Resource Management Competencies Required by Business Education Graduates for Engagement in Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Delta State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined resource management competencies required by Business Education graduates for engagement in small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) in Delta State. Two research questions were answered while two null hypotheses were tested at a 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population for the study consisted of 129 subjects comprising 95 final students of Business Education, Delta State University, Abraka, and 34 managers of registered SMEs in Ethiope East LGA of the state. Census sampling techniques were used to sample the entire population of 129 respondents. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire on the resources management competencies of graduates for engagement in SMEs. The instrument was validated by three experts. The Cronbach Alpha reliability method was used to ascertain the reliability of the instrument which yielded a Cronbach alpha coefficient of 0.83 for the entire research instrument. The data for the study were collected with the help of three research assistants. Out of the 129 copies of the questionnaire administered, 116 were retrieved and completely filled representing a 90.0% rate of return. Data collected were analyzed using means for answering the research questions. The null hypotheses were tested using t-test statistics. From the data collected and analyzed, the study identified: 11 financial resource management competencies and 18 human resource management competencies required by Business education graduates for engagement in small and medium-scale enterprises in Ethiope East LGA of Delta State. The results of the hypotheses tested showed no significant (p≤0.05) differences in the mean ratings of Business education students and managers of SMEs on financial resources management competencies whereas, there were significant (p≤0.05) differences in the mean ratings of respondents on human resource management competencies. Based on the findings, the study recommended among others, that the governments of Delta State should help package the identified resource management competencies into teachable programmes for training other University, Polytechnic, and College of Education graduates and retraining existing SME operators for economic success in the state.