FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCE

Financial crimes pose a major challenge to Nigeria’s economic stability, affecting investment, governance, and public trust in financial institutions. This study examines the types, causes, and effects of financial crimes, with a focus on money laundering, fraud, and corruption. It also explores the role of economic, institutional, technological, and regulatory factors in driving financial crimes. A descriptive survey research design was employed, using a structured questionnaire to collect data. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to assess the relationship between financial crimes and its underlying causes. The findings reveal that economic hardship, weak institutional governance, technological vulnerabilities, and regulatory inefficiencies significantly contribute to financial crimes in Nigeria. Among these, economic factors (β = 0.432, p = 0.000) had the strongest influence, followed by institutional weaknesses (β = 0.389, p = 0.000), regulatory inefficiencies (β = 0.317, p = 0.000), and technological factors (β = 0.278, p = 0.000). The high R² value (0.659) confirms that these factors collectively explain a substantial portion of financial crimes in the country. The study concludes that financial crimes reduce foreign direct investment (FDI), weaken financial institutions, and hinder economic development. To combat these issues, it recommends strengthening economic policies, improving institutional governance, enhancing cybersecurity measures, and enforcing stricter financial regulations. These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers and financial regulators in developing more effective strategies to curb financial crimes and promote economic stability in Nigeria

This study examined Religiosity and Tax compliance in Nigeria, focusing on Taxpayers in Benin city, including employees and self-employed individuals from Christian, Islamic and Traditional religious backgrounds. The research explored the extent to which religious beliefs, values, and moral teachings influence individuals' willingness to comply with tax obligations. Using a questionnaire based survey, data were collected from respondents, and statistical analysis were conducted to assess the relationship between religiosity and tax compliance behavior. The findings of this study highlight the role of religious teachings, ethical convictions, and spiritual beliefs in shaping taxpayer's attitudes towards compliance. Additionally, the study evaluates whether religiosity serves as a motivating factor for voluntary tax compliance or if it is overshadowed by other determinant trust, enforcement mechanisms, and Socio-economic factors. The study also integrates perspectives from both the Bible and the Qur'an to provide a theological understanding of taxation and compliance. The results contribute to policy discussions on Tax administration by offering insights into how religious values can be leveraged to enhance voluntary tax compliance. The study recommendations that tax authorities consider faith-based approaches in tax education and public awareness campaigns to improve compliance rates.

The management of inventory has emerged as an essential operational and strategic element to the survival and development of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This research thus explores how inventory management practices impact the performance of SMEs in Benin City, Edo State. The research specifically examines how Economic order quantity (EDOQ), Just in Time (JIT), ABC Analysis and Safety Stock Management affect the operational and financial performance of SMEs. The survey research design was adopted and data gathered by the use of structured questionnaires administered to a sample of 133 SME owners and managers who were chosen via stratified and simple random sampling methods. Descriptive and inferential statistical tools were applied to analyze the data collected with the help of Statistical Package of social sciences (SPSS). The results showed that there are significant and positive impacts on the performance of the SMEs of all the four inventory management practices; EOQ, JIT, ABC Analysis, and Safety Stock. The research also identified that business attributes like firm size and the number of employees have a significant influence on performance, whereas the degree of formal education among the operators does not always translate to better performance, perhaps because of insufficient practical experience and business context. It is consequently suggested that the SME owners and managers need to invest in effective inventory control systems, training of employees, and adopting modern inventory technologies to reduce costs, improve operational efficiency, and profitability. Additionally, in order to enhance the competitiveness and sustainability of the SMEs in Nigeria, the government and other support agencies ought to offer policy and financial assistance in encouraging the good inventory management practices.

This study examined accountants’ perceptions, challenges, and readiness toward the adoption of disruptive technologies in Nigeria, focusing on how factors such as perceived usefulness, ease of use, training and support, perceived risk, and organizational readiness influence technology acceptance. The study adopted the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as its theoretical foundation, emphasizing the interaction between perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use in determining technology adoption behavior. A structured questionnaire was administered to 383 ICAN and ANAN members. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, including multiple regression analysis, with the aid of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, version 25). Findings revealed that perceived usefulness and ease of use significantly enhance accountants’ acceptance and utilization of disruptive technologies. Additionally, training availability, top management support, and organizational readiness were found to positively influence technology adoption, while perceived risks such as job insecurity and data privacy concerns had a negative but statistically significant relationship with adoption. The study concluded that accountants’ readiness to embrace disruptive technologies largely depends on adequate organizational infrastructure, supportive leadership, and effective digital competency development. It recommended that accounting bodies and firms invest in continuous digital upskilling programs, strengthen technological support systems, and promote innovation-driven cultures to maximize the benefits of emerging technologies in accounting practice.

This study examined the influence of perceived national cultural values and employees’ job satisfaction in the Nigerian hospitality industry, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. Specifically, it assessed the relationship between perceived power distance, perceived uncertainty avoidance, perceived masculinity/femininity, perceived individualism/collectivism and perceived time orientation and employees job satisfaction in the hospitality industry in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. The survey research design was adopted for this study. The population of the study covered all employees of selected hotels in Government Reserved Area (GRA) Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. A total of 425 copies of questionnaire were distributed while 413 copies were retrieved and found usable. Stratified random sampling procedure was used in administering the copies of questionnaire to sample respondents who are all employees of the selected hotels in Government Reserved Area (GRA) Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. The data collected through questionnaire administration was analysed using descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution, mean and standard deviation. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the null hypotheses and estimate the research model using the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) technique through the use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 24. The study reveals that there is a significant positive relationship between perceived power distance, perceived uncertainty avoidance and perceived masculinity and femininity and job satisfaction while also revealing that there is a positive and non-significant relationship between perceived individualism/collectivism and perceived time orientation and employees job satisfaction in the hospitality industry in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. The study recommends that organisations in the hospitality industry ensure moderate power play and office politics, minimise the risk of uncertainty, consider and balance the masculine and feminine features in the organisations, ensure the collective and individual efforts of employees are recognised, appreciated and rewarded and take cognisance of the short or long term orientation and views of the employees

A persistent lack of access to financial services may hinder small enterprises or start-ups from pursuing economic transformation opportunities. This is typical of traditional financial institutions that are reluctant to serve small businesses and start-ups due to perceived high-risk exposure and high failure rates. Hence, financial innovations such as fintech are increasingly leveraged to reduce barriers to capital access for business startups. Fintech offers services and products that meet the financial needs of customers more effectively than traditional banks. End-users adopt fintech services such as mobile money accounts and digital applications for financing, payments, investments, and accessing credit. In order to achieve this, a descriptive survey research design was used in eliciting response gotten from respondents. A structured questionnaire was administered to collect data from all working staffs in all SMEs within Benin City, Edo State. While the sample size was restricted to 360 employed workers. The collected data was analyzed using the simple percentage table. In the findings, it was revealed that fintech adoption has a significant effect on access to finance among SMEs in Nigeria. It was also revealed that fintech adoption has a significant impact on the growth and performance of SMEs in Nigeria. Based on the findings, the study recommends that government agencies and fintech providers should collaborate to implement widespread financial literacy and digital skills training. This will empower users to confidently navigate fintech platforms, improving economic empowerment and financial management.

The study examined the macroeconomic determinants of banking sector development in Nigeria over the period 2000 to 2023. The specific objectives of the study were to examine whether exchange rate (EXRT), inflation rate (INFL),money supply (M2), interest rate (INTR), and real gross domestic product (RGDP) significantly affect banking sector development. The ordinary least square econometric technique was utilized in the analysis of data. The results from the analysis revealed exchange rate (EXRT) has significant negative effect on banking sector development (BSD) in Nigeria; money supply (M2) had a significant positive impact on banking sector development; while inflation rate (INFL) had a weak positive effect, real gross domestic product (RGDP) had a weak negative effect on banking sector development in Nigeria. The study therefore conclude that these variables should not be ignored by the Nigerian government and policy makers. They must place special attention on them in order to constantly sustain the current development of the Nigerian banking sector. The study recommends among others that, the government sand indeed monetary authority should formulate appropriate investment policy that will encourage investors to invest more in the economy. This can be achieved by lower the current high level of interest rate or banks’ lending rate in the country. By so doing, more people will be able to access loans for onward investment in the economy, and thereby boost the general economic activities in the country.

Identifying and exploiting market gaps has become essential for firms seeking sustainable growth and strategic advantage. This study, titled “Analytical Approaches to Identifying Market Gap,” explores how data-driven tools, analytical techniques, and customer insights can be used to uncover unserved or underserved areas within the market. This research emphasises the importance of integrating analytical approaches such as data mining, predictive analytics, customer behavior analysis, and market segmentation to provide organisations with actionable insights for decision-making. This study adopted a quantitative research design, relying on structured questionnaires administered to business owners, marketing managers, and data analysts. The data were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics, including regression analysis, to test hypotheses on the relationship between analytical tools, data-driven decision-making, customer data utilisation, and market gap identification. The findings revealed that analytical tools significantly enhance a firm’s ability to recognise unmet customer needs, while data-driven methods improve the precision of market forecasting and strategic planning. Additionally, the study established that effective use of customer data facilitates a deeper understanding of behavioural patterns that point to latent market opportunities. The results demonstrate that businesses which actively integrate analytical approaches into their strategic planning are more likely to achieve competitive advantage through innovation and responsiveness to emerging trends. By establishing a link between analytical competence and market opportunity identification, this research contributes to the growing body of literature on business analytics and market strategy, particularly within emerging economies. This study concludes that developing analytical capabilities is not only a technological necessity but also a strategic imperative for business sustainability.

This research work centered on the effects of stress on employees productivity,
and performance using the Notre Dame Table Water employees as a case
study. Stress in this context has been recently known as a significant problem
which that affect the job performance, productivity and also the employees’
health generally. Six research questions and two research hypotheses were
adopted in this study. The major objective or purpose of the study is to
examine or assess the effect of stress on employees’ productivity and
performance among Notre Dame Table Water employees. In achieving this,
the descriptive survey research design was adopted. The population of the
study comprised of all employees of Notre Dame Table Water, of which has
three departments; administrative department having 5 employees, Sales
department having 32 employees and production department having 65
employees. This gives a total of 102 employees of Notre Dame Table Water.
Data collected through the administered questionnaires, were analysed using
the descriptive statistics of frequency distribution and percentages and the
inferential statistics of involved the use of ANOVA. From the findings, it was
revealed that there is high level of stress felt among Notre Dame Table Water
employee. Also, the study also revealed that dysfunctional stress lowers the
performance and productivity of employees as well as reduce job commitment.
The researcher recommended there should be well defined job functions and
clearly stated job roles, Management should also invest in stress management
strategies that will help increase job performance and productivity and finally
Management should improve working environment to enable carrying out of
job functions easy and reduce stress

This study examined the Impact of Unethical Accounting Practices on Financial Reporting Quality of Manufacturing Firms in Nigeria. The study specifically examined the common unethical accounting practices prevalent in Nigerian manufacturing firms. The study examined the major causes of unethical practices by accounting professionals. The survey design was adopted and the simple random sampling techniques were employed in this study. The population size comprises of selected staff of Sumal Foods Limited in Oyo State. In determining the sample size, the researcher conveniently selected 80 respondents and 72 were validated. Selfconstructed and validated questionnaire was used for data collection. The collected and validated questionnaires were analyzed using frequency tables and mean scores, while the hypotheses were tested using ANOVA statistical tool. The result of the findings reveals that the common unethical accounting practices prevalent in Nigerian manufacturing firms includes; falsifying financial statements to mislead stakeholders, manipulating inventory levels to inflate profits is a frequent practice, underreporting expenses to enhance profitability is widely practiced and engaging in related-party transactions without proper disclosure is common. Therefore, The study suggests that accounting professional bodies in Nigeria should advocate for stricter penalties for auditors who misconduct themselves, similar to practices in other countries.