FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCE

The adoption of Financial Technology (FinTech) has significantly transformed financial reporting, enhancing accuracy, transparency, efficiency, and compliance. This study examines the impact of FinTech innovations, digital payment systems, blockchain technology, and automated accounting software on financial reporting quality in
Nigerian businesses. A descriptive survey research design was employed, targeting financial professionals, auditors, and business owners within Nigeria. A sample of 363 respondents was determined using Taro Yamane’s formula and selected through a simple random sampling technique. Data were collected using structured questionnaires and analysed using multiple linear regression to assess the relationship between FinTech adoption and financial reporting quality. The findings reveal that digital payment systems improve the timeliness of financial reporting by streamlining transaction processing and integration into reporting frameworks. Blockchain technology enhances transparency and security by ensuring immutable and verifiable financial records. Automated accounting software contributes to reporting efficiency and compliance by minimizing human errors
and automating regulatory adherence. The regression analysis (R² = 0.441) confirms that FinTech adoption significantly influences financial reporting quality, explaining 44.1% of the variation in reporting outcomes. The study recommends stronger regulatory frameworks, increased cybersecurity investments, and enhanced digital literacy for financial professionals to maximize the benefits of FinTech in financial reporting. Future research should explore the role of artificial intelligence in financial fraud detection and conduct comparative studies on FinTech adoption across different business sizes.

This study investigates the effect of digital advertising on customer patronage of soft drinks among students of the University of Benin, Nigeria. The research focuses on five key dimensions of digital advertising: social media advertising, influencer marketing, display advertising, email marketing, and search engine marketing, assessing their individual and collective influence on consumer behavior within a university context. The study targeted a sample size of 395, however, only 385 valid responses were obtained through structured questionnaires distributed across various faculties. The study employed a quantitative research design, and the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis through SPSS version 22. The findings reveal that social media advertising exerts the most significant positive effect on customer patronage, followed by influencer marketing and search engine marketing, while display advertising and email marketing showed no statistically significant impact. Based on these results, the study recommends that soft drink companies prioritize investments in social media and influencer-driven campaigns, optimize search engine marketing, and reconsider the deployment of display and email advertising strategies to better align with student consumption patterns. The study contributes to both academic literature and industry practice by offering empirical evidence on the effectiveness of digital advertising tools in the Nigerian fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector, particularly within youth markets.

This study examined the effect of stock market performance on insurance sector development in Nigeria over the period 1990 to 2024. The study was motivated by the need to understand how key indicators of stock market performance influence the growth
and stability of the insurance industry, which plays a vital role in financial intermediation and economic development. The specific objectives were to investigate the relationship between market capitalization, all share index, total value of transactions, and market turnover on insurance sector development measured by the insurance penetration rate. An ex-post facto research design was adopted, and the analysis was based on secondary data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin, the Nigerian Exchange Limited Factbook, and the National Insurance Commission annual reports. The study employed the Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) estimation technique after confirming the stationarity and cointegration properties of the data using the Augmented Dickey-Fuller and Johansen tests. The empirical results revealed that market capitalization, all share index, total value of transactions, and market turnover each exert a positive and statistically significant impact on insurance sector development in Nigeria. The R-squared value of 0.873 indicates that approximately 87 percent of the variation in insurance sector development can be explained by changes in stock market performance indicators. These findings suggest that improvements in stock market performance enhance the capacity of insurance firms to mobilize funds, expand operations, and contribute to economic growth. The study concludes that a well-functioning and vibrant stock market is essential for the sustainable development of the insurance sector in Nigeria. It therefore recommends strengthening capital market reforms, promoting insurance investment in equities, enhancing regulatory coordination, improving financial literacy, and encouraging technological innovation to deepen the linkage between the stock market and the insurance industry.

This study looked at how Coca-Cola Nigeria Plc's marketing strategy in Benin City was affected 0by product differentiation and market segmentation. The goal of the study was to ascertain how these tactics affect the company's competitive advantage, consumer preference, and marketing performance. Data was gathered from 400 respondents utilizing structured questions and a descriptive survey approach. Using SPSS version 29.0, the data were examined using multiple regression analysis, descriptive statistics, and Pearson correlation. The results showed that Coca-Cola's marketing strategy benefits considerably from product differentiation, suggesting that distinctive taste, packaging, and branding have a big impact on consumer behavior. However, market segmentation had a favorable but statistically negligible effect, indicating that without considerable distinction, segmentation by itself is not a reliable indicator of marketing success. The regression results also showed that the independent variables accounted for 28.1% of the variances in Coca-Cola's marketing strategy. The analysis comes to the conclusion that Coca-Cola's product diversification strategy, bolstered by modest segmentation initiatives, is the main factor driving the company's market success in Benin City. It suggests that Coca-Cola improve marketing efficacy and maintain brand competitiveness by fortifying its segmentation strategies and incorporating them with distinctiveness.

This study investigated the effect of sustainability practices on the corporate strategy of hospitality companies in Benin City. Specifically, it examined the influence of environmental sustainability, economic sustainability, social sustainability, sustainable innovation, and compliance with sustainability regulations on corporate strategic decision-making. A survey research design was adopted, targeting employees of registered hospitality firms in Benin City. A total of 354 copies of questionnaire were distributed, of which 318 were successfully retrieved and deemed usable for analysis, representing a retrieval rate of 89.8%. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequencies, mean, percentages and inferential statistics such as the Pearson Correlation Coefficient and multiple regression analysis through the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) technique via SPSS Version 24. The findings revealed that all five dimensions of sustainability practices positively and significantly influence corporate strategy. Social sustainability recorded the strongest effect, followed by regulatory compliance, environmental sustainability, sustainable innovation, and economic sustainability. Collectively, the five dimensions explained 75.7% of the variation in corporate strategy, indicating the high strategic relevance of sustainability practices in the hospitality sector. Based on these results, the study recommended that hospitality firms in Benin City deepen the integration of environmental and social sustainability into strategic planning, invest in sustainable innovations as competitive tools, and comply rigorously with regulatory requirements. Industry associations and government agencies are advised to support and monitor sustainability initiatives while incentivizing best practices

This study examined the relationship between organizational silence and organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) among lecturers in the University of Benin. 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 correlation analysis confirmed these findings, revealing weak and statistically insignificant relationships between organizational silence dimensions and OCB. The study concludes that while organizational silence exists within the University of Benin, it does not significantly influence lecturers’ willingness to engage in citizenship behaviours such as altruism, conscientiousness, courtesy, sportsmanship, and civic virtue. The findings suggest that lecturers’ engagement in OCB is primarily driven by intrinsic motivation and professional commitment rather than silence dynamics. The study recommends that the university should continue to foster open communication channels, participative decision-making, and supportive leadership practices to sustain a positive organizational culture that encourages voluntary, extra-role behaviour among academic staff.

This study examined the impact of forensic accounting on the growth and development of the Nigerian economy, with specific focus on fraud investigation, litigation support, expert witness services, and financial reporting quality enhancement. The study adopted a survey research design, targeting 110 respondents comprising accountants, auditors, forensic practitioners, and finance officers in selected public sector institutions and professional accounting firms in Edo State. Out of the distributed questionnaires, 110 were duly completed and analyzed using E- Views 10 and SPSS 22. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis were employed to evaluate the data and test the research hypotheses at the 5% significance level. The findings revealed that fraud investigation, expert witness services, and financial reporting quality enhancement significantly influence economic growth and development, with expert witness services exerting the strongest effect. Conversely, litigation support was found to have no significant impact, suggesting institutional and systemic limitations in its application. The study recommends strengthening fraud investigation frameworks, improving expert witness training, embedding forensic oversight in financial reporting, and reforming the judicial system to maximize the developmental potential of forensic accounting practices.

This study examines the determinants of tax effort in Nigeria, focusing on the effect of economic development, economic structure, natural resource dependence, and institutional quality on the country's ability to mobilize domestic revenue. The research
investigates how these factors collectively influence tax performance within the framework of the Fiscal Capacity Theory, which posits that both economic fundamentals and institutional strength determine a government's revenue-generating potential. The
study adopts a survey research design. Primary data were collected from 384 respondents drawn from key fiscal and regulatory institutions, including the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the Ministry of Finance, the Budget Office of the Federation, and the National Planning Commission. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, reliability tests, and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression to determine the direction and significance of the relationships between the variables. The empirical findings reveal that economic development, economic structure, and institutional quality exert positive and significant effects on tax effort, indicating that higher growth, diversification, and governance quality improve revenue mobilization and compliance. Conversely, natural resource dependence has a negative and significant influence on tax effort, suggesting that overreliance on oil revenue undermines fiscal sustainability. The model recorded an R 2 ofO. 782, showing that the explanatory variables jointly account for 78.2% of the variations in tax effort. Based on these results, the study recommends that policymakers promote economic diversification, strengthen institutional quality, and reduce dependence on natural resources to enhance Nigeria's tax effort. Furthermore, reforms should prioritize transparency, accountability, and digitalization of tax administration to improve efficiency and public trust.

This study examined the effect of strategic marketing planning on company growth among selected firms in Nigeria. It focused on how strategic marketing planning implementation, customer acquisition, customer retention, and market research utilization influence firm performance. Using an ex-post facto research design and secondary data from company reports and official sources, the study employed correlation and multiple regression analysis with SPSS software. Findings revealed that market research utilization significantly enhances company growth, while strategic marketing planning implementation, customer acquisition, and customer retention showed positive but insignificant effects. The study concluded that strategic marketing planning
contributes to growth only when effectively supported by data-driven market research. It recommends that firms strengthen the execution of marketing strategies, balance customer management efforts, and integrate market intelligence into strategic decision-making for sustainable growth.

This study investigates the relationship between audit committee characteristics and
financial reporting quality in Nigeria’s consumer goods manufacturing sector. The
motivation for the research stems from persistent concerns about corporate governance effectiveness and the reliability of financial statements in emerging economies.
Specifically, the study examines the impact of audit committee meeting frequency,
independence, financial expertise, and size on financial reporting quality, with
discretionary accruals serving as a proxy for earnings management. The study adopts an ex-post facto research design and utilizes secondary data from listed consumer goods firms covering the period 2011–2020. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and panel regression techniques were employed in analyzing the data. The results reveal that audit committee independence, financial expertise, and meeting frequency significantly reduce discretionary accruals, thereby enhancing financial reporting quality. Conversely, audit committee size does not exhibit a significant effect, indicating that effectiveness is influenced more by the quality and competence of members than by their number. The findings align with agency theory and prior empirical studies that emphasize the critical role of independent and knowledgeable audit committees in constraining earnings management. The study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence from Nigeria, an under-researched context, and offers practical implications for regulators and boards to strengthen audit committee structures. It recommends that emphasis should be placed on ensuring the independence, expertise, and active engagement of audit committees rather than merely meeting statutory requirements for committee size.