MANAGERS’ RATING OF MANAGERIAL SKILLS CONSIDERED NECESSARY FOR SUCCESS OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES FOR CURBING SOCIAL VICES IN RIVERS AND BAYELSA STATES

Abstract

This study aimed at finding out the managerial skills considered necessary for the success of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs,) for curbing social vices in Rivers and Bayelsa States of Nigeria. Undertaking this study became eminent considering the failure rate of SMEs which directly or indirectly has lead to increase in social vices in the area of study. The study adopts descriptive survey design. 149 managers of SME’s in Rivers and Bayelsa States were purposively sampled. One research question guided the study and one null hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance. A validated structured questionnaire with reliability co-efficient of 0.87 was used for data collection. The data collected were analyzed using mean scores and standard deviation to answer the research question; while ANOVA was used to test the null hypothesis. The findings of the study revealed that all the identified managerial skills were considered highly necessary by the managers for the success of SMEs for curbing social vices. Also, the managers ‘years of working experiences had no effect on their responses. It was recommended among others that the SME unit of Ministry of Commerce and Industry should constantly organize seminars and conferences in collaboration with business and entrepreneurial education departments of tertiary institutions, to provide management skills to business owners and managers in the states.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship, managerial skills, Small & Medium Enterprises