Corporate Governance and Risk Management on Listed Banks, The Tanzania Perspective

The study was to assess on corporate governance and risk management in Tanzania. The study was guided by three objectives which were to assess if transparency, disclosure and audit have significant effect on risk management of the firm, to assess if the board of directors have significant effect on risk management of the firm and evaluate if the ownership structure have significant effect on risk management of the firm. Furthermore, we assess how corporate governance and particularly board of directors, ownership structure, transparency disclosure and audit can affect risk management practices in the context of Dar es Salaam stock exchange listed banks. By the use of a content in analysis approach, the level of exposing the risks in terms of likelihood, consequences of such risk and the strategies used for managing that risk were identified for each kind of risk by using attributes. The results show that corporate governance is related to board of directors, ownership structure, transparency, disclosure and audit play a positive significant and crucial role in establishing an integrative risk management approach. The results from data collected demonstrate that corporate governance has positive significant effect in determining the the good quality of risk management through the level of risk-taking in decisions, especially in terms of financial risks management.

Innovation Management to Sustain Competitive Advantage: A Qualitative Multi-Case Study

The importance of new product development (NPD) and innovative capabilities in marketing, innovation, and business strategy has been recognized by management and researchers. Knowledge management and organizational capabilities have also been explored and evaluated by researchers and practitioners. However, the current literature shows a lack of connection between NPD, innovative capabilities, integrated shared knowledge, and organizational capabilities. Also, there is limited knowledge on the impact and the contribution of the integrated shared knowledge and the organizational capabilities to the firm's success, performance, and sustainability. This study aimed to determine if there is a link between NPD and innovative capabilities, integrated shared knowledge, and the organization's capability. The purpose of the research is to explore how shared knowledge and the organization's capabilities influence and contribute to NPD, innovative capabilities, and innovative management. A qualitative, multi-site case study through one-on-one, in-depth interviews with primary decision-makers from technology and innovative companies located in Texas State in the USA is employed. The primary research question that guided the project is: How do shared knowledge and the organizational capabilities that influence NPD and innovative capability contribute to the firm's success, performance, and sustainability? Respondent interviews have been imported and analyzed through NVivo qualitative data analytics software. Findings have been determined using NVivo 11 through theme analysis. A key finding is that shared knowledge and the organization's capabilities are linked and critical for NPD's success and innovative capabilities. A set of recommendations for future researchers is proposed.

Financial Management Practices and Growth of Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises: The case of Kassena-Nankana West District

The promotion of financial management practices and growth of Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs) can contribute significantly towards the sustained elevation of a nation for a better or more humane life. SMEs play a crucial role in addressing the impediments of poverty, inequality and job creation. Yet, many SMEs face numerous challenges ranging from the lack of capital, poor management skills and the application of best financial management practices.This paper explores SMEs’ financial management skills and practices in relation to their growth. The study used questionnaire to collect data from managers or owners of SMEs. Descriptive statistics was used to present the results of the data. Not only that but also, a multiple regression model was also used to test the correlation between financial management practices of SMEs and business growth. The results indicates a moderate correlation between the financial management practices of the SMEs and the growth of the enterprises. Based on the findings, it is recommended for targeted financial education programmes to help managers and owners of SMEs develop and adopt best financial management practices.

Entrepreneurship Advancement and Malaysia Immigrant Policy: A Conceptual Analysis

The migration process in the 21st century has become a global phenomenon to the extent that governments are in huge competition to make their place migration destination specifically for international students due to several skills, knowledge and entrepreneurial ideas they have. Owing to these reasons, this paper conceptually analyze the prospect and challenges of integrating from entrepreneurial lens international students into the Malaysian entrepreneurship atmosphere. Considering this, it is suggested in this study that Malaysia entrepreneurship policy should be inclusive to embrace foreign participation. Also, the immigrant policy which has increased the flow of international students needs to be complemented with freedom to engage in a legal business activities. It is therefore conceptually opined that the amendment of the immigrant policy which should be regulated will increase the attitudinal change towards Malaysia generally and it would place the entrepreneurship policy more viable.

Perception of Local Made products among young Tanzanians: Evidence from Mzumbe University Mbeya Campus

The study aimed at analyzing perception of local made products among young Tanzania consumers. Methodology used was a survey design. Data were collected through structured questionnaire. Stratified and simple random sampling strategies were used. The sample size was 200. Data were analyzed by use of factor analysis, multiple linear regression analysis, descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test as well as Pearson’s correlation analysis.It has been found that, students have shown low level of beliefs despite having good spirits on domestic products. Product quality and fashions are major problems of locally made products. No significant factors are used by University students in judging foreign products purchase. Age and Sex have failed to support the phenomena of ethnocentrism among University Students.The study has recommended to marketers and local manufactures to modify their marketing mix specifically to product as quality was indicated to be a major problem for local products and improving local industries. Improvement in the areas of quality function deployment (QFD), Marketers should design adverts demonstrating the value of using home products for the purpose of changing people’s attitude towards local made products, improvement of branding practices is also important. The government should rethink of reviving Technical schools, continue welcoming and encouraging foreign investors, investing in research and development also establishing online presence of locally made products and lastly is to practice a total or partial bun of those products imported often which are also produced in Tanzania.

Geographic Influence on Innovation and Entrepreneurship Spillovers

This paper critically reviews the role of geography and location on the spread and the quality of innovation and entrepreneurship. Since innovation is highly related to geographic competition, sources of geographic advantage are reviewed with a focus on the work of Gråsjö et al. (2018).The research defines the requirement for shifting towards innovation geographic concentration and how it might lead to both resilient economies that benefit from the spillovers. The paper concludes with recommendations on building future strategies based on the foresighted future spillovers.

Ethical Consumption and Happiness: Evidence from Pakistan

Today’s customers are ethically conscious and prefer those products that are ethically produced without using child labor and harm to animals and nature.This study shows various factors that affect ethical consumption and happiness. We proposed a model explaining effect of ethical purchase on happiness and onwards to repurchase intention. For this purpose this research adopted (Hwang & Kim, 2016) model of factors affecting happiness and repurchase intention and added variables such as ethical consumption, altruism and ethical obligation from (Oh & Yoon, 2014). Using a questionnaire-based survey, the data were collected from 212 respondents to analyze their attitude towards ethical consumption and happiness. To analyze data and test the hypothesis, Structured Equation modeling, PLS algorithm and bootstapping were used. The results showed that guilt positively affects empathy. However, empathy does not affect ethical consumption. Narcissism positively affects self-actualization. While, Self-actualization negatively affect ethical consumption. Ethical obligation also inversely affect ethical consumption however the relationship seems to be insignificant. Surprisingly, Altruism and ethical consumption also seems to have a negative connection. Moreover, ethical consumers didn’t draw happiness out of their purchase, however, happiness positively affected repurchase intention. The results of this study demonstrate the strong associations of the paths from happiness to repurchase intention, happiness to self-actualization, repurchase intention to happiness and self-actualization to happiness.

Financial Impedance Matching Method for Enhancing University-Firm Technology Transfer

Universities and R&D institutions undertake projects to create technological solutions, and at the same time, they teach, produce new knowledge, and learn. Since most universities in the developing world lack industrial production capacities, the technology they create is considered pre-competitive. However, a major goal of technological development is to create products and make them available in the market to different economic sectors in order to help people to solve problems and improve their quality of life. Due to its limitations to accomplish this goal, the university needs to transfer its propriety technology to industrial or entrepreneurial partners. Nevertheless, the definition of technology transfer agreement terms represents a complex communication problem, particularly the appraisal of the value of the technology made by both counterparts. This is partly because current technology valuation methods often disregard the point of view of both counterparts, even though the university’s interests are completely different from the firm’s interests. This paper proposes a technology valuation method using an analogy taken from physical systems, the method of impedance matching in electrical circuits, which intends to engage both parties in a common project with a common aim. The proposed method is tested using a technology transfer contract signed between the Applied Sciences and Technology Institute (UNAM) and a producer of biomedical prostheses.

Relationship between Personality, Perceived Value and Behavioral Intention of Selected Electronic Brand Customers in Kenya

The main purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between perceived value, personality and behavioural intention of consumers of electronic brand in Kenya. The study was guided by: theory of reasoned action, consumption value theory and big five personality traits theory. The study adopted explanatory research design while the target population was 32,567 customers from which a sample of 400 respondents was obtained using multi-stage sampling procedure. Data was collected using questionnaires and analyzed using hierarchical regression. The results revealed that customer perceived brand value (β=.342; P<.000) has significant direct influence on behavioural intention of consumers of electronic brands, while perceived sacrifice (β=0.246; P<0.05) also has a direct significant influence on behavioural intentions of consumers of electronic brands. The findings further established that customer personality has significant moderating effect on the relationship between perceived brand value and behavioural intention of consumer of electronic brands (β= 0.038; P<.000), while having antagonistic moderating influence on the relationship between customer perceived sacrifices and behavioural intention of consumers of electronic brands(β=0.008; P>0.05). The main theoretical contribution of the study findings to the body of knowledge is on the effect of perceived sacrifices on behavioural intention and on how customer personality moderates this relationship. To survive and become competitive in the marketplace electronic firms need to focus on offering brands that reflect customer personality and at the same time that offer brand value while focusing on reducing customer perception of sacrifice.

Impact of Big Five Personality Traits on Entrepreneurial Intention of Engineering Undergraduates

The purpose of this paper is to identify the influence of Big Five personality traits of extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability and openness to experience on entrepreneurial intention of engineering undergraduates. Entrepreneurship for engineers is not new to the world. Recent changes in the world and engineering present both challenges and opportunities to engineering education. Engineering education is changing to meet these challenges. A study was conducted with the sample of 202 final year undergraduates in engineering faculties in Sri Lanka. Exploratory Factor Analysis, Multiple Regression and Structural Equation Modeling were applied to analyze the relationships of these variables. The results demonstrate that entrepreneurial personality traits which relate significantly to entrepreneurial intention of undergraduates are characterized by high emotional stability and openness to experience. The findings are discussed and interpreted to provide important implications to practitioners and academics.