnel à une nouvelle pensée universitaire