Browsing by Author "Adeyemo, Felicia Solayide"

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    Assessment of institutional support service for technical enterpreneurship development in Southwestern Nigeria
    (Obafemi Awolowo University, 2014) Adeyemo, Felicia Solayide
    The study identified the various technological and non- technological support services provided by institutions in Southwestern Nigeria to technical entrepreneurs; assessed the level of entrepreneurs’ awareness of the institutional support services and examined the methods of accessing the support services. Furthermore, it determined the factors influencing the provision and accessibility of the support services, and evaluated the impact of the support services on the performance of technical entrepreneurs. This was with a view to assessing the relevance and contribution of the support services to entrepreneurship development The study covered 14 institutions established to provide support services to technical entrepreneurs and 300 technical entrepreneurs beneficiaries. Data were collected using two sets of questionnaire. The first set was administered to 42 respondents from the 14 institutions to obtain information on the type of technological and non-technological support services provided, level of awareness creation to entrepreneurs and support services delivery mechanism. The second set of questionnaire was administered to 300 selected technical entrepreneurs beneficiaries from the institutional support services. The questionnaire elicited information on types of support services received, method of receiving the services and their impacts on the performance of the entrepreneurs on production output, sales turnover, profitability and product quality. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results showed that 5 main support services were provided by institutions to technical entrepreneurs. These include technical (64.3%), information (64.3%), human resource development (53.3%), financial (50%) and general services (50%). The level of entrepreneurs’ awareness of these support services was high as 66.7% of the institutions assisted more than 90% entrepreneurs with one form of support service or the other. The methods of accessing the support services by entrepreneurs were mainly through workshops/seminars (57%), application for support services (25.3%), guarantor/ collateral (6.8%), interviews (5.0%), and cooperative arrangement (3.6%). The results further showed that the factors that significantly influenced the provision of support services were: awareness of the support services (F=3.77, p< 0.05), attitude of beneficiaries of support services (F=4.03, p<0.05), number of support services in a particular location (F=10.56, p<0.01) and location of the support service providers (F=4.27, p< 0.05). The significant factors influencing the accessibility of support services by the entrepreneurs: location of the support service providers (F = 3.04, p< = 0.05), cost of services provided (F = 2.46, p 0<0.05), educational level of the entrepreneurs (F = 2.57, p = 0.05), age of enterprise (F = 3.40, p< 0.05), and scale of operation (F = 3.37, p < 0.05). The technical support services provided had significant impact on production output (F = 3.74, p < 0.05) and sales turnover (F = 3.00, p <0.05) of the entrepreneurs. Financial support services had significantly impacted production output (F = 2.29, p < 0.010) and sales turnover (F=2.53, p<0.05). Information services significantly impacted reduction in maintenance cost (F=2.580, p<0.05) and product quality (F=3.37, p<0.05) while human resource development had significant impact on profitability (F=2.68, p<0.05) and product quality (F=5.65, p<0.01). The study concluded that institutional support services had positive impact on technical entrepreneurship development in Southwestern Nigeria.
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    An Assessment of the Transfer and Commercialization of Research and Development Results from Research Institutes in Southwestern Nigeria
    (2015-09-23) Adeyemo, Felicia Solayide
    The study assessed the extent of utilization of research and development (R&D) results in research institutes in southwestern Nigeria. It also examined the methods of transferring R&D results and the factors affecting the commercialization of R&D results. This was with a view to improving utilization of R&D results in Nigeria. Primary data were collected from 9 research institutes and 79 entrepreneurs identified by research institutes as users of R&D results. Two separate sets of questionnaire were administered one for the research institutes and the other for the entrepreneurs. The sets of questionnaire were used to elicit information such as the level of R&D activities, methods of transferring R&D results to investors, and factors militating against the commercialization of research results. Secondary data obtained from available publications included the research reports and published articles of research institutes. The data obtained were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, such as Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Duncan Multiple Range Test. A total of 104 research results were generated, out of which 54.81% had been transferred to practicing and prospective investors. Out of the R&D results transferred, 56.14% were commercialized by the institutes themselves while 29.82% were commercialized by the investors. In addition, various methods of transfer used by the research institutes include seminar (3.13), workshop (3.63), trade fairs/exhibitions (3.13), technical assistance service (3.50) and feasibility studies (3.50), on a Likert scale of 1-4. There was significant difference in the effectiveness of the methods of transferring R & D results by the research institutes (F = 16.147, p ≤ 0.05). However, seminar, trade fairs, technical assistance services, feasibility studies and workshops (3.13 - 3.63) had the same degree of effectiveness. The study further showed that the major factors affecting commercialization of R&D results were lack of funds by investors (4.88), unsustainable government policy (4.50), lack of infrastructural facilities (3.88) and apathy to local R&D results adoption (3.63) on a Likert scale of 1-5. There was significance difference in the degree of severity of the factors affecting commercialization of R & D results (F = 6.704, p≤ 0.05). Factors with high rating affecting commercialization of R & D results with the same significant were lack of funds and unsustainable government policy (4.50 - 4.88), while other factors with similar significance were lack of facilities for demonstration, lack of government and institutional support for SMEs and apathy to local R & D results adoption (3.00 - 3.50). The study concluded that the utilization of R&D results by the research institutes and investors were low. Workshop was the most effective method of transferring R&D results, while the greatest limiting factor for R&D results commercialization was lack of fund by investors.