DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

This paper has identified customer feedback mechanisms as strategic tools for service improvement in Nigerian businesses, focusing on the retail and online shopping sector. This study was justified by the recent necessity of improving the ability of Nigerian companies to implement service delivery strategies and encouraging customer involvement to sustain competitive advantage through their operations. The quantitative research design was applied, where respondents were customers of the chosen retail and online shopping websites who responded to a structured questionnaire. Using the Yamane formula (1967), the total sample size required for this study was found to be 80, out of which 76 valid responses were returned. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and regression analysis were used to analyze the data. The results showed that customer feedback mechanisms are widely utilized by customers and perceived to be accessible and easy to use in customer engagement. Strong positive relationships were established between customer feedback and service quality and between customer satisfaction and service improvement. Regression analysis further showed that customer feedback significantly predicts service improvement, with 66% of the variation in service outcomes explained. This study concludes that customer feedback mechanisms are strategic tools for service delivery, customer satisfaction, and organizational competitiveness. It recommends that retailers and online businesses in Nigeria should invest in robust feedback systems, ensure timely response rates to customer inputs, and use feedback insights to guide operational and strategic decisions.

This study examined the impact of globalisation on the performance of manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Edo State, Nigeria. The research specifically investigated the effects of economic, technological, political, and cultural dimensions of globalisation on SME performance. A total of 231 structured questionnaires were distributed and retrieved from owners of selected manufacturing SMEs in Oredo Local Government Area, Benin Metropolis. Both descriptive and inferential statistics, including regression analysis, were conducted using SPSS version 22. The findings revealed that economic globalisation (B = 0.567, p = 0.000) and technological globalisation (B = 0.219, p = 0.005) have strong positive and significant effects on SME performance, indicating that access to global markets, investment, and technology diffusion enhances competitiveness. Cultural globalisation (B = 0.122, p = 0.048) was found to exert a modest but significant positive influence, showing that cultural exposure improves product innovation and market adaptability. However, political globalisation (B = 0.002, p = 0.979) showed no significant effect, suggesting limited institutional impact on SME international integration. Based on these findings, the study recommends that policymakers strengthen trade facilitation, support technology adoption, foster cultural branding, and reform governance structures to enhance SME participation in the global economy.

This study examines the relationship between total quality management practices and organizational performance. The objective of the study is to examine the relationship between top management, strategic planning, process management, customer focus, employee relation and organizational performance This study adopts a survey research instrument through the administration of questionnaires to two hundred and fifty-five (255) employees of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Limited (NPDC), Benin City. The data for the study are analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and ordinary multiple regression. The multiple regressions results show that top management has a significant positive relationship with organizational performance at 1% level of significance, strategic planning has an insignificant negative relationship with organizational performance, process management has an insignificant positive relationship with organizational performance, customer focus has an insignificant negative relationship with organizational performance and employee relation has a significant positive relationship with organizational performance (OPF) at 1% level of significance. The study recommends that the presence of top management as component of total quality management practices would significantly enhanced organizational performance.

This study examined the relationship between organizational silence and citizenship behavior among academic staff at the University of Benin, Benin City. The study sought to determine how the dimensions of organizational silence, acquiescent silence, defensive silence, prosocial silence, and supervisor silence climate influence the display of OCB among academic staff. The research was driven by concerns that silence in academic institutions may limit participation, reduce innovation, and hinder voluntary behaviours that promote institutional performance. A descriptive survey research design was adopted, and data were collected from a sample of 100 lecturers across various faculties using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) were used to summarize responses, while Pearson correlation and multiple regression analyses were employed to test the hypotheses at a 0.05 level of significance. The results revealed that prosocial silence recorded the highest mean (M = 4.04, SD = 0.90), indicating that lecturers often withhold information for altruistic or constructive reasons, such as maintaining team harmony or protecting colleagues. Conversely, acquiescent silence (M = 2.73, SD = 1.39) and defensive silence (M = 2.88, SD = 1.10) were relatively low, suggesting that most lecturers do not remain silent out of fear or a belief that their opinions will not matter. The regression model yielded R = 0.304, R² = 0.093, F(4,91) = 2.325, p = 0.062, indicating that the combined effect of the four silence dimensions on OCB was not statistically significant. Further analysis showed that none of the individual silence dimensions significantly predicted OCB (p > 0.05), though prosocial silence exhibited a weak positive relationship (β = 0.185, p = 0.082).

The study empirically investigated entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intentions among graduated students of the university of Benin. Specifically, the study aimed at ascertaining the extent to which entrepreneurship education influences the intentions of graduates to pursue entrepreneurial activities after school. Hence, the study sought to ascertain the level of entrepreneurial intentions among graduated
students to identify the push and pull factors compelling/attracting graduated students into the pursuance of entrepreneurship. Furthermore, the study’s goal was to examine the effect of the selected demographic variables (gender, age, academic level, and faculty) on students entrepreneurial intentions, while also ascertaining the major
forms of businesses that the students are likely to pursue after their course of study. Lastly, part of the study objective was to identify factors serves as deterrents or discouragement to students entrepreneurial pursuit. In order to effective guide the study towards achievement of stated the objectives, five research questions were raised, and three hypotheses generated. The study population comprised all newly graduated students of the university, of which data obtained from the registry put the population at 20,630, 2023/2024 academic session. The study adopted a convenient sampling method and after due computation using the taro yamane’s sample size determination formular ( at10%), a total sample of 100 respondents was arrived at. The study adopted survey research design which entailed the use of structured questionnaire in ascertaining the opinion of the respondents on the subject matter. Data obtained for the study were analyzed using descriptive statistic, simple percentages, and frequency counts; while the one sample t-test, independent sample test, and one way anova were employed in testing the formulated hypothesis. The data were analyzed via the statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS) version 20

This study examined the impact of strategic procurement practices on procurement performance in public healthcare institutions in Benin City, Nigeria, focusing on the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) and Edo Central Hospital. The research specifically investigated six key strategic procurement practices: Supplier Relationship
Management (SRM), Procurement Planning, Strategic Sourcing, Risk Management and Mitigation, Technology Utilisation, and Contract Management. Data was collected through surveys administered to procurement staff and analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and regression analysis. The findings revealed that SRM,
Strategic Sourcing, and Technology Utilisation have a significant positive effect on procurement performance. In contrast, Procurement Planning, Risk Management, and Contract Management were found to have either insignificant or negative relationships with procurement performance. Based on these findings, recommendations are made to
improve procurement performance, including strengthening supplier relationships, enhancing procurement planning processes, adopting advanced technologies, and refining contract management practices.

This study examined the worshippers’ satisfaction, spiritual support and switching intention among Christian students in University of Benin, Benin City. The focus of the study was to examine the impact of Worshippers satisfaction on the switching behaviour of Christian students and also to examine the factors (pastor's message, fellowship environment, special programmes, and spiritual support) that motivate worshippers to worship in a particular fellowship. The study used the survey method by administering copies of structured questionnaire to185undergraduate Christian students of University of Benin, Benin City. The data for the study were analyzed using both descriptive statistics such as simple percentages and mean, while inferential statistics (linear regression) was used with the help of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22. The research revealed that the rate of worshippers´ switching intention is low in the University of Benin (UNIBEN). This is shown by the switching intention rate of 26.49%; Worshippers consider the following factors (in a descending order): Pulpit Ministry, Spiritual support, Special Programmes, Music Ministry and Fellowship environment as the reasons for switching intention. Fellowship environment is a statistically significant determinant of worshippers´ switching intention in the University of Benin, factors such as Pulpit ministry, special programmes, music ministry and spiritual support are not significant factors that influence worshippers´ switching intention in the University of Benin (UNIBEN); and Demographic variables such as gender, age, level and unit membership, do not significantly influence worshippers´ switching intention.

This study investigates the impact of Social Media Marketing (SMM) on the growth of thrift vendors in Ovia North East, Edo State. The primary objective was to examine how SMM influences business promotion, customer perception, customer engagement, and sales growth among thrift vendors. A survey design was adopted, targeting thrift vendors who actively use WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook. One hundred (100) questionnaires were distributed using purposive sampling technique. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis. The findings reveal that SMM significantly enhances business visibility (Mean=4.85) and customer reach. Customers hold positive perceptions of online thrift vendors (Mean=3.67), which regression analysis confirmed significantly affects business growth (p = .000). SMM strategies strongly influence customer engagement and sales growth (Grand Mean=4.46). However, vendors face challenges including poor internet access (Mean=4.48), high advertising costs (Mean=4.18), and limited digital marketing skills (Mean=3.70). The study concludes that Social Media Marketing is essential for thrift vendor growth in Ovia North East. It is recommended that government and network providers improve internet accessibility, while organizations should provide subsidized digital skills training for informal sector operators

This study examined and analyzed the effect pricing policies on profitability level of manufacturing firms. Data were primarily sourced through the administration of fifty (50) questionnaire out of which same number (50) of responses were retrieved and used for the empirical analysis. The descriptive (frequency, mean and percentage) and inferential statistics (regression) were adopted for the study’s analysis. Specifically, the analysis revealed the following: cost-plus pricing and competitive pricing strategies have a significant impact on the profitability level of manufacturing firms in Nigeria; while value-based pricing, dynamic pricing, and psychological pricing do not significantly affect the profitability level of Nigerian manufacturing firms. Based on these findings, it was recommended that: firms could benefit from rigorous cost control measures and efficient cost accounting systems; manufacturing firms should integrate customer perceptions of value into their product development and marketing strategies; manufacturing firms should maintain a keen awareness of market dynamics and competitor actions; manufacturing firms should consider scenarios where dynamic pricing could be useful, such as in managing inventory more effectively or in capitalizing on seasonal demand changes; and seek to understand psychological triggers specific to their target market segments and then experiment with different pricing formats and presentations that might appeal more to consumers' emotions and perception of pricing fairness.

This study investigates the effect of discounts and promotional strategies on the sales performance of food products within Benin City, Edo State. The main objective is to evaluate how price-related incentives and marketing promotions influence sales outcomes in the food industry. Specifically, the research analyzes the effect of discounts on sales volume, examines the impact of promotional strategies on consumer purchasing behaviour, identifies the most effective promotional types for boosting sales, explores the r lationship between discount rates and sales revenue, and develops a framework for optimizing discount and promotion strategies. The scope of the study covers selected supermarkets, grocery stores, and retail outlets engaged in the sale of both perishable and non-perishable food items over a five-year period. The population comprises employees of food product businesses within Egor Local Government Area, Edo State, with a sample size of 100 respondents randomly selected from five key enterprises: Mat-Ice Fast-Food, Domino’s Pizza/Cold Stone Eatery, Nadia Bakery, Z-Zone Foods, and Chicken Republic Eatery. Primary data were collected through structured
questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency distributions, averages, modes, ranges, and percentages, based on a Likert scale anchored from “strongly
agree” to “strongly disagree.” The findings reveal that discount and promotional strategies are indispensable tools for driving sales growth and customer retention in the food industry. Nevertheless, their effectiveness depends on strategic planning, continuous market research, and maintaining a balance between short-term sales incentives and long-term profitability. The study concludes that food businesses that adopt data-driven and customer-focused discount and promotion strategies are more likely to achieve sustainable growth, enhanced brand loyalty, and stable revenue performance.