Covenant Journal of Entrepreneurship

Effects of Social Media Technology on Students' Enrolment in selected Private Universities in Uganda: Entrepreneurial Marketing perspective

Omotayo Adeniyi Adegbuyi — 2024-07-08

Abstract: The university’s online feasibility is fundamental to students enrolling in a highly competitive academic environment. The study's main objective was to examine the effect of social media technology on students' Enrollment in selected private universities in Uganda. Two private universities were selected to accomplish the study's goals, and all the students and the institutions' admission/marketing officers were targeted. The selected two universities are owned by entrepreneurs. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data from the students, and unstructured interviews were organised to gather data from the admission/marketing officers. Four different types of social media are included in this work. Four hypotheses were formulated from the structure of the research questions; ANOVA, Correlation, and other statistical tools were used in testing these hypotheses. The results indicate that the University’s Facebook advertisement significantly affects student enrolment at F= 223.522, df= 353, sig. at 0.000. Meanwhile, the University’s Website (blogs) content positively affects student enrolment at F= 84.714, df= 353, sig. at 0.000. On the other hand, the result shows a significant positive relationship between the University’s YouTube channel and students’ enrollment at a correlation of 0.558, df= 353, sig. at 0.000 and significant at 0.01 level (2-tailed). Similarly, the finding also shows that the University’s LinkedIn site influences students’ enrolment at F= 291.125, df = 353, sig. at 0.000. The insights discovered from this study would help to facilitate, develop, and focus on building a corporate image that will encourage students’ enrolment. This will also be useful for universities that wish to improve the level of students’ subscriptions to different programs offered by the institutions.

Effect of Entrepreneurship Education on Poverty Alleviation and Entrepreneurial Intention among Graduates of the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (Cei) University of Ibadan

S.A Ogunrinade — 2024-07-08

Entrepreneurship education is one of the essential keys to human capital development, economic growth, and national development. This study, therefore, examined the effect of entrepreneurship education on poverty alleviation and entrepreneurial intention among graduates of the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI), University of Ibadan. A descriptive survey research study design was adopted after reviewing relevant literature. The research instrument used for this work is a structured questionnaire. The items were constructed to elicit responses from the respondents. The study population is the students who have undergone entrepreneurship education at the University of Ibadan. Quantitative data was collected from a purposive sample of 200 respondents using a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire. Data collected were analysed using Chi-square and presented in tables. From the findings, the statistical result of the first hypothesis shows a statistically positive significant effect of entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurship intention at (sig = 0.000 < 0.05). The second hypothesis's statistical result shows a statistically significant effect of entrepreneurial education on poverty eradication in society at (sig = 0.000 < 0.05). The study concludes that profitable and sustainable business creation is possible through entrepreneurship education, which offers students essential skills, motivation, and awareness. The study also recommended that academic institutions invest massively in training students to develop a culture of value creation to solve professional and socio-economic issues.

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Innovative Ways of Communicating Green Office Practice in Nigerian Universities For Sustainable Economic Growth

Gideon. U. Nwafor — 2024-07-08

As the world continues to face the challenges of environmental degradation and climate change, there is an increasing demand for sustainable practices in all sectors of society, including the education sector. Nigerian universities have a significant role in promoting sustainable development practices, including green office practices. The effective communication of these practices is crucial to driving sustainable behaviour among university staff and students. This research explores innovative methods for communicating green office practices in Nigerian universities that can contribute to sustainable economic growth. This study further identifies that green offices are being set up across Nigeria to enhance climate change education and communication, achieving sustainable economic growth and development. It also highlights the concept and numerous benefits of green offices across various higher education institutions in Nigeria. It concludes with a clarion call for the multi-stakeholder partnership to enhance green office practices and climate change communication across various Universities in Nigeria, thereby achieving sustainable economic growth.

The Role of Entrepreneurship Education in Enhancing Socio-Economic Development in Nigeria

Nnabuike Osadebe — 2024-07-08

Entrepreneurship education is one of the most powerful instruments known for developing entrepreneurship skills, creating employment, and making the beneficiaries self-reliant in modern societies. It can turn job seekers into job creators. This study highlighted that entrepreneurship education aims primarily to produce competent, skillful, and dynamic entrepreneurs who will effectively compete in the world of work. The implementation of the findings of the study would help strengthen entrepreneurship education as a discipline across campuses in Nigeria. Through literature review and participant observation, this study identified that entrepreneurship education will enhance self-employment and self-reliance among the youths, thereby eradicating poverty and hunger in Nigeria. It concluded with a clarion call for further research in entrepreneurship education for socio-economic growth and sustainable development in Nigeria.

Creating Entrepreneurial Possibilities in Library and Information Science: Remedying the Narrative of Unemployment

Emmanuel OKWU — 2024-07-08

The paper explores creating entrepreneurial possibilities in Library and Information Science: remedying the unemployment narrative. It portrayed entrepreneurship as the engine house for economic advancement as it plays a vital role in the growth and development of society. It is a treasured instrument for creating wealth, jobs, poverty alleviation, and overall societal progress. There is an outright recognition that information is the chief commodity of the contemporary age and thus saleable. Librarians who market and approach information services with this perspective will unquestionably sell. It captured leadership and information literacy, among others, as skills required of entrepreneurs to function optimally. The entrepreneurial opportunities for remedying the issue of unemployment were excellently highlighted, including information brokerage, database brokerage, information system consultancy, and information organisation service, among others. The paper held that Library and Information Science professionals who venture into entrepreneurship often experience a lack of requisite information literacy skills, a lack of entrepreneurial spirit, an absence of technological literacy, access to market channels, and poor patronage as challenges. Therefore, it was recommended, among others, that library schools deliberately inculcate the culture of entrepreneurship in undergraduates as a remedy to the issue of unemployment among graduates.

Developing Entrepreneurship among Hearing Impaired People with Technical and Vocational Skills in Rivers State, Nigeria

Legborsi NWINEH — 2024-07-08

In Nigeria, hearing impaired people face immense socio-economic difficulties. Due to communication barriers, employers find hiring even those who have completed their education difficult. In light of this, most of them undergo vocational training to acquire vocational skills, hoping they will be meaningfully engaged in job activities to enhance their economic lives. Many hearing-impaired people who possess vocational skills hardly gain employment, and those who have started a business venture or enterprise hardly thrive. The present study investigated entrepreneurship development among hearing impaired people in Rivers State, Nigeria. The study, guided by three research questions, adopted a case study, using interviews and focus group discussions to collect data. The study participants comprised 38 persons. The study's findings showed that communication, building relationships, skillfulness, technology usage, and the ability of relatives to provide support were vital for success in self-employment. It was found that very little has been done by way of activities conducted to develop entrepreneurship for self-employment among hearing impaired students. Furthermore, educational level, medium of vocational training, gender, and family background in entrepreneurship contributed to developing entrepreneurship competencies among the study group. Government intervention, among others, was recommended.

THE ROLE OF GREEN ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS IN ENHANCING PRODUCTION ECONOMY IN NIGERIA

Benjamin Anabaraonye — 2024-07-08

The national hunger, poverty, and unemployment challenges have motivated individuals and groups to float their business enterprises to achieve better living conditions. There is a clarion call to move the nation from an economy of consumption to production, enhancing Nigeria's good health and well-being through entrepreneurship education. Through literature review, participant observation, and data collection from relevant agencies, this study identified the role of green entrepreneurial skills in enhancing the production economy in Nigeria. It identified that green entrepreneurial skills will help achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1,2, 4, and 13. This study defined the concept of entrepreneurship and green entrepreneurship. It further highlighted that entrepreneurial skills aim primarily to produce competent, skillful, and dynamic entrepreneurs who will effectively compete in the world of work. It also identified green entrepreneurial skills as necessary amidst the global challenges of climate change, thereby enhancing the production economy. The implementation of the findings of the study would help strengthen entrepreneurship and enhance the production economy in Nigeria. It concluded with the benefits of green entrepreneurship and a clarion call for further research on the role of green entrepreneurial skills in enhancing the production economy in Nigeria.

Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic and Performance of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Akure Metropolis, Ondo State, Nigeria

Modupe Olayinka AJAYI — 2024-08-15

This study examined the effects of coronavirus on the performance of Small and Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Akure North and Akure South in Ondo state, Nigeria. The specific objectives are to evaluate the direct impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the structure and system of SMEs; examine the downstream effects of the lockdown order due to coronavirus on SMEs; investigate the effect of social distancing and hand washing on the performance of small and medium scale enterprises. This research adopted a descriptive research design; the purposive sampling method was used to select the SMEs, with the sampling size of the study being 284 respondents in both Akure North and Akure South. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using simple linear regression. The study found that direct impact, downstream effect, and social distancing had significant effects on the performance of SMEs. The study thus concludes that the coronavirus influences the performance of SMEs. It was recommended that SMEs emphasise more resources towards building customer protection guides and personal selling to improve the enterprise’s profit level.

Financial Management, Marketing Management, Leadership Competencies, and Entrepreneurial Success: Conceptual and Empirical Review

Oyedele Matthew OYEKU — 2024-09-02

The goal of setting up an enterprise by the entrepreneur is to make a profit. With the current global inflation, many small and medium enterprises find it difficult to survive in a business environment characterized by hostility and uncertainties. To succeed, therefore, entrepreneurs need a broad base of competencies that they need to develop and harness to influence enterprise success properly. The concept of entrepreneurial competency is fairly deep because it involves the personal characteristics of an entrepreneur and how the entrepreneur reacts when confronted with various tasks and situations related to the venture’s operations. This paper identified financial, marketing, and leadership competencies as key dimensions of entrepreneurial competency necessary to start and run a business successfully. A thorough conceptual review of the three dimensions has been carried out to provide a deep understanding. Also, an empirical review was carried out on the three dimensions to understand their effects on or relationships with four dimensions of success: profitability, sales growth, customer satisfaction, and competitiveness. It is recommended that researchers devote more attention to studying these three dimensions of entrepreneurial competency as entrepreneurial success determinants to address the alarming rate at which small and medium enterprises are closing down. The government should provide the necessary financial support to researchers in this area.

Family Culture and Succession in Family-Owned and Managed Supermarkets in South Eastern Nigeria

Kenneth Chukwujioke AGBIM — 2024-09-30

The unprecedented increase in the failure rate of family-owned and managed businesses in South Eastern Nigeria has been linked to the multi-cultural nature of the region. Since the region is rooted in individualistic and collectivistic cultures, this study investigates the effects of these cultures on management succession and ownership succession with a special focus on supermarkets. A cross-sectional survey design was adopted for the study. At the same time, a criterion sampling technique was employed to select 279 descendants/CEOs from a population of 349 registered supermarkets with the respective five State Ministries of Commerce and Industry in South Eastern Nigeria. The generated data via questionnaire were subjected to simple bivariate regression analysis. It was found that the effect of individualistic culture was only significant and positive on ownership succession. Again, collectivistic culture had a significant and positive effect on ownership succession. As such, family-owned and managed supermarkets in South Eastern Nigeria can enhance their ownership succession by employing either their individualistic or collectivistic culture to shape and/or reshape the potential successors’ preferences and behaviours. To facilitate successful management succession, families should put in place other cultural values that can foster supportive relationships between incumbent managers and potential managers of family businesses.