SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES MANAGERS’ RATING OF SKILLS NEEDED BY BUSINESS EDUCATION GRADUATES FOR ENTREPRENEURIAL SUCCESS IN SOUTH WEST NIGERIA
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Background to the Study
Education is a productive vehicle for overall economic, social-cultural and political development of nations and individuals. It is universally recognized as an instrument for social, political, scientific and technological development.One of the national education goals isprincipally the acquisition of appropriate skills and the development of mental, physical andsocial abilities and competencies as equipment for the individual to leave in, and contribute tothe development of the society (FRN, 2013). One of the educational programmes that can lead to the attainment of these goals of education in Nigeria is business education. Business education is an educational programme tailored to meet the needs and demands of the entire labour market requirements by equipping students with workplace skills and competencies for national development. According to Etonyeaku (2009), business education is an aspect of vocational and technical education which is used to refer to those educational processes involving the study of techniques, related sciences, acquisition of practical skills attitudes and knowledge relating to occupation in vocational sectors of economic and social life. Igboke (2005) stated that the objectives of business education at all levels of education are to enable recipients develop basic skills for personal use in the 2 future; acquire basic knowledge and skills of business education; relate the knowledge and skills acquired to national development; develop basic skills in office occupations; prepare students for further training and provide orientation and basic skills with which to start a life of work for those who may not undergo further training. Despite the practice of business education programmes in the nation‟s tertiary institutions, Nwazor and Onokpaunu (2016) posited that academicians believed that, introducing entrepreneurship education programme and maintaining quality assurance systems across existing educational programmes are some realistic strategies for curbing the menace of unemployment in Nigeria.Entrepreneurship is founded on innovation with the propensity of openingnovel business enterprisesin different sections of the labour market.Jain (2013) defined entrepreneurship as behaviour, attitude and an approach to the way people create new values in the market, technology consumption, habits and build sustainable institutions and organizations Entrepreneurship entails generating new investment opportunities and successfully harnessing untapped business ideas for productive purposes. Therefore, the inclusion of entrepreneurship studiesin business education programmes is very commendable because it goes a long way in improving the 3 quality of the products by equipping them with skills for entrepreneurship success on graduation. According to Ezenwafor and Olaniyi (2017), entrepreneurship education is a carefully planned programme of instruction aimed at equipping students with entrepreneurial skills and competencies to enable them start and effectively manage their business enterprises for survival and success. Osuala (2004) defined entrepreneurship education as a programme or part of the educational programmes that prepares individuals to undertake the formation and/or operation of small business enterprises. It is a programme of instruction designed to produce proficient owners of small and medium scale business enterprises who would create jobs to reduce the rate of unemployment in Nigeria. The definition of small and medium scale enterprise (SME) is quite dynamic among nations and relative among academia as there seems to be no consensus on the point at which a business enterprise is deemed to be small and/or medium scale. Udofia (2010) posited that each country develops its own definition of SMEs based on the roles they are expected to play in national development. Correspondingly, the definition and classification of SMEs in Nigeria are based on capital employed, turnover and number of employees (Gbandi & Amissah, 2014).Ezenwafor and Onokpaunu (2017) described small and medium scale enterprises as profit making enterprises that fall short of being called a large 4 corporation.The authors further maintained that SMEs are business enterprises responsible for national development because of their economic potentials in lifting countries out of poverty-related indices. The popularity of SMEs in Nigeria due to its limited start-up capital makes it a breeding ground for business education graduates to achieve entrepreneurship successin the business world. Small and medium scale enterprises are major agents of employment, economic growth and transformation that facilitate the development of developing economies. They play a vital role in stimulatingand preparing individuals for entrepreneurial success. Entrepreneurial success is the ability of business managers and owners to generate sales and revenue that will ensure profitability, growth and sustainability of their enterprises. Simpson, Tuck and Bellamy (2004) defined entrepreneurial success as the continued existence of business operations over a number of years without failure. Similarly, Johnson (2010) viewed entrepreneurial success as the ability of an entrepreneur to satisfy the demands and needs of stakeholders such as investors, customers and suppliers among others in the business environment. Karpak and Topcu (2010) posited that the longevity of a small and medium scale enterprise is an important measure of entrepreneurial success.Business education programme is designed to prepare recipients for entrepreneurship success in self-employment ventures. However, to attain and maintain 5 entrepreneurial success requires certain skills. A skill is any established habit of performing a task in a way that is acceptable by a worker in his specialization. Omowumi (2014) defined skill as the ability and capacity acquired through deliberate, systematic and sustained effort to smoothly and adaptively carry out complex activities or job functions involving ideas (cognitive skills), things (technical skills) and people (interpersonal skills). In the context of entrepreneurial success, skill refers to the academic knowledge and practical competencies which are fundamental to the establishment and sustainable operation of SMEs (Ezenwafor & Onokpaunu, 2017). Skills go a long way in helping managers of SMEs become successful because they would do what is best for the growth and development of the enterprise. Thus, Ezenwafor and Olaniyi (2017) reported that human relation skills, innovative skills and problem-solving skills among othersare required for entrepreneurial success. Correspondingly, Olusegun (2012) highlighted other skills such as financial, management, communication, marketing, information and communication technology, creativity, risk-taking and decision-making skills as important for business education graduates desiring to be successful entrepreneurs. Although, researchers and authors have highlighted many skills needed for entrepreneurial success, this study focused on personality skills, communication skills, human relations skills, management skills and business skills. 6 Personality skills are skills that enablebusiness managers to manage emotions, temperament, anger and personal interest. Raposo Matos-Ferreira, Finisterra do-Poo and Gouveja-Rodrigues (2008)opined that personality skills are motivational set skills that shape and motivate an individual to start-up a business venture. The fact that, the personality of individual has a lot to play in entrepreneurship necessitates the acquisition of personality skills because the possession of certain personality skills will propel an individual toward entrepreneurial exploration in its immediate environment. Communication skills are skills that enable business managers to express their opinions and transmit information within and outside the business environment. This is the ability of a business manager to clearly convey important messages to his superiors, subordinates, colleagues and clients or customers in the market place. Managers should be able to communicate well in order to sell their vision to investors, potential clients, team members, and others who are involved in promoting the enterprise in order to achieve success. Human resources skills are skills that enable business managers to attain cordial human relationship among members of the enterprise. Thus, in order to attain entrepreneurial success, managers must select, organize, train, appraise and adequately compensate employees in order to realize the set goals of the enterprise. Uche (2008) stressed that human relation skills entails the ability of business 7 managers to relate well with co-workers; accept criticisms, advice and suggestions from others, exercise confidence, good judgment and bring about increased customers satisfaction through innovation. Management skills involve the ability of a manager to plan, organize, direct, control human and material resources of an organization. Thus, an entrepreneur is a management agent because he performs all the functions of management. To support this stand point, Jones and George (2008) asserted that an organization‟s resources among other factors include management skills that boost the performance of the organization through effective management. Business skills involve identifying and conceiving business ideas. It is the ability of managers to translate business ideas into profitable business for the purpose of making profit and maximizing wealth for the organization. In fact, business skills make the implementation of creative ideas within an organization possible. Oduma (2011) outlined relevant business skills to include introduction of new products, new methods of production, opening new markets and exploring new sources of supply of raw materials. From the foregoing, it is important for business educators to intensifythe teaching of personality, communication, human relations and management as well as business skills in business education and entrepreneurship training programmes. This is because, without proper development of entrepreneurial skills in the 8 recipients of business education and entrepreneurship programmes, their functions in the business world will bea mismatch(Onyesom & Jegbefume, 2012).The essence of incorporating entrepreneurship education into business education programmes is to prepare graduates to become managers and owners of small and medium scale enterprises. This noble purpose seems unrealistic given the alarming rate of graduate unemployment and frequent collapse of business enterprises in the nation. Aremu and Adeyemi (2011) reported that 80 percent of SMEs in Nigeria fold within the first five years of operation. Graduates of business education programmes are in different parts of the country including the South West region of Nigeria and can contribute to entrepreneurship development of the area. Skills for entrepreneurial success are many and varied and the extent each is needed by business education graduates can best be rated by the managers of SMEs in a given area. It is, therefore, necessary for those of them who desire to establish their own enterprises in South West, Nigeria to know the skills they need in order to succeed. In determining the skills needed by business education graduates for entrepreneurial success, the rating of SMEs managers can be influenced by gender and experience. Gender is the behavioral characteristics distinguishing between males and females in any society. Abor and Biekpe (2005) observed that female managers of SMEs are less likely to survive than their male counterparts due to 9 unequal economic activities and access to productive resources such as capital as well as differences in skills. Years of experience could play an important role in the SMEs managers‟ rating of skills needed for entrepreneurial success in South, West, Nigeria. This could be why, Rosli (2011) asserted that knowledge gained from years of experience can assist SMEs owners to track their position, verify priorities as well as communicate and improve performance. It is in this light that this study was conceived to determine SMEs managers rating of skills needed by business education graduates for entrepreneurial success in South Western Nigeria
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