ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS POSSESSED BY AUTO TECHNOLOGY SELF EMPLOYED GRADUATES IN NASARAWA STATE

ABSTRACT

The study was designed to determine the skills possessed by auto technology self employed graduates in Nasarawa state. Survey research design was adopted for the study. The population for the study was 110 respondents comprises of 30 auto technology entrepreneurs and auto technology employees. There was no sampling because of manageable size of the population. A structured questionnaire was used as instrument for data collection. The instrument was trial- tested on 15 respondents who were not part of the population used for the study after being subjected to face validation by three 3 experts from the department of vocational teacher education, university of Nigeria, Nsukka. Cronbach Alpha reliability method was used to determine the internal consistency of the instrument and 0.984 reliability coefficient value was obtained. Five research questions and five null hypotheses were formulated for the study. Mean was used to analyze the data for research questions while t-test was used to test the hypotheses of no significant difference at 0.05 level of significance. The study revealed 36 technical skills,

16   managerial   skills,   11   financial   management   skills,   21   marketing   skills   and   16 communication skills  possessed  by  graduates of  auto  technology for  self-employment  in Nasarawa state. There was no significant difference in the mean responses of auto technology entrepreneurs and auto technology employees on the skills possessed by auto technology self employed graduates for entrepreneurial ventures. The study recommended that all the skills identified in this study should be packaged and uses to retain the graduates of auto technology as prospective entrepreneurs in the country. It was also recommended that the entrepreneurial skills identified should be  introduced as one of the compulsory subjects in all secondary schools in the country. Through this methods students who transcend into technical institutions to the university level,  would have  become conversant with the tenets of entrepreneurial demand.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

The importance of entrepreneurial skills in the economy of developed and developing countries have led and would continue to lead to a reconsideration of their roles in the economy of nations. However, success for entrepreneurial ventures requires competent skills. The extent to which graduates of auto technology possess entrepreneurial skills would finally help them to be successful entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneur plays  a  dominant  role  in  the  development  of business  opportunities. According to Ihekwoaba (2007) an entrepreneur is any person who uses skills to discover hidden business opportunity and exploits it for a profit.  Entrepreneur is a change agent, an innovator and a risk taker, who exploits business opportunities within the environment by utilizing the resources effectively to develop new technologies, produce new products and services to  maximize profit  and contributing significantly to  societal development. This desire of an entrepreneur to maximize profit and contribute to economic and social well being of the society shows the entrepreneur’s great ability to organize in business organization. The activity or activities of the entrepreneur is called entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurship is a process of bringing together creative and innovative ideas, combining them with management and organization skills in order to combine people, money and resources to meet an identified need and thereby create wealth (Agomuo, 2002). It is the willingness and ability of an individual to seek out investment opportunities, establish and run an enterprise successfully. According to Ademiluyi (2007) entrepreneurship skills are

simply business skills which individuals possess to enable them effectively function in the

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turbulent business environment as an entrepreneur or self-employed. Akinola (2001) pointed out that it takes special skills to succeed as an entrepreneur. However, Graduates of auto technology without the  relevant  entrepreneurial skills  will  find  the  labour  market  most unrewarding and unfavorable in terms of creating jobs, instead of seeking jobs where none exists.  Jobs could still be created only if the graduates understand the actual goals of which auto technology is aimed to achieve after graduation from technical colleges.

Technical colleges play significant roles mostly through the training of students in different trades. Technical colleges, according to Okoro (2006), are the principal vocational institutions in Nigeria which give full vocational training intended to prepare graduates for entry into various occupations such as auto mechanics, metal work, electrical and electronics among others. Trainees that have completed the programmed in a technical college shall have the opportunity to secure employment in the industries or become self-employed and be able to employ others (FGN, 2004).

Trainee  in auto technology is  an individual who  is  available to  learn the  skill of automotive trade from a professionally skilled teacher to withstand challenges required by the industry. Auto Technology Teacher at the Technical College level is expected to posses the needed competencies for imparting technical knowledge and skills to students, especially now that the emphasis is on competency base learning (Davies 2001). Technical teacher who is seen as curriculum implementer should see the need to improve the teaching of auto technology and would have to plan lessons based on good instructional objectives of the program as well as learners’ practical skill acquisition.

Skill can be defined as knowledge demonstrated by actions or the ability to perform in a certain  way.  Osinem and  Nwoji  (2010)  explained  skill  as  a  manifestation of acquired

knowledge that is translated into practical activity. Auto technology craftsmen like the other counterparts in technical trades requires adequate entrepreneurial skills for effective performance.

Auto  technology  is  aim  to  produce  graduates  with  competent  skills  for  self- employment. Uyanya, (1989) stated that the most important thing that ever happened to Nigeria is  the 1981 National Policy on Education which emphasizes the  acquisition of vocational skills for self-reliance.  Entrepreneurship in Auto Technology is among the major ways to enhance socio-economic and industrial development of self-actualization for the individuals concerned. Thus, the National Institute of Automotive Service Excellence, ASE (2005) Certifies Automotive Service Technology (AST) in eight areas as; (1) Engine repairs, (2) Automatic Transmission and Transaxle, (3) Manual drive train and axles, (4) Steering and suspension, (5) Brakes, (6) Electrical and Electronics, (7) Engine Performance, and (8) Air Conditioning.   Automotive   technology   is   continuously   becoming   more   and   more sophisticated. Nice (2001) remarked that continual evolution in design is intended to achieve more reliable, streamline, cleaner and safer vehicle. Hence, the rising demands for skilled automotive technologists as craftsmen who are mostly graduates of technical colleges to provide maintenance services for automobile users is on the increase.

However,  Rea  (2010)  describes craftsmen as  trained  or  skilled  individuals  in  the technical details of a particular art or science, especially one skilled at operating, maintaining or repairing equipment, in contrast to the theory or informational content of a craft. These craftsmen who are mostly Auto Technology graduates should possess adequate entrepreneurial skills for successful management of their business after graduation. Such

entrepreneurial skills should include technical, managerial, financial management, marketing, and communication skills.

Technical skill is knowledge about and proficiency in a specific type of work or activity. It includes competencies in a specialized area, analytical ability, and the ability to use appropriate tools and techniques (Katz, 2000). For example, in a computer software company, technical skill might include knowing software language and programming, the company’s software products, and how to make these products function for clients. Similarly, in an automobile firm, technical skill might include understanding and having the ability to apply generally accepted maintenance and repair principles to a client’s customer. In both examples, technical skills involve a professional hands-on activity with a basic product or process within an organization.

Management is generally viewed as a professional discipline that assembles and uses resources in terms of human, resources, financial resources, physical resources and time to accomplished objectives (Olowu, 2000). This implies that management involves the use of human resources through the process of planning, organizing and controlling of products in the industries in order to meet the customer requirements. In automobile industries, management could be viewed as the function of individual workers for the attainment of the objectives.  However, crises occur when the  industry is  successfully expanding and  the entrepreneur is not capable of running it due to lack of needed knowledge and managerial skills. Thus, Anyakoha (2009) stated some of the managerial skills to include; ability to communicate effectively, ability to make long and short term planning, ability to manage time, finance and meet job schedule.

However, the financial management skills in every organization play a key role in the development and growth of the organization. Osuala (2004) noted that adequate supply of fund makes it possible not only for emergency of new business but also the survival of existing ones. In addition, Osuala (1995) is of the view that there is a correlation between inadequate record and the business organizations of which this constitutes a major problem. Financial management, according to Nzelibe (1996) is one of the most important aspects of entrepreneurship. Onwachekwa and Olatunji (2004) concluded that auto technology graduates who may wish to be self-employed are deeply skeptical to establish on their own for lack of capital or financial resource skills. This situation inhibits the survival of the few existing enterprise around.

Another skill required by an entrepreneur is the marketing skills.  Skill possession in marketing  is  an  important  and  essential aspect  of entrepreneurship. The  sole  economic justification of a firm’s existence, according to Boone and Kurtz (1977), is the production and marketing of want-satisfying products and services. The small business entrepreneur often concentrates marketing mix efforts on selected key target market. However, Kotler (2006), stated that identifying the customer’s needs and sustaining the customer’s satisfaction is the beginning of every business through communication skills in marketing operation.

Communication is a matter of effectiveness, which is dependent on the sharing on ideals between two or more persons in an organization using competency in communication. Master (2008), stated that Communication enables people in the modern world to work together, exchange products and services, share and achieve goals profitably.  In other words its  effectiveness  is  dependent  on  one’s  competency  in  communication. Communication involves intents and efforts from both the sender of the message and the receiver. It is a

process that can be fraught with error such as with messages muddled that is, mixed up by the sender, or misinterpreted by the recipient. However, if this is not detected, it can cause tremendous confusion, waste efforts and misopportunities in most of organization. Success of communication depends  on  several  factors, transmission of  message  by  the  process  of encoding and decoding the  message which may result  in short-term perception, for the success of communication.

Another possible constraint to skills acquisition of the technical colleges graduates can be that, the graduates are not aware of the entrepreneurial skills. Therefore, graduates of auto technology should  possess  adequate  entrepreneurial skills  for  gainful employment.  Self employment among these graduates may help the government to reduce societal problems such as burglaries, armed robbery, aggression, frustration, prostitutions, drug addiction and insecurity (Oyebode, 2005). Hence, it is important to identify entrepreneurial skills possessed by auto technology graduates for self employment in Nasarawa State.

Statement of the Problem

Succeeding administrations in Nasarawa State have employed measures in areas like: fiscal incentives, grants, bilateral and multilateral support to aid educational institutions in the   state   specifically  in   technical  and   entrepreneurial  development.  However,  auto technology graduates  from  technical  colleges  who  are  expected  to  have  possessed  the entrepreneurial skills for self-employment and join the team of entrepreneurs in the country for economic growth and industrial development do not seem to possess the entrepreneurial skills. The graduates are in most case rejected by employers because they do not possess the entrepreneurial skills. The customers feel disappointed because of the delay in the repairs of their  vehicles  by the  auto  technology graduates  in  their  existing  business.  In  addition,

customers have to abandon their vehicles or most times take a painful step to relocate their vehicles to other shops due to unnecessary reasons always given by these graduates.  The graduates might not have been taught in the schools because they were not aware of the necessary skills or are not skilled by themselves.

The graduates, who are mostly teenagers, leave to different parts of this country for menial jobs particularly as bus conductors, commercial motorcyclist and hawkers, farmers among others. This has further increased the youth negative behavior in the state as most anti-social acts including thuggery, militancy, restiveness, and ethnic political clashes.  The graduates would have established in entrepreneurial ventures and do better if they had been taught the entrepreneurial skills in the school. Hence, there is need for auto technology graduates to possess the entrepreneurial skills for self employment in Nasarawa state.

Purpose of the Study

The general purpose of the study is to determine the entrepreneurial skills possessed by auto technology self employed graduates in Nasarawa State. Specifically, the study sought to identify the:

1.  Technical  skills   possessed   by  auto   technology  self   employed   graduates  for entrepreneurial ventures

2.  Managerial  skills  possessed  by  auto  technology  self  employed  graduates  for entrepreneurial ventures

3.  Financial management skills possessed by auto technology self employed graduates for entrepreneurial ventures

4.  Marketing  skills  possessed  by  auto  technology  self  employed  graduates  for entrepreneurial ventures

5.  Communication skills possessed by auto technology self employed graduates for entrepreneurial ventures

Significance of the Study

The findings of the study would be of benefit to the auto technology students in the Technical Colleges, Curriculum planners, National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Federal and State Ministries of Education, Technical Teachers, parents, society, Technical Education and Researchers.

The students will benefit from the findings of this study by receiving start up training on entrepreneurial skills and the use of these skills will in turn improved their performance effectively in business operation.

The findings from the study will provide information to the curriculum planners. The curriculum planners are expected to identify, plan and develop the curriculum that will equipped the technical institution graduates with the entrepreneurial skills needed to work and become an effective workers in the world of work after graduation.

The  National  Board  for  Technical  Education  (NBTE)  as  a  regulatory  body  in curriculum development would use the  findings  from the  study to  in-corporate suitable programmes/modules that can enhance entrepreneurial skills of graduates of auto technology. The entrepreneurial skills would be of great  importance to these graduates in terms of technical, managerial, financial, marketing and communication respectively.

The findings from the study could readily be used by the federal ministry of Education and Nasarawa state Ministry of Education in particular, as a guide to policy formulator for skill acquisition centers administrators for the training of the unemployed youths for jobs in

auto technology. The findings could be useful to these ministries as a reference material during refresher courses for teachers of auto technology by officials of the ministries.

The findings from the study will be of importance to technical teachers. It will enlightened the teachers on the wider range of skills required for teaching the graduates, the auto technology concept especially for entrepreneurial development.

The findings of the study would be of benefit to the parents and the society at large because, by the time the auto technology graduates practice enterprises in the maintenance and repairs of automotive engines both at home and in the entire society.

The findings will benefit technical education by using the information provided to come up with measures that will ensure effective supply of these materials across the states in Nigeria. The information provided, would also portrait the image of technical education among other types or levels of education.

The information that would emanate from this study will stimulate similar research efforts in other states of the federation on the practice of entrepreneurial skills possessed in their related colleges. The findings of the study would provide information to researchers that may wish to carry out similar research in other field in the future.

Research Questions

The following research questions will guide the study:

1.  What are the technical skills possessed by auto technology self employed graduates for entrepreneurial ventures.

2.  What are the managerial skills possessed by auto technology self employed graduates for entrepreneurial ventures.

3.  What  are  the  financial  management  skills  possessed  by  auto  technology  self employed graduates for entrepreneurial ventures.

4.  What are the marketing skills possessed by auto technology self employed graduates for entrepreneurial ventures.

5.  What  are the communication skills possessed by auto  technology self  employed graduates for entrepreneurial ventures.

Hypotheses

The following hypotheses will be tested at 0.05level of significance:

Ho1: There is no significant difference in the mean responses of auto technology entrepreneurs and auto technology employees on the technical skills possessed by auto technology self employed graduates for entrepreneurial ventures.

Ho2:  There is no significant difference in the mean responses of auto technology entrepreneurs and auto technology employees on the managerial skills possessed by auto technology self employed graduates for entrepreneurial ventures.

Ho3:   There is no significant difference in the mean responses of auto technology entrepreneurs and auto technology employees on the financial management skills possessed by auto technology self employed graduates for entrepreneurial ventures.

Ho4:  There is no significant difference in the mean responses of auto technology entrepreneurs and auto technology employees on the marketing skills possessed by auto technology self employed graduates for entrepreneurial ventures.

Ho5:  There is no significant difference in the mean responses of auto technology entrepreneurs and auto technology employees on the communication skills possessed by auto technology self employed graduates for entrepreneurial ventures.

Delimitation of the Study

The study specifically covered the components of entrepreneurial skills namely: technical, managerial, financial management, marketing and communication skills possessed by auto technology self employed graduates for entrepreneurial ventures. The study involves auto technology entrepreneurs and auto technology employees in three senatorial zones of Nasarawa State.

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