ASSESSMENT OF INFORMATION SOURCES AND SERVICES PROVIDED FOR THE BUSINESS NEEDS OF THE MICRO AND SMALL SCALE ENTERPRISES IN NORTH WEST GEO-POLITICAL ZONE, NIGERIA

Abstract
Business data/information consists of every factor influential to business operation. It is influenced by a set of political, economic, social and technological factors which are largely outside the control and influence of a business. The general objective of this study was to investigate into business information need and services of micro and small business enterprises in the North-West geo-political zone of Nigeria. The survey research method was adopted for the study. From the parent population of micro and small business enterprises, seven municipal areas of the geo-political zone were randomly sampled. Research instrument used for collecting data was the structured questionnaire which was constructed along the theoretical frame of the study. Hypotheses were formulated to provide basis for inferences from the analysed data. The SPSS Version 17 was used to analyse the data and for testing the hypotheses. The Pearson and Product Moment Correlation and One-Way Analysis of Variance were used for testing the observed inferences i.e. relationship and differences in the subjective factors. The findings showed that although there has been increasing attention on the part of government in recent years at promoting business entrepreneurships by way of promoting micro and small businesses the study showed that the effective provision of business information towards the need of small business enterprises requires more articulated services. Subjective factors like awareness, availability, accessibility and sources/services of information provided were found to be significant determinants of information needs’ satisfaction of the micro and small scale business entrepreneurs in the zone. These factors were found to determine the level to which the entrepreneurs could be satisfied with the business information available to them in the zone. The study recommended amongst others that Business Information Centres (BIS) at strategic location should promote the information activities geared towards satisfying the business needs of enterprises; the role of government agencies in providing such services is therefore of vital importance.
Description
A PhD DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (PhD) IN LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE FACULTY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA
Keywords
ASSESSMENT,, INFORMATION SOURCES,, SERVICES,, BUSINESS NEEDS,, MICRO,, SMALL SCALE ENTERPRISES, NORTH WEST,, GEO-POLITICAL ZONE,, NIGERIA.
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