Annals of Spiru Haret University. Economic Series

12

Authors: Samuel Chuks UGOH, Wilfred I. UKPERE

Most of the African states have joined the roll-call of the hundreds of ‘failed states’ engrossed in the inter-ethnic wars, genocide and adverse and disruptive regime changes, and Nigeria is not an exception. In fact, the country has become seed-beds of violence, terrorism, mass migration of criminals across the borders, refugees’ movements, etc. These factors have weakened the state as well as force it out of its public policy role towards socio economic and political development. Two decades since democracy was reintroduced in the country, Nigerians have not really witness true changes to their socio-economic well-being as expected. Broadly speaking, they are currently demanding for another kind democracy with a redeeming quality. The country’s poor leadership has been identified as a major factor to these crises and conflicts. Perhaps, it could be the major reason for the recent End Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) protest in the country. This paper therefore examines how leaders emerged in Nigeria and the policy formulation in terms of development. The work also traces the reasons for ethno-religious crises, nepotism and corruption by these leaders.

20

Authors: Michael Ayodeji BOYEDE, Oluwatobi Oyewumi OMOTOYE

This study discussed the influence of work-life balance on employee engagement among women in technical education (WITED) in Polytechnics in Osun State. This is with the view of ensuring successful blending of world of work with personal responsibilities in optimal harmony. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population of the study was made up of women in technical education in government polytechnics, in Osun State. A total of 750 workers were selected from Women in the Technical Education through simple random sampling technique. Two research instruments titled Work-life balance Scale (WLBS) and Employee engagement scale (EES) adapted and modified were used to collect data for the study. The test retest reliability of the instruments administered within two weeks interval yielded .78 and 0.80 respectively. The response format used was the Likert format with options ranging from Strongly Agree (4) Agree (3) Strongly Disagree (2) and Disagree (1). All the instruments were divided into two parts. Part A solicited responses on personal information about the respondents while part B collected data on the variables under study. Multiple Regression Analysis was used to test the hypotheses raised at 0.05 alpha level. Result established that flexible work arrangement had coefficients β = 0.190, t = 1.688, p = 0.007 < α =0.05, indicating a significant influence of flexible work arrangement on employee engagement. Finding also, showed that work-life conflict also showed a significant influence on employee engagement with the coefficients, β = 0.385 t =-1.184, p = 0.002 < α =0.05, which indicated a negative influence of work life conflict on employee engagement. Based on the findings the study concluded that work-life balance should be comfortably blended with personal engagement so as to significantly engender employee engagement among Women in Technical Education (WITED) in Polytechnics in Osun. And that adequate skill and knowledge of assigned task should be sought to balance the fits in employee engagement among Women in Technical Education (WITED) in Polytechnics in Osun. The study recommended that management should build a work environment that attracts, retains, and motivates its employees to help them work comfortably to increase organization productivity, and that organizations should embrace flexible work schedule strategies as this would positively influence employee engagement.

30

Authors: R.N. WEERASINGHE, A.K.W. JAYAWARDANE, U.A.S. YAPA

Innovation plays a prominent role in the contemporary world. It brings novel products and services to the market while exploring new ways of production, distribution, marketing and impacts all other aspects of organizations including human behaviour through hard as well as soft methods. Open innovation has been introduced as a new paradigm in innovation management. This study examines the impact of open innovation on innovation performance of the listed companies in Sri Lanka with the moderating effect of inter-organizational networks. Open innovation practices have been recognized in this study in two folds - as outside-in open innovation and inside-out open innovation Data were collected through a survey among 165 top-level managers of listed companies in Sri Lanka. The sample was selected using purposive and snowballing sampling methods. After testing the validity and the reliability of the instrument and collected data, simple regression analysis was conducted to test the hypotheses. The study findings indicate that both outside-in open innovation and inside-out open innovation positively and significantly impact innovation performance.