ABSTRACT
This
research project examines the impact of strategic planning to the development
of small scale as a means of reducing unemployment. Survey design was adopted
with simple random sampling methods as means of selection.
Primary
source of data collection was adopted with the use of a well structured
questionnaire. One hundred questionnaires were distributed to small scale
business owners in Ogun State.
Data
gathered were presented in table in percentile. Hypotheses formulated were
tested with Chi-Square analysis. The test resulted into rejecting the null
hypotheses and accepting the alternate hypotheses.
Conclusions
were made that Small-scale business owners have significant business strategies
to differentiate themselves from competition, Small-scale business owners have
significant competitive priorities to outperform competitors and small-scale
business owners significantly undertake market analysis to determine the need
of customers.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Nigeria
is bedeviled by a myriad of problems which, despite
her oil wealth, inhibit her development and even threaten her
continued existence as a sovereign state. Nigeria’s socio-political and
economic circumstances
give the significant indication that many of her problems
stem from an origin of artificial colonial construct
which lumped together a variety of separate peoples. Fragmentation of
the nation is seen as a distinct possibility unless its citizens can be induced
to accept a new sense of Nigerian identity, involving a commitment to the survival
of the present state as a cohesive entity. This would necessitate a number of
radical changes, not only in the political and economic structure of the
country but also in the psychology of the people.
Nigerians have lived through series of administrations underdifferent
governments, and the question still arises, ‘is Nigeria a nation at all?’
A critical look at what the government calls reform reveals a personally
instituted concept of governance, filling the seats of power with those they believe
to be their kin, rather than have professionals in the positions of merit, and
a breed of people typified by their integrity of heart, ingrained in
the trainings and qualifications they have received in the course of service to
the nation. The increasing number of those who are not gainfully employed or
adequately educated in the country, remain preys as political tools of violence
as it has been seen in the history of violence occurring in the country over a
period of time. The country has depended much on oil as its major source of
revenue for years, however, the current administration also fails to recognize
that the future of the country may very well depend on the economy of its
people(the youths), which is possibly the only untapped, ill harnessed, most lucrative
resource of the country. If it remains this way in the next ten years, putting
into consideration the effect of increased poverty, lack of employment, poor
educational system, it is unpredictable what the result will be. The table
below shows the statistical data of the rate of unemployment and
the population rate from 2006 to 2011 in Nigeria. It is the result of a survey carried out by the National Bureau of Statistics and shows that persons aged 0-14
years constituted 39.6%, those aged between 15-64 (the economically active
population), constituted 56.3%, while those aged 65 years and above constituted
4.2%. Analysis of employment data for the past 5 years show that the rate of
new entrants into the labour market has not been uniform in the past five
years.
The rate was on the increase from 2007 to 2009 but declined significantly
from 2009 to 2010. The rate increased again from 2010 to 2011. Within the five
year period, there has been an average of about 1.8 million new entrants into
the active labour market per year.
·
Governments,
or local leaders, who are generally not held accountable for how much money is
spent, and how education systems are managed,
·
Sufficiency
attitude – What is provided for the poor is good enough
·
Inadequate
pro-poor infrastructure or support systems this makes it difficult to implement
successful poverty eradication interventions
·
A
lack of systematic tracking of pro-poor interventions – in this way,
it is extremely difficult to know if the activities and programmes implemented have
had any impact at all. Nigeria cannot combat the ills of the society
just by raising its budget; there should be a strategic systematic approach to
education that would bridge the gap between its service delivery and its
effectiveness in the country.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Akingbolu
(2014), Okezie, Odii, and Njoku (2013) has documented that 70% of SMEs fail in
their first three years of operations in Nigeria because of their economy of
scale. This is coupled with the dynamic nature of the environment, greater
competitive firms and the need for continuous innovation. Product customization
and growing use of ICT, forces firms to face challenges of improving their
competitiveness. These difficulties are greater for the highly competitive
environment for small scale businesses which negatively affect their Return on
Investment (ROI). The inability of top management of SMEs to properly analyze
the market is one of the leading causes of reduction in Return on investment
(ROI) for SMEs (Aaker, Kumar & Day, 2008). This is as a result of their inability to formulate and implement
appropriate competitive strategies for diversification, to fulfill their role
of being an industry low cost provider, developing expertise and creating a
niche for their companies that will allows for SME Development.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
1. To appraise the SMEs business
strategies that differentiate them from competition
2. To explore the SMEs competitive
priorities that outperform competitors
4. To examine if SMEs
undertake market analysis to determine the need of customers.
3. To see if the current strategic planning of SMEs
has reduced unemployment
1.4 Research Questions
1. Does SMEs business strategies
that differentiate them from competition?
2. Does SMEs have competitive
priorities that outperform competitors?
3. Does SMEs undertake market analysis to determine the need
of customers?
4. Has the current strategic planning of SMEs reduced unemployment?
1.5 Significance of the Study
The
general understanding of this study would serve as a useful guide to
management, practitioners, executive, corporate managers most especially in
SMEs to understand how entrepreneurial strategies in their business policies,
leadership styles, recruitment and selection, innovation and pricing aid or
enable, the relationship and the extent of its effect on the attainment of
development by the SMEs. The study would also enable the SMEs to proactively
respond to changes within the environment more effectively as well as enable
them implement better business strategy for their operation and development.
This study would enable stakeholders in SMEs to understand that employing all
these strategies together would enable them achieve organizational growth and development.
Understanding from this study would
enable the government to create better policies and regulation with regards to
the research variables in a way to enable development and growth within the
country’s economy and sector as well. Findings from this study will enable the
society to be more informed and provide more knowledge with regards to
entrepreneurial strategies as it relates to SMEs development. It would also
provide more knowledge concerning entrepreneurial strategies and reveal what
makes it to be entirely different from one SME firm to another. Lastly, it is
also hoped that these findings would contribute to the body of knowledge and
stimulate more researcher’s interest in this field of study.
1.6 Scope of the Study
This study investigated
entrepreneurial strategies planning and SME development in reducing
unemployment in Ogun State. The state was chosen because of its position as
second to the least state in south west Nigeria in terms of SMEs development
(National MSME survey report, 2013).