Corporate social responsibility (CSR) discourse, academic research, public policy and media commentaries, which have burgeoned in the past few decades in response to the desire to define the nexus between business and society tended to focus mainly on large corporate organizations which are expected to behave responsibly. The big businesses have for years attracted large volume of literature on CSR. Very little literature is currently available to enhance our understanding about the engagement of small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in CSR. The SMEs, often defined variously, in terms of turnover, gross asset value, ownership structure and the number of employees, is a significant sector worldwide in terms of economic, environmental and the social impact they make. This paper attempted to bridge this apparent research gulf, defined the nature of SMEs, the aggregate contributions of the sector to economies of both developed and developing nations and their role engagement in CSR. The study adopted qualitative literature survey method. A review of the paltry literature provided insight and defined the direction of research in this important and underexplored area of study. SMEs were found to perform roles associated with community development, employee initiatives, consumerism, environmental actions and supply chain requirements. To overcome the constraints confronting SMEs engagement in CSR initiatives the paper recommended increased resources, training programmes, development of SMEs-oriented tools and standards to guide adoption and implementation, and government intervention strategies to create the necessary incentives and support services for effective engagement.

The strategic role of the entrepreneur as an agent of economic transformation in society is visible in employment and wealth generation, stimulation of indigenous entrepreneurship or promotion of entrepreneurial culture. The Nigerian government has accordingly created the enabling environment to nurture entrepreneurial development, through the establishment of various agencies to provide financial resources to small and medium scale enterprise operators or entrepreneurs. Despite the provision of financial resources to these entrepreneurs, there is still a high rate of entrepreneurial failure. The paper advocated a shift in paradigm in re-thinking entrepreneurial failure in the country. The missing links to successful entrepreneurship were identified to be entrepreneurial competencies, defined as the cluster of related knowledge, attitudes, and skills which an entrepreneur must acquire or possess to enable him produce outstanding performance and maximize profit in the business. These entrepreneurial competencies were the critical success factors to entrepreneurship, and they deserve serious consideration in entrepreneurial discourse and not to be neglected.

The evolution and development of indigenous management theories and practices in Africa has been seriously affected and retarded by colonialism. The colonial administration introduced western management theories and practices, considered as the drivers and the panacea for the continent's socio-politico-economic development. Western scholarship and literature generally devalued and deprecated the astonishing management prowess and practices of early African civilizations, as evidenced, for example, in the building of the great Egyptian pyramids. These foreign management systems generally failed to achieve the expected goals as they discountenanced African cultural inertia and social milieu. The paper argued for the development of indigenous African management philosophy, which will be rooted in the African culture, value system and beliefs, to provide the practical way for the efficient and effective running of organizations in Africa, with its global competitiveness. The Ubuntu management system and the "new management techniques", which emphasize humanness, communalism and African patriotism, provide the veritable starting point for the development of indigenous African management philosophy.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the impacts of such demographic variables as age composition, gender sensitivity, experience, homogeneity/heterogeneity and educational attainment of top management teams (TMT) on small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs)' information technology (IT) adoption behaviour.Design/methodology/approachThe data collection method was primarily field survey guided by the five working hypotheses and research objectives. Analysis of the data was made with multiple regression analysis and Pearson correlation coefficient as there were five independent variables that entered into the equation, though at different stages/times.FindingsAs the study unravelled, the age composition, experience and gender sensitivity of TMT members of SMEs were found to have significantly strong power of predicting the extent of adoption of IT. Group homogeneity, in terms of functional track, has negative impacts and education has weak impacts, contrary to many previous inquiries.Practical implicationsThe paper takes a sample of subjects across industries from where findings are specifically generalized. Extended data and measures are required for further in‐depth investigation in specific areas and industries not covered by this work in order to build external validity and further expand knowledge. Also, the paper suggests that marketers of IT infrastructures are encouraged to focus more on individual and group idiosyncrasies of decision makers measured by age, gender and experience in order to accurately predict and timely package programmes that win trial, loyal, switching and viral/advocacy behaviours in this global age.Originality/valueThe paper bridges a knowledge gap by replicating and complementing upper echelon theory on the extent to which IT adoption is determined and shaped by the demographic factors of members of TMT in Nigeria, where such studies rarely exist.

The paper traced the nascent history of corporate governance system in Nigeria and noted the paucity of literature in the subject. Mainstream issues of corporate governance in the country emerged with the enactment of the Companies and Allied Matters Act of 1990 (CAMA 1990), which established the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), and charged it with the responsibility of overseeing the regulation and supervision of the formation, incorporation, registration, management and winding up of companies. The corporate governance codes of both the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), gave impetus for the development of corporate governance structure, to ensure transparency, accountability, probity, integrity and fairness in the management and control of the public corporations, and thereby creating value for the shareholders and stakeholders. Major challenges which required urgent attention to enhance the effectiveness of the system were noted thus: making the voluntary codes mandatory; developing more effective mechanisms for monitoring compliance and enforcement; developing strong internal control mechanisms to checkmate the boards oversight responsibility; crafting strategies to enhance shareholders activism and the extension of the codes to state-owned enterprises with more cases of corporate governance abuses.