FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES

This study investigates the relationship between human resource asset and the profitability of quoted banks in Nigeria, with a focus on variables such as salary expenses, number of employees, research and development (R&D), employee training, and performance appraisal. Secondary data from annual financial statements of thirteen banks listed on the Nigerian Exchange Group between 2018 and 2023 were sourced, and the study employed panel data regression analysis to evaluate how these human resource assets interact with return on assets (ROA) which was a measurement for profitability. The findings reveal a statistically significant negative relationship between salary expenses and profitability, indicating that rising wage costs without proportional productivity gains may constrain firm performance. Other variables number of employees, R&D, training, and appraisal showed either positive or negative relationships with profitability but were not statistically significant. The study concludes that while human resource asset is crucial to firms financial performance, its financial implications must be efficiently managed. Recommendations include adopting performance-based pay, optimizing workforce efficiency, balancing R&D investment, and aligning training and appraisal systems with business objectives. The study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on strategic human resource management and offers practical insights for enhancing firm profitability in the Nigerian banking sector

This study was undertaken to investigate the relationship between sustainability disclosures and banks' financial performance in Nigeria. In other that the objective in this research work might be achieved, research design employed in this study is the longitudinal research design.The population for this research work includes secondary data from annual reports of selected banks obtained from the Nigeria Stoke Exchange facts book from 2017 to 2023.The study finds that governance disclosure has a negative and non-significant relationship with Return on Assets but a positive and significant relationship with Return on Equity, while Social disclosure has a negative and non-significant relationship with Return on Assets,Return on Equity. Additionally the study also finds that environment disclosure has a positive and non-significant relationship with Return on Equity but a negative and significant relationship with Return on Assets. In light of these findings the study recommends that banks in Nigeria should adopt rationales for prudent venture and financial policies and make appropriate operational choices, in an effort to accomplish its set goals towards creation of income, augmenting profits and accomplishment of investors' objectives. The study further recommends that in the course of banks' lending activities to customers, active interest should be shown in knowing cumulatively what the customer's business is that the bank is financing. Finally the study recommends that to improve corporate governance, the value of the stock ownership of board members must be put in mind, since it relates positively to both the probability of disciplinary management turnover and future operating performance in poorly performing banks.

This study examined the influence of neuromarketing strategies on consumer behaviour in healthcare providing organisations in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. Specifically, it investigated the roles of emotional branding, sensory marketing, attention capturing, and memory recall stimulation in shaping patient perceptions, loyalty, and engagement. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design, with data collected from 100 respondents comprising healthcare consumers and staff from both public and private healthcare facilities. A structured questionnaire was used as the primary instrument, and responses were analysed using descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, mean, standard deviation) and multiple regression analysis to test the research hypotheses. The findings revealed that emotional branding, sensory marketing, and memory recall stimulation significantly influence consumer behaviour, enhancing patient trust, satisfaction, and retention. Attention capturing techniques, while positively related, were not found to have a statistically significant effect on patient decision-making. Overall, the study’s regression model indicated that neuromarketing strategies collectively explained 58.4% of the variance in consumer behaviour among healthcare users in Benin City. The study concludes that incorporating neuromarketing strategies into healthcare marketing can improve patient experience, engagement, and loyalty, thereby contributing to the sustainable performance of healthcare organisations. Based on these findings, the study recommends that healthcare providers adopt emotionally engaging communication, sensory- rich environments, and memory-driven messaging to strengthen patient-provider
relationships. The study also suggests further research on additional neuromarketing factors and cultural influences to deepen understanding of consumer behaviour in the Nigerian healthcare context.

This study examines the influence of patch management practices including vulnerability assessment, patch prioritization, verification, and continuous monitoring on organizational performance in Nigerian banking institutions. Driven by increasing cyber threats and growing dependence on digital banking infrastructure, the research investigates how effective patch management enhances system reliability, operational efficiency, regulatory compliance, and customer trust. A descriptive survey design was employed, targeting IT, cybersecurity, and system maintenance personnel from five major Nigerian banks. Data were collected using structured questionnaires and analyzed with descriptive statistics and multiple regression techniques. Findings reveal that vulnerability assessment, patch prioritization, and verification/continuous monitoring all have significant positive effects on organizational performance, collectively explaining 96.6% of its variation. The study concludes that patch management functions as a crucial dynamic capability enabling Nigerian banks to remain secure, resilient, and competitive. It recommends enhanced automation, increased staff training, stronger adherence to patch schedules, and improved continuous monitoring processes to strengthen cybersecurity readiness across the sect

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 impact of foreign capital inflows on private sector development in Nigeria over the period 1990 to 2023. The analysis disaggregates foreign capital into four distinct components such as Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI), Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Foreign Aid (AID), and Remittances (REM), to examine their individual effects on domestic private sector credit as a proxy for private sector development. Utilizing the Robust Least Squares (RLS) estimation technique to address issues of model misspecification and data irregularities, the study finds that remittances exert a strong and statistically significant positive effect on private sector development, while FPI has a significant negative effect. In contrast, both FDI and foreign aid were found to have statistically insignificant impacts. The findings underscore the importance of capital quality and the domestic absorptive environment in determining the developmental impact of foreign inflows. The study concludes that while foreign capital remains essential for economic development, its effectiveness in enhancing the private sector depends critically on regulatory oversight, financial infrastructure, and macroeconomic stability. Policy recommendations include strengthening remittance channels, regulating speculative capital, and improving the investment climate for more productive FDI utilization.

This study examined the effect of exchange rate volatility, and the blue economy on the financial
performance of Nigeria’s shipping industry from 1990 to 2024. A longitudinal research design was adopted, allowing for the analysis of cause-and-effect relationships across time. Secondary data were sourced from the World Bank Development Indicators, and the Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin, while exchange rate volatility was derived using the GARCH (1,1) model. The study employed an econometric framework grounded in the Traditional Flow Theory and the Balance of Payments (BoP) Theory to investigate how volatility in exchange rates and blue economy activities affect shipping sector financial performance. Financial performance was measured using container throughput revenue, shipping costs, and port revenue, while blue economy proxies include fisheries, aquaculture, and desalination, controlled by macroeconomic variables such as inflation, labour force, and trade freedom. The analysis adopted the autoregressive distributed lags (ARDL) framework to capture both short-run and long-run among the variables. Empirical findings showed that exchange rate volatility reduced container throughput revenue and port revenues while increasing shipping costs. Fisheries had a short-term positive impact, while, aquaculture significantly boosted long-run performance by lowering costs and raising revenues. Desalination has limited influence, showing short-term benefits but long-term drawbacks. The study recommended that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other statutory Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDA’s) connected with blue economy, and, the shipping and maritime sector of the economy; formulate policies and embark on activities that will help stabilize the naira, promote risk hedging instruments, and encourage investments in fisheries terminals, aquaculture integration, and desalination facilities

The study examined the role of financial openness and foreign remittances inflows in capital market development in Sub-Saharan Africa over the period 1990 to 2023. The specific objectives of the study were to find out whether financial openness (FOPN), foreign remittances inflows, interest rate, exchange rate and inflation rate significantly affect capital market development in the Sub-Saharan Africa countries. Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa were used as sample++ size for the Sub-Saharan Africa capital markets. Using the panel fully modified least squares econometric technique, it was found that financial openness has a strong positive relationship
with capital market development in Sub Sahara Africa; foreign remittances inflows has a weak inverse relationship with capital market development, exchange rate has a weak positive effect on capital market development; and while interest rate and inflation rate has a strong negative relationship with capital market development in Sub-Sahara Africa countries. The study recommend among others that, governments and regulators should review current policy on foreign remittances with a view to repositioning it so that it will be able to attract more inflow of remittances and thereby impacting positively on the overall development Sub Sahara Africa capital markets. For instance, they should deliberately reduce the current high cost often associated with remittances inflow to the countries, and by so doing large portion of remittances
received into these countries can then be utilized for innovative financial products to constantly deepen and broaden the Sub Sahara Africa capital markets

The study examines the firm specific determinants of the performance of insurance firms in Nigeria over the period 2019 – 2023, using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and panel least squares regression techniques. A causal research design was adopted for the study. The firm specific factors considered in this study include firm size, capital adequacy, leverage, liquidity and firm age while insurance firm performance was proxy by return on asset. It adopts a multivariate panel least squares analysis for the estimation process. The finding of the study reveals that firm size, liquidity and firm age has a positive and insignificant effect on performance of insurance companies while capital adequacy and leverage has a negative and insignificant influence on performance of insurance firms. The study recommends among others that management of insurance firms should focus less on growing the size of insurance firms in Nigeria. Also, regulatory authorities should ensure that insurance firms comply strictly with capital adequacy set by the regulatory authorities.

This study examined the influence of work-life balance initiatives on employee performance in selected banking institutions in Benin City. Focusing on personal characteristics, family responsibilities, and leave policies as key work-life balance variables, the study aimed to assess their impact on employee performance. A total of 200 valid responses were collected from employees out of a potential sample size of 268. The study adopted a quantitative research methodology, utilizing descriptive statistics (frequency, mean, and percentage) and inferential statistics (regression analysis) for data analysis. The findings revealed that personal characteristics significantly influence employee performance (B = 0.362, p < 0.001), while family responsibilities showed no significant effect (B = 0.024, p = 0.705). Additionally, leave policies were found to have a significant positive impact on employee performance (B = 0.204, p = 0.040). Based on these findings, the study recommends the implementation of tailored employee development programs that consider individual characteristics, the introduction of flexible work arrangements to support work-life balance, and the enhancement of leave policies to promote employee well-being and improve overall performance.