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NIGERIAN JOURNAL OF BUSINESS,

HUMANITIES AND INFOTECH

An International Interdisciplinary Journal

Volume 2, No. 2. November 2013.

ISSN NO. 2315 - 6457

Published by The Imo State Polytechnic Umuagwo

SPONSORED BY

TETFUND INTERVENTION 2011

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EDITORIAL BOARD

Editor-in-Chief Dr. John S. Ezenwankwor

Review/Discussion Editor Princess Tina Anyanjo

Editorial Secretary: Mr. Chijioke Okoro

Editorial Advisers: Dr. E.C.C Amaechi

Mr. Chinedu B. Maduka

Mr. Callistus Eke

Dr. P.C. Aju

Dr. D. Osuagwu

Dr. A. Ukonu

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NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS

Ogbonna Emma is a lecturer in the Department of Cooperative

Economics and Management, Imo State Polytechnic Umuagwo.

Okoro Chijioke belongs as well to the Department of

Cooperative Economics and Management, Imo State

Polytechnic Umuagwo.

Onyechinyere Adaku is an academic staff of the Imo State

Polytechnic in the Department of Office Technology and

Management.

Egbe Placid is a lecturer in the Department of Marketing, Imo

State Polytechnic Umuagwo.

Chinenye Michael Maureen writes from the Department of

Cooperative Economics, Federal Polytechnic Nekede Owerri.

Echeta Desmond is an academic staff of Imo State Polytechnic

Umuagwo in the Department of Banking and Finance.

Echeta Maryrose is of the Department of Science Laboratory

Technology, Imo State Polytechnic Umuagwo.

Unachukwu Uche belongs to the Department of Banking and

Finance, Imo State Polytechnic Umuagwo.

Ojiuko Austine is also of the Department of Banking and

Finance, Imo State Polytechnic Umuagwo.

Anukam Isaac writes from the Department of Marketing, Imo

State Polytechnic Umuagwo.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Editorial Forward

Edmund Igboanusi

The moral Agenda of Information and Communication

Technology for Development

Chrysanthus Ogbozo

Using Language but Communicating Nothing

Nelson Udoka Ukwamedua

A Post Modernist Response to Philosophy in the Third World

John Ezenwankwor Third World and the Challenges to Freedom

Princess Tina Anyanjor

Literature, an effective tool in rebranding Nigerian students

Isaiah Negedu Governance in Africa: Nigeria in Perspective

Ethelbert Nnodimele

Environmental Degradation: A threat to man and the Ecosystem

B.C. Ekweruo

Igbo Regional Landscape and Traditional Agriculture

Paschal Ifeanyi Onyenwigwe

Selection for Employment: Issues and Problems

Chijioke Okoro and E.C.C. Amaechi

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The Effects of Government Policy on Cooperative Development

E.C.C. Amaechi and Chijioke Okoro

Organization and management of Cooperative Business

Enterprise

Ethelbert Nnodimele Affordable/Cleaner Energy Alternatives for the Household

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Editorial Forward

The Nigerian journal of Business, Humanities and InfoTech, as

a response to the present day problems of the society especially

the developing world, accommodates issues from various fields

especially as they relate to technology, management issues and

some problems in the third world. Technology is here

considered in its human dimension where it gains its proper

meaning. It ceases to be meaningful when it ignores the values

at the centre of human development and needs.

In this maiden edition, Edmund Igboanusi challenges the view

that technology or science is morally indifferent. He calls for an

in-depth provision of moral parameters in approaching

technology to fully benefit from it while at the same time

protecting our human values especially the respect for human

dignity as one created in the image of God with freedom to

make choices.

Shifting a little from the moral dimension of technology,

Chrysanthus Ogbozo reviews the third world use of the

technology of information dissemination. Using Nigeria as

example, he adduces that a great majority of news items in

Nigeria are elegantly presented but with very poor or sometimes

untruthful content. He identifies language and its proper use as

essentially important in every form of communication and

therefore calls for its proper understanding. Communication is

not simply the use of words or language; such use however

becomes communication when they convey what is real and

true.

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With some obvious patriotic spirit, Nelson Ukwamedua frowns

at the use of the term “third world.” He is particularly

unsatisfied that the pains of colonialism are yet to be over as

colonizers continue to dominate the African people. The use of

the term ‘third world’ is particularly identified as a further way

the colonizers use in derogatorily subjugating the African. He

holds that such terms are only made to make the African who he

considers to have proper philosophies and ideologies feel less

confident about his ideas and views. In line with the poor picture

already created about the third world countries, John

Ezenwankwor considers freedom totally alien to the colonized

third world nations because of their continued economic

dependence on the so called first world.

Patriotism is not limited to the defence of one’s land against

colonisers but further requires action aimed at positive

contributions to one’s land. In this light, still focusing on the

third world, Isaiah Negedu, considers the issue of governance in

Africa with particular reference to Nigeria. He declares that the

central problem to governance in Africa is corruption. This evil

according to him has its concomitant effect in bad management

at all levels. The writer believes that leadership in Africa can

change for good when there is attitudinal change which will

only be ushered in by proper education and patriotic spirit. Such

kind of spirit among many other ways could be achieved in

Nigeria according Princess Tina Anyanjor through proper re-

branding of the youths. She feels that the youth will be more

effectively rebranded towards proper attitudinal change through

the values of literature when they properly embrace them.

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Apart from having the proper education and patriotic spirit

considered very essential in managing the affairs of a nation,

there are further areas that require proper and careful

management which Ethelbert Nnodimele, B.C. Ekweruo and

Paschal Onyenwigwe identified. They include the management

of our environment, management of industries or firms for

peaceful living and positive results. Nnodimele is saddened

about the general attitude of people, particularly Nigerians

which he considers detrimental to our environment and therefore

calls for a change of attitude that will require taking proper care

of our environment. Ekweruo considers the attitude to

agricultural development as another unfortunate state of affairs

in Nigeria. For him, agriculture has been so much neglected in

the third world nations especially in the Ibo tribe of Nigeria

because of its ‘subsistence’ tag by many governments. He

therefore calls for a rethink in order to give agriculture its

needed support. This, according to him, will make the Igbos of

Nigeria specifically known for subsistence agriculture self

reliant.

A good environment with proper system of agriculture

supported by the government is expected to bring forth a

prosperous and peaceful society. This can only come about in a

situation where there is proper organisation in the various firms

and governmental agencies saddled with particular

responsibilities necessary for implementing desired policies. To

be able to have proper and functioning firms and agencies that

will provide such desired results, Onyenwigwe calls our

attention to an essential aspect of every organisation or firm

namely selection or employment and management of qualified

staff. He thinks that poor selection and management of staff can

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spell doom to most firms. He considers the proper selection for

employment as well as management of the existing staff as

essential in maximizing the aims of every organization.

A firm may have employed the best staff and used the best

management system but may remain unproductive. This

happens as identified by Chijioke Okoro and E.C.C. Amaechi

when government policies are detrimental to the progress of

firms. Particularly, they feel that cooperative firms are generally

unproductive in Nigeria because of the long neglect of series of

Nigerian governments in playing their part in developing

cooperative firms.

In the final part of this edition, Nnodimele offers us a practical

way of protecting our environment by inviting us to the use of

energy alternatives that is affordable as well as protective to the

environment. Instead of deforesting our forests for firewood for

example, he advocates the use of other alternatives that will not

be destructive such as windmill and solar energy.

John Ezenwankwor

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STRATEGIES IN MOTIVATING SECRETARIAL

STUDIES STUDENTS’ INTEREST IN EMERGING

TECHNOLOGIES

BY

ONYECHINYERE ADAKU C. (MRS.)

Abstract

This study intends to look into motivating secretarial education

students’ interest in emerging technologies. Virtually, in every

human endeavor, technologies have been developed and applied

to facilitate human activities. The secretarial works in office

particularly have taken over the old ones which reveal the need

to call the attention of students to new technology and

knowledge in secretarial education. Secretaries nowadays

utilize sophisticated office tools, machines and equipments.

Students’ interests in these emerging technologies are of

paramount importance and a source of concern to business

education especially secretarial education. Adequate fund as

well as necessary tools and manpower development should

therefore be diploid to meet the emerging trends. This study is

carried out using survey research design. Its findings reveal

that teaching of Secretarial studies courses should be carried

out using new office technological equipment and machines,

practical work should be more than theory class and students

should be encouraged to go through industrial training and

professional development on the emerging technologies so as to

enhance their interest in learning Secretarial Education.

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Introduction

Technology innovations have brought changes in all spheres of

human endeavor, including acquisition of knowledge and skills

in Secretarial Education on the new office technology

equipment and machines which are utilized in the work place by

secretaries and management staff. Secretarial Education and

Technology are investments which yield large returns not only

to education, but also to the social betterment of the people.

Emerging office technologies/innovations are profound changes

being introduced into office work as revealed by Agbamu

(2005) who stated that these technological changes have made

traditional office functions to be out modeled, the emergence of

various modern technologies has changed the operations in

modern offices. Onajaife (2006) posited that office systems have

moved from typewriters, handwriting and manual operational

procedures to full automation of most offices where such terms

as word processing, data processing, reprographics and micro-

graphic are used to describe many technological processes. He

further stated that these technological processes have turned

traditional offices into modern offices. Okolo (2006) revealed

that the improvement in technologies has turned heap of files

that are consulted very often to retrieve information into

computers, fax machines, internet/intranet where paper speak no

volumes anymore. The need to impact the skills and knowledge

to the students by the business educators and to develop the

students’ interest in these emerging technologies cannot be over

emphasized because this will make the students to be relevant to

the world of work in this contemporary time. Students of

Secretarial Education are to attain and acquire these

technological skills so as to be technologically acquainted with

innovations as the world is turning to global village.

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Akportohowo (2006) stated that the emergence of technology is

fast gaining grounds as tapes/disks are taking place of sheets of

papers and manual filing system systems. Okolo (2006) and

Akportohowo (2006) opined that the emergence of office

technology enables work to be done from different locations at

different times. Ikelegbe (2006) stated that office automation

and technology allow office functions like typing, filing, storing,

retrieving etc to be automated. Secretarial Education which

sometimes is called office education, secretarial studies or office

systems management often make the skills and knowledge in

emerging technologies available as training programme for

Nigeria College of Education (NCE) students in Colleges of

Education, Office Technology and Management in Polytechnics

and other higher institutions where this course is offered.

Ihekwoaba (2005) sees secretarial education as a business

education programme which equips an individual to function

effectively in business subjects. The secretarial profession is

regarded as one of the most skilled professions. Therefore, a

secretary should possess a combination of skills that will enable

him function effectively in legal services, engineering services,

Civil Service, religious, political and all sectors of the economy.

A secretary according to Ihekwoaba (2005) is a person

employed in an office to work for another person, dealing with

letters, typing, keeping records and making appointments and

arrangements. Secretaries have taken the advantage of these

technology equipment and machines to achieve maximum

result, improve productivity, effectiveness and prompt service

delivery. Ihekwoaba (2005) holds that a student’s level of

interest in learning emerging technologies is of paramount

importance and a source of concern to the business educators in

secretarial education. Students of secretarial education are often

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found to have more interest in other courses than secretarial

education which is their main course of study despite its

relevance to the world of work most especially at this

contemporary time where the whole world is turning rapidly to a

global village and the emerging technologies have taken over

most of the office activities and operations. He further opines

that the current level of students in secretarial education is not

encouraging, which is a reflection of their interest level in the

course. It has come to a point where emerging technologies

which are now taught in secretarial education should be used to

enhance the interest of the students and different strategies have

to be developed through innovative ideas to enhance secretarial

education students in emerging technologies provided by

secretarial education course which is the main purpose of this

study.

Statement of the Problem

The innovations in technological development are deeply

affecting traditional offices as well as teachers who are teaching

Secretarial/Office Education. Most of the teachers are not

exposed to modern office equipment and as such render the

required skills and knowledge during the training irrelevant to

the world of work which will make the secretarial job and

operations difficult to carry out since offices today are

dominated by modern technologies. Secretarial Education which

is the only course which can make the skills and knowledge of

these emerging technologies available for students is considered

a difficult subject. Therefore, there is need to motivate the

students interest in secretarial education with emphasis on the

emerging technologies through necessary strategies so that their

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skills can be useful to them and their world of work after

graduation.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to look into the strategies for

motivating secretarial education students’ interest in emerging

technologies. Basically, the study seeks to find out:

1. The level of students’ interest in emerging technology in

secretarial education.

2. Challenges faced by secretarial education in emerging

technologies.

3. Strategies for motivating secretarial education students

interest in emerging technologies.

Research Questions

1. What is the current interest level of students in emerging

technology in secretarial education?

2. What are the various challenges faced by secretarial

education in emerging technology?

3. What are the various ways of motivating the secretarial

education students’ interest in emerging technology?

Research Design

Survey research design will be used for this study. This will

enable the researcher to systematically describe the strategies for

motivating secretarial education students’ interest in emerging

technologies.

Population and Sample

The population for this study is Secretarial Education students in

Office Technology and Management (OTM) selected from Imo

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State Polytechnic Umuagwo, Ohaji through simple random

sampling technique. This means that all the secretarial education

students will be given equal chances of being included in the

sample for the study.

Instrumentation

Structured questionnaire was used for the study to elicit

information from the students of Office Technology and

Management, Imo State Polytechnic Umuagwo Ohaji. The

questionnaire assumed two sections; Section A was based on

demographic data while Section B was on the entire variables

and it assumed four point rating scale which are Very High

(VH), High (H), Lower (L) and Very Low (VL).

Data Collection and Analysis

All data collected for this study came from a primary source and

were collected directly from the Secretarial Education/Office

Technology and Management students through the questionnaire

which were self-administered by the researcher. All the data

obtained were analyzed using means for the entire variables.

Findings and Results

Fifty questionnaires were administered, but forty four (44) were

returned which means that 88% (44) of the sample were used for

the study.

LITERATURE REVIEW AND CONCEPTUAL /

THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK

Concept of Teaching Methods / Strategies.

Teaching Methods according to Daughtery (1974) are the broad

pattern of thinking which a teacher follows to help students

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reach the goal set for the course. In other words, they are the

strategies adopted and used by teachers in transferring learning

in a classroom teaching – learning process. They are techniques,

ways, principles or strategies that enable the teacher to

communicate the lesson. These are attributes expected of a good

teaching method which is to be used to teach specific lesson. A

method that is appropriate to one kind of material may not be

suitable for another. Therefore an appropriate teaching method

needs to be carefully selected. Okeke (1997) as cited by Ifeagwu

(2000) lists some of these characteristics of teaching:

(a) A teaching method should provide useful activities that

would help the learners to discover facts and contribute

effectively to the learning activities.

(b) The teaching method chosen should allow the teacher to

present the subject matter beginning from known to the

unknown; from simple to complex.

(c) Teaching office Education involves various activities

which can be grouped under:

- Teacher centered method, Demonstration, Questioning

techniques, Textbook method, Visual aids and

Demonstration : This is a method or technique of Teaching

Concept; principles or real things by combining oral

explanation with the handling or manipulation of real things,

equipment or materials. Okorie (1986) holds that demonstration

method is one of the teacher’s greatest assets in arriving at

fundamental skills and practice in a very short period of time

especially for any subject that deals with skill acquisition and

teaching various trades by job trainees in industries.

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Excursion/Field Trips / Industrial Attachment Study: A

field trip is a journey outside the classroom to observe and

discover knowledge in a real life situation. Field Trip enables

students to study industrial processes first hand and to see the

relevance of laboratory and workshop practical. (Olatoke,

2005). Field trips afford the students the opportunity to have

experience on the practices or operations different from what

was taught in the school. Field trip is very important in the

teaching of office education courses because real life practices

and operation going on in the world of work is exposed to the

students when they undertake excursions / trips.

Teaching with the use of Audio / Visual aids and

multimedia. The rates of learning through the five senses give

an immediate picture of the vital role of audio – visual

materials in teaching learning process with particular reference

to office education courses. According to Aroleye (1986),

information reaches the brain through the five senses – sight,

smell, taste, touch and hearing. Office education courses are

partly cognitive and skill-based courses. Audio-visual materials

which are in the form of real object, machines/equipments are

of paramount importance.

Research Question 1

1. What is the current interest level of students in emerging

technologies in secretarial education?

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Table 1: Items on students’ level of interest in emerging

technologies.

S/N Item Statemeent V

H

H L VL X Decision

1 I like secretarial

education course

because of the skills

and knowledge that

are provided

through the course.

22 22 - - 3.50 Accepted

2 I prefer secretarial

education to other

courses. It exposes

someone to the new

office technological

equipment and

machines.

21 16 5 2 3.27 Accepted

3 I have keen interest

in learning the new

office technologies

machines and

equipment such as

fax machines, point

of sale (POS)

machines,

computer, internet,

reprography

machines etc.

22 19 3 - 3.43 Accepted

4 I like to build my

career in secretarial

education because

of the constant

development in

office technological

equipment and

machine.

10 20 7 7 2.75 Accepted

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Table 1 above shows that most of the respondents agreed that

they like Secretarial Education/Office Technology and

Management course because of the skills and knowledge that

are provided through the course and that it exposes them to the

new office technological equipment and machines such as fax

machines, point of sales (POS) machines, computer, internet,

reprography machines, etc. Most of the respondents revealed

that they like to build their career in Secretarial/Office

Education because of the constant development in Office

Technological equipment and machines. All the items were

accepted based on the decision that their mean ratings were

greater than 2.5 cut off point.

Research Question 2

What are the various challenges faced by Secretarial Education

in emerging technologies.

Table 2: Items on challenges faced by Secretarial Education in

emerging technologies.

S/N Item Statement VH H L VL X Decision

5 Secretarial Education

department do not

have most of the new

office technological

equipment used in

the world of work.

13 20 6 5 2.93 Accepted

6 Emerging Office

Technologies are

often difficult to

learn in Secretarial

Education

Department.

5 11 21 7 2.32 Rejected

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7 I often find it

difficult to perform

very well in office

technological

equipment and

machines because of

the way the lecturers

teach the concept.

9 10 18 7 2.48 Rejected

8 More theoretical

concept are being

taught than practical

work in teaching

emerging office

technologies.

18 11 8 7 2.91 Accepted

Table 2 above shows that most of the respondents agreed that

secretarial education department do not have most of the new

office technological equipment needed in the world of work and

that more theoretical concept are being taught than practical

work in teaching emerging office technological equipment and

machines in secretarial education. Item 5 and 8 were accepted

based on the decision that their mean ratings were greater than

2.5.

Research Question 3

What are the various ways of motivating the secretarial

education students’ interest in emerging technologies?

Table 3: Items on ways of motivating the secretarial education

students interest in emerging technologies.

S/N Item Statement VH H L VL X Decision

9 In teaching the new

office technological

equipment and

30 10 3 1 3.75 Accepted

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machines, practical

work should be more

than theorical work.

10 Industrial training in

office technology

should be maximally

encouraged in

students.

20 23 1 - 3.43 Accepted

11 In-service training

and professional

development should

be provided for

secretarial education

lecturers on the

emerging

technologies.

21 18 3 2 3.32 Accepted

12 Government should

adequately provide

the current equipment

and machines to the

department so that

what lecturers are

teaching can be

relevant to the world

of work.

35 8 - 1 3.75 Accepted

Table 3 above shows that most of the respondents agreed that in

teaching the new office technological equipment and machines,

practical work should be more than theory class; industrial

training in office technology should be maximally encouraged in

students; in-service and professional development should be

provided for secretarial education lecturers on the emerging

technologies and that Government should adequately provide

the current equipment and machines to the department so that

what lecturers are teaching can be relevant to the world of work.

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All the items were accepted based on the decision that their

mean ratings were greater than 2.5 cut off point.

Discussion of Findings

The study found out that most of the students in secretarial

education/Office Technology and Management were female in

their early twenties (20s); single and most of them used for this

study were in the final year which was their graduating years.

Further, most of the respondents have more interest in typing

than shorthand. The finding of this study revealed that students

like secretarial education course because of the skills and

knowledge that are provided through the course; exposure to

new office technological equipment and machines, learning of

application of new office technological machines such as fax

machine, point of sale (POS) machines, computer, internet,

reprography machines etc in the world of work. Also most of the

students in secretarial education have interest in building their

career in secretarial education because of the constant

development in office technological equipment and machines.

The available ones are not well utilized while some of them are

obsolete and have spoilt beyond repair. In teaching the new

office technological equipment and machines, practical work

should be more than theory class. To achieve this, the findings

revealed that government should adequately provide current

equipment and machines to the department, and that lecturers

should be made to go through in-service training and

professional development on the emerging technologies.

Industrial training in Office Technologies should be maximally

encouraged among students so that what the lecturers in the

department are teaching will be relevant to the society.

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Recommendations

Based on the findings of this study, the following

recommendations are made: Teaching of secretarial education

should always be made to apply ICT in teaching and all

available office technologies equipment. In a situation where

some of the modern office equipment is not available, lecturers

as well as students should embrace excursion to companies and

organizations that deal with the office technologies so that the

graduates of this course can acquire skills and knowledge

relevant to the modern society. Government and college

administrators should try as much as possible to provide new

and adequate office technologies, old ones should be replaced,

worn-out ones should be repaired so that the department can

provide training programmes which can make the graduates of

the course acquire skills and knowledge which can be used to

achieve self-reliance and to be able to cope with the world of

work in using the emerging technologies to achieve effective

work performance and high productivity. Excursion should be

encouraged to both the students and lecturers to offices with

modern technologies and machines.

Conclusion

This study has looked into strategies in motivating secretarial

education students’ interest in emerging technologies. Students’

level of interest in learning emerging technologies in secretarial

education is of paramount importance and a source of concern to

the business educators. Government should give adequate

support financially. Schools and Colleges should be involved in

industry-institution based programmes in providing skills and

knowledge and emerging office technologies to the lecturers in

terms of in-service training, on-the-job training. Seminars and

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workshops should be encouraged so that lecturers can have

adequate skills and knowledge to teach the students and make

them to acquire the best skills which will be useful for them in

the world of work and to be self-reliant in the business world.

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References

Agbamu, T. P. (2005). Restructuring business teaching

education through information and communication

technology driven curriculum. Business education journal 1,

10, 17.

Akportohowo, F. C. (2006). Effect of modern information and

communication technology on secretarial and general office

workers. Journal of office management and technology 1 (p.

65 74).

Ikelegbe, S. (2003) Effects of Information and

Communication on Management efficiency. Journal of

Office Management and Technology 1 (1), 265 271.

Ihekwoaba, M. E. (2005). Introduction to Vocational

Technical Education. Shomolu: mukugamu & brothers

enterprises.

Onojaife, C. A. (2006). Effects of Modern Information

and Communication Technology on secretarial workers.

Journal of Office Management and Technology 1 (p. 51 58).

Okolo, A. N. (2006). Effects of Information and

Communication Technology on secretarial workers. Journal

of Office Management and Technology 1 (p. 155 169).

27

THE CONCEPTS: ADVERTISING SPIRAL AND THE

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE

BY

EGBEH, PLACID C. (NNIM, Mnimn)

OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MARKETING

ABSTRACT

Marketing strategic decision-making focuses on products and

markets. Other marketing mix elements of which promotion is

one of them are equally important but facilitate product-market

decisions. Marketers believe that like human beings, products

have a life cycle and that advertising emphasis should change

with the life cycle of a product if one is to maximize a product’s

life time profitability. This paper looks at the advertising spiral-

a chart that parallels a product’s life cycle-and how as a

marketing management decision tool it can help companies

create better campaign, improve their overall advertising

capabilities, enhance product perception, positioning, market

share and profitability.

Keywords: Product life cycle, advertising spiral.

INTRODUCTION

Marketing in simple terms is the identification of human needs

and wants and satisfying them profitably. Product (goods and

services) are used to satisfy these needs and wants. Outside

placing a value on products and ensuring their availability,

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target audiences also have to be made aware of the existence of

needs-satisfying goods and services. Products however have a

life span. They get born, experience growth and eventually

become obsolete and abandoned. Considering this scenario, the

challenge facing the marketer is not only to ensure that his

product goes the full, cycle but that the product’s life time

profitability is maximized. Predictor variables like market

factors, advertising factors and customer factors can be used by

the marketer to accomplish this. The focus of this paper shall

however be on an aspect of the advertising option called the

“advertising spiral”. We wish to point out at this stage that the

focus of this paper is not about the product life cycle concept.

We will only highlight some of its aspects as will be useful for

the main focus our paper which is advertising spiral.

THE PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE

The product life cycle is a business analysis tool which attempts

to identify a set of common stages in the life of commercial

products (Wikipedia, 2013).

It is an important concept in marketing and describes the stages

a product goes through when it was thought off until it finally

disappears (Riley, 2012).

Muhs (1985) quoting Day (1981) likens the product life cycle to

the biological analogy of birth, growth, maturity and decline.

According to him, the first full exposition of the concept as we

know it today appeared in 1957 during the 39th National

Conference of the American Marketing Association in a paper

presented by Conrad Jones who was involved in new product

planning. Quoting Muhs, Jones posited that “There are

compelling forces behind this drive for new products. There is a

life cycle that is characteristic of many-if not most-products.

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Since all products are ‘new’ at their outset, we can call it the

basic life cycle for new products”. A reproduction of this life

cycle by him is shown below.

THE BASIC LIFE CYCLE OF NEW PRODUCTS

Source: Muhs W.F. (1985) “The Product Life Cycle Concept”,

P: 3

The concept and the stages as

earlier propounded by Jones remain relevant till date. Modern

writers on the subject matter including Kotler (1999) and

Perreault and McCarthy (2003) have however reduced the stages

to four and which are market introduction, market growth,

market maturity and sales decline. Anyanwu (2003) however

included a pre-introduction stage which Dawe (2013) argued is

not necessary as the main application of the concept is to guide

the type of marketing activities to focus on.

BASIC ASSUMPTIONS OF THE CONCEPT

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According to Kotler (I999), to say that a product has a life cycle

is to assert four things.

Products have a limited life

Product sales pass through distinct stages, each posing

different challenges, opportunities and problems to the

seller.

Profits rise and fall at different stages of the product life

cycle.

Products require different marketing, financial,

manufacturing, purchasing and human resources strategies

in each stage of their life cycle.

Contributing to the subject matter, Perrault and McCarthy

(2003) added that; product life cycles describe industry sales

and profits for a product idea within a particular period and that

sales and profits of an individual brand may not, and often do

not, follow the life cycle pattern. They may vary up and down

throughout the life cycle-sometimes moving in the opposite

direction of industry sales and profits. Furthermore, a product

may be in a different life cycle stages in different markets.

According to them, product life cycles also vary in length and

may take only 90 days incase of toys to possibly 100 years as

examplified by petrol engine cars. How long a product life cycle

takes and the length at each stage is basically a function of the

comparative advantages the product has over its competitors,

how easy it is to use and how its advantages can he

communicated to the market. On the subject matter, Riley

(2013) opined that there are no set schedules for the stages of a

product life cycle. Differences will occur based on the type of

31

product, how well it is received in the market, the promotional

mix of the company, and the aggressiveness of competition.

Cravens (1982) agrees with Perrault and Riley that all product

sales do not follow the life cycle curve but that many do or

would, if adjustments in corporate strategies were not made to

alter life cycle patterns. According to him, the basis of the life

cycle analysis is that a new product starts out in the introductory

stage, moves next to a growth stage, then to maturity, and

eventually declines and possibly dies. Sales start to build up in

the introductory stage, expanding at an increasing rate until late

in the growth stage, then reaching a maximum total during the

maturity stage and finally leveling off at the declining stage. The

quoted authors were however united in their view that consumer

perception determines the stage of the product and must be

worked upon.

While in agreement with the positions of the quoted authors on

the basic assumptions of the PLC concept, I feel that in addition

marketers should not assume that every time product sales peak

and then decline, a product is in the final stages of its life cycle

and marketing support should therefore cease. Marketers need a

wide range of data and analysis to help them determine the

phase a product is in and whether it can be extended through

marketing action.

USES OF THE CONCEPT

Agbonifoh et al (1998), Craven (1982), Riley (2013) and Dawe

(2013) all agree that the product life cycle concept is not just a

planning but a strategic marketing planning tool. From their

32

works on the subject matter, we arrive at the following as the

areas it can be applied in strategic marketing planning.

Each stage in the product life cycle is often linked with

changes in the flow of raw materials, parts and distribution

to markets. Inputs must therefore be adjusted in line with

increasing competitions.

Depending upon the life cycle stage, product-market

attractiveness will, in general, decline as the product

advances through the stages. A good knowledge of the life

cycle stage will enable management make appropriate

adjustments in resource applications.

As the stages in the product life cycle correspond with

foreseeable increases or decrease in revenues, the PLC,

factor shall allow for business strategies to be planned in

concert with the marketing mix to maximize a brand’s

potentials during each stage.

When used alongside carefully analyzed sales figures and

forecasts, it provides a useful guide to marketing tactics that

may be most appropriate at a given time.

The four stages not only represent the awareness of the

product in the eyes of the consumer but the profit resulting

from product sales which helps marketing management

shape marketing and pricing.

Recognition of the life cycle stresses the importance of new

product planning since older products are not likely to grow

and contribute to profits as much as new products.

Management requirements at different stages also vary; thus

corporate and marketing functions will vary depending on

the life cycle stages.

33

It is also a useful tool for monitoring sales results overtime

and comparing them with products having similar life

cycles.

THE ADVERTISING SPIRAL

The advertising spiral is a chart that parallels a product’s life

cycle and points out what to be done in each stage of the

product’s life (Eneida M., 2006). In the opinion of Anyanwu

(2003), it depicts a situation where goods, services or ideas are

positioned in the market by the instrument of advertising.

According to Muhs (1985), the term “advertising spiral” was

first used in 1931 by Otto Kleppner in his classic text

Advertising Procedure in which he labeled his version of a

product life cycle as the “advertising spiral”. Though his focus

was on advertising he conceptualized a product life cycle and

stated thus”.

This evolutionary process is one in which most

products participate, and can be traced as it

passes through three phases, the “pioneering”

stage, the “competitive” stage and the

“retentive” stage. What the advertisements for

any given product shall say depends largely upon

the stage in which the product finds itself at that

time.

Kleppner envisioned an evolutionary cycle which can go

through a transition and start another cycle-the spiral effect. The

product stretches out to include new buyers or new uses of the

product and a time may finally come when the answer is to find

new products. Kleppner’s view is very interesting and useful.

34

Following this position, companies can only survive by constant

search for new users or new buyers for their existing products.

Continuous innovation should however be the rule rather than

the exception. The society (market) is dynamic with human

needs, wants and tastes are continuously changing. The only

way for companies to survive is to move along with the times.

The concept as propounded by Kleppner has stood the test of

time in spite of the several critical reviews including Anyanwu’s

review with the addition of a ‘phasing out stage’ to the stages in

the spiral.

For the purposes of this article however, the three stage process

comprising the pioneering, competitive and retentive stages

shall be adopted.

THE STAGES OF THE ADVERTISING SPIRAL

Muhs (1985), Agbonifoh et al (1998), Chan (2013) and

McFarlin (2013) with Anyanwu (2003) differing all agree with

Kleppner that the advertising spiral should contain only the

pioneering, the competitive and retentive stages. The spiral

which derives from the forms of advertising as per the product

life cycle shall be briefly discussed hereunder.

Pioneering Stage

Pioneering advertising refers to new forms or new ways of

getting across a marketing message. Advertising at this stage

places emphasis on establishing a need on the consumer’s mind

and illustrating how the product will solve that need.

Competitive Stage

Advertising here focuses on the consideration of your product as

better as or worse than that of your competitors as well as

35

finding out how they market their products and the

improvements on the techniques they use.

Retentive Stage

Retentive advertising is referred to as reminder advertising. In

this case, the consumer is already well aware of the product

being offered and does not need to be convinced to buy it. The

idea behind the advertising spiral is that marketers believe that

advertising a product should not be a static process. Overtime,

consumers become familiar with a product. When this happens,

advertisers are required to change their marketing

communications accordingly.

APPLICATIONS OF THE SPIRAL WITH REGARDS TO

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE

As earlier pointed out, the advertising spiral as a management

decision tool is a chart that parallels a product’s life cycle

pointing out what has to be done in each stage of the product’s

life. The spiral provides a point of reference for determining

which stage or stages a product has reached at a given time in a

given market and what the thrust of the advertising message

should be.

It is important for deciding on strategy and giving a creative

team a clear perspective on what information it needs to

communicate to prospects, customers and consumers. According

to Chan (2010), it can be used to answer the following questions

with regards to the product life cycle.

In which stage is a product?

Should we use pioneering advertising to attract new users to

this product?

36

Should we work harder at competitive advertising to obtain

a larger share of the existing market?

What portion of our advertising should be pioneering and

what portion competitive?

Are we simply coasting in the retentive stage? If so, should

we be more aggressive?

Chan notes that these questions are relevant considering the fact

that

A product may hold existing customers while seeking new

markets with pioneering advertising.

Products do not move through the stages at the same speed.

The predictive role of the advertising spiral with regard to the

product life cycle can however be fully appreciated if the stages

in both concepts are matched with one another.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE STAGES IN BOTH

CONCEPTS

Though Anyanwu (2003) quoting Zikmund and Damico (1995)

included a pre-introduction and decline and/or phasing out stage

in his comparative analysis of the two concepts, all other

existing works on the subject matter limited the stages to three

namely:

Market introduction/pioneering stages

Growth/competitive stages

Maturity/retentive stages

In agreement with Eneidam (2006), we adopt the three stages of

the advertising spiral as corresponding to the four stages of the

product life cycle.

37

A. MARKET INTRODUCTION

This stage corresponds to the pioneering stage of the advertising

spiral. According to Chan, consumers at this stage pay little or

no attention to the new product regardless of the manufacturer’s

efforts at developing and promoting it because sometimes the

need has not occurred to consumers. They consequently do not

feel a compulsion to buy the product. For a product to survive

this stage the role of advertising shall be to implant a new

custom, change habits, develop new usage and cultivate new

standard of living. The purpose of advertising at this stage of the

product life cycle is to educate consumers about the new product

or service. Advertising at this stage should stress on what the

product can do, offer or provide that could not have been done,

offered or provided by any product before. Advertising aims at

convincing consumers that they can accomplish something they

couldn’t before through the use of the new product. It must

show that previous ideas or conceptions are antiquated, previous

methods have been improved and that past limitations have been

overcome.

B. GROWTH STAGE

This stage corresponds to the competitive stage of the

advertising spiral. Marketers assume that this is a very crucial

stage in the life of a product in that product positioning must be

accomplished at this stage. This stage attracts the highest

advertising expenditure as advertisers try to build selective

rather than primary demand. At this stage, a pioneering product

gets accepted by consumers engendering competition since

consumers have desire for it. Advertising at this stage should

focus on communicating the products position and

differentiating the products to the consumers. At this stage, the

38

emphasis is no longer to introduce consumers to a brand but to

give them a reason why the product is superior – its superiority

over similar brands must he established in order to gain

preference. Anyanwu (2003) opines that the ultimate leader will

be the brand that offers consistent and unbroken promise to the

consumers.

C. MATURITY STAGE

The maturity stage corresponds to the retentive stage of the

advertising spiral. Anyanwu, (2003), Eneida M. (2006),

McFarlin (2013) and Chan (2010) are however of the opinion

that the period should include the decline stage of the product

life cycle – an opinion Agbonifoh et al (1998) shares. The

advertising goal at this stage is to maintain market share and

ward of consumer trial of other products. The strategy should

focus on reminder and emotional adverts aimed at encouraging

repeat purchase. Little copy is necessary as the consumer does

not need much information. The ad should be highly visual and

may feature only the brand name of logo as the product is now

well known by consumers. Emphasis should be placed on the

reinforcement of brand name. Institutional advertising should

also be made use of.

5.0 CONCLUSION

Having critically reviewed the concepts of advertising spiral and

the product life cycle, I wish to make the following conclusions.

Companies can only survive if they can delight consumers

through their product offerings. Such product offerings lose

their appeal and profit potentials over time i.e. their life cycle.

Companies must therefore strive to put measures in place to

maximize the profit potentials of their products over their life

39

time. A management decision tool that will be of much help in

accomplishing this is the concept of the advertising spiral.

40

REFERENCES

Agbonifoh, B.A., Ogwo, O.E., Nnolim, D.A., (1998), Marketing

in Nigeria: Concepts, Principles and Decisions, Aba:

Afritowers Limited.

Anyanwu, A. (2003), Promotional Strategy: A schematic

Approach, Owerri: Avan Publishers Ltd.

Chan, R. (2010), “The Advertising Spiral And Brand Planning”,

cwx. Prenhall. Com 1…/CHO3.doc.

Cravens, D.W., (1982), Strategic Marketing, Homewood

Illinois:

Richard D. Irwin, Inc.

Dawe, T, “What Are Product Life Cycles”,

www.ehow.com>ehow>Business. Retrieved August 2013.

Eneida, M. (2006), “What is Advertising spiral?

“in.answers.yahoo.com.

Kotler, P., (1999), Marketing Management, New Delhi: Prentice

Hall of India.

McFarlin, K. (2013) “The Stages of Advertising Spiral”, small

business.chro.com. Retrieved, August 2013.

Muhs, W.F. (1985), “The Product Life Cycle Concept”. Origin

And Early Antecedents”, www.ideals.illinois.edu.

41

Perreault, D.W. and McCarthy, E.J. (2003), Essentials of

Marketing, New York: McGraw Hill.

Riley, J. (2012), “The Product Life Cycle”,

www.tutorZu.net/business/goose/market.

Wikipedia, “Product Life Cycle”, en.wikipedia.org/…/product

life cycle. Retrieved August 2013.

42

COOPERATIVE GOOD GOVERNANCE AND ITS IMPACT

IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT.

BY

MICHEAL MAUREEN CHINENYE

Department of Cooperative Economics and Management

Federal Polytechnic Nekede Owerri

E-mail address: chymikky@yahoo.com.

Abstract

The term good governance is widely used today everywhere in

the in the world. Almost all major development institutions

today say that promoting good governance is an important part

of their agenda. Good governance is arguably the single most

important factor in eradicating poverty and promoting

development. Despite this consensus, “good governance” is an

extremely elusive subject. It means different things to different

organizations and different actors within these organizations.

We will be concerned in the following pages with cooperatives

governance as a channel towards societal enhancement.

INTRODUCTION

Good Governance has as its pillars transparency, accountability,

risk management and control. Though the Co-operatives Act

2005 and the Co-operatives (Amendment) Act 2006 have made

provisions for greater transparency and accountability at the

level of co-operative societies, the Cooperatives Division of the

Ministry of Industry, Small and Medium Enterprises, Commerce

and Co-operatives has worked out this Code of Best Practices,

in consultation with main stakeholders of the co-operative

43

movement. The Code of Best Practices provides effective

guidelines for the proper functioning of co-operatives and

eventually ensures sound co-operative development. Co-

operative governance regulates the relationship between

members of co-operatives, the Board of representatives of

members (that advises management on behalf of members) and

management (that has the care and control of the co-operative).

Good governance includes decision making processes that affect

a country’s economic activities and its relationship with other

economies. It is a situation where the elected bodies direct,

control, and exerts authority concerning the affairs of the

governed to stimulate and bring about positive changes in their

lives. The governance is perceived to be good when those

elected work diligently to see to the maintenance of the masses.

According to International cooperative alliance (ICA), a co-

operative is an autonomous association of persons united

voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural

needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and

democratically controlled enterprise.

GOOD GOVERNANCE

Governance is "the process of decision-making and the process

by which decisions are implemented or (not implemented). The

term governance can apply to corporate, international, national,

local governance or to the interactions between other sectors of

society. The concept of "good governance" often emerges as a

model to compare ineffective economies or political bodies with

viable economies and political bodies. The concept centers on

the responsibility of governments and governing bodies to meet

the needs of the masses as opposed to select groups in society.

There is no single and exhaustive definition of “good

44

governance,” nor is there a delimitation of its scope that

commands universal acceptance. The term is used with great

flexibility; this is an advantage, but also a source of some

difficulty at the operational level. Depending on the context and

the overriding objective sought, good governance has been said

at various times to encompass: full respect of human rights, the

rule of law, effective participation, multi-actor partnerships,

political pluralism, transparent and accountable processes and

institutions, an efficient and effective public sector, legitimacy,

access to knowledge, information and education, political

empowerment of people, equity, sustainability, and attitudes and

values that foster responsibility, solidarity and tolerance.

According to Eyinla (2002) as cited by Uzoh (2011), good

governance means accountability, security of human right and

civil liberties, devolution of powers and respect for local

autonomy. There is a significant degree of consensus that good

governance relates to political and institutional processes and

outcomes that are deemed necessary to achieve the goals of

development. It has been said that good governance is the

process whereby public institutions conduct public affairs,

manage public resources and guarantee the realization of human

rights in a manner essentially free of abuse and corruption, and

with due regard for the rule of law. The true test of "good"

governance is the degree to which it delivers on the promise of

human rights: civil, cultural, economic, political and social

rights. The key question is: are the institutions of governance

effectively guaranteeing the right to health, adequate housing,

sufficient food, quality education, fair justice and personal

security? Fashiola (2011) noted that advancement in the area of

social welfare, education health care, employment and the

45

protection of the human rights are considered indicative of good

governance.

ATTRIBUTES OF GOOD GOVERNANCE

Good governance has some attributes/characteristics. It is

generally considered participatory, consensus oriented,

accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient,

equitable and inclusive, and follows the rule of law. Good

governance is responsive to the present and future needs of the

organization, exercises prudence in policy-setting and decision-

making and focuses on the best interests of all stakeholders.

Below are some of the principal attributes of good governance.

Rule of Law: Good governance requires fair legal frameworks

that are enforced by an impartial regulatory body, for the full

protection of stakeholders/members.

Transparency: Transparency means that information should be

provided in easily understandable forms and media; that it

should be freely available and directly accessible to those who

will be affected by governance policies and practices and its

decisions are in compliance with established rules and

regulations.

Responsiveness: Good governance requires that organizations

and their processes are designed to serve the best interests of

stakeholders/members within a reasonable timeframe.

Consensus Oriented: Good governance requires consultation

to understand the different interests of stakeholders/members in

order to reach a broad consensus of what is in the best interest of

46

the entire stakeholder group and how this can be achieved in a

sustainable and prudent manner.

Equity: The organization that provides the opportunity for its

stakeholders/members to maintain, enhance, or generally

improve their well-being provides the most compelling message

regarding its reason for existence and value to society.

6. Effectiveness and Efficiency: Good governance means that

the processes implemented by the organization to produce

favorable results meet the needs of its stakeholders/members,

while making the best use of resources – human, technological,

financial, natural and environmental – at its disposal.

Accountability: Accountability is a key tenet of good

governance. Who is accountable for what should be documented

in policy statements. In general, an organization is accountable

to those who will be affected by its decisions or actions as well

as the applicable rules of law.

Participation: Participation by both men and women, either

directly or through legitimate representatives, is a key

cornerstone of good governance. Participation needs to be

informed and organized, including freedom of expression and

assiduous concern for the best interests of the organization and

society in general.

THE CONCEPT OF COOPERATIVE GOVERNANCE

Unlike shareholder organizations, the cooperative society is one

hundred percent democratically controlled and jointly owned by

its member-owners. Large or small, each member-owner has an

47

equal vote at the Annual General Meeting. Co-operative

governance regulates the relationship between members of co-

operatives, the Board of representatives of members (that

advises management on behalf of members) and management

(that has the care and control of the co-operative). The main

function of cooperative governance practices is to ensure that

executives pursue the goals determined either by owners or by

those responsible for strategic decisions and not their own goals.

The good co-operative governance will (a) ensure that board and

management pursue objectives that are in the interests of

cooperatives and members. In this way, the Board of Directors

is representative of diverse membership. (b) Lead in effective

monitoring of activities of societies. (c) Ensure efficient and

effective use of available resources. (d) Reduce conflicts and (e)

Increase accountability and transparency in co-operatives.

Cooperative business as an organization has its own governance

which regulates the relationship between the members, the

board of directors, council of inspectors, audit committee and

management.

MEMBERS: The general meeting is made up of all registered

members of the society. Members are the foundation of the

cooperative and the society is organized in line with their needs.

Their support, through patronage and capital investment keeps it

economically healthy. Their changing requirements shape the

cooperative's future. Members collectively elect the Board of

Directors. (Michael M.C. et al 2013). Statutory law and the

basic legal documents of cooperative articles of incorporation,

bylaws, and contracts between the cooperative and its members

give the members the tools to control the cooperative and the

duty to use those tools for their mutual benefit.

48

BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Board of Directors in a

cooperative occupies a key position between members and hired

management. They are both users of its services and

representatives of other members who depend on the same

services. Acting as a group, Board of Directors set the objectives

for the cooperative and make decisions that set the course the

cooperative will follow in achieving those objectives. At the

local level, which is made up of primary societies and secondary

societies, this body is referred to as management committee,

while at the National and International level, this elected body

that is made up of co-operative professionals and experts which

may be employed to manage the affairs of the society is referred

to as Board of Directors.

COUNCIL OF INSPECTORS: These are supervisory

committees in cooperative society. They are not members of the

Management committee but are elected by the members at their

annual general meetings to monitor the activities of the

management committee on behalf of the members. They are

being referred to as watch dogs of the society. They are

empowered to have access to the books and records of the

society. They have the power to summon special or emergency

meetings if there is need. (Obi-okogbuo 2011).

AUDIT COMMITTEE: An Audit Committee may be defined

as a Committee of non-executive Directors, responsible for

liaising with the full Board, Internal Audit and External Audit. It

may be composed of 3 to 5 nonexecutive members (members of

the Board of Directors who are neither officer nor employees

having the responsibility to maintain contact with the internal

and independent auditors of the society). The Audit Committee

49

shall abide with the following codes of ethics and good

governance:

MANAGEMENT: The Management should control the

activities of the cooperative society, ensure that policy decisions

taken by the Board are implemented, follow the objectives and

guidelines set out by the Board, ensure that the functioning of

the society is in line with co-operative values and principles, and

the Co-operatives Act 2005 and the Co-operatives (Amendment)

Act 2006. This body is accountable to the board as well as the

general meeting vested with the highest powers.

CONTRIBUTIONS OF COOPERATIVES IN THE

GLOBAL ECONOMY AND SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT

It is estimated that one million cooperatives are active around

the world, serving the needs of one billion members and

providing jobs to over 100 million people. The top 300

cooperatives from all activity sectors combined generate 2

trillion dollars in global revenue. This figure is comparable to

the world's ninth largest economy. The global cooperative

movement represents the largest democracy and most

impressive educational system in the world by virtue of

cooperatives' democratic governance and the role they play in

educating their elected officers and members on the economy

and on democracy.

Cooperatives exist in all sectors of the economy and impact all

aspects of life. In many countries, they are key players in such

sectors as manufacturing, agriculture, retail, financial services

and social services. Wherever cooperatives are active, they

strengthen the communities they serve and in addition to their

50

significant economic contributions, they also play a major role

in social and human development. It cannot be over emphasized

the important contribution that cooperatives make to the socio-

economic well-being of people and communities and to a

balanced and more stable plural economy. Cooperatives make

unique and relevant contributions because: They are rooted in

the values and principles of cooperation. They have a long-term

commitment to their communities and the environment. They

have a solid democratic governance process that encourages

people to participate in the management of their cooperative and

provides training in democracy. They promote job creation and

retention in the communities they serve. They strive to be

profitable, not as an end in itself, but to effectively meet the

needs of their current and future members. They contribute to

the stability of the economy because their actions are based on a

long-term perspective and their strategies are people-oriented.

They use a business model that is robust and viable, at the local,

national and international levels. They are very resilient. They

support the development of the technological infrastructure

geared to young people and make it easier to share information.

They encourage governments to include cooperative studies in

their school curriculums. They help the next generation of

entrepreneurs develop new cooperatives and finally they create

proper atmosphere for future cooperators.

SUSTAINING COOPERATIVE POTENTIALS IN A

CHANGING AND FRAGILE ECONOMY

Cooperatives today are helping many international organizations

fulfill their missions and are contributing to the achievement of

the Millennium Development Goals. This is due to their

involvement in the areas of food security, poverty reduction and

51

access to healthcare, gender equality, and mitigating the impacts

of crises on high-risk populations. Their unique participative

governance and democratic practices based on the principles and

values of cooperation also support sustainable development. To

continue to maximize their full potential within a changing

world and fragile economy, cooperatives must:

Continue to improve their overall performance and

remain competitive to ensure their longevity

Aim at successful and sustainable business growth,

guided by member needs and environmental

sustainability

Demonstrate a greater capacity for innovation

Remain relevant and current by training their employees,

elected officers and members

Prepare future cooperators

Promote and support the creation and development of

new cooperatives.

Acquire a greater competitive edge by leveraging their

close relationship with their members

Systematically identify members' needs that have not

been properly addressed yet

Become more organizationally agile within the

parameters of their mission and the principles that guide

their actions

Clearly communicate and show how they are different

Join forces with other cooperatives through partnerships

and collaborative agreements to promote cooperative

movement.

52

CONCLUSION

Cooperative governance, which is based on transparency, the

democratic election of officers, member participation, and a

long-term vision, allows cooperatives to build a relationship of

trust with their members, employees, clients and communities.

The close relationship that cooperatives have with their

members explains their exceptional ability to meet their needs.

The shared vision that inspires them leads to more concerted

action. To continue to stand out in a globalized and

technologically advanced economy, cooperative business

enterprises must be proactive so as to be able to withstand the

rapid changes that impact their environment.

RECOMENDATIONS

Important decisions are currently being made around the world

without considering the unique aspects of the cooperative

model. This is because the model is not very well-known or

recognized, even though it has demonstrated its ability to be

successful. It has survived crises better than many other models

thanks to its distinct ownership structure and capital stability. To

prevent their business model from being overlooked or

weakened, and to allow them to gain political influence that is

more in line with their global economic influence, cooperatives

must:

Combine their efforts and resources to give their

international interventions greater impact

Commit the necessary resources to promote and spread

the word about their achievements and tangible

contributions to the world's socio-economic

development, and the innovative ways in which they

have responded to today's challenges

53

Intensify their representation activities in order to make

themselves better known to policy-makers and be

considered in stimulus and economic development

projects

Commit the necessary resources to develop new

cooperatives and to support their networks, and

encourage governments to do the same.

Communicate their financial, social, human and

environmental achievements more effectively.

Get researchers interested in the cooperative movement

and set up an international cooperative knowledge and

database to serve as a foundation, so that cooperative

studies become an essential component in the academic

and business world.

Prepare the next generation, make room for young

leaders and encourage their participation in cooperative

activities.

54

REFERENCES

Co-operative governance http://www.cooperators.ca/en/About-

Us/why- coops-are-better/co-operative-governance.aspx

retrieved on 23/05/2013 Creating a culture of board

excellence http://www.governancepro.com/news/

retrieved on 22/05/2013

Dare, A. eet al. (2010): Globalization, Good Governance and

Democracy: The Interface. Academic Leadership: the on

line Journal, Vol 8, Issues 3, Summer 2010.

Held, D. et al, (2004). Global Transformation: Economics and

Culture. Stanford, Oxford university press.

International Co-operative Alliance Organization

http://www.aciamericas.coop/What-is- the-International-

Co. Retrieved on 29/12/2012

Landell, M.P. & Serageldin, I. (1991): Governance and the

External Factors in the Proceedings of the World Bank

Annual Conference on Developmental Economics

Michael M.C. et al (2013): Principles and Practice of

Cooperation. Enugu, hunicon Int’l publishers.

Obi-Okogbuo.J. E. (2011): Theme in Co-operative Economics.

Owerri. Advanced Publishers.

Torado, M & Smith, S.C. (2006): Economic Development,

Growth and Planning. 9th Edition. Pearson Education

Limited, England.

55

Uzoh, O. (2011): What Nigeria Needs to have Good

Governance. The sun, Saturday October 1, 2011, vol. 8,

No. 457.

56

FOOD SECURITY, POVERTY ALLEVIATION,

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY AND THE

DYNAMICS OF ECONOMIC GROWTH IN NIGERIA

ECHETA DESMOND .O.

Department of Banking and Finance

Imo State Polytechnic Umuagwo

E-MAIL okeyfirsta@yahoo.com/echetades@gmail.com

PHONE: +2348037248832

ECHETA MARYROSE .O.

Department of Science Laboratory Technology

Imo State Polytechnic Umuagwo

UNACHUKWU UCHE .O.

Department of Banking and Finance

Imo State Polytechnic Umuagwo

OJIUKO AUSTINE .A.

Department of Banking and Finance

Imo State Polytechnic Umuagwo

Abstract

The problem of food insecurity resulting from poor agricultural

productivity with its attendant high poverty level in Nigeria

cannot be over emphasized , hence, the need to examine food

insecurity, poverty alleviation, agricultural productivity and

dynamics of economic growth in Nigeria. The total departure of

the Nigerian economy from agricultural setting in the 50’s and

57

60’s when agriculture contributed up to 82 percent of total

export in 1960 to what holds in the 70’s and beyond when

agriculture contributed less than 5 percent while crude oil share

rose to 92 percent is a source of worry. This is indicated by the

continued rise in poverty level from 28.1 percent in 1980 to 65

percent in 1996. Secondary data from CBN Statistical bulletin

were collected for the period 1980 to 2010. Solow-Swan

neoclassical growth model was employed in analyzing the

growth dynamics of the Nigerian economy. Employing dynamic

econometric approach, the research showed that a long –run

relationship exists between gross domestic product and all the

independent variables; food security, number of poor people

and agricultural productivity. The study recommends that any

economic policy that will make the Nigerian non oil sectors

perform effectively will improve the economy. Consequently

domestic agricultural policies should be pursued with vigour

and government should declare state of emergency on

agriculture and other non oil sectors to achieve the desired

growth.

Key words; Poverty Alleviation, Food security, Agriculture,

Productivity, GDP,

Granger Causality, Stationary

1. Introduction

In most Sub-Saharan Africa, food security and agricultural

productivity is yet to account for positive changes in growth

patterns. In the framework of addressing the growth imperatives

of the Nigerian economy, agricultural production challenges,

food insecurity and poverty are the bane. This is true based on

the knowledge that majority of Africans (Nigeria inclusive) live

58

in rural communities, where poverty and social exclusions are

severe. In economic growth and development economics it is

expected that innovations in agriculture will translate to more

food (food security) which will in turn reduce poverty.

To Xinshen, et al (2007) agriculture-led growth played an

important role in slashing poverty and transforming the

economies of many Asian and Latin American countries. They

are of the view that this has not been replicated in Africa. For

example, Nigeria is endowed with numerous natural resources

that are capable of driving growth, yet agriculture and food

security lag behind thereby worsening the poverty profile. In the

words of Echeta, et al (2013) 1.2 billion people in the world live

in extreme poverty (less than one dollar per day). Agricultural

output is important in any economy because of its role in the

growth process. Hirschman, (1958) theorized the linkage effects

in the growth process to include backward and forward linkages

created by investments in the industrial sector. However,

Xinshen et al (2007) citing Johnson and Mellor (1961)

contrasted this fact and emphasized the existence of production

and consumption linkages both in agricultural and non-

agricultural sectors. Interestingly, agricultural production

generates forward Production linkages when agricultural outputs

are supplied as inputs to further production in the non-

agricultural sector. This is basically seen in the agro-processing

and processed food market which provides growth opportunities

for import substitution. Agriculture exhibits backward linkage

through its demand for intermediate inputs such as fertilizers.

Haggblade, et al (1989) in Xinshen et al (2007) noted that these

production linkages are likely to deepen as an economy

modernizes, but decline in relative importance alongside

agriculture’s share of production.

59

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Agricultural development was targeted as a key factor to driving

industrialization in the seventies. However, industrial strategy

was not channelled towards supporting agriculture.

Unexpectedly, the import substitution agenda of the seventies

and eighties did not show any significance in sourcing raw

materials domestically but was tuned towards imports. During

the Nigeria’s independence in 1960, agriculture was

contributing 64 percent of the GDP. With the oil boom of the

1970’s crude oil had over taken agriculture as the largest

contributor of government revenue and major foreign exchange

earner (Eboh,2011). Eboh (2011) hinted that by 1970, crude

oil’s share of total exports had reached 58 percent while

agricultural share of total export had dropped from 82 percent in

1960 to 30 percent in 1970. By 1974, crude oil share of total

exports had risen to 92 percent while agriculture share of total

exports had dropped to less than 5 percent. This scenario

continued unabated and eventually led to the crowding out of

the agricultural sector by the petroleum sector. The boom from

the oil sector led to overvalued exchange rate and loss of

competitiveness of Nigeria’s non-oil sectors (manufacturing

industries and agriculture). This is captured by the Dutch

Disease syndrome. Also worrisome is the fact that, different

agricultural sector initiatives such as the National Accelerated

Food Production Programme (NAFPP) in 1975, Operation Feed

the Nation (OFN) in 1976, Land Use Decree of the 1978, the

River Basin and Development Authorities (RBRDAS), Green

Revolution in 1980, Agricultural Development Projects (ADPs)

Directorate for Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI)

in 1986 and others did not improve the precarious situation of

60

declining food production. Eboh (2011) holds that by early

2000s, the economy had shrunk to about $45 billion, and income

per capita nosedived from about $1150 in 1981 to mere $300 in

2001. He further stressed that line rose from 28.1 percent in

1980 to 65 percent in 1996. This is disturbing as it leads to

deterioration in human development indicators (Life expectancy,

literacy rate, Mortality rate, and per capita income (Median

Income). The nutritional status of the average Nigerian remained

precarious as the country consistently recorded deficit average

per capita calorie intake and continued on a downward move

towards a situation where about 100 million people will be

forced into destitution. The objective of this paper is to examine

the relationship between growth of the Nigerian economy and

each of the independent variables of poverty, food security and

agricultural production. It will therefore be answering the

following questions; what is the relationship between the growth

of the Nigerian economy and net export of food? What is the

relationship between the growth of the Nigerian economy and

poverty level in Nigeria? Is there any relationship between

agricultural contribution to the gross domestic product and the

Nigeria growth dynamics?

2. Literature Review

Conceptually, there is a link between nutrition and economic

growth. Inadequate access to food increases malnutrition and

reduction in labour productivity which is the breeding ground

for poverty. Nadav (1996) employing the extended Solow

growth model emphasizes the importance of nutritional capitals

using data from 97 countries and found that nutritional levels

have a large and significant impact on economic growth. This

finding corroborates Fogel’s result (1991) that increased calorie

61

intake, reduced mortality and raised productivity among the

working poor during early stages of Western Europe’s

development. Forgel holds that engaging the ultra-poor into the

labour force and raising the energy available for work by those

in the labour force explains about 30 percent of the British

growth in national median income (per capita income) over

twenty years. Xinshen,et al (2007) citing Timmer (1989);

Alesina and Perotti (1993) maintaines that agriculture affects

economic growth through its potential to stabilize domestic food

security. They are of the view that periodic food crises

undermine both political and economic stability. Albeit food

imports are likely to palliate such crises temporarily, they are

not significant option in addressing long-term food security.

Theoretically, Awokuse, (2009) borrowing from (Lewis, 1954;

Hirschman, 1958; Fei and Ranis, 1961; Jorgenson, 1961)

contends that agricultural sector does not have strong linkages to

other sectors and lack adequate innovative structure necessary

for fostering higher productivity and export growth. Similarly,

Matsuyama (1992) refutes the claim that agricultural

productivity is an engine of economic growth. To Schiff and

Valdez (1998) many countries in response to the findings of

Matsuyama (1992) promoted anti-agriculture programmes

emphasizing the role of the manufacturing sub-sector. Gollin et

al (2002) argue that growth in the overall economy depends on

the development of the agricultural sector. To Ravallion and

Datt (1999) agricultural growth, as opposed to growth in

general, is typically found to be the primary source of poverty

reduction. However, recent empirical evidence exists on the

relationships between agricultural value added and economic

growth. Tiffin and Irz (2006) cited in Awokuse (2009) found

strong evidence that there is causality from agriculture to

62

economic growth for developing countries, but the causality

results for developed countries were inconclusive. On poverty,

Dollar and Kraay (2002) showed that growth has a significant

impact on poverty reduction, but there is substantial variation in

the literature about the extent to which poverty declines.

This current study is unique because it has incorporated other

variables like number of poor people, net food export combined

with agricultural contribution to GDP to gauge the impact on the

growth dynamics of the Nigeria economy. Theoretically, we

shall align this work on the agricultural-led growth hypothesis

which contends that investment in agriculture and consequent

creation of infrastructure and institutions in other sectors is the

link for national economic growth.

3 Theoretical Frameworks and Model Specification

The Solow-Swan neoclassical growth model will be adopted in

analyzing the growth dynamics of the Nigerian economy

(Solow, 1952).

The model assumes constant returns to scale aggregate

production functions given as

Yt = Kt Lt Bt ……………………………………………………..(1)

Where Y = real GDP per capita K = real gross capital

L = labour B = Hicks-neutral productivity term

Consequently, the contribution of each of the explanatory

variable could be modeled thus;

GRGDP = F(FODSE, NOPOP, AGPRO) ------(2)

or

GRGDP = F(FODSEt, NOPOPt, AGPROt)-----(3)

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Equation 2 and 3 are the same only that subscript t is added

(subscript “t” denotes the time period).

In a more compact way equation 3 changes to equation 4 given

as

GRGDPt = FODSENOPOPβAGPRO--------(4)

Taking the log transformation and adding the stochastic

variable, equation 4 transforms to equation 5 given as;

LNGRGDPt = LNFODSEt+βLNNOPOPt+LNAGPRO------

(5)

Econometrically, equation 5 is rewritten in regression equation

form as;

LNGRGDP =

βo+β1LNFODSEt+β2LNNOPOPt+β3LNAGPROt+Ut------(6)

Where

LNGRGDPt = Growth rate of GDP at

LNFODSEt = Growth rate of Net food export

LNNOPOPt = Growth rate of number of poor

people

LNAGPROt = Growth rate of agricultural

contribution to GDP

Ut = the Stochastic variable or error

term

βo is the intercept while

βis are the coefficients to be estimated where i = 1----3

On the apriori expectation

Β1>0, β2<0, β3>0

64

4. Empirical Results, Interpretation and Discussion of

Findings

The set of data used in the analysis consist of annual time series

over the period 1980 to 2010. The data were mainly in variables

of interest (they include GDP, agricultural productivity (output),

number of poor people and food security. However, net food

export was used as proxy for food security. The data were

obtained from Central Bank of Nigeria and World Bank

bulletins. To make our data clearer for the analysis and to

capture the growth dynamics of the Nigerian economy, we

converted all variables to their respective growth rates. We also

took the natural logarithms of all the variables to reduce possible

problems associated with heteroscedasticity. The univalent time

series properties were ascertained using the Unit root test that

employed augments Dickey and Fuller (1979). The test results

for each of the variable in the system proved to be I(1);

however, only the NOPOP is found to be non-stationary at

levels but achieved stationarity after first differencing. Based on

this fact that our variables are integrated of I (1), we then

engaged the co-integration test to ascertain if there is long run

equilibrium relationship existing amongst variables of the

model. The result implies that the null hypothesis of no-

cointegration could be rejected at the 5 percent and 1 percent

significance level. In this way, the results suggest that a long run

relationship exists between Gross domestic product growth and

all the independent variables; food security, number of poor

people and agricultural productivity(See appendix for the unit

root test results and co-integration test results ).

Consequently, the nature of the relationships were investigated

using the ordinary least squares estimation technique (OLS)

65

Table 1: OLS result of our model

Source: E-views econometric analysis of the study. (2013)

From Table 1, the long-run regression coefficient of all the

variables has positive relationship with the growth of the

Nigerian economy. However, it is only agricultural productivity

(LNAGPRO) that appears to have a positive and statistically

significant effect on the growth dynamics of the Nigerian

economy. Food security had its hypothesized sign of

positive relationship with growth of the Nigerian economy but is

not significant in explaining changes in growth. The number

of poor people surprisingly has positive relationship with the

growth of the Nigerian economy. Although, not significant in

Dependent Variable: LNGRGDP

Sample: 1980 2010

Included observations: 31

Variable Coefficien

t

Std. Error t-Statistic Prob.

C -0.045100 0.604127 -0.074654 0.9410

LNFODSE 0.055892 0.102670 0.544391 0.5906

LNNOPOP 0.322082 0.181119 1.778286 0.0866

LNAGPRO 0.591498 0.150411 3.932548 0.0005

R-squared 0.479351 Mean dependent var 1.879866

Adjusted R-squared 0.421501 S.D. dependent var 1.396247

S.E. of regression 1.061973 Akaike info criterion 3.078049

Sum squared resid 30.45025 Schwarz criterion 3.263079

Log likelihood -43.70975 F-statistic 8.286122

Durbin-Watson stat 1.904877 Prob(F-statistic) 0.000456

66

explaining the changes in growth. This negates the earlier

hypothesized sign of negative relationship with the dependent

variable. On the global statistics our adjusted R – squared has its

value as 0.421501 which means that 42% of the variations in

GDP growth is explained by the independent variables of

LNFODSE, LNNOPOP and LNAGPRO. The remaining 58

percent is accounted for by the variables not included in our

model.

F-statistic is 8.286122 with probability of 0.000456 meaning

that our model can be used for meaningful policy analysis in the

long run. The Durbin Watson (DW) statistics is within range.

We are not surprised because of the initial data massaging

exercises. DW result suggests reasonable reduction of

heteroscedasticity.

Sample: 1980 2010

Lags: 2

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Table 2: Granger causality test result

Source: E-views econometric analysis of the study. (2013)

The result of the Granger Causality, Table 2 shows that none of

the variables of interest Granger is the cause for the other. This

means that the null hypothesis could not be rejected. The result

of the Granger Causality was conducted at the 5 percent level of

significance with respect to 2 lag length.

Discussion of Findings

In our empirical result food security is positive but insignificant

statistically in explaining variations in GDP growth. This is in

line with earlier study of Awokuse, (2009) that export as an

engine of growth in Africa is weak. Nigeria from our result is on

the down side of export. This makes Nigeria net importer and

recipient of food aid. This has serious negative implication for

poverty reduction in Nigeria. This means that Nigeria will

continue to import food to sustain domestic consumption. The

number of poor people violated the a priori expectation of

negative relationship with growth dynamics of the Nigeria

economy. We are not comfortable with this, but we have this as

68

the explanation: In Nigeria, as GDP is growing, the numbers of

poor people are equally increasing. This is true because over the

years in Nigeria, government fiscal policy to reduce poverty is

yet to have any effect. The huge sums got from the Petro-dollar

merely led to the appreciation of the GDP, but not able to be

translated to poverty reduction. Thus, as GDP increases, the

number of poor people increases thereby worsening the growth

dynamics of the Nigerian economy.

In our result, agricultural productivity (output) was found to

have positive and significant relationship with economic growth.

This corroborated the findings of Awokuse, (2009) using data

for 15 countries, concluded that agricultural value added has

significant contribution to total economic growth. Recall also

that immediately after independence many African countries

(Nigeria inclusive) were net exporters of non-oil merchandize

especially agricultural products. However, this trend changed on

the emergence of oil as the main stay of most economies in Sub

Saharan Africa.

Conclusion and Recommendation

In development economics, diversification of the economy is

superior to mono-cultural system. The incidences of poverty and

food security have remained the raging issue and are

increasingly dominating international discussions. Most

commentators argue that food security and increase in

agricultural output is a precondition for growth of any economy.

The main crux of this paper is to examine food security,

poverty, agricultural productivity and the growth dynamics of

the Nigeria economy. Using the Nigeria data, the empirical

analysis provided evidence that food security, agricultural

69

productivity and number of poor people are all positive

functions of growth of the Nigerian economy. The study

provides evidence that any policy that will make the non-oil

sector to perform effectively will improve growth of the

economy. This is captured by the positive and significant

relationship existing between agricultural output and growth of

the Nigerian economy. Agricultural output will help to boost

food supply in Nigeria thereby helping to make Nigeria net

exporter instead of net importer. The synergy created here will

automatically reduce poverty by increasing per capita income.

RECOMMENDATION

We therefore recommended that;

- Domestic policies on agriculture should be pursued with

vigour.

- Researches done by tertiary institutions on improved

varieties of crops should be made available to

entrepreneurs for utilization (i.e. the gown meeting the

town)

- Policies leading to poverty reduction should not be mere

political gimmick but should be given the desired fiscal

support.

- The Nigeria government must as matter of urgent

national issue declare state of emergency in the

agricultural sector and other non-oil tradable. This will

reposition Nigeria as a net exporter of food, earning

enough exchange to support the growth of the economy

and having enough for consumption domestically.

70

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Appendix

Unit root test

Levels of lngrgdp

Null Hypothesis: LNGRGDP has a unit root

Exogenous: Constant

Lag Length: 0 (Automatic based on SIC, MAXLAG=8)

t-Statistic Prob.*

Augmented Dickey-Fuller test statistic -6.203267 0.0000

Test critical values: 1% level -3.670170

5% level -2.963972

10% level -2.621007

*MacKinnon (1996) one-sided p-values.

Augmented Dickey-Fuller Test Equation

Dependent Variable: D(LNGRGDP)

Method: Least Squares

Date: 05/25/13 Time: 09:17

Sample(adjusted): 1981 2010

Included observations: 30 after adjusting endpoints

Variable Coefficien

t

Std. Error t-Statistic Prob.

LNGRGDP(-1) -1.016255 0.163826 -6.203267 0.0000

C 1.761245 0.362432 4.859520 0.0000

R-squared 0.578824 Mean dependent var -

0.056857

75

Adjusted R-squared 0.563782 S.D. dependent var 1.768098

S.E. of regression 1.167772 Akaike info criterion 3.212413

Sum squared resid 38.18337 Schwarz criterion 3.305826

Log likelihood -46.18620 F-statistic 38.48052

Durbin-Watson stat 1.610003 Prob(F-statistic) 0.000001

1s dif

Null Hypothesis: D(LNGRGDP) has a unit root

Exogenous: Constant

Lag Length: 0 (Automatic based on SIC, MAXLAG=8)

t-Statistic Prob.*

Augmented Dickey-Fuller test statistic -9.129758 0.0000

Test critical values: 1% level -3.679322

5% level -2.967767

10% level -2.622989

*MacKinnon (1996) one-sided p-values.

Augmented Dickey-Fuller Test Equation

Dependent Variable: D(LNGRGDP,2)

Method: Least Squares

Date: 05/25/13 Time: 09:21

Sample(adjusted): 1982 2010

Included observations: 29 after adjusting endpoints

Variable Coefficien

t

Std. Error t-Statistic Prob.

D(LNGRGDP(-1)) -1.367780 0.149816 -9.129758 0.0000

C 0.070696 0.255415 0.276788 0.7841

R-squared 0.755329 Mean dependent var 0.271073

Adjusted R-squared 0.746268 S.D. dependent var 2.720501

76

S.E. of regression 1.370367 Akaike info criterion 3.534506

Sum squared resid 50.70345 Schwarz criterion 3.628802

Log likelihood -49.25034 F-statistic 83.35249

Durbin-Watson stat 2.051650 Prob(F-statistic) 0.000000

Levels of lnfodse

Null Hypothesis: LNFODSE has a unit root

Exogenous: Constant

Lag Length: 0 (Automatic based on SIC, MAXLAG=8)

t-Statistic Prob.*

Augmented Dickey-Fuller test statistic -4.866714 0.0005

Test critical values: 1% level -3.670170

5% level -2.963972

10% level -2.621007

*MacKinnon (1996) one-sided p-values.

Augmented Dickey-Fuller Test Equation

Dependent Variable: D(LNFODSE)

Method: Least Squares

Date: 05/25/13 Time: 09:22

Sample(adjusted): 1981 2010

Included observations: 30 after adjusting endpoints

Variable Coefficien

t

Std. Error t-Statistic Prob.

LNFODSE(-1) -0.904289 0.185811 -4.866714 0.0000

C 3.021243 0.703465 4.294800 0.0002

R-squared 0.458256 Mean dependent var 0.116666

Adjusted R-squared 0.438908 S.D. dependent var 2.722853

77

S.E. of regression 2.039582 Akaike info criterion 4.327708

Sum squared resid 116.4771 Schwarz criterion 4.421121

Log likelihood -62.91562 F-statistic 23.68490

Durbin-Watson stat 1.962379 Prob(F-statistic) 0.000040

1st dif

Null Hypothesis: D(LNFODSE) has a unit root

Exogenous: Constant

Lag Length: 3 (Automatic based on SIC, MAXLAG=8)

t-Statistic Prob.*

Augmented Dickey-Fuller test statistic -5.221288 0.0003

Test critical values: 1% level -3.711457

5% level -2.981038

10% level -2.629906

*MacKinnon (1996) one-sided p-values.

Augmented Dickey-Fuller Test Equation

Dependent Variable: D(LNFODSE,2)

Method: Least Squares

Date: 05/25/13 Time: 09:23

Sample(adjusted): 1985 2010

Included observations: 26 after adjusting endpoints

Variable Coefficien

t

Std. Error t-Statistic Prob.

D(LNFODSE(-1)) -2.902930 0.555980 -5.221288 0.0000

D(LNFODSE(-1),2) 1.430052 0.467598 3.058291 0.0060

D(LNFODSE(-2),2) 0.788409 0.325237 2.424108 0.0245

D(LNFODSE(-3),2) 0.561304 0.183750 3.054705 0.0060

C 0.290746 0.433174 0.671198 0.5094

78

levels of lnnopop

Null Hypothesis: LNNOPOP has a unit root

Exogenous: Constant

Lag Length: 0 (Automatic based on SIC, MAXLAG=8)

t-Statistic Prob.*

Augmented Dickey-Fuller test statistic -2.576661 0.1088

Test critical values: 1% level -3.670170

5% level -2.963972

10% level -2.621007

*MacKinnon (1996) one-sided p-values.

Augmented Dickey-Fuller Test Equation

Dependent Variable: D(LNNOPOP)

Method: Least Squares

Date: 05/25/13 Time: 09:31

Sample(adjusted): 1981 2010

Included observations: 30 after adjusting endpoints

Variable Coefficien

t

Std. Error t-Statistic Prob.

LNNOPOP(-1) -0.463734 0.179975 -2.576661 0.0155

R-squared 0.821490 Mean dependent var 0.118705

Adjusted R-squared 0.787488 S.D. dependent var 4.755375

S.E. of regression 2.192179 Akaike info criterion 4.578711

Sum squared resid 100.9186 Schwarz criterion 4.820652

Log likelihood -54.52324 F-statistic 24.16017

Durbin-Watson stat 1.864800 Prob(F-statistic) 0.000000

79

C 0.879447 0.373033 2.357558 0.0256

R-squared 0.191667 Mean dependent var 0.059094

Adjusted R-squared 0.162798 S.D. dependent var 1.163661

S.E. of regression 1.064735 Akaike info criterion 3.027670

Sum squared resid 31.74252 Schwarz criterion 3.121083

Log likelihood -43.41505 F-statistic 6.639181

Durbin-Watson stat 1.844202 Prob(F-statistic) 0.015539

1st dif

Null Hypothesis: D(LNNOPOP) has a unit root

Exogenous: Constant

Lag Length: 0 (Automatic based on SIC, MAXLAG=8)

t-Statistic Prob.*

Augmented Dickey-Fuller test statistic -6.274775 0.0000

Test critical values: 1% level -3.679322

5% level -2.967767

10% level -2.622989

*MacKinnon (1996) one-sided p-values.

Augmented Dickey-Fuller Test Equation

Dependent Variable: D(LNNOPOP,2)

Method: Least Squares

Date: 05/25/13 Time: 09:33

Sample(adjusted): 1982 2010

Included observations: 29 after adjusting endpoints

Variable Coefficien

t

Std. Error t-Statistic Prob.

D(LNNOPOP(-1)) -1.228578 0.195796 -6.274775 0.0000

80

C 0.067833 0.218298 0.310734 0.7584

R-squared 0.593207 Mean dependent var 0.069982

Adjusted R-squared 0.578140 S.D. dependent var 1.809940

S.E. of regression 1.175569 Akaike info criterion 3.227854

Sum squared resid 37.31299 Schwarz criterion 3.322150

Log likelihood -44.80388 F-statistic 39.37280

Durbin-Watson stat 1.896494 Prob(F-statistic) 0.000001

Levels of lnagpro

Null Hypothesis: LNAGPRO has a unit root

Exogenous: Constant

Lag Length: 0 (Automatic based on SIC, MAXLAG=8)

t-Statistic Prob.*

Augmented Dickey-Fuller test statistic -5.440821 0.0001

Test critical values: 1% level -3.670170

5% level -2.963972

10% level -2.621007

*MacKinnon (1996) one-sided p-values.

Augmented Dickey-Fuller Test Equation

Dependent Variable: D(LNAGPRO)

Method: Least Squares

Date: 05/25/13 Time: 09:34

Sample(adjusted): 1981 2010

Included observations: 30 after adjusting endpoints

Variable Coefficien

t

Std. Error t-Statistic Prob.

LNAGPRO(-1) -0.817293 0.150215 -5.440821 0.0000

81

C 1.438520 0.335224 4.291222 0.0002

R-squared 0.513910 Mean dependent var -

0.068976

Adjusted R-squared 0.496550 S.D. dependent var 1.456622

S.E. of regression 1.033535 Akaike info criterion 2.968187

Sum squared resid 29.90945 Schwarz criterion 3.061601

Log likelihood -42.52281 F-statistic 29.60253

Durbin-Watson stat 1.004792 Prob(F-statistic) 0.000008

1st dif

Null Hypothesis: D(LNAGPRO) has a unit root

Exogenous: Constant

Lag Length: 0 (Automatic based on SIC, MAXLAG=8)

t-Statistic Prob.*

Augmented Dickey-Fuller test statistic -7.429124 0.0000

Test critical values: 1% level -3.679322

5% level -2.967767

10% level -2.622989

*MacKinnon (1996) one-sided p-values.

Augmented Dickey-Fuller Test Equation

Dependent Variable: D(LNAGPRO,2)

Method: Least Squares

Date: 05/25/13 Time: 09:35

Sample(adjusted): 1982 2010

Included observations: 29 after adjusting endpoints

Variable Coefficien

t

Std. Error t-Statistic Prob.

D(LNAGPRO(-1)) -0.967733 0.130262 -7.429124 0.0000

82

C 0.129705 0.189689 0.683774 0.4999

R-squared 0.671500 Mean dependent var 0.212809

Adjusted R-squared 0.659334 S.D. dependent var 1.747111

S.E. of regression 1.019730 Akaike info criterion 2.943425

Sum squared resid 28.07593 Schwarz criterion 3.037721

Log likelihood -40.67966 F-statistic 55.19189

Durbin-Watson stat 2.397699 Prob(F-statistic) 0.000000

Co integration test result

Date: 05/25/13 Time: 09:48

Sample(adjusted): 1982 2010

Included observations: 29 after adjusting endpoints

Trend assumption: Linear deterministic trend

Series: LNGRGDP LNFODSE LNNOPOP LNAGPRO

Lags interval (in first differences): 1 to 1

Unrestricted Cointegration Rank Test

Hypothesized Trace 5 Percent 1 Percent

No. of CE(s) Eigenvalue Statistic Critical

Value

Critical

Value

None ** 0.633957 55.70227 47.21 54.46

At most 1 0.414606 26.55713 29.68 35.65

At most 2 0.285618 11.02849 15.41 20.04

At most 3 0.043004 1.274721 3.76 6.65

*(**) denotes rejection of the hypothesis at the 5%(1%) level

Trace test indicates 1 cointegrating equation(s) at both 5% and 1% levels

83

Hypothesized Max-Eigen 5 Percent 1 Percent

No. of CE(s) Eigenvalue Statistic Critical

Value

Critical

Value

None * 0.633957 29.14513 27.07 32.24

At most 1 0.414606 15.52864 20.97 25.52

At most 2 0.285618 9.753767 14.07 18.63

At most 3 0.043004 1.274721 3.76 6.65

*(**) denotes rejection of the hypothesis at the 5%(1%) level

Max-eigenvalue test indicates 1 cointegrating equation(s) at the 5% level

Max-eigenvalue test indicates no cointegration at the 1% level

Unrestricted Cointegrating Coefficients (normalized by b'*S11*b=I):

LNGRGDP LNFODSE LNNOPOP LNAGPRO

-0.166209 -0.663179 -0.520598 0.895722

1.310377 -0.135137 0.203733 -0.406652

0.571609 0.160234 -0.789547 0.558882

0.552729 -0.422341 -0.938814 -1.034966

Unrestricted Adjustment Coefficients (alpha):

D(LNGRGD

P)

0.423081 -0.613179 -0.196882 0.093307

D(LNFODS 1.277566 0.864232 -0.619808 0.073974

84

E)

D(LNNOPO

P)

-0.058166 -0.315746 0.303157 0.172937

D(LNAGPR

O)

-0.482901 -0.171589 -0.274522 0.068414

1 Cointegrating

Equation(s):

Log

likelihood

-172.7320

Normalized cointegrating coefficients (std.err. in parentheses)

LNGRGDP LNFODSE LNNOPOP LNAGPRO

1.000000 3.990033 3.132187 -5.389132

(0.76487) (1.22720) (1.34270)

Adjustment coefficients (std.err. in parentheses)

D(LNGRGD

P)

-0.070320

(0.04024)

D(LNFODS

E)

-0.212343

(0.07116)

D(LNNOPO

P)

0.009668

(0.03890)

D(LNAGPR

O)

0.080262

(0.02636)

85

2 Cointegrating

Equation(s):

Log

likelihood

-164.9677

Normalized cointegrating coefficients (std.err. in parentheses)

LNGRGDP LNFODSE LNNOPOP LNAGPRO

1.000000 0.000000 0.230476 -0.438294

(0.20489) (0.26089)

0.000000 1.000000 0.727240 -1.240801

(0.26172) (0.33326)

Adjustment coefficients (std.err. in parentheses)

D(LNGRGD

P)

-0.873815 -0.197716

(0.27159) (0.13916)

D(LNFODS

E)

0.920127 -0.964045

(0.51300) (0.26286)

D(LNNOPO

P)

-0.404078 0.081243

(0.29663) (0.15199)

D(LNAGPR

O)

-0.144583 0.343438

(0.20406) (0.10456)

3 Cointegrating

Equation(s):

Log

likelihood

-160.0908

Normalized cointegrating coefficients (std.err. in parentheses)

LNGRGDP LNFODSE LNNOPOP LNAGPRO

86

1.000000 0.000000 0.000000 -0.214388

(0.24913)

0.000000 1.000000 0.000000 -0.534292

(0.45258)

0.000000 0.000000 1.000000 -0.971494

(0.46705)

Adjustment coefficients (std.err. in parentheses)

D(LNGRGD

P)

-0.986354 -0.229263 -0.189732

(0.28997) (0.14013) (0.19491)

D(LNFODS

E)

0.565839 -1.063359 0.000343

(0.52712) (0.25473) (0.35431)

D(LNNOPO

P)

-0.230791 0.129819 -0.273404

(0.31015) (0.14988) (0.20847)

D(LNAGPR

O)

-0.301502 0.299450 0.433186

(0.20652) (0.09980) (0.13881)

87

AN EVALUATION OF THE VIABLE APPROACHES TO

RURAL/COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Ugbonna Emma N & Okoro Chijioke N

ABSTRACT

This paper evaluates rural/community development approaches

in Nigeria. It reviewed the role of local government,

conventional governments; and cooperative societies in

contributing to rural/community economic development. It was

observed that the different levels of government intervention

programmes are excellent schemes. But, experiences have also

shown that for government to effectively implement their

development policies in the rural communities, a rural

institutional vehicle becomes a sine qua non. This rural

institutional vehicle is no other, than an association of people

registered with the government known as Cooperative Societies.

These cooperatives will of necessity pass through the local

government which has the capacity to understand and conduct

their local affairs optimally as well as identify their needs and

demands than the other tiers of government due to their

nearness or proximity to the rural dwellers. Co-operatives as a

developmental course is a better option to adopt in sustaining

rural development, taking into cognizance its multi-faceted

nature and extension capacity.

Keywords: Rural/Community, Development, Government,

Cooperative Society

88

INTRODUCTION

Community development is the process of restructuring the

political economy in order to satisfy the material, social and

economic needs; as well as the aspirations of the people, and to

promote individual and collective incentives to participate in the

process of development (UN, 1971). In other words, in

community development the people participate in making the

decisions that will affect their lives. Community development

programmes can either be initiated by the people or the

government or both of them coming together to pull their

resources together for the good of the community. Thus the

people and the government can be classified as partners in

progress.

Local government has been acknowledged and accepted as the

third tier government in Nigerian Federal structure. It is used to

designate the effect made by the ruling elite to bring the

government closer to the people. This broad motive of local

government is to ensure grassroots participation in government

and thereby encourage the growth of rural areas (Chukwuemeka,

2002). The role of local government according to Onah (1995)

is a border place with a superior capacity to understand and

conduct the local affairs of the grassroots. The rationale of this

assertion is that local government is the nearest government to

the rural dwellers and it has the capacity to identify their needs

and demands than the other two tiers of government- Federal

and State. Also local government has abundant human resources

and when fully mobilized will become valuable instruments for

rural development. That the local government has big role to

play in the rural development programme is an obvious fact.

89

The questions are: what are the roles? What approaches should

local government adopt and the position of cooperatives to these

effects.

CONCEPT OF DEVELOPMENT

Development is not only an economic phenomenon. It embraces

more than the financial and material sides of people’s lives. It is

a multi-dimensional process involving the total re-organisation

and re-orientation of the entire political, social and economic

system. It is a systematic concept involving different human

institutions and structures and affecting people in diverse ways

(Ewuim 2010).In addition to improvement in incomes and

output, development typically involves radical changes in

institutional, social, economic and administrative structures as

well as in popular attitudes, customs and beliefs of the people

(Ewuim 2010).

Seers (1972), defines development as a process involving the

fulfilment of the necessary conditions for the realisation of

human personality. Some of the necessary conditions include

education and skill (human capital development/capital

building), empowerment, welfare programmes and accessible

health care system. Katz (1960) citied in Ewuim (2010)

considers development as freedom from personal assaults and

indignity. He contends that development should ensure: Security

against external aggression and freedom and opportunity for

self-fulfilment. According to United Nations document,

development implies paying attention to capital building. This

entails giving attention to what is needed to make the people

have the ability, skill and energy to be able to effect change in

their environment. In practical terms it means improving

90

education to unlock human potentials, improving infrastructural

development to aid economic development and employment of

the people at political, economic and social levels. Development

envisages the effective utilisation of man, money, machine and

materials in such a way that the entire populace will have equal

opportunity to meet their basic needs of food, shelter, clothing,

education, health, potable water and security, including right to

work now and in the future.

RURAL/COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Okolie cited in (Ewuim 2010) sees community development as a

movement to promote better living for the whole community,

with the active participation and if possible on the initiative of

the community. But if this initiative is not forthcoming, then the

use of technique for arousing and stimulating it for an active and

enthusiastic response becomes imperative. It includes the whole

range of development activities in the districts, whether they are

undertaken by government or unofficial bodies. Poston (1966)

as cited in Ewuim (2010), views community development as a

process of education by which people of all ages and all

interests in the community learn to share their thought, their

ideas, their participation, their joys and their sorrows and in

large measure to mould and share the communal destiny by

themselves. It is a process of self discovery by which the people

of a community learn to identify and solve their community

problems. United Nations (1971), see community development

as the utilization under one single programme of approach and

technique, which relies upon local communities as units and

which attempts to combine outside assistance with organised

local self determination and effort, and which correspondingly

seeks to stimulate local initiative and leadership as the primary

91

instrument of change. Okolie (2005), defined community

development as the process by which the efforts of the people

themselves are united with those of government authorities to

improve the economic, social and cultural conditions of

communities to integrate these communities into the life of the

nation and to enable them contribute fully to national progress.

APPROACHES TO COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Approaches to community development entail those methods

and strategies that can be adopted by the government and other

agencies in ensuring the development of the rural communities.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT APPROACH TO COMMUNITY

DEVELOPMENT

Ugwu (2000) defined local government as “the third tier level of

government created for the purpose of efficient and effective

administration of the localities”. Odenigwe (1984), considers

local government as “that part of government of a nation or state

which deals mainly with matters of concern to the people of a

particular place”. The 1976 local government reform takes local

government as the government at the local level exercised

through representative councils established by law to exercise

specific powers within defined areas. In the opinion of the

United Nations Division of Public Administration (1982), local

government is “a political subdivision of a nation (or in federal

system, a third tier) which is constituted by law and has

substantial control for local affairs including the powers to

impose or to exact labour for prescribed purposes”. The

governing body of such an entity is elected or otherwise

selected. For the purpose of this work, we define local

government as a unit of government established by act of law to

92

administer the functions of government and see to the welfare

and interest of the local dwellers under the local government

system.

THE ROLE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

The 1976 local government reform states three major objectives

which directly form the bulk of the roles it must play in

community development.

1. To make appropriate services and development activities

responsible to local wishes and initiatives.

2. To mobilise human and material resources through people’s

participation in development process.

3. To encourage local initiative and leadership potential.

It is incumbent on local government to infuse and employ

necessary local traditional institutional and organizational

structures like the village heads, district cooperative and town

associations into the institutional and organizational

arrangements of the higher tiers of government for the

achievement of community development objective. This will

help in the effective execution of the various programmes

initiated and articulated by the bodies in charge in the office of

the president at the national level and governor’s at the state

level. That is, the community development committee at the

local government level should liaise with the higher levels

(federal and state) and that of the lower levels (Ewium 2010).

Local government is duty bound to mobilize the community for

their effective political participation. Okoli (1995) described this

role as mobilizing rural power centres for implementation of

community development programmes. In this way, the local

93

government provides the ‘fit’ between the programme and

institution and organizations for effective execution, and ‘fit’

between the programme and intending beneficiaries. For

effective participation by the local populace, there must be a ‘fit’

between the three variables namely; the beneficiaries and the

programmes; the beneficiaries and the assisting organisation;

and lastly, the programme and the organisation or institution for

their implementation. Mobilization which is considered a sine

qua non here is defined by Oyedipo (1987) as “the awakening of

the consciousness or awareness of the people about their

physical, cultural, social, economic and political environment

and forces that promote and or inhibit their progress and well

being”.

Chukwuemeka (2002) affirms that local government role lies in

investing in human capital through formal and informal

education, skill acquisition and conscientization, social

mobilization is necessary for rural development. He also

observed that local government should take measures that will

ensure the preservation of environmental resources so that bio-

resources and other socio endowments are preserved to

encourage enduring condition for the extraction of natural raw

materials for development related activities. Local government

should play a leading role in developing local technologies

appropriate for rural development since the hallmark of

community development is self-reliance. Therefore, local

technologies have to be harnessed and applied to the

development needs of the rural communities.

CONVENTIONAL APPROACHES TO COMMUNITY

DEVELOPMENT

94

Aweto (1996), Carl and John (1990) and Oakley and Garforth

(1985) suggested the following principles to implement rural

development programmes:

(i) Access: Try to ensure that the programme and its benefit can

reach those in needs and beware of consequences if some

farmers have access to the programme which others do not.

(ii) Independence: Ensure a programme that helps and

supports a farmer but does not make him or his livelihood

dependent upon the programme.

(iii) Sustainability: Ensure that programmes plan and solutions

which are relevant to the local economies, social and

administrative situation. Short term solutions may yield

quick results but long term programmes that are suitable to

the local government have greater success.

(iv) Going forward: Technological aspects of rural development

programmes should help the farmers to take the next step in

his development and not demand that he takes a huge

technological leap. It is better to secure a modest advance

which can be sustained than suggest a substantial advance

which is beyond the ability of most farmers.

(v) Participation: Always try to consult the best people, seek

their ideas and involve them as much as possible in the

programmes.

(vi) Effectiveness: A programme should be based on the

effective use of local resources and not necessarily on their

most efficient use. While efficiency is important, their

requirements are often unrealistic.

Akpovire (1994), in the same vein presented seven methods at

the disposal of Nigeria government in developing the rural

communities. These strategies include:

95

a) Matching grant: In this approach, government and the

people go into a working partnership to carry out development

ventures. In it, the communities may embark on self-help

project, while the government will provide technical, financial

and managerial assistance wherever the projects are being

carried out. In other words, through the matching grant

approach, government provides a percentage of the cost of the

project being carried out by the people to augment the funds at

the disposal of the communities. The communities or people are

expected to identify their needs, arrange them in order of

priority and work out the cost of implementing the projects.

b) Directive approach: Through this approach government

or its agency uses the top-down strategy of development to carry

out development projects in the communities. In this approach,

government or its agency acts as a sole judge for the people on

what shall be done for them or what shall not be done.

Government supplies the staff, equipment, materials and

programmes it considers necessary and appropriate to meet the

needs of the people.

c) Non-Directory Approach: The approach is often known

as, ‘the inner approach’. In it, the people themselves are

allowed by the government to decide their areas of felt need.

The people plan, organise and execute their projects without

external or government interferences. Therefore, in this method

of community development, the direction for progress is

internally determined by the people themselves.

d) Integrative Approach: This approach views community

development as a comprehensive programme, which should

include the provisions of the necessary economic, social

institutional and political conditions as well as coordinating and

managing human and material resources for development. In

96

this approach, development is usually planned and executed

through a central body or agency. In other words, the goals of

development is centrally planned and executed.

e) Team and Multiple Approaches: This approach deals

with technical application of the ideas gained in the integrated

approach, since it is based on the realisation that the goals of

development are both material and non-material, and as such

requires the participation of more than just a group of experts.

Therefore, the team approach can be described as that in which a

team providing a variety of services are brought together to deal

with some of the problems which emerged, as alternatives are

made to the community socio-economic cum political system.

f) Electric Approach: This approach was developed by

the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC). Its strength lies on its

continual adoption to changing circumstances. This approach is

a form of contingency approach to the development because it

emphasizes continuous change and adaptation to development

challenges depending on prevailing circumstances and situation.

This approach essentially stresses the arguable fact that there is

no best approach to community development. Each approach

should be used depending on the prevailing situation at any

given point in time.

g) Comprehensive (holistic) Approach: In this approach,

community development is designed in such a way as to deal

with the various segments/sectors of the community as a whole

for the overall well being of the people. This approach is based

on the premise that community problems are interrelated or to a

varying degree interdependent. Hence, the solutions of the other,

and the solution will proceed more effectively as a cooperation,

and co-ordinated activity.

97

In addition to the above six approaches to community

development, Idode (1989) identified three major approaches to

community development, which includes the following:

1) The Extension Approach: in this approach, government

through its development agencies and ministries directly teach

the community people new and improved methods and

strategies of doing things such as farming, health care delivery,

etc. the importance of using this method of community

development is to make the people part and parcel of

government development projects.

2) The Project Approach: through this approach

government enhances and improves the socio-economic well

being of the people by establishing commercial and economic

ventures such as cottage industries, artisan workshop and

agricultural produce processing centres. These economic

ventures are established by the government and they provide

employment for the rural person, which in turn enhances their

economy through improved income.

3) The Service Approach: through this mechanism, the

people initiate self-help development projects in their area

without the endless wait for government intervention. The

people have often initiated some self-help projects like building

of boreholes, maternity homes and dispensary centres and

provision of transformers for power supply.

CO-OPERATIVE APPROACH TO RURAL

DEVELOPMENT

Berko (1989) defines co-operatives as an association of persons,

with variable membership and variable capital who have pooled

themselves and their resources together on mutual or self help

basis to form a business enterprise which seeks to solve the

98

socio-economic problem or problems of these members by

directly providing goods and services to them in their capacity

as either the owner /customer or owner/employee of the co-

operative enterprise.

Conference of International Labour Organization (1966) defines

co-operative as an association of persons who have voluntarily

joined to achieve a common end, through the formation of a

democratically controlled organization, making equitable

contributions to the capital required and accepting a fair share of

the risks and benefits of the undertaking in which members

actively participate. International Co-operative Alliance I.C.A.

(1995) defines co-operative as an autonomous association of

persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic,

social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-

owned and democratic controlled enterprise.

Co-operative is an offshoot of industrial revolution which took

place in England (1750-1850). This industrial revolution was

brought about by the invention of the steam engine, various

spinning machines, the power loom and a whole series of other

mechanical devices. These machines which were very expensive

and hence could be bought by only the big capitalists that

altered the whole previous mode of production and ousted the

former independent workers, because machines turned out

cheaper and better commodities than could the workers with

their inefficient manual spinning-wheels and handlooms

(Uchendu 1998). The former independent workers had to

migrate to the new industrial centre in search of employment.

They became dependent on employers for meagre wages, shelter

and consumer items which turned to paying them in kind.

Women and child labour which was far cheaper than adult

labour was introduced. Factories were soul destroying prison

99

house, ugly looking, poorly ventilated and lit and the

environment very unhygienic, the workers were driven to work

hard for longer hours because there was stiff competition

between the factory owners. Workers were poorly paid and any

expenses which did not directly increase the yield or output was

avoided. Workers were ill-treated, the environment was

polluted, exploitation was very high, cut throat competition and

unfair laws were predominant. Special privileges were given to

a few people and immorality was the order of the day. Towns

were over-crowded, dirty, unplanned, devoid of amenities, ugly,

depressive and characterized by smoke and slums (Uchendu

1998).

The above scenario is an epitome of rural/community dwellers

in Nigeria in which government of the past and present in its

frantic effort in integrating the rural dwellers into the

mainstream of national economic developmental plan, have

initiated various programmes such as Agricultural Development

Programmes (ADP), Green Revolution, Operation feed the

Nation (OFN),National Poverty Eradication Programme

(NAPEP),Better Life for Rural Women, Niger Basin Water

Commission and the host of them, but all efforts seem abortive

as they failed to integrate, transform and improve lives of rural

dwellers.

THE ROLE OF CO-OPERATIVES TO COMMUNITY

DEVELOPMENT

Given the integrated nature of development, the roles of co-

operatives cannot be over-emphasized. Co-operatives as a

weapon of last resort has proven and contributed significantly

towards the integration of rural dwellers into the mainstream of

national development. Aweto (1996), Ijere (1992) and Olaide,

100

Olajumwor S. et al (1980) identified the following advantages of

providing agricultural credit through the co-operatives:

(a) Agricultural co-operatives, being formal and people-

oriented organizations are in the vantage position through

which they can reach the farmers.

(b) Agricultural co-operatives obtain loans from commercial

banks for on-lending to farmer members. This reduces the

administrative cost of processing multiplicity of small loans to

individual farmers.

(c) Agricultural co-operative society can take up insurance

policy with the Nigerian Insurance Company to reduce risk

envisaged by commercial banks and assures them of safety of

farmer’s business and investment. Insurance policy is an

acceptable collateral security to the bank.

(d) The society is also in a position to obtain complete and

submit member application forms collectively thus making

access to credit relatively easy and convenient for illiterate

farmers.

(e) Agricultural co-operative society’s credit has

educational value. Credit alone is of little use to the farmer if it

is not accompanied by complementary services which will help

the farmer use loan productively and avoid unnecessary debts.

Thus, the co-operative societies help to provide required inputs

of production and help disseminate information on improved

agricultural practices amongst members.

(f) Loan management skill training can also be given to the

members at a relatively low cost through the co-operative

society.

(g) The administration of loan through co-operatives is

cheaper and repayment is easier.

101

In considering the National Agricultural Land Development

Authority (NALDA) and The Fourth National Development

Plan (1981-1985), Aweto (1996), holds that specific roles of co-

operatives in Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs)

includes the following:

(i) Co-operatives mobilize farmers into collective units in

readiness for the agricultural development

programmes’/projects’ activities geared towards enhancing

farmer’s productivity, overall production and increased income.

(ii) Co-operatives build the capacity of participants to have

effective working relationship in association that are free and

democratic for the achievement of the community and

individual desired security and development.

(iii) Co-operatives are used as conduit between rural small

scale farmers and the agricultural development

programmes/projects.

(iv) Co-operatives facilitate the transfer of useful agricultural

information and modern technology to farmers. Using co-

operatives is less costly and most convenient compared with

individual farmers.

(v) Distribution of agricultural inputs to small scale farmers

is most effective through the use of co-operatives.

(vi) Co-operatives participation on small scale lending

schemes ensures easy and quick access of peasants to loans,

effective loan management and recovery.

(vii) The group action of co-operative society ensures rapid

adoption of innovation by farmers.

(viii) Co-operatives assist in organizing small scale farmers to

cope with expected increase in agricultural output consequent

upon the projects’ effect. They facilitate storage, processing and

marketing of products.

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(ix) Co-operatives encourage thrift among members, and

from capital mobilized, loans are disbursed to members.

(x) Co-operatives facilitate training of farmers participating

in the programmes/projects and develop management capacities.

(xi) Co-operatives ensure sustainability of the activities of

the agricultural development projects and facilitate attainments

of the development objectives.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

It is a known fact that government is a bad producer. This is to

say that, government have good policies but the problem is in its

implementation. The recent review of privatization policy is the

aftermath of the past scenario. Therefore, the only way to

privatize rural developmental policies is through the adoption of

co-operative societies. It therefore, suffices to recommend the

cooperative approach since cooperatives provide a better forum

through which development agencies can channel inputs

required for implementation of the integrated rural development

programme to the rural dwellers. Family planning materials,

storage and processing equipment etc are distributed through

cooperatives. In situations where some of the rural dwellers are

indifferent to the programme due to lack of information, co-

operatives may combine the role of instruction and that of

stimulating members of the community to participate in the

programmes. Agricultural co-operatives as rural institutions are

part of the overall plan to raise the level of survival and

economic consciousness of the rural dwellers. Thus, co-

operatives are an integral part of the integrated rural

development scheme. Co-operatives in its multi-faceted nature

are best suited to execute rural implementation and

developmental programmes in Nigeria.

103

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Ewuim, Ngozi C. (2010) Theory and Practice of Community

and Rural Development. Nimo: Rex Charles and Patrick

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Finer, J. [1989]. State and their Local Government in Africa.

London: Cambridge Press.

Idode, J.B. (1989). Rural Development and Bureaucracy in

Nigeria. Ikeja: Longman Nigeria Limited.

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Acena Publishers.

National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA)

Information Leaflet.

Nwobi, T. U. (2007) Rural Development: Theories and

Strategies. Nimo: Rex Charles and Patrick Limited.

Oakley, P. and Garforth, C. (1985) Guide to Extension Training.

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Odenigwe (1984) Comparative Local Government,

Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd

Okolie, F.C. (1995) Theory and Practice of Local Government

in Nigeria. Ibadan: Oxford University Press.

Okoli, M.U. (2005) Local Government Administrative System;

An Introductory and Comparative Approach. Onitsha:

Abbot Publishers Ltd.

Olaide, Olajumwor S. etal (1980) Problems and Prospects in

Integrated Rural Development.

Onah, R.C. (1995) Political Authority and the Nigeria Civil

Service. Enugu: Fourth Dimension.

Oyedipo. (1987) The Financial Control and Accountability in

Local Government Councils. Unpublished Seminar

Paper.

Seers, D. (1972) “What Are We Trying To Measure”; Journal of

Development Studies. Vol. 8 No. 3.

Ugwu, N. (2000) Local Government Administration in Nigeria.

Onitsha: Abbot Publishers Ltd.

The Fourth National Development Plan (1981-1985) Planning

Office, Federal Ministry of Budget and Planning. Nigeria

Uchendu S. O (1998) Fundamentals of Co-operative Business

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Street, Uwani-Enugu, Enugu State, Nigeria.

105

United Nations Divisions of Public Administration (1982).

United Nations (1971), “Methods of Community Development”.

Community Development Journal, Vol. 6 No. 3.

106

ANALYSIS OF GUERRILLA AND TRADITIONAL

MARKETING INTERFACE IN IMPROVING THE

PRODUCTIVITY OF ORGANIZATIONAL MARKETING

IN SMALL TO MEDUIM SIZE ENTERPRISES (SMEs) IN

OWERRI

BY

Anukam, Amaobi Isaac

Imo State Polytechnic, Umuagwo

ABSTRACT

This research aims at exploring and analyzing the integration of

guerrilla and traditional marketing in small to medium scale

enterprises in Nigeria with a case study of Marketing of Hotel

Services in Owerri Imo State, Nigeria. For gathering data, two

questionnaires were used for the integration of guerrilla

marketing and the traditional marketing and productivity of

organizational marketing. The research hypotheses were tested

by correlation test, and all the hypotheses were verified. The

sequences of priorities in productivity of organizational

marketing were new methods of advertisement. There was a

significant relationship between the integration of guerrilla

marketing and the traditional marketing in the improvement of

productivity of organizational marketing in the enterprises

studied. Also, it was concluded that new communication

technologies item with mean of 1.93, innovation and problem

solving techniques with mean of 2.08, marketing budget item

with mean 2.89 and new methods of advertisement with mean of

3.12 were first to fourth priority, respectively. Findings show

that guerrilla marketing is complementary to traditional

marketing. Hence will recommend GM as a paradigm and for

107

hotel enterprises in Owerri, guerrilla marketing is the surviving

technique to approach the unstable hostile business environment

that they operate in.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Marketing is essential for the organic growth of a company. Not

surprising, firms spend millions of naira on marketing. Given

that these consist of investments, marketing managers have the

responsibility to optimally allocate their resources and

demonstrate that these investments generate appropriate returns

for their firms. Levinson, (1983) made the term “guerrilla

marketing” known as a philosophy for small and start-up

companies to successfully market their business with a small

amount of money. He based the success of a marketing strategy

on the use of non-traditional marketing channels, customer

proximity, insistency and patience. following the technological

developments today and its complementary change in the

advertising market, guerrilla marketing has developed into a

marketing form that is mostly used for promotion and retention

of customers’ attention and interest. New forms such as

“ambush” and “viral” marketing have evolved (Druing &

Fahrenholz, 2008). Guerilla marketing distinguishes itself from

other promotion tools by its surprise effect and it has become a

very popular marketing strategy in current times. Casadesus-

Masanell, et al, (2007), in their researches from strategy to

business models and to tactics state that the business model

design involves assessments with respect to determining:

(i) The identity of the market segments to be targeted;

(ii) The benefit the enterprise will deliver to the customer;

(iii) The technologies and features that are to be embedded in

the product and service;

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(iv) How the revenue and cost structure of a business is to be

designed (and if necessary, redesigned) to meet customer

needs;

(v) The way in which technologies are to be assembled and

offered to the customers;

(vi) The mechanisms and manner by which the value is to be

captured, and how the competitive advantage can be

sustained.

These issues are all interrelated. They lie at the core of the

fundamental questions asked by business strategist, which is

“how does one build a sustainable competitive advantage?”

Integration of guerrilla marketing and traditional marketing is

approached not as a set of tools (a technology) for facilitating

transactions or responding to change, but as a vehicle for

fundamentally redefining products and markets in ways that

produce sustainable competitive advantage for enterprises,

(levinson, 2008). About new methods of advertisement, Godes

and Mayzlin (2007) report several other examples where

companies promoted their products and services through word-

of-mouth (WOM) marketing. Kumar, et al (2007) used a survey

method to assess the value of word-of-mouth and referral.

Zubcsek and Sarvary (2009), hold that direct marketing (DM)

which involves sending promotional messages to individual

customers is increasingly used by marketers as a result of the

explosive growth of customers’ database. Most current methods

used to calculate optimal budgets for such DM campaigns

consider customers in isolation and ignore the word-of-mouth

communication (WOM). The current traditional marketing

methods however, generally ignore word-of-mouth

communication between customers (Vilanueva, et al, 2008).

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Although marketers have always known that WOM has a very

powerful influence on customer decisions (Bass, 1969; Herr, et

al, 1991; Van den Bulte & Joshi, 2007), until recently, they did

not have much information about the individual communication

patterns of consumers. In this investigation, the role of

integrating guerrilla and traditional marketing in improving the

productivity of organizational marketing in enterprises in

Nigeria is discussed with a case study of hotel business in

Owerri considering the number of hotels now in the area.

Theoretical Framework

The term: “Guerrilla” first appeared during the war of

independence in Spain and Portugal at the beginning of the 19th

century. It is a Spanish expression which can be translated as

“battle”. Guerrilla stands for a combat operation that was used

by smaller groups that stood against a massive military force,

(Levinson, 1998). The term and the connected operations

became famous through Ernesto Che Guevara Lynch la Serna

(1928-1967), best known as Che Guevara, who used and defined

this military tactics. He belongs to a small militia group which

wanted to put their political concept through. They were clearly

in the weaker position and their only chance to achieve a

successful revolution in Cuba was to fight the national military.

Since Che Guevara and his followers did not possess as many

resources, such as weapons, money, or fighters as their

opponents, they based their operations on the surprise effect and

on acts of sabotage. Due to their size, they had the advantage of

being more flexible, having a quicker co-ordination and

knowledge of the territory better. The use of unconventional

weapons and activities helped them to destabilize their rivals

and led them to their final success.

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During the 1960’s, the United States of America faced major

difficulties in the Vietnam War. Even though Vietnam was

theoretically much weaker, the USA Army was not able to bring

the Vietnamese down. Especially the Vietcong force was

unbeatable, because they used the Guerrilla tactics that

destabilized the American forces constantly. The Vietcong’s

operations were similar to Che Guevara’s activities. They also

used the surprise effect, were much more flexible than their

enemies fought on Vietnamese territory, and used unusual

means. This was the first time Americans got to know the

principles of Guerrilla, (Levinson, 2003, Levinson &

Lauterslager, 2005). Guerrilla marketing is characterized by

surprise effect, diffusion effect and low-cost effect. It is flexible

in application and advocates for effective resources leverage.

This phenomenon is what this study sets out to provide

empirical evidence for.

The name Guerrilla originally describes a group that uses a

violent approach to achieve the implementation of their belief

and ideology. Then opponents are often a tremendous force

consisting of more people and resources such as weapons or

money. The Guerrilla fighter’s only advantage is the fact that

they only know where and when they will strike.

The original approach of Guerrilla marketing is as an alternative

marketing strategy that suits small and medium sizes enterprises

to act like guerrilla fighters have done in the past: hit valuable

targets of large enemies by taking them by surprise. The

unexpected and unusual guerrilla marketing campaigns help

smaller companies to successfully reach their target group, even

111

though their bigger market competitors had a large marketing

budget, more experience, and a better spread to advance a

market by using traditional strategies (During & Fahrenholz,

2008). Fahrenholz (2008) posits that many small and medium-

sized enterprises started with Guerrilla marketing and

established their business creatively. Through constant growth

rates they have the means to also afford traditional marketing

tools to gain more and more market share, and continue to attack

the market leaders.

Summary of the Guerrilla Marketing Principles

i. Find a Segment Small Enough to Defend: Try to pick a

segment small enough so that you can become the leader.

ABC Transport is a true guerrilla. They concentrate on a

small market segment and are its leader. Small is beautiful.

ii. Psychological warfare: A guerrilla can take advantage of its

smallness to make quick decisions. This can be a precious

asset when competing with the big companies.

iii. Flexibility and restlessness: Don’t hesitate to abandon a

position or a product if the battle turns against you. A

guerrilla doesn’t have the resources to waste on a lost cause.

He should be quick to give up and move on in the small

company, one person’s hunch can be enough to launch a

new product.

iv. It has to be excitement and humorous. Make your customers

remember you with smiling faces, that they will always

desire to buy from you.

Guerilla Marketing Vs. Traditional Marketing

In order to understand the principles of guerrilla marketing

performance, the significant differences between traditional

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marketing and guerilla marketing have to be identified.

Referring to Levinson (2006), conventional advertising require a

certain capital addressed for promotion plan while time, energy,

imagination and knowledge assets are a primary investment in

Guerrilla approach. Big businesses with correspondingly

substantial budgets are potential users of traditional marketing

which measure its success only by sales and number of

responses or store traffic. Gallagher, (2004) explains an explicit

difference as: “what matters in guerrilla marketing is, rather than

what the firm does to be successful; it is what it does to

differentiate itself from its rivals and its success in reaching

broader potential customers”. According to Levinson (2006),

therein is the summary of the main differences between these

two ways of marketing in the Table 1 below:

1: Differences between Traditional and Guerrilla Marketing

TRADITIONAL MARKETING GUERRILLA MARKETING

Primary investment is money Primary investment is time, effort and

creativity

Model for big business Focus on small business

Success measured by sales Success measured by profits

What can I take from the

customer?

What can I give to the customer?

Mass media usage (direct mail,

radio, television, newspapers)

Marketing weapons are numerous and

most are free

Advertising works Types of non-traditional marketing

succeed

How much money do you have

at the end?

How many relationships do you have at

the end?

(Source: Levinson, 2006)

Around the globe marketing experts, researchers, and academics

are eagerly trying to find an all embracing description of

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Guerrilla Marketing (GM), since no official definition of the

term exist so far. Many explanations have thus been created and

even though they vary in their wordings, they have the

following characteristics of Guerrilla Marketing in common:

creative, unconventional, surprising and efficient, (Levinson &

McLaughlin, 2003, Levinson, 1998).

Guerrilla marketing is a marketing strategy in today’s

marketplace, predominantly used for the marketing mix “p”

promotion. It is a form of marketing which involves the

consumer in the advertising experience. Guerrilla marketing

campaigns display creative ideas dynamically with

unconventional methods at places where advertising would be

least expected. The aim is to irritate, fascinate, and animate the

customer/consumer. The surprise–effect belongs to the root of

the philosophy (During & Fahnenholz, 2008).

The use of the unconventional marketing approaches was

something that is previously associated with small enterprises

due to their limited budget; they had to find new ways.

Nowadays when the competition is harsh, the trend goes

towards large advertisers who also adopted the approach, since

the positive aspects are more visible and the need for finding

new ways of reaching the customer has increased (Belch &

Belch, 2004).

Guerrilla marketing, as the name implies, gives an indication of

controversy and warfare, since the name is associated with

military tactics, but it should not be associated with a bloody

battleground. It is more of a strategy that one uses in order to

conquer a market through a well planned approach in a smaller

scale. Enterprises use warfare to fight on the battleground of

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today marketplace, which is the consumers’ mind-where words

and pictures are the weapons used and where the owner-

manager of every enterprise acts as a general, (Garsombke,

1987).

Levinson (1984), claims that all kinds of innovative and eye-

catching advertisements belong to the concept of guerrilla

marketing. Accordingly, guerrilla marketing is described as

being fancy, atypical, unusual, original, provoking, flexible,

dynamic, innovative, creative, and humorous.

Ries and Trout (1986), for example, recommend to marketers to

save costs by identifying market niches, creating a flat

organizational structure and acting highly flexible. Despite

different vistas on the phenomenon, all the definition of guerrilla

marketing agree that the concept provides a solution on how to

succeed in the competition for consumers’ attention in

advertising campaigns.

Egan, (2007), McAllister, and Turow, (2002) posit that Guerrilla

Marketing is an umbrella terms that covers the various

innovative approaches that marketers adopt in the marketplace

to gain market-share and profit, namely: renegade marketing,

covert marketing, diffusion marketing, under-the-radar

marketing or vanguard marketing. Guerrilla marketing is up to

date a marketing strategy characterized by surprise-effect,

diffusion-effect and low cost, using the instruments of

flexibility, buzz marketing, viral marketing, sensation

marketing, ambush marketing, ambient marketing and other

related tools to gain advantage over competitors who are

stronger in a tough and harsh economy. It is a dynamic, flexible,

restless and provocative approach to marketing and in some

cases unconventional and controversial without offence to the

law and customers.

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2.2 “Guerrilla Enters Marketing”

Conventional marketing practices and textbooks do not

accommodate most of the characteristics of Guerrilla marketing.

However, in tough and harsh economy, marketers began to

improvise and search for other means of survival that does not

infringe on others. It is under this condition of toughness that

American marketing experts started looking for new approaches

to gain the attention of customers. The consumers’ behavior had

changed and businesses had to come up with offers that fit their

consumers’ needs and not only their own. Consequently

marketing experts had to find realizable concepts for businesses

with limited resources. The only promising way was to use an

untraditional marketing approach that included attention and

attack strategies in order to gain as much attention as possible

and to weaken competitors considerably. Guerrilla philosophy

was found to accommodate these desires, (Schulte, 2007).

2.3 The Philosophy of Guerrilla Marketing

Levinson (1983), defined the root of the idea in his book

Guerrilla Marketing, his publication provided not only an

explanation of the essential marketing idea, but also a

philosophy for small business owners who wanted to follow the

Guerrilla marketing idea. He introduced new ways of

advertising and presenting a business well with small budget,

and based the success of marketing strategy on the use of non-

traditional marketing channels, customer proximity, insistence

and patience. A company should create as many points of

contact with customers and prospects as possible in order to stay

in their memory. Conrad Levinson is today the father of

“Guerrilla Marketing” as his book has been translated into more

than 40 languages.

116

Like Levinson, Trout and Ries believed that Guerrilla marketing

is best suited for small and medium-size enterprises. Trout

pointed out that the market size also has to be manageable with

the limited and available resources. Therefore they suggested

specializing and investing in niche product and/or market niche.

Theirs is that small and medium enterprises should adopt niche

approach which will allow flexibility and change, surprise and

diffusion at low cost.

Kotler, (1990) suggests that Guerrilla marketing should be

adopted by market challengers that try to increase their own

profitability by gaining more market share from other

enterprises in the same industry. A competitive advantage over

the challenged firm is the foundation for a good strategy but also

involves high risks, especially when the potential gain is high.

Kotler, et al. (2005), argue that many smaller financially weaker

companies are then using an aggressive guerrilla attack. Such a

campaign can even be a tool to fight the current market leader.

Unlike Levinson (1998), Ries, Trout (1983), and Kotler (1990)

believe that the main purpose of guerrilla marketing is to

destabilize the opponent or best to destroy the competitors with

the help of attrition tactics.

From the views of these guerrilla marketing philosophers,

Guerrilla marketing is deeply understood and the principles

made clearer for the study. Guerrilla marketing is not a battle or

physical combat, but a psychological battle that is fought and

won in the minds of customers and consumers, partners and

competitors through the segmentation of the population to serve,

the targeting strategies adopted that result in the positioning of

the firm’s products and services in the mind of the customers

and consumers for patronage.

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Druing and Fahrenholz (2008) found in their research result that

financially strong companies use guerrilla marketing as a

complementary tool to present the brand in a multimodal way.

Smaller firms can make use of the cost-effective strategy to get

the spotlight on their brand. Good co-operation with, for

instance, the public relations department is essential to increase

the guerrilla marketing effect enormously. They concluded in

their research that guerrilla marketing would blend with the

customers by finding ways to surprise them and interest them by

putting the idea in the forefront, not the brand. The evolved

guerrilla marketing form is now used by companies of all sizes.

Global players such as BMW use it, and start-up companies do

so to create brand awareness, (Levinson, 2008). Many small and

medium sized companies started with guerrilla marketing and

established their businesses lucratively. Through constant

growth rates, they have the means to also afford traditional

marketing tools to gain more and more market share, which

enables them to compete with the market leaders.

Wensen, (2008) asserts that one can win the battle for the

consumers’ attention by being smarter and more creative than

his opponent, instead of spending more money for TV

commercials than his competitor does. His definition of guerrilla

marketing is a broad one and an unexpected brand program

through alternative media. Guerrilla marketing includes, for

example, viral marketing, ambush marketing, buzz marketing

and also events, but guerrilla marketing is far more than the

definition. It is a mentality too, because the mentality of

thinking is outside the box and thinking for solutions for

communications problems in a broader way, instead of thinking

in terms of just TV commercials. Traditional advertising on TV,

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radio, print and even traditional outdoor advertising is not what

is meant by guerrilla marketing. Guerrilla marketing is a way of

thinking, (Gallagher, 2004).

Hypotheses

i. There is a significant relationship between the

integration of guerrilla and traditional marketing and

the improvement of productivity of organizational

marketing in SMEs in Nigeria.

+

Figure1. Interface of Guerrilla Marketing and Traditional

Marketing

ii. There is a significant relationship between new methods

of advertisement and the improvement of productivity of

organizational marketing in Nigeria enterprises

Small budget

New communication

technologies

Innovation and

problem solving

techniques

New methods of

advertisement

Price Place

Promotion

Product

People

Perish-ability

Process

Politics

Interface of guerrilla

marketing and traditional marketing

119

iii. There is a significant relationship between using

innovation and problem solving techniques and

improvement of productivity of organizational marketing

in Nigerian enterprises

iv. There is a significant relationship between using new

communication techniques and improvement of

effectiveness of organizational marketing in Nigerian

enterprises.

v. There is a significant relationship between decreasing of

marketing budget and improvement of effectiveness of

organizational marketing in Nigeria enterprises.

3.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This study applied the survey and descriptive research method;

it used the correlation method to determine the relation between

integration of guerrilla and traditional marketing and the

improvement of organizational productivity in Nigerian

enterprises. Consequently, two types of questionnaires were

designed and distributed. One questionnaire was used for

productivity of organizational marketing, while the other was

used for integration of guerrilla marketing and traditional

marketing. For the evaluation of organizational productivity 15

questions were stated, while for integration of guerilla

marketing and traditional marketing, 35 questions were stated.

Time scope of the data collection was from January to March

2013. For reliability of the research, the Cronbach’s alpha

coefficient was used and the results of the variables reliability

are consistent with literatures (Levinson, 1984, 2008,

Garsombke, 1987) that the integration of guerrilla and

traditional marketing in the marketplace has significant impact

on high productivity in marketing organizations both in terms of

120

market share and profitability. Also, the study calculated the

Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for all the questions in this

research and it resulted to 0.846. If this number is higher than

0.7, then the reliability of the research is verified.

Based on the research hypotheses, it can be stated that

independent variables are new methods of advertisement,

innovation and problem solving techniques, new communication

technologies, marketing budget and dependent variables which

is the productivity of organizational marketing. Also, the

relation between integration of guerrilla marketing and

traditional marketing with new methods of communication

technologies and marketing budget are explored and analyzed.

121

Figure 2: A Conceptual model (source: Author work, 2013).

3.1 Population and Sample

The target population is hotels in Owerri Municipal. The

samples were selected from the target population. Owerri is the

capital of Imo State and is the eastern heartland. The hotels

provide lodging, food, rental, events management and the

related services. They have weathered series of storms and

related business fluctuations, and the approaches or techniques

adopted are worth assessing to determine the extent of use.

Interface of guerrilla marketing and traditional

marketing

Marketing budget vs leverage

management

New communicating technologies vs

promotion

Innovation and problem solving

techniques vs products & price

New methods of

advertisement vs promotion mix

Productivity of organizational

marketing

122

As a result, the numbers of samples were 70, stratified random

sampling was used. For determination of the sample size, the

following formula was used:

N = (1-r2)Z2

r2 d2

Because of n= number of sample and α = 0.05, then Z2 (a/2)

equals (1.96)2. Based on the data of initial sample, r equals 0.76

and degree of freedom equals 0.2. Therefore, after substitution

of digits in the given formula, the number of samples gained

was 70 and with the thought of raising the validity of these

questionnaires, and possibly faulty ones among the

questionnaires which will be returned, the number was raised to

90 and the questionnaires were done.

RESEARCH FINDINGS

Data descriptive analysis

The number of samples was 70 managers and all of them were

male of middle age. For normality testing of variables, the

Kolmogrov – Smirnov test was used. The test results are shown

to be consistent with literatures, (Asika & Osuagwu 1997,

Deacon, et al, 1999, Gibb, 1990, Ramon, et al, 2007, Masanell,

et al, 2009). By Pearson’s correlation coefficient, the relation

among new methods of advertisement, new communication

technologies, innovation and problem solving techniques, and

marketing budget are verified. Due to the fact that the error level

(0.000) is lower than the given error level (0.05), H0 based on

equality of variables priorities is rejected. Thus, the result of

Friedman test shows new communication technologies item

with mean 1.99 in the first priority, the innovation and problem

solving techniques with mean of 2.04 in the second priority,

marketing budget item with a mean of 2.87 in the third priority

123

and new methods of advertisement item with mean 3.10 in the

fourth priority of productivity of organizational marketing.

CONCLUSIONS

The research shows that there is a relationship between the

integration of guerrilla marketing and the improvement of

productivity of organizational marketing in Nigeria enterprises.

There is a significant relation between new methods of

advertisement and productivity of organizational marketing.

Therefore, the first secondary hypothesis is verified. There is a

significant relationship between innovation and problem solving

techniques and productivity of organizational marketing.

Therefore, the second secondary hypothesis is verified. There is

a significant relationship between new communication

technologies and productivity of organizational marketing.

Therefore, the third secondary hypothesis is verified. There is a

significant relationship between marketing budget and

productivity of organizational marketing, the forth secondary

hypothesis is also verified. The mean of productivity of

organizational marketing measurement shows sequentially new

communication technologies item, marketing budget item,

innovation and problem solving techniques items, and then the

last new methods of advertisement item which influence the

productivity of organizational marketing in SMEs in Owerri.

Recommendations

The author observes that the views on guerrilla marketing that

come from the empirical findings in studying the marketing of

hotels services in Owerri, are very similar to the theoretical

frameworks on the phenomenon in terms of definitions.

Guerrilla marketing has a shorter frame of time in planning and

execution, unlike traditional marketing. It can take place within

124

a shortest time possible, (Levinson, 2003). The researcher is of

the opinion that more and more hotel marketers should start

using guerrilla marketing if they want to survive the harsh and

tough economic trends in Owerri, Imo State Nigeria. According

to Ives (2009), it is believed that more and more marketers will

start to use guerrilla weapons since the end customer have

proven to be harder and harder to reach. Consequently, the

empirical findings in this study confirm the same that there is a

problem today with traditional marketing strategies; the public

are fed-up, basically with repetitive advertising.

Guerrilla marketing orientation will assist every marketer solve

the problem of customers blocking of marketing programmes.

Levinson (1998) opined that a good way to reach the end

customer without being blocked is to target the segment, using

target marketing. The study has proven that guerrilla marketing

is a more targeted approach than conventional marketing, which

implies that it is in a smaller scale. However a word of caution is

that the enterprise operators should be mindful of ethical issues

so as not to offend, otherwise all effort to market can backfire.

They should be careful not to infringe on the law, in order not to

commence a programme that will be counter-productive.

Every guerrilla marketer must know the target audience. It is a

classical start of every marketing campaign. The company has to

define the target customers properly for the best guerrilla design

creation and to avoid ethical aspects. By knowing the customer,

a focused strategy can be applied to encourage people to take an

advantage of your offer. Secondly, guerrilla marketers should

think “outbox”. Creativity is what guerrilla marketing requires

from you. Make the customer remember you. Marketers always

have to come up with new ideas to remind customers about their

brand and protect the surprise effect of every guerrilla marketing

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activity. This aspect of guerrilla marketing fit the needs of

today, which is, ‘stay away from uniformity and insist on

creativity and flexibility’.

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