PLANNING SKILLS REQUIRED BY SMALL SCALE BUSINESS MANAGERS FOR OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY IN AKWA-IBOM NORTH-EAST SENATORIAL DISTRICT, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study was carried out to determine the planning skills required by small scale business managers for operational efficiency in Akwa-Ibom North-East Senatorial District, Nigeria. The study was guided by one research questions and one research hypothesis was formulated to direct the study. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study was 497 registered small scale business managers in Akwa-Ibom North-East Senatorial District and a sample size of 217 was selected using the Krejcie and Morgan Sample Size Table. Cluster and simple random sampling techniques were applied for the selection of the respondents. A researcher-developed instrument entitled “Planning Skills Required for Operational Efficiency Questionnaire” (PSROEQ) was used to gather data for the study. The instrument was validated by two experts from Business Education department and one expert from the department of Psychological Foundations of Education. The internal consistency of the instrument was determined using Cronbach’s Alpha statistics and the reliability coefficient of 0.88 was obtained. The data collected were analysed using the Mean statistic in answering the research questions while population t-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that planning skills are highly required for operational efficiency of small scale business managers in Akwa-Ibom North-East Senatorial District. It was concluded that planning skills are significantly required by small scale business managers for operational efficiency in Akwa-Ibom North-East Senatorial District, Nigeria. The study recommended that Small scale business managers should focus on acquiring skills planning skills to enhance operational efficiency.