International Journal of Management and Business Studies ISSN: 2167-0439 Vol. 4 (2), pp. 138-150, February, 2014. © International Scholars Journals

Full length research paper

Newspaper copy sales and the performance of the print media in Uganda

Sulait Tumwine¹*, Charles Omagor¹ and Agaba Gershom²

¹makerere University Business School, P. O Box. 1337, Kampala, Uganda.

²New Vision Printing and Publishing Company, P. O Box. 9815, Kampala, Uganda.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]. Tel: +256772692650.

Accepted 30 November, 2012

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate factors that influence newspaper copy sales and their impact on financial performance of print media companies. Data was collected by means of a questionnaire that was physically distributed to newspaper readers and managers during 2011 and 2012. The questionnaires were filled by 694 newspapers readers and 16 managers of print media companies. The results show that when print media want to boost their financial performance, it is important to improve the content of a newspaper and then appropriate cover price, select the distribution channel that reaches the readers easily and choosing the brand values that trigger the buyers to buy. Competition and technological advancement and promotions do not improve financial performance. Generally, cover price, newspaper content, branding and distribution account for 56.6% of the variation in financial performance of the print media companies in Uganda. A single research methodological approach was used in this study. Multiple respondents in a firm were studied, neglecting other key stakeholders such as vendors. Finally, a regression analysis for all the constructs was undertaken; each construct needed its own regression. In order to boost financial performance, managers in print media companies should improve on product offers, insertions and update news in a copy to match any increase in price, take into account economic conditions and readers purchasing power, staple/make a copy difficult to be opened or read by a person before buying and adopt the fastest distribution channel. This is the first paper that focuses on the factors that influences newspaper copy sales and their effect on financial performance in Uganda`s print media.

Key words: Copy sales, financial performance and print media company.

International Journal of Management and Business Studies ISSN: 2167-0439 Vol. 4 (1), pp. 129-137, January 2014. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Women empowerment through micro enterprises –Role of microfinance (A study with special reference to select Mandals in W.G. District, A.P.)

¹R.Sreenivasa Rao, ²G.V.Chalam and ³Ratnajirao Chowdary

¹Department of Management Studies, Sir C.R. Reddy College,Eluru-534 007, W.G.Dist, Andhra Pradesh, India.

²Department of Commerce & Business Administration, Acharya Nagarjuna University, Nagarjuna Nagar, Andhra Pradesh, India.

³Dept. of Management Studies, VSM College, Ramachandrapuram, E.G. District, Andhra Pradesh, India.

*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected] .Tel. +91 9440679482 

Accepted 10 December, 2013

Abstract

Self Help Group (SHG) movement in Andhra Pradesh (Tammi Raju, 2011) should be reoriented towards training women for starting micro-enterprises by providing prompt and needed amount of loans.  In this era of globalization, there is a wide scope for encouraging micro-enterprises to manufacture machine tools, components of TV, radio, watches, cosmetics and even microchips of the computers and other electronic goods. Such cottage industries exist and flourish in China, Korea and Singapore.  Indian women can create history if they are helped to rise to the occasion for more productive jobs and absorb surplus labour in the rural areas.  This is the real women empowerment, which is not impossible.

Key words: Cottage industries, empowerment, micro-enterprises, SHG, training.

International Journal of Management and Business Studies ISSN: 2167-0439 Vol. 3 (9), pp. 118-128, November, 2013.  © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Expenditure efficiency of social services in developing countries

¹Younes Boujelben and ¹Nahed Trabelsi-Ltifi*

Faculty of Economics and Management, University of Sfax, Street of Airport, km 4.5, LP 1088, Sfax 3018, Tunisia.

*Corresponding  author. E-mail: [email protected].

Accepted 9 March, 2013

Abstract

This paper assesses the efficiency of developing countries in utilizing public resources for health and education and has two major parts. The first one estimates efficiency by applying a non-parametric methodology: Data Envelopment Analysis, Input-efficiency is scored in a sample of 75 countries using data from 1996 to 2011. The second part of the paper seeks to identify empirical regularities that explain cross-country variation in the efficiency through a Tobit regression. Results show that countries with higher expenditure levels register lower efficiency scores. Similarly, countries with higher income inequality score lower efficiency, as those countries plagued by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Countries with higher revenue per capita tend to score higher efficiency as well as countries where the degree of urbanization is a larger share of total population.

Key words: Efficiency, public education and health, data envelopment Analysis, Tobit regression model.

International Journal of Management and Business Studies ISSN: 2167-0439 Vol. 3 (8), pp. 110-117, August, 2013. © International Scholars Journals

Review

From service to academics: Analysis of a change process in the Department of Anaesthesiology University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), Nigeria

Dr. Bisola Onajin-Obembe

Department of Anaesthesiology, University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.

Email: [email protected]. Tel: +2348033267288

Accepted 1 August, 2013

Abstract

This paper examines a change process in the Department of Anaesthesiology of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Nigeria, as it transforms from a service-to an academic-oriented organization. Analysis was performed using the Herold and Fedor’s comprehensive change framework. It covers key highlights of what needs changing, how to proceed, and implementation of change in relation to who will lead, who is expected to follow, internal and external contexts with a possibility of altering elements of the situation and/or reconsideration of the change process. It provides an overview of the key players in the department of anaesthesiology namely the change leader, the relationship with various stakeholders and followers.  It further looks at the implementation of some changes in the department. The findings confirm that change is dynamic and organizations can transform in response to the environment.

Keywords: Change management, change leader, Department of Anaesthesia, Teaching Hospital, Nigeria. 

Review

Overview of electric power development gaps in Cross River State, Nigeria

Ndem Ayara, Uwem Essia and Peter Ubi

Department of Economics, University of Calabar, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]

Accepted 25 June, 2013

Abstract

This paper reviews generally the situation with electricity supply in Nigeria, and more specifically focuses on analyzing access, generation, and utilization of electricity by households in Cross River State. Using descriptive statistics obtained from primary and secondary sources, it was found that electric power was the most limiting factor and major business obstacle in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It equally identifies poor maintenance culture, inefficient distribution networks, and low revenue collection performance as major constraints. In Nigeria, electricity supply fluctuates between 2,000 to 4,000 MW and is at best barely able to meet 1/3 of the estimated demand for power. For Cross River State, it was found that 47 percent of communities have access to electric power supply, but only 38 percent were connected to the national grid, and the use of high voltage electrical appliances was relatively lower in the rural areas. Accordingly, it was recommended that Federal and State Governments commit more funds to investments in the power generation, transmission, distribution, and sustain power sector reforms to attract more private investors. It is also needful to continually update distribution facilities and networks to ensure effective evacuation and delivery.

Key words: PHCN, national grid, electricity generators, electrical power, NIPPs, IPPs, Cross River State.

Could monitoring and surveillance be useful to establish social compliance in the ready-made garment (RMG) industry of Bangladesh?

Ferdous Ahamed

Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, La Trobe University, Australia. 

*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected].

Accepted 10 January, 2013

Abstract

 The Ready-made Garment (RMG) industry in Bangladesh is the major foreign currency earning sector with the highest employment rate. Bangladesh exported garments worth the equivalent of US $10.7 billion in 2008, which was about 3.87 per cent of the global total value (US $276 billion) of garment exports (EPB, 2008; BB, 2008). Despite the phenomenal success of the RMG sector, poor working conditions in the factories and the lack of social compliance are other serious concerns. This article investigates lapses in establishing International Labour Standards and to what extent Social compliance can be incorporated into the RMG industry. It proposes an effective monitoring and surveillance system (EMSS) model which could be used to establish social compliance and to remove labour unrest from the RMG sector.

Key words: Social compliance, Code of Conduct, ILO conventions, compliance monitoring cell, labour standards, human resources (HR) and industrial relations (IR), monitoring and surveillance system.