Journal of Education in Developing Areas (JEDA) Vol. 19, No. 1.

REMODELLING BUSINESS EDUCATION FOR ENHANCED FUNCTIONALITY AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROPULSION IN NIGERIA

Professor Dele Joshua OSAHOGULU Professor of Education Management Information Systems/ Director, ICT Centre Rivers State University of Education Rumuolumeni, PMB 5047 Port Harcourt. e-mail: deleogulu@yahoo.com Mobile: +234(0) 803 754, 0641 +234(0) 803 706 7515

ABSTRACT In this paper, a novel concept of business education is advanced. It is very strongly hoped that this deliberate redefinition of business education will render it far more functional as an object of human learning, and far more powerful as a driver of development at the hierarchic levels of the individual, the family, the community, the state and the nation in Nigeria. The core hypothetical message of the paper is that if every subject on the pre-tertiary educational curriculum or every course on the academic programme menus in higher education were taught with heavy emphasis on its business utility or entrepreneurial potentials, practically all of the ills of graduate unemployment will vanish in the Nigerian society. (Keywords: business, management, business teacher education, business administrative education, mathematical models).

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Introduction The Nigerian society is currently plagued with many perplexing societal ills. Graduate unemployment, misemployment and underemployment constitute a most frustrating adverse triplet for educated Nigerian youths who are mainly graduates of tertiary educational institutions (universities, polytechnics, colleges and institutes). Some authorities have explained graduate unemployment in Nigeria on account of the generally unfavourable economic constraints or conditions under which most business sector organisations have to operate today. Such conditions as the high cost of quality raw materials, suitably educated and trained labour, reliable power supply, appropriate productive technologies, marketing of products and services, government labour/taxation policies (TCNTP, 2008) and social responsibility pressures have indeed reduced the graduate absorptive capacity of many Nigerian organisations (Meheux, 2000). Others have blamed graduate unemployment in Nigeria on the gross mismatch between institutional educational programmes and the knowledge-andcompetency requirements of the available job openings in the contemporary world of work (Good, 2004). Still others have expressed the fear that graduate unemployment in Nigeria is one inevitable consequence of the nations neglect of really effective educational planning, which implies the overproduction of graduates in a few traditional disciplines or fields of learning, and the corresponding relative neglect or underproduction of graduates in others, some of which are the very ones in high demand today in modern organisations (Okorosaye-Orubite, 2008). Examples in the over-emphasized category include English language, economics, political science, sociology and business management/administration or their respective traditional variants. Examples in the under-emphasized category include information technology (IT), computer engineering, computer science, electronic engineering, conflict

resolution and public policy (Artenstein, 2008). A significant number of contributors too have begun to blame graduate unemployment in Nigeria on the unavailability of effective occupational/career guidance and counselling services to undergraduates as one major educational programme support service rendered on a day-to-day basis, and systematically sustained throughout the duration of every programme on offer. Infact, the most recent explanatory view on the stubborn issue of graduate/youth www.jeda-uniport.com

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unemployment in Nigeria is that there is not enough collaboration between higher educational institutions and the industrial subsector in institutional

research/educational programming (Oyinkari, 2006). However, the academic brilliance of any of these attempts at explaining graduate/youth unemployment in Nigeria notwithstanding, the problem cannot be wished away or explained away. If no effective follow-up action is taken, then not only will it persist, but it will, in fact, expand and deepen beyond all manageable proportions. It may seem now that we have so far forgotten to mention the equally troubling and apparently perpetual state of underdevelopment in Nigeria. Going by the staple global indices of national development such as income per capita, literacy rate, proportion of recipients of tertiary education, personal health status, life expectancy, environmental industrialization, health/beauty/friendliness, public/business residential housing quality, rate, transparency/ethical standards, crime

technological development, resource commitment to research and development (R & D), currency strength, drinkable water supply, energy/power supply, food/nutritional adequacy, healthcare service quality, etc Nigeria can be said even today to be considerably below fellow African nations like South Africa and Morocco, to leave out the mention of the far more developed nations like the USA, Canada, UK and Germany (Aderinoye, 2002; Anatsui, 2008). But one thing is certain: as the citizens of Nigeria, we all desire to see our nation outgrowing these societal defects as soon as possible. Yet as remarked above, the mere advancement of brilliant reasons for graduate/youth unemployment and general underdevelopment in Nigeria without any concerted action against these undesirable features of our society will do the nation no good whatsoever. Hence we must begin at this point to generate workable ideas toward realising the change from the very high

risk status of graduate/youth unemployment (Manilla 2003) to the preferred status of higher graduate output and graduate absorptive capacity of the Nigerian society in the 21st century AD. Against the foregoing background, this paper sets out to advance novel reconceptualisations of business, business education, business teacher education and business management education, which inherently constitute a new and surer foundation for realising significant enhancements in graduate/youth employment and

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national development. Theoretical/Conceptual Framework It is universally recognised that the silent but sure phenomenon of human cultural evolution (or revolution, considering the current superlative rate of progressive technological change) is today taking the human race through what is now globally called the information or computer age (Gupta, 2007; Omole, 2003; Osahogulu, 2007; Turban, Maclean & Wetherbe, 2004; Nwankwo, 2003). Hence the really effective solutions to any large scale societal problems such as those of graduate/youth employment and the lingering status of underdevelopment have to be rooted in the computer-facilitated application of informatics, the mathematical science of

information creation, processing and transmission (Hillier & Hillier, 2003). Therefore at the macroeconomic level, the Munasinghe (1983) mathematical model of time-based national aggregate computer service demand applies: Ct= F (Pt, Yt, Zt), . (1), where in any given time period t, say 2012, Ct = Pt = Yt = Zt = the aggregate demand for computer services; unit price of computer services; level of economic activity or national income; vector of other relevant economic variables such as national population, indices of reliability, computing speed,

processor component size, etc. For example, the general features of the individual bivariate curves linking Ct with Pt, Ct with Yt and Ct with Zt can be plotted for Nigeria using 2010 data to obtain the typical effective values of the coefficients or indices respectively linking Ct to Pt, Yt and Zt. Where the complete data set can be obtained, a specification of the multiple regression curve can be sought at once in the form: Ct = Bo + B1 Pt + B2 Yt + B3 Zt Similarly, the national economic policy efforts to be made at utilising the functional relation between service/industrial productivity and labour employment level can rely on the Cobb-Douglas national production functional model: P (x, y) = KXa Yb . (2)

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where P is the aggregate production of a national economy or of a firm in the economy, X is the number of units of labour employed in the productive process and Y is the number of units of capital outlay committed to the production of the P units (Munasinghe, 1989). It is quite imaginable to utilise equations (1) and (2) above to raise Ct or the period-specific computer service demand (i.e. the computerisation of sectoral manufacturing and service operations) while at the same time, raising the strength (X) of the effective sectoral labour force (say by employing additional labour) and by raising the value of capital input level (Y). It is inferentially asserted therefore that: (a) ICT resource development or acquisition and consumption together constitute a sound proxy complex variable or parameter for gauging national development (Pitke, 1989); and that (b) national economic policies designed to drive up aggregate economic productivity are logically bound to raise graduate/youth employment to crisis-diffusing levels (Abolo, 1998).

From the inferences (a) and (b), it can be rationally judged that equations (1) and (2) provide sufficient public/business policy guidance hints for attenuating the twin dreaded societal pathological conditions of graduate/youth unemployment and the apparently inevitable perpetuity of national underdevelopment in a developing country like Nigeria.

National Examples Several developing nations, including some in Africa have already done or are currently utilising the principles of the conclusions drawn in (a)and (b) to simultaneously drive up graduate/youth employment and national development. Examples include Pakistan (MOE, Islamabad, 2006), Rwanda (Artenstein, 2008), Indonesia (Surjadl & Luhukay, 1989) and South Africa (Business Eye, 7-13 April, 2008). India too has for over a decade remained famous as the home base of many private sector companies to which software development tasks are outsourced by the large and complex global organisatons of the western industrialised nations (Ball, www.jeda-uniport.com

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McCulloch, Jr, Frantz, Geringer & Minor, 2004). The Subject Reconceptualisation Questions The problem under consideration in this paper is presented in these three subject reconceptualisation questions (SRQs), which help to clarify and define the hitherto unresolved broad problem of how best to reconceptualise and thereby to remodel business education for development propulsion. SRQ1 What novel redefinition of business is the most likely to result in a functional view of business education? SRQ2 What corresponding redefinition of business education is then the most likely to render it sufficiently functional to support productive graduate self-employment or paid employment? SRQ3 What normative mutually beneficial working relationship should exist between business administrative education (BAE) and business teacher education (BTE) as the two major broad divisions of business education? For purposes of the discourse in this paper, the required definitions may be rendered as follows: (1) Business is that all-inclusively broad field of learning and work concerned with the theoretically informed practical development and implementation of systematic processes targeted at the feasible, planned, designed, marketed, financed, accountable, engineering/technology-facilitated and profitable production and/or sale of goods, services and ideas to satisfy specific human needs. (2) Business education is therefore the helping professional blend of www.jeda-uniport.com its significantly enhanced functionality and national

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JOURNAL OF EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING AREAS (JEDA) VOL.19 (1). activities such as competent theoretical / practical teaching, responsive theoretical / practical learning, supervised industrial work exposure, supervised research and supervised evaluation episodes, which are all carefully designed to foster certifiably functional human cognitive, affective, psychomotive and psychoproductive growth and development in the business domain.

(3)

(a) Business administrative education (BAE) is itself then simply that brand of business education which appeals to the business specialist who is optionally bound for a nonteaching professional corporate administrative or managerial role. (b) Business teacher education (BTE) is the brand of business education which is suitably designed for the business specialist who is optionally bound for a teaching professional role at a specific level of a particular nations education system. (c) Business management is the learnable and practicable professional discipline developing of business the administrative education which focuses administrative planning, functions of on

business formulation,

informed and

policy/strategy

organising,

directing

controlling for proficient and accountable corporate resource acquisition, allocation and sound commitment to the production and continuous

refinement of high quality goods, services and ideas (Ibekwe, 1984). The painstaking coinage of the definitions in 3 (a), 3 (b) and 3 (c) is intended to suggest with all seriousness that suitably qualified business teaching at any level of a nations education system strictly calls for the prior acquisition of the business teacher education (BTE) variant of business education. In other words, the PhD holder in business management, accounting or any other business administrative discipline is strictly not a duly qualified professional teacher of his subject. University lecturers are today expected to undertake some postgraduate (postdoctoral) level of complementary conversion programmes in

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JOURNAL OF EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING AREAS (JEDA) VOL.19 (1). professional education. This is a welcome global trend in the preparation of advanced course lecturers for individuals aiming at filling teaching positions in tertiary education. Teaching staff or faculty professionalism is especially strongly stressed today in teacher educational institutions (Menon & Rama, 2006).

Postgraduation Employment Assurance Strategies It is a truism to assert that over the foreseeable future at least, the low graduate absorptive capacity of the Nigerian economy may not change much. Hence the business education graduate may consider and adopt any of the following self-help strategies if only to avert the boredom of the otherwise inevitable endless wait for nonexistent suitably paid job openings: (1) (2) Voluntary and free teaching service in a needy public or private school. Running private preparation classes for public examination candidates like those preparing for UTME, JSCE, SSCE, etc. (3) Forming, duly registering and running a nongovernmental organisation specialising in rendering paid consultancy services to Small-and-Medium Enterprise (SME) owners. (4) Securing some reasonable capital fund and then investing it in an affordable trading business (Oyinkari, 2006). (5) Seeking out and taking up a part-time job in a public or private establishment (e.g. a business centre, a canteen, a bookshop, etc) while learning the technicalities of the business in preparation for subsequent independent selfengagement in the same business. (6) Embarking on a phone boot business and of course with due support from the TSPs (i.e. the telephone service providers e.g. Airtel, MTN, GLO, etc). (7) (8) Embarking on a well-managed news/information agency. Raising some capital fund and running a small full-range IT business centre (Oyinkari, 2006). (9) (10) Where family financial support exists, embarking at once on a postgraduate degree or diploma programme of a professional nature. Operating a car wash business. www.jeda-uniport.com Page 7

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Operating an adult business education class for relatively illiterate contractors, suppliers, traders and skilled workers.

(12) Opening a duly registered news/entertainment centre complete with radio, television, video machine, assorted newsmagazines, novels, DVD, CDs, etc. (13) (14) (15) (16) (17) (18) (19) Operating a duly registered public canteen equipped with comfortable furniture and electronic entertainment/communications media. Operating a private business education library. Publishing a specialist oriented weekly newsmagazine or newspaper (e.g. for publishing the best ten Sunday sermons of the churches in say, Port Harcourt). Running a freelance consultancy service on IT software legality and application (Oluwafemi, 2008; Akinyele, 1995). Operating a market/marketing research or business research outfit (Cooper & Schindler, 2003). Operating a testing service on general current affairs. Operating a testing service on the basic school subjects such as English, mathematics, physics, (20) agricultural science, biology, health education, economics, chemistry, commerce, further mathematics, business studies,

government, statistics, computer science, IT or ICT, etc. Operating a GSM phone charging booth business which is powered by an affordable electricity generator. This list could continue but it is already long enough to reveal the underlying principle in its generation: the three-part principle of readiness for creativity, learning and industry that is, productive or result-oriented hard work (Good, 2004). If for example, a business education graduate decides to operate an exquisitely run internet caf, (i.e. cybercafe), then he or she first has to learn the requisite computer science, technology application and computer programming with all its mathematical foundations such as discrete mathematics (Rosen, 1999; Sarkar, 2006), operations research (Hillier & Lieberman, 2005) and finite mathematics (Barnett, Ziegler & Byleen, 2000). Conclusion In this paper, the change-demanding situation regarding graduate/youth

unemployment and the seemingly perpetual state of underdevelopment in Nigeria have been considered. It is the authors firm conclusion that while government is the prime

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agent of development which helps in fostering policies and strategies for national development, business investments and effective business management/operations are the prime actualisers of government desire for national prosperity and development. It is, therefore, posited here that functional business education is at the core of the short-term solution to the youth/graduate unemployment problem in Nigeria. For example, in the core-global financial capitals of London, Paris, New York and other cities in their class, it is the successful business corporations which by their employment policies, trendy skyscrapers and company premises, determine the overall exquisite beauty of their host urban environments. Hence it is concluded here that education in business is the most effective way to develop modern society for man. Hence the effective and efficient management/operations of business organisations is correspondingly the most potent positive contributor to educated labour engagement and entrepreneurial/ economic/environmental development in every nation.

Recommendations The following recommendations are made in the light of the facts and arguments set forth in this paper. [1]. The subjects of business administration and business education should henceforth be viewed, studied and applied with respective due emphases on corporate professional practice and student teacher preparation for professional teaching, research and community-based educational development. At the same time, business education should reflect the bidimensional coverage of business administrative education and business teacher education.

[2].

The

relatively new

specialist

modules

of

business education such technology

as

management

science/

operations

research,

management,

management information systems (MIS), information technology IT (Sawyer, 2000), and business ethics should be treated with renewed emphasis. At the same time, business-community conflict management, entrepreneurial

education (Okala, 2004), business games, e-business/e-commerce and business policy/strategy should also be included on the business education core www.jeda-uniport.com

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JOURNAL OF EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING AREAS (JEDA) VOL.19 (1). the utmost seriousness which they deserve today.

curricula and treated with

This will ensure thegreater functionality of business education for the business education graduate today.

[3].

Business education should also be included on the undergraduate general

studies curriculum as implied in Adeoye (2008).

[4].

The e-learning systems which the new Rivers State Sustainable Corporation to

Development install and

Agency (RSSDA, 2008) is collaborating with Intel operate in the state education sector can suggested liberalisation of business

be a most potent means to realising this education if it is adopted and implemented

nation-wide in Nigeria.

[5].

Business administration graduates wishing to make a career in

todays more

attractive teaching service should first of all take conversion opportunities provided by the PDE (i.e. PGDE). requirements

advantage of the occupational

such postgraduate degree programmes as

Without this effort, they cannot meet the registrability

of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN).

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