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This study aims to examine issues affecting the growth and survival of traditional handicraft enterprising community in Pakistan, and analyzes their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, as well as develops strategic solutions to overcome the problems identified for their revival.

This exploratory study is based on a descriptive approach because it attempts to investigate the critical issues faced by traditional handicraft enterprising community. To operationalize the theoretical approach, this paper used a SWOT analysis of craft enterprising community. After thoroughly reviewing relevant literature, this study put forward strategic solutions for the revival of the traditional enterprising community. Moreover, secondary data on employment and gender wage gap were used to provide empirical evidence of the issues identified and emphasize the importance of strategic solutions.

This study found that traditional handicraft producers are facing many problems that hinder their survival and growth. This paper, therefore, makes some essential strategic recommendations on how to overcome these issues. The current research argues that Pakistan’s handicraft industry must be revived; else, centuries-old traditional culture and patrimonial knowledge will vanish. Moreover, there is a need to attract foreign investment to overcome resource limitations and improve the competitive capability of the enterprising community. Notably, government intervention is necessary for the revival of the traditional handicraft industry.

This study provides in-depth knowledge of issues faced by the Pakistani traditional handicraft enterprising community and suggests possible strategic solutions for the problems identified. Unlike previous studies, this research also discusses the essential characteristics of traditional handicrafts that differentiate them from identical mechanized products.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the role of women in rural communities of South‐Western Nigeria in entrepreneurial engagement through craft practice.

Literatures were reviewed on crafts practice and appreciation in Nigeria. This enabled the contemplation of the place of craft practice as occupational engagement before, during and post colonial periods. The process of data gathering consists of field work, interviews, observation and photographing; through this, the technical production of mat and indigo dyed fabric were explored.

Women of rural communities in Western Nigeria have been actively been involved in crafts production to make ends meet in a male dominated economy. They form professional guilds to revive craft production/patronage, to network among members, and to seek help from the government and relevant organizations. The study found out that the potentials of the rural women can be fully developed if the method of making their products is given a facelift through partial mechanization.

An average Nigerian wants to be employed in white collar job and people are no longer interested in craft practice. The apprenticeship system of learning in the traditional system whereby skill is transferred from parents to their children is almost becoming a history. Thus, craft production is in the hand of few people among which the rural women are very spectacular.

This paper considers the women of rural communities in Southwestern Nigeria as a factor in the revilitalization of traditional crafts through occupational engagement in craft practice.

The factors affecting housing rent and take-up had been largely examined in a cluster. This leaves a dearth of knowledge on the influences of other disparate factors, such as the aesthetics of the building facade. This paper examines the effects of a deteriorated external wall paint on the tenants, rent and take-up of housing located in a high-end housing estate in Akure, Nigeria. The logic is to examine the place of aesthetics among the general factors affecting take-up and rental prices.

Data were collected through census from 133 respondents residing in houses with deteriorated external wall paint. It applied both descriptive and multinomial logistic regression (MLR) to analyse the data.

Findings reveal that close to 60% of the respondents were psychologically affected by the visible deterioration of external wall paint. This translated to a significance reduction in rent compared with the rental prices of similar houses the appearance of which was not deteriorated. Generally, this study found that aesthetics paled into insignificance in the analysis of the general factors affecting housing take-up and rent. However, it ranked first when these were analysed on the structural characteristics of the house only. This is consistent with findings from the MLR parameter estimate, which shows that those who were psychologically affected are more likely to pay a 15% increase in their current rent to take up a similar house without paint deterioration.

The findings of this study have implications on practice and theory. First, while the location mantra is a key determinant of rental prices in theory, in practice, rent on comparable houses could differ if the aesthetics of the external wall paint is compromised. This implies an avoidable loss of rent to the owner of a property who compromises the aesthetic quality of the external wall paint in a high-end location where affordability is arguably high. The implication on public authority is that a lower rent may have a negative implication on government revenue and specifically property tax which is normally based on market rent of a property.

A novel quality of the study is that it separates the structural characteristics of a house from the general factors in order to examine the specific effect of deteriorated aesthetics of external wall paint on take-up and rent.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the demography of the producers of ceramic wares as it affects the production and profitability of the venture. To identify and rank other factors affecting the sustenance of ceramic enterprises through the data collected from ceramic manufacturers in the study area.

The paper is a survey research. Data are collected from ceramic ware producers through structured questionnaires and open‐ended oral interview. The analysis involves the use of descriptive statistics in the discussion of the research variables.

The spatial distribution of the industries as well as the performance are determined by different factors. Gender lopsidedness is observed among ceramic wares producers. Time commitment to production by manufacturers is not good enough for profitability of the venture. The production and the management systems of small‐scale ceramic industries in South‐Western Nigeria are hindered by many other factors.

The analysis of the demography of the practicing ceramists helps to determine how factors like gender, geographical location, and education attainment have influenced small‐scale ceramic production. The knowledge of the severity of factors militating against ceramic production helps in bringing about strategies that can alleviate the problems.

The factors that are responsible for the waning state of small‐scale ceramic industries in South‐Western Nigeria are identified and ranked in terms of their severity; the paper offers possible solutions that could change the situation.

Entrepreneurship.

This case is intended for teaching entrepreneurship in any tertiary institution including graduate business schools where the case study method is used. It can also add value to groups interested in creating social value such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs). It can be taught in a 60-90 minute class depending on the size of the class and type of audience.

The case highlights features of indigenous entrepreneurship in a traditional African setting and showcases the merits of traditional training methods. An intriguing case of a social enterprise, inspired by the difficult experiences of an entrepreneur, who grew up in dire poverty. The polygamous family situation she was in led to establishing an enterprise that ensured her livelihood and a means to lift others from poverty. The case provides a unique model of a hybrid family business and social enterprise and illustrates that businesses can do good and still do well financially.

Learning points include: appreciation of the socio-cultural and economic context of indigenous entrepreneurs; entrepreneurial motivations and their impact on society; how traditional societies transmit entrepreneurial skills; illustration of how theoretical frameworks like network theory and effectuation impact on entrepreneurial ventures; and how challenges of family businesses such as leadership and succession may be overcome through timely planning.

Teaching notes are available, consult your librarian for access.

This study aims to explore social entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) in the craft sector in the state of Gujarat, India. With liberalization, India witnessed the growth of social entrepreneurship and is considered one of the pioneering countries in social innovation. The objective of the research was to answer the research question: what role do various stakeholder groups play in creating and promoting craft sector social EEs.

The study is based on a qualitative case study approach of methodological triangulation combining analysing documents, a participant observation and semi-structured interviews. Two case studies – one of the Ajrakh craft cluster from Ajrakhpur and the other of Kala Cotton from Aadeshar, Bhuj are studied to explore the symbiotic linkages of social entrepreneurship ecosystem in Kutch district of Gujarat, India. A total of 24 in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with stakeholders of the EE.

The study concludes that the role of like-minded individuals/social entrepreneurs, social enterprises, design networks and educational institutions is vital towards revival and sustainability of craft as economic commodities geared for scalability. Furthermore, the engagement of the systemic condition agents such as various local and national level institutions, the communities play an important role to revitalize, redeem and commercialize craft infrastructure based on active engagement, innovation and services.

This paper fulfils an identified need to study how traditional craft-based enterprises can be enabled, revived, grown and sustained.

This paper aims to examine the effectiveness of government funding schemes for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria.

The survey method of inquiry was adopted, wherein a structured questionnaire was used to generate data. Using Guilford and Flruchter (1973) formula, a sample size of 276 was derived from a population of 890 registered SMEs. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS version 20.0 tools.

The results of the analysis reveal that a significant number of SMEs were aware of government funding schemes, but insignificant number succeeded in accessing the funds. It further reveals that the nature and conditionality of the funds and management capacity of SMEs were major hindrances to the effectiveness of the funding schemes.

The inquiry is completely original and has the potency of influencing policy formulation and implementation in the area of industrial funding.

The purpose of this study is to explore the perceptions of built environment professionals on the benefits and impediments limiting the widespread acceptance of vertical greening systems (VGSs) in Lagos, Nigeria. This study contributes to the knowledge on the adoption of VGSs from the socio-technical dimension.

The study employed a survey method. An online questionnaire was used to obtain information from the respondents. The questionnaire was divided into four (4) sections. The first section focused on the socio-demographic variables while the second section addressed knowledge of VGSs, willingness to educate clients on the use of VGS and the possibility of VGS improving city image in Lagos. Section three (3) focused on the VGS benefits, subdivided into environmental, economic and aesthetic qualities and measured on a five-point Likert scale. Lastly, section four (4) concentrated on the impediments to the use of VGS in Lagos.

Professionals are willing to adopt the use of VGSs if their clients agree to the benefits it delivers to occupants, the environment and the building fabric.

This paper fulfills an identified need to study the perceptions of professionals toward VGSs patronage.

This study examined the performance of commercial and residential real estate investments in the Ibadan property market to provide information for investment decisions.

The study used a mixed research design (qualitative and quantitative). Data were obtained employing in-depth interviews with randomly selected sixteen estate surveyors and valuers practising in the Ibadan property market. Data for the study were analysed using the phenomenological thematic content analysis. Similarly, data on rental and capital values were translated to income, capital and holding period returns. The Kwiatkowski–Phillips–Schmidt–Shin (KPSS) and Philip–Perron (PP) models were used for unit root analysis. Ordinary least square (OLS) regression model was used to test for inflation-hedging characteristics, and the Granger causality tests were carried out to analyse the causal relationship between the variables.

The study revealed that the Ibadan property market is still immature. For the return components, the study found that the Ibadan property market provided mean holding period returns of 10.82%, 14.31 and 8.29% for office, shop and residential property types, respectively. The study also revealed that the selected property types are perverse hedges against inflation. Similarly, the study showed a unidirectional causal relationship between inflation and returns on the selected property types.

Results of this study revealed the peculiar nature of the Ibadan property market; findings from the survey can be used as a guide for investment decisions by foreign and domestic investors. Shrewd investors can take advantage of the high returns provided by the real estate assets in the Ibadan property market (by investing in the property market) to obtain high returns and expand their investment portfolio.

This study is the first to examine, in an eclectic and comparative context, the performance of commercial and residential properties in the Ibadan property market from the perspective of its market maturity level, returns profile, as well as its inflation-hedging characteristics. Findings from the study will equip both individual and institutional investors with valuable information for investment decisions.

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of a soft facility practice in the organized retail sector. In specifics, it draws context from a security practice and assesses its effect on customers’ satisfaction and patronage in retail properties.

The research method is quantitative. The study used a survey research design with the use of a structured questionnaire for data collection. The data were collected from the head of households who purchase items in the retail shops. It applied a logistic regression model to estimate customers’ satisfaction and the effect of the current security practice on patronage.

Contrary to expectation, descriptive analysis of data shows that respondents were satisfied with the security procedure with weighted means scores (3.62, 3.74, 3.78 and 3.66) above average for bag check at exits, reconciliation of receipts with purchase, the attitude of security personnel during exit checks and time taken during exit checks. With specific reference to bag checks at the exit, logit shows that 32% were neutral while 8% were dissatisfied with the security practice. Among the dissatisfied, logit shows an odds ratio of 0.059, which implies that they are likely to verbally express their dissatisfaction with the shop. On the other hand, the chances that they would not do this are more likely with an odds ratio of 162818201.343. Further, continuous patronage (Loyalty) is strongly less likely with an odds ratio of 1.250E-22. This was corroborated by a similar odd ratio of 4.068E-11 estimated for those that would take the exit option due to the bag’s check.

The limitation of this study is that samples were randomly drawn from an unknown population of customers. However, the study was guided by Cochran (1963) to select a valid representative sample and support the reliability of the research findings.

The findings on satisfaction imply that the convenience and swiftness associated with shopping in a retail shop had been eroded by the current security facility practices which may lead to a reduction in the growth and retail sector turnover. While many dissatisfied customers would have exited if there are alternative shops with more customer-friendly security practices, the limited number of organized retail shops in the study area will prevent this from happening.

Literature on the management of facilities in real estate is quite vast; however, not much attention has been paid to the management of security in the retail sector particularly in Nigeria. This study is, therefore, novel, as it provides seminal evidence on this important topic and will serve as a reference for further research in Nigeria.