EFFECT OF BUSINESS STRESS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF SMALL SCALE ENTERPRENUER (A STUDY OF SELECTED BUSINESSES IN LAGOS STATE)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Statement of the Problem
1.3 Objectives of the Study
1.4 Research Questions
1.5 Research Hypotheses
1.6 Research Methodology
1.7 Significance of the Study
1.8 Scope of the Study
1.9 Limitations of the Study
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Work Motivation and the Performance of Small Business Entrepreneurs
2.2.1 Theories of Motivation
2.2.1.1 Content Theories of MotivationProcess Theories of Motivation
2.2.3 What Motivates Employees
2.2.4 Methods of Motivation
2.3 Social Support and the Performance of Small Business Entrepreneurs
2.3.1 Forms of Social Support
2.4 Unmet Expectations and the Performance of Small Business Entrepreneurs
2.5 Professional Conditions and the Performance of Small Business Entrepreneurs
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Research Design
3.3 Population and Sampling of the Study
3.4 Research Instrument
3.5 Method of Data Collection
3.6 Method of Data Analysis
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS
4.0 Introduction
4.2 Descriptive Frequency Analysis of the Instrument
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary
5.2 Conclusion
5.3 Recommendation
References
Appendix
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
This study focus on how stress affects
the performance of small business entrepreneurs in Nigeria. Before now,
entrepreneurs have been recognized as an essential ingredient of
economic development. The manner it has been explained in the Western
societies has varied from time to time to suit the changing values of
socio-economic reality.
To Schumpeter (1961), an entrepreneur is
a dynamic agent of change, or the catalyst who transformed increasingly
physical natural and human resources into corresponding production
possibilities. For any economy to grow and develop there is need for
entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship has been defined as the willingness
and ability of an individual to seek out investment opportunities,
establish and run an enterprise successfully. Over the years, several
attempts have been made to explain economic growth, within the past
three decades or so, one factor which has been emphasized as a
pre-requisite to economic growth is entrepreneurship.
In the context of our society, an
entrepreneur will be assumed to include any person who runs a business.
Thus, the man who owns a departmental store, bookshop, beer parlour,
printing press, beauty saloon, publisher, manufacturer, wholesaler,
retailer etc is an entrepreneur (Nwachukwu, 1990) small and medium scale
business owners in this country have on their own made immense
contribution to the development of the national economy over the year.
On the other hand, despite the
contributions made by entrepreneurs to the economy they are often faced
with some problems which include:
v High Degree of Business Uncertainty:
Entrepreneurship development is faced with high level of uncertainty
associated with enterprise ownership, there is constant threat of
government interventions, political instability and degrees etc. Because
of these, one has to expect changes in monetary policy, credit policy,
etc.
v Limited Profit Opportunities:
This is as a result of low level of real income and limited market,
even now, the situation is the same with economic depression and most
business enterprise are folding up because they cannot break even what
more making profit.
v Problem of Power Supply: Power failure possesses a lot of problem for entrepreneurs which make them spend more for alternative resources.
v Insufficient Capital:
Most entrepreneurs find it difficult to borrow from banks, because of
the processes involved and because of this reasons, he/she has limited
resources to work with.
Other problem encountered by
entrepreneurs include family problem, emotional problem, work overload,
cultural barrier, work insecurity, work pressure, high cost of materials
etc.
All these and lots more causes problem
for small scale business owners which might lead to stress. The effect
of stress in the work place can be sometimes serve that same researchers
have been prompted to equate it effect with “combat stress” or battle
fatigue.” (Nelson et al). stress lowers individual and organisational
performance which lead to both production and quality suffering (Nelson
and Quick, 1996).
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Stress in the workplace is a growing
problem with extensive cost to individual, organisations and the society
at large. Often times, small business owners are faced with high level
of stress, this is because work and its demand often dominate their
lives (Jamal, 1997), clear separation between work and non-work
activities are frequently non-existence, moreover, an average work day
can easily extend to 12 hours or longer (Jamal and Badawi, 1995).
Although many industrialised nations and
their citizens might be enjoying the frit of their industrial
revolution through ever-higher standard of labour they are enjoying
these fruits less than was anticipated. This may be due to large measure
to the excessive level of stress in their lives (Karasek et al.,)
stress is widely accepted as a potential drawback of small business
owners (Akande, 1992 et al).
Therefore, this study will examine how
stress affect the performance of small business entrepreneurs and also
evaluate the problems associated with stress in business and probably
suggest solutions.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The objectives for this study include:
v To determine the impact of business stress on the performance of small business entrepreneurs.
v To determine the impact of work motivation on the performance of small business entrepreneurs.
v To determine the impact of social support on the performance of small business entrepreneurs
v To determine the impact of collegiality on the performance of small business entrepreneurs
v To determine the effect of unmet expectation on the performance of small business entrepreneurs
v To determine the impact of autonomy in the performance of small business entrepreneurs.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
This research would be guided by the following questions, and hypothesis
- How does stress affect the performance of small scale business?
- How often do you experience business stress?
- What are the causes of business stress?
- What measure can be taken to over-come business stress?
- How do businessstress contribute to the failure of Small-scale businesss?
- In what way does stress affect ones performance?
1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
To provide answer to the research questions arising from this study, the following hypotheses are postulated.
Hypothesis One
Ho: There is no significant relationship between business stress and business performance
H1: There is significant relationship between business stress and business performance
Hypothesis Two
Ho: There is no significant relationship between business stress and negative affectivity
H1: There is significant relationship between business stress and negative affectivity
Hypothesis Three
Ho: There is no significant relationship between business stress and work motivation
H1: There is significant relationship between business stress and work motivation
Hypothesis Four
Ho: There is no significant relationship between business stress and marital status
H1: There is significant relationship between business stress and marital status
Hypothesis Five
Ho: There is no significant relationship between business stress and the numbers of years in business.
H1: There is significant relationship between business stress and the numbers of years in business
1.6 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The study is based on primary data
collected using a structured questionnaire which was basically
structured questions relating to the objectives use study. Chi-square
was being employed to analyse the information collected.
1.7SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
Numerous studies has explored the causes
of occupational stress and these include: the pressures, job
dissatisfaction, job insecurity, poor supervision, boring repetitive
work, work over load, lack of communication, too much or too little
responsibility, poor work/life balance etc (Kaal, 1973). Little is
known on how work motivation, social support and collegiality help to
reduce the impact of stress on performance of small business
entrepreneurs, and how unmet expectation also affects their performance.
This research therefore helps to advance
the researchers knowledge in respect to the topic and also enable her
contribute to the finding of solution to the problem for which the
research is based.
1.8SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The scope of the study is limited to
some particular businesses such as the Mechanical/Autorical, Transport
Service, Business Venture/Bulk Sales (Antisan). This is to say that the
study is restricted to some selected workers and some business
eexecutive in Yaba Area of Lagos State, Nigeria.
1.9LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
In the course of the study, there were
some set backs that have hindered the full realisation of the objective
of this study. First, is that the study is limited to only 100 business
owners compared to the large number of entrepreneurs in LagosState.
Also, there was a poor response by some
entrepreneurs especially the Transport Service who less believe in paper
work and therefore fail to fill their questionnaires promptly, while
some collected the questionnaires and refuse to return them thereby
reducing the total number of questionnaires distributed.