Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Skip to main content

Chux Gervase Iwu

Setting up and running a business can be quite risky without the necessary support. This support can emerge from an ecosystem that allows private, public, and social actors to work together in supporting the development of... more
Setting up and running a business can be quite risky without the necessary support. This support can emerge from an ecosystem that allows private, public, and social actors to work together in supporting the development of entrepreneurship because entrepreneurs' efforts result in SMEs. African countries struggle with maintaining a sustainable entrepreneurship ecosystem owing to several factors including poor governance systems, dilapidated infrastructure, poor funding systems, and absence of enterprise education. These factors compromise the acclaimed benefits of SMEs, which often experience a short life span. As such, SME performance is considered less than satisfactory. The emergence of COVID-19 has had a further negative impact on this trend. As one can imagine, many businesses today have yet to experience anything close to the upset brought about by the pandemic. There is therefore justification for a concerted interest in how SMEs will bounce back post-COVID-19 in Africa. This chapter focuses on how South African SMEs have fared and their sustainability post COVID-19.
The relatedness of the factors that slow down the sustainability and growth of SMEs in emerging markets is discussed in this chapter. The chapter further argues that even though the factors that have encumbered SMEs have gained traction... more
The relatedness of the factors that slow down the sustainability and growth of SMEs in emerging markets is discussed in this chapter. The chapter further argues that even though the factors that have encumbered SMEs have gained traction in enterprise development and business management research, how their multidimensional interrelationship can harm the sustainability and growth of SMEs in emerging markets is yet to receive considerable attention. The entrepreneurial ecosystem framework of Mazzarol is used to present a novel approach in this review by attempting a richer explanation of the extent of the mutual connectedness of these factors and how they shape the entrepreneurial ecosystem. This chapter concludes that the factors that inhibit the realization of an impressive sustainable growth of SMEs are interrelated. For instance, the high cost of electricity significantly reduces the profit that can be made by a small business owner, and, in this case, the small business owner may have difficulty paying back a loan obtained in favor of the business.
Student administration in a higher education institution encompasses admissions and registration, accommodation, health services, assessments, and several aspects of a student’s life from the first contact with the institution until... more
Student administration in a higher education institution encompasses admissions and registration, accommodation, health services, assessments, and several aspects of a student’s life from the first contact with the institution until graduation. We set out to determine how students felt about these services at a South African university. The need to understand how students perceive these services is becoming increasingly important, especially in higher education, because it impacts not only student recruitment but the overall image of the university. Findings from this study can lead to much needed improvement of service quality. Data was collected from students using an open-ended questionnaire while interviews and focus groups were used for administrative staff. We realised a mix of feedback in terms of how both students and administrative staff felt about the quality of service at the university. In part, the findings suggest the need to sufficiently cater for both staff and stude...
Digital technologies have tremendously evolved and become a part of daily life. This constant evolution constitutes a major determinant of how consumers and organisations engage. For consumers, the evolvement intensifies their socialising... more
Digital technologies have tremendously evolved and become a part of daily life. This constant evolution constitutes a major determinant of how consumers and organisations engage. For consumers, the evolvement intensifies their socialising capacity with customers of like mind, voice their dissatisfaction, and explore alternative options. Marketers leverage the digital evolvement to engage with customers, acquire marketing intelligence, and exploit customers' purchase behaviour emotions. Recognising the growing digital technologies trend and importance to marketing, this chapter highlights the need for more effort towards enhancing the technology-marketing interface. Given that movement restriction-induced consequences of COVID-19 have intensified the paradigm shift from physical to virtual marketing, this chapter forwards a theoretical framing that takes a technology-marketing viewpoint that focuses on customer engagement and ensuring implementation processes for effectively mana...
Orientation: The rapid economic developments of the last decade have been driven by the impact of revolutionary developments in information and communication technologies. These technological developments have irreversibly and... more
Orientation: The rapid economic developments of the last decade have been driven by the impact of revolutionary developments in information and communication technologies. These technological developments have irreversibly and significantly affected the role of an administrative professional with regard to assimilation, processing and utilisation of information.Research purpose: This study investigates the impact of global and national key drivers of change and transformation on the skills requirements of administrative professionals with the aim of developing a future-focused success profile to enable them to be effective in the new world of work.Motivation for the study: The study is motivated by the personal experience of one of the researchers, and her observation of the impact of technological advances and the necessity for administrative professionals to integrate new skills, knowledge and attitudes into the new world of work.Research approach/design and method: This study fol...
We at South Asian Research Corporation are planning to bring out a book titled Design of Heat Exchangers in December 2015. Therefore, chapters are invited from concerned people. If intrested in writing, just drop a message in contact form... more
We at South Asian Research Corporation are planning to bring out a book titled Design of Heat Exchangers in December 2015. Therefore, chapters are invited from concerned people. If intrested in writing, just drop a message in contact form at the given below link..... You will be assigned the unit after you drop a message.
With excessively low levels of entrepreneurial activities reported for most developing countries, women who make up the majority of the population are under-represented in entrepreneural activities. Although the low numbers of women in... more
With excessively low levels of entrepreneurial activities reported for most developing countries, women who make up the majority of the population are under-represented in entrepreneural activities. Although the low numbers of women in entrepreneurial activities have been aligned to cultural barriers, the role played by non-cultural factors has been overlooked in many cases. Using Kigali as the locus, this paper sought to identify the non-cultural reasons for the low numbers of women entrepreneurs in Rwanda.The data utilized for this study were solicited from 398 women entrepreneurs in Kigali by means of a structured self-administered questionnaire. Though categorized as a quantitative study, primary focus was descriptive statistics, which were obtained through the use of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, V24) software. The results suggest that the typical woman entrepreneur in Kigali is of age 29-43, married, fairly educated and mostly in the retail subsector. In the order of gravity, the respondents noted the persistence of the following non-cultural factors as contributing to the low numbers of women entrepreneurs in Kigali: high rentals, limited access to captital, a complex tax system and the fear of failure. The contribution of this study lies in its examination of non-cultural reasons for the low uptake of entrepreneurial activity by women in Rwanda especially considering among other factors, Rwanda's very low position in Africa's total entrepreneurial activity (TEA). It is hoped that the results may inform policy directives that provide not only for the integration of women into mainstream economic activities but also continue to invest in the optimal utilisation of every member of Rwandan society irrespective of gender in furthering the economy.
One of the fastest growing sectors of the South African economy is tourism. As such, it provides an excellent opportunity for profit-driven entrepreneurs. Within the tourism sector, small-scale accommodation businesses (SSABs) have become... more
One of the fastest growing sectors of the South African economy is tourism. As such, it provides an excellent opportunity for profit-driven entrepreneurs. Within the tourism sector, small-scale accommodation businesses (SSABs) have become popular for the ‘relative’ ease of establishment. Given their relative ease of establishment and the accruable benefits for the owner/manager, factors that impede their expansion deserve research attention. Interestingly, as extant literature suggests, business expansion and sustainability issues are among the growth challenges confronting SSABs. This study thus aimed to determine the factors that interfere with developing and sustaining SSABs in Cape Town's Central Business District (CBD). A quantitative technique was used in this study, with 100 questionnaires distributed to respondents within SSABs in and around Cape Town's City Centre. The data was analysed with IBM SPSS Statistics software, and the results are provided in tabular format using cross-tabulation and/or graphs. As a critical sector of the Cape Town tourism industry, SSABs face increased competition and a lack of financial assistance. Additionally, they are affected by macroenvironmental forces such as political, technological, legal, environmental, economic, and social forces. The findings suggest that the government should invest more in assisting SSABs in developing (1) more effective strategies for reducing crime in the Cape Town central business district (CBD), which affects the tourism market, and (2) more favourable regulations for visitors and tourism-related activities. Additionally, SSABs must establish business relationships with large hotels in order to accelerate the sector's growth.
Entrepreneurship is considered a vehicle for fighting unemployment in developing countries such as South Africa. As a result, research focusing on entrepreneurship education continues to gain traction. Graduates of tertiary institutions... more
Entrepreneurship is considered a vehicle for fighting unemployment in developing countries such as South Africa. As a result, research focusing on entrepreneurship education continues to gain traction. Graduates of tertiary institutions are expected to contribute meaningfully either through employment or job creation. This expectation puts the role of tertiary institutions in converting students into graduates in the spotlight. Tertiary institutions deal with many challenges, such as the heterogeneity of the student population, which calls for evidence-based interventions that are tailor-made to the needs of specific cohorts. Thus, various stakeholders should support tertiary institutions by helping them achieve the desired graduate attributes. This paper sought to suggest effective interventions that would enhance the academic success of entrepreneurship students and prepare them to become future job creators. Interventions should capitalize on students’ strengths and improve on th...
Information and communication technologies (ICT) dominate almost all professional domains, including the field of human resources management. Human resources information system (HRIS) is one such technology that can transform the way... more
Information and communication technologies (ICT) dominate almost all professional domains, including the field of human resources management. Human resources information system (HRIS) is one such technology that can transform the way services are offered within the health sector. The public health sector is recognized as one of the most valued sectors for competitive and economic growth in a country. Understanding the extent to which HRIS can effectively become a strategic tool in the public health sector of South Africa is crucial. On the basis of this, there have been calls for research that pinpoints the necessary elements for the improvement of public health service delivery mandates. The chapter examines how HRIS can effectively become a strategic tool in the public health sector service delivery mandates using a partially integrated mixed-method to collect data. The study found among others that the public health sector of South Africa makes use of an outdated, PERSAL system. Some recommendations for practice and future research are also provided.
The pursuit of relevance in the market has led many organisations to consider several strategies. One of these strategies is the adoption of information technology (IT) for effective human resource management. The utility of human... more
The pursuit of relevance in the market has led many organisations to consider several strategies. One of these strategies is the adoption of information technology (IT) for effective human resource management. The utility of human resource information systems for workforce management continues to attain significant research interest without commensurate attention to how HRIS can be effectively utilised for workforce management and retention in the South African public health sector. Thus, we set out to investigate the risk implications of not having a dedicated HRIS in the South African public health sector using four healthcare facilities in the Western Province. We argue that the benefit of information technology is sustained if a proper understanding of how it can be better deployed is achieved. A partially integrated mixed method research was employed; four public healthcare facilities were purposively selected in the Western Cape Provincial Department of Health and Wellness of South Africa. Interviews were conducted involving forty-one participants while the questionnaire was completed by forty-six participants. All the participants were purposively selected from the four healthcare facilities chosen for the study. The study found that the risk involved in the ineffective use of HRIS stems from factors such as lack of access to the system, lack of effective training, and lack of upgrades. These factors do not bode well for a sector that should add to the growth of the economy by identifying, hiring and retaining a skilled workforce. A dedicated support strategy to improve firstly, the utility of HRIS, and secondly supporting the overall health sector are ways of averting risk within the health facilities. The recommendation is a proposed guideline for effective HRIS for workforce management in public healthcare facilities. Future research directions are flagged
The need to train learners to think critically has been stressed and it has become a key concern among scholars in recent years. Although there is strong evidence demonstrating the benefits of critical thinking as well as proposals for... more
The need to train learners to think critically has been stressed and it has become a key concern among scholars in recent years. Although there is strong evidence demonstrating the benefits of critical thinking as well as proposals for its integration in schools, scholars are still looking for evidence demonstrating how teachers instill critical thinking in the classroom and the obstacles they face. Furthering this argument necessitated lecturers’ feedback on the obstacles to teaching critical thinking in the classroom. Data was collected from academics at a South African university of technology using interpretative phenomenological analysis approaches. The lecturers identified several obstacles that inhibited them from inculcating critical thinking in the classroom. The first one is time, according to the lecturers there is not enough time to inculcate critical thinking since the average lesson last for fifty minutes. The second is the large population of students. The third is th...
Despite the South African government's desire to encourage economic growth via SME growth, attempts to ameliorate the difficulties encountered by SMEs are often hindered by a lack of resources, one of which is business incubation.... more
Despite the South African government's desire to encourage economic growth via SME growth, attempts to ameliorate the difficulties encountered by SMEs are often hindered by a lack of resources, one of which is business incubation. This paper employs a descriptive literature review to declutter the varying concerns of SME growth and development from the narratives around the role of business incubators (BIs) and the government. This, we believe, would provide clarity on the challenges faced by SMEs development in South Africa by filtering the roles of both BIs and the government. Descriptive literature review as a qualitative technique helps to reveal an interpretable pattern in the current literature and was thus employed in this study. Even while the literature points to the importance of SMEs in economic growth, their volatility makes them an unreliable partner for the South African government currently. This is because the literature suggests that the government is failing th...
This paper aims to evaluate students’ feedback on the impediments to developing critical thinking in the classroom. Interpretative phenomenological analysis techniques were used to obtain data from postgraduate and undergraduate students... more
This paper aims to evaluate students’ feedback on the impediments to developing critical thinking in the classroom. Interpretative phenomenological analysis techniques were used to obtain data from postgraduate and undergraduate students of an Internal Auditing department in a South African university. The students identified several barriers to developing critical thinking in the classroom some of which are (1) the lecturers who are most times not knowledgeable in the field of critical thinking, (2) the students themselves who are simply not interested, (3) finally the educational system, according to the students who all argued that critical thinking is not ingrained in the country's educational institutions. According to the students, their lack of knowledge of critical thinking including the lecturers’ seeming insufficient knowledge of critical thinking calls for urgent intervention in the form of re-curriculation and training of lecturers. The findings of this research coul...
The significance of small businesses in any economy can no longer be ignored. As a result, it is neces sary to continually seek ways of improving their outcomes. The objective of this paper is to identify major ob stacles that hinder the... more
The significance of small businesses in any economy can no longer be ignored. As a result, it is neces sary to continually seek ways of improving their outcomes. The objective of this paper is to identify major ob stacles that hinder the growth of small and medium enterpri ses in Nigeria. The paper benefits from insights fr om extant literature to identify four key themes namel y lack of business management skills; insufficient/ nonfunctional infrastructure; regulatory demands; diss ati faction with self-management of business; and i nability to apply technology. These are discussed giving way to our concluding remarks which come in the form o f an inventory of ‘to-do’ items that need to focused on in order to arrest the continual slippery slope sta te of small businesses in Nigeria. Our thesis is that nations w ithout a vibrant small and medium enterprise ecosys tem suffer from its absence.
The critically endangered mountain gorilla, Gorilla beringei beringei, found in only three countries, Uganda, Democratic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda is inextricably linked to tourism. Governments in these countries work tirelessly ensuring... more
The critically endangered mountain gorilla, Gorilla beringei beringei, found in only three countries, Uganda, Democratic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda is inextricably linked to tourism. Governments in these countries work tirelessly ensuring protection of these great apes so that future generations would also get a chance to benefit from their conservation. The study investigated how local residents living close to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP) perceives the impact of mountain gorilla tourism in order to establish the overall value of the attraction. To achieve this, a quantitative research approach was adopted. Data was collected through a survey instrument (n=394) with mostly close-ended questions. The results show that gorilla tourism has contributed positively to their area through the creation of job opportunities as well as unlocking several entrepreneurial opportunities. The study also revealed that residents of the Butogota Town Council have gained from this niche tou...
International Conference on Engineering & Business Education, Innovation and Entrepreneurship
No organisation is ever static. For several reasons, each organisation reviews its aims and objectives from time to time. These reasons may be internally or externally driven. They could also be politically, economically and or socially... more
No organisation is ever static. For several reasons, each organisation reviews its aims and objectives from time to time. These reasons may be internally or externally driven. They could also be politically, economically and or socially motivated. Research has established that most of the attempts at bringing about change are based on the needs of employees and customers. Essentially, for the purposes of better management of employees and customers, human resource information systems (HRIS) are touted as the panacea for effective and efficient health sector service delivery. Focusing on South Africa, this paper used the descriptive literature review method to determine HRIS adoption issues within the health sector of South Africa. As an important sector in any growing economy, the health sector in our view benefits from a constant review of its mission. Within the context of South Africa, substantial emphasis is yet to be placed on health sector effectiveness. Elsewhere, in other re...
Business incubation (BI) is a strategic tool that helps a country to grow its entrepreneurial base and reduce the high mortality rate of SMEs. Kingdom of Eswatini adopted the business incubation initiatives to promote entrepreneurship and... more
Business incubation (BI) is a strategic tool that helps a country to grow its entrepreneurial base and reduce the high mortality rate of SMEs. Kingdom of Eswatini adopted the business incubation initiatives to promote entrepreneurship and SME development. To date, no data exist on the impact made by business incubation initiatives. Adopting methodological triangulation of both quantitative and qualitative data collected through questionnaires and interviews where the participants consisted of SME owners, BI managers, and BI trainers, this exploratory study aims to investigate business incubation initiatives' impact on entrepreneurs and SMEs. Findings reflect that BIs measure their impact by seeing an increase in revenue, increase in the number of people employed, and SME survival post the incubation period. Though SMEs agreed that the BI effects positively, the study also revealed that some SMEs remained in the incubation for more than 10 years. Policy implications emerging are ...
The relationship between an aging workforce, higher retirement age, and youth unemployment has already been established in the available literature. However, the empirical research on the impact of an aging workforce, and higher... more
The relationship between an aging workforce, higher retirement age, and youth unemployment has already been established in the available literature. However, the empirical research on the impact of an aging workforce, and higher retirement age on youth unemployment is limited, has conflicting results, has occurred mostly overseas, and has not considered the perceptions of young people who are about to enter the workforce. Hence, this paper aims to investigate the perceptions of the youth on the relationship between the aging workforce, higher retirement age, immigration policies, and youth unemployment. Structural equation modelling was used to analyze the responses of 183 business students. The findings establish that five relationships were supported out of seven hypothesized relationships. The key research finding reveal that immigration policies and higher retirement age are significantly related to youth unemployment. Lastly, the theoretical and managerial implications of the s...
The intention of this article is to identify the obstacles unique to female entrepreneurs in the tourism industry in Western Cape, South Africa. This is against the backdrop that in order to accelerate economic growth and development in... more
The intention of this article is to identify the obstacles unique to female entrepreneurs in the tourism industry in Western Cape, South Africa. This is against the backdrop that in order to accelerate economic growth and development in South Africa, female entrepreneurs should also be considered as important vehicles that can bring about the necessary economic growth and development. Unfortunately, this growth has been stifled due to the high failure rate in the SMME sector; specifically among women. This article used the qualitative deductive approach, utilising in-depth semi-structured interviews, which enabled the participants to disclose important information relating to the study. The data were analysed qualitatively using themes. For effect, this article also made use of content analysis because of its significance in qualitative studies.Three themes emerged from content analysis. These include demographic factors; socio-economic factors and culture. The findings have shown p...
Purpose - Nowadays customers have become empowered by information communication technologies. This state of customers has brought enormous pressure to bear on organizations, thus, organizations have...
Human resource retention and development (HRRD) relationship with public servants’ professionalism is examined in this study. Variables such as performance appraisal, training and motivation are used to measure HRRD and the effect on... more
Human resource retention and development (HRRD) relationship with public servants’ professionalism is examined in this study. Variables such as performance appraisal, training and motivation are used to measure HRRD and the effect on professional output of public service employees are examined. Both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection were adopted; four hundred and seventy six (476) useable questionnaires were retrieved from respondents and used in the quantitative analysis, while three different groups consisting of between eight to twelve people were involved in focus group discussions. Inferential statistics was used to analyse the quantitative data, while the qualitative data was organised into themes. Findings indicate among others a lack of motivation among Nigerian public servants in terms of salaries and other incentives that could have enhanced performance output. Likewise, training and developmental strategy embarked on presently is not problem targeted...
This research sought to ascertain those job characteristics that influence teacher motivation, which may result in improved pass rates for learners in Ibadan South-West Local Government, Nigeria. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate... more
This research sought to ascertain those job characteristics that influence teacher motivation, which may result in improved pass rates for learners in Ibadan South-West Local Government, Nigeria. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate statistical analytic methods were employed to determine the relationships between job characteristics and obstacles to teaching and learning, on the one hand; and respondents’ profile, on the other. For the purpose of the research, 456 teachers were surveyed with the aid of a structured questionnaire. Relatively young teachers were surveyed (87%), with females dominating the sample. The results suggest that while salary, career opportunities and duties and responsibilities respectively take central stage in motivating the participants, other job characteristics variables (such as supervision/leadership) do not exert the same effect. Furthermore, the results also show that the lack of resources related to learning and research, and the lack of recogni...
We used an integrative qualitative descriptive review methodology to survey the literature on the COVID-19 pandemic to understand how the pandemic devastated businesses as well as emphasise the benefit of understanding the possible... more
We used an integrative qualitative descriptive review methodology to survey the literature on the COVID-19 pandemic to understand how the pandemic devastated businesses as well as emphasise the benefit of understanding the possible opportunities that emerge from a crisis. The discussions are framed within the purview of resilience and vulnerability theory, including the resource-based view. Findings indicate that as a result of the sudden emergence of COVID-19, many businesses' unpreparedness and untested resilience capabilities led to their demise, with others downsizing or ceasing operations. COVID-19 required businesses to adopt a speedy adaptation of business practices, thinking, and processes to capitalise on emerging opportunities. Thus, businesses adopted e-commerce, virtual operations, and the development of new channels. Overall, the study concludes that businesses confronted a mixed bag of COVID-19 consequences. The study, therefore, recommends that developing nations&...
The call by the government of South Africa for an improved postgraduate throughput and pass rate is yet to meet with commensurate attention from researchers. To date, not much empirical studies have been undertaken in this regard. This... more
The call by the government of South Africa for an improved postgraduate throughput and pass rate is yet to meet with commensurate attention from researchers. To date, not much empirical studies have been undertaken in this regard. This knowledge gap is dire especially in light of the essential role of postgraduate education in national government’s strategy for improved employment statistics and of the emphasis on access to much more meaningful work. Postgraduate education is commonly perceived to be a lonely journey because students are considered mature at the level of postgraduate studies. Despite the assumption that postgraduate students have somewhat mastered the art of academic writing, they confront certain challenges associated with postgraduate study. In South Africa, postgraduate students have often complained about lack of guidance regarding administrative processes and procedures associated with research. One of the approaches to clarifying the roles and responsibilities...

And 129 more

Background This book started as a solo project. However, most peer reviewers have rightly recommended it being an edited book offers diverse perspectives on the range of specialism influencing the study of early childhood. The themes/... more
Background This book started as a solo project. However, most peer reviewers have rightly recommended it being an edited book offers diverse perspectives on the range of specialism influencing the study of early childhood. The themes/ topics in this call have generally gained approval of the reviewers. However, contributors will exercise their authorial independence in their interpreta=on and approach to the themes.
Research Interests:
Among many other tools for economic development, entrepreneurship education remains an important tool for entrepreneurship development in any economy. Currently, the way entrepreneurship is taught at universities and colleges is... more
Among many other tools for economic development, entrepreneurship education remains an important tool for entrepreneurship development in any economy. Currently, the way entrepreneurship is taught at universities and colleges is criticized for numerous reasons including the poor uptake of entrepreneurship as a career by graduates of entrepreneurship. A corollary to this is that entrepreneurship as a discipline is yet as attractive as 'established' economic and management disciplines such as Marketing, Human Resource Management, Finance and Accounting. Again, most entrepreneurship education patterns are driven by Western pedagogy leaving one to wonder whether the obvious lack of attraction and uptake of entrepreneurship as a career is linked to the dearth of African-oriented definition of entrepreneurship education. One equally wonders whether the development of an Africa-oriented definition of entrepreneurship education is necessary.
This book seeks to close the gap on the following:
• Can there be a definition of entrepreneurship education that is unique to Africa?
• Is it possible to find a better way to teach entrepreneurship?
• At what level should entrepreneurship education start?
• What opportunities exist to make entrepreneurship education an attractive field of study?
In line with closing the above gaps, the book contributes to:
• Critiquing the current teaching styles of entrepreneurship,
• Suggest creative ways of teaching entrepreneurship,
• Offer contemporary expectations of entrepreneurship education,
• Clarify whether the teaching of entrepreneurship should lead to a productive enterprise.
Contributions
Inquiries and contributions to the book should be directed to Chux Gervase lwu at chuxiwu@gmail.com and Richard Shambare at rshambare@gmail.com