Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
EFFECTIVE ENGINEERING EDUCATION AND PRACTICE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES [SMEs] IN NIGERIA By Engr. Dr. Okopi Alex Momoh FNSE, FNIMechE, FNIM Coordinator Research, Innovation and Technology Transfer Office, Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna INTRODUCTION • Discussion focuses on: Contribution of SMEs to Global Economy SME Development Policy lessons from Japan The state of SMEs Development in Nigeria Engineering Education and SMEs Development The Triple Helix Model The Role of Stakeholders in Engineering Education Conclusion Recommendations CONTRIBUTIONS OF SMEs TO GLOBAL ECONOMY Contributions of SMEs to Global Economy Contributions of SMEs to Employment in USA Contributions of SMEs to Employment in USA In 2012, as shown in the table above, large enterprises employed 59.9 million people (51.6 percent of all employees), very small enterprises employed 20.4 million people (17.6 percent), small enterprises employed 19.4 million people (16.7 percent), and medium enterprises employed 16.3 million people (14.0 percent). Contribution of SMEs to the Economy of Japan According to SMEA & METI (2013), SMEs and Micro Enterprises account for 99.7 % of all companies, 70% of all employees, and more than 50% of all added value (manufacturing industry) in Japan and form the very basis of the Japanese economy. Famous large enterprises (LEs) such as Toyota, Honda, and Sony originally began as small family businesses. Among Japan’s 4.2 million SMEs, 3.66 million companies are classified as micro enterprises. Unemployment rate in Japan is about 4.2 percent with reported labor shortage in the non-manufacturing industries (METI & JSMRI, 2013). DEVELOPMENT OF SME POLICIES IN JAPAN Japan has a very consistent policy framework for the development of SMEs starting from the end of the 2nd World War in 1945. The SME policies and instruments deal with Basic Philosophy, Financial Policies, Business Promotion Policies, Organizational Policies and Fair Transactions. Development of SME Policies in Japan • Basic Philosophy Establishment of Antimonopoly Act (1947) Establishment of the SME Agency (1948) Establishment of SME Basic Act (1963) Amendment of the SME Basic Act ( 1999 & 2013 Development of SME Policies in Japan • Financial Policies Establishment of SME Insurance Act (1950) Establishment of Credit Guarantee Association Act (1953) Introduction of Finance for Management Improvement (1973) Japan Finance Corporation Act (2007) Act on Enhancement of Credit Insurance System (2007) Development of SME Policies in Japan • Business Promotion Policies Establishment of SME Consultation Centre (1948) SME Consultant Registration (1953) Establishment of the Act on Temporary Measures for Promotion of the Machinery Industry (1956) SME Modernization Act (1963) Small Enterprises Mutual Relief Projects Act (1965) Finance for upgrading Programs (1966) Development of SME Policies in Japan Establishment of Small Business Promotion Corporation (1967) SME Business Conversion Act (1976) Establishment of SME Universities (1980) Act on the Promotion of new Business Activities (1998) Act on the Promotion of new SME Business Activities (2005) Act on the Advancement of SME Core Manufacturing Technology (2006) Development of SME Policies in Japan • Organizational Policies Establishment of SME Cooperatives Association Act (1949) Act on the Organization of SME Association (1957) Act on Societies of Commerce and Industry (1960) Advanced Cooperative Support (2005) Development of SME Policies in Japan • Fair Transactions Act on the Prevention of Delay in Subcontracting Proceeds, etc to SubContractors (1956) Act for ensuring the receipt of Public Procurement information for SMEs (1966) Agencies for Implementation of SME Policies in Japan • Japan has a very comprehensive SME policies implementation program. Policy implementing agencies include: 1. Prefectures (47nos) – formulate local SME policies 2. Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) – has 8nos Regional Bureaus 3. SME Agency – formulates SME national policies 4. SME Regional Support Centres (103nos) – 60 at Prefectures and 43 at Districts Agencies for Implementation of SME Policies in Japan 5. Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) -1no HQ and 37 Domestic offices (Support for overseas business) 6. Shoko Chukin Bank – 1no HQ, 100 Branches ( for business financing) 7. Japan Finance Corporation – 1no HQ, 152 Branches (Business financing) 8. Chambers of Commerce and Industry - 514 (Business consultation, organizing seminars, providing information and specialist services Agencies for Implementation of SME Policies in Japan 9. SME Universities – 9 (Human Resource Development and Training programs) 10. Credit Guarantee Corporations – 51 (for credit guarantee) 11. Organization for Small and Medium Enterprises and Regional Innovation – 1no HQ and 9 Local Branches 12. Societies of Commerce and Industry – 1,719 THE STATE OF SMEs DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA SMEs account for approximately 96% of all enterprises with the folding up of many giant industries The SMEs represent about 90% of manufacturing/industrial sector in terms of number of enterprises in Nigeria. However, in spite of the fact that the SMEs constitute more than 90% of Nigerian businesses, their contribution to GDP is only about 1% (Ghandi & Amissah, 2014). The State of SMEs Development in Nigeria • The sector is characterized by huge gaps in the provision of infrastructure, poor financial support system, high levels of unskilled workforce from a disarticulate educational system, low level of appropriate research and low investment commitment to bring pilot schemes to commercial scales and discontinuities in government development policies. Failure of SME Development Policies in Nigeria • Policy discontinuities and political instability have caused the failure of many SME development programs for poverty alleviation such as: 1. Operation Feed the Nation 2. Green Revolution 3. Structural Adjustment Program 4. Better Life Program 5. Rural Electrification Scheme Failure of SME Development Policies in Nigeria 6. Rural Banking Program 7.Directorate for Food, Roads & Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI) 8. Peoples Bank of Nigeria 9. Community Banks 10. National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) 11. Family Support Program 12. Family Economic Advancement Program(FEAP) Failure of SME Development Policies in Nigeria 13. Poverty Alleviation Program 14. National Poverty Eradication Program (NAPEP) 15. National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) 16. National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and 17. Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria(SMEDAN). 18. Vision 2010 was never implemented and Vision 2020 was abandoned after the death of President Musa Yar’Adua • Only very few of these schemes are still operational Ranking of Countries by Overall Government Support to SMEs • The development of a dynamic SME sector of a country depends on the level of support given by the country as shown below ENGINEERING EDUCATION AND PRACTICE FOR SUSTAINABLE DVELOPMENT OF SMEs IN NIGERIA Nigeria’s education system not producing enough skilled manpower Low level SME development partly linked to poor state of engineering education Advocate for repositioning of engineering education with simultaneous advocacy for urgent strengthening of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) as engineers need technicians and artisans to work with. Changing Paradigm in Engineering Education Engineering programs are faced with the need to diversify their instructional methods in line with the demands of globalization and competitive skills. A new set of improved pedagogies for teaching in response to the demand for better and deeper learning is emerging. In addition to the standard lecture method, a diverse set of methods such as the case method, the discussion method, active learning, cooperative learning, experiential learning, and problem and project based learning are being employed Changing Paradigm in Engineering Education A strong focus on the development of academic entrepreneurship through the commercialization of higher education research with campus and graduate enterprise development. Emergence of the ‘entrepreneurial university’, whose purpose is to transform academic knowledge into economic and social utility (Clark, 1998). Entrepreneurial higher education institutions focus on effective knowledge transfer and the creation of new campus businesses, and also enhance the competitive advantage of existing enterprise entities both in and outside the institutions. Changing Paradigm in Engineering Education The typical entrepreneurial higher education institution is involved in: (i) spin-offs and spin-ins; (ii) Entrepreneurial Education; (iii) links with SMEs and industry; (iv) the development of diverse income streams; and (v) campus incubators Changing Paradigm in Engineering Education • Van der Sijde and Ridder (1999) argue that the best guarantee for sustainability of entrepreneurship within a higher education institution is to change it into an entrepreneurial organization; that is, what holds for the integration of entrepreneurship in the academic curricula also holds for the commercialization of research via spin-off companies. Attributes and Competencies of Engineering Graduates of the 21st Century • Nasr (2014) reported a study conducted by the U.S. National Academy of Engineering in 2004 - “The Engineer of 2020: Visions of Engineering in the New Century” – • The report stated that “technology has shifted the societal framework….. [with] new developments in nanotechnology, logistics, biotechnology, and high-performance computing. Attributes and Competencies • The impact will be seen in medical breakthroughs, new energy devices, materials with characteristics not available today, remarkable light sources, and next-generation computers and telecommunications developments. Attributes and Competencies • The economy in which we will work will be strongly influenced by the global marketplace for engineering services, a growing need for interdisciplinary and system-based approaches, demands for customerization, and an increasingly diverse talent pool. The steady integration of technology in our infrastructure and lives calls for more involvement by engineers in the setting of public policy and in participation in the civic arena.” Attributes and Competencies • In another study carried out by the UK’s Royal Academy of Engineering (2007) on “Educating Engineers for the 21st Century” and reported by Nasr (2014), it is emphasized that “university engineering courses need redesigning for the modern economy”. “Industry wants graduates with more experience of problem solving, group ‹design and make› projects, and applying theory to real industrial problems Attributes and Competencies • Students need opportunities to work in genuine industrial environments through work placements and projects and university staff need to be able to develop new teaching material with input from companies, learning from the success of academic-industrial research links.” This new approach towards entrepreneurial universities requires a pragmatic review of our engineering education system curriculum in order to produce engineers with the requisite knowledge to meet the demands of the 21st century innovation work place. Development of an innovation system and the Triple Helix model • Educating the engineer of the 21st century requires collaboration among the Academia, Industry and Government. • The concept of a ‘national system of innovation’ was proposed by Freeman and Lundvall in the early 1980s. • That the innovation process should be treated in a systemic manner. • In their pioneering work, Lundvall et al, (2002, p 215, cited in Varblane, 2012), stated that Triple Helix Model • ‘It seemed obvious that most of the new knowledge needed for innovation did not come directly from universities and technical research and in many industries not even from research and experimental development, but rather from other sources like production engineers, customers, marketing, etc. The problem was to integrate these broader contributions into a concept of the innovation process.’ Triple Helix Model • This national innovation system model focuses on the need for a systemic approach which integrates institutions with the aim of creating, storing and transferring knowledge and skills. • The fundamental idea of the Triple Helix model is interaction between academia, industry and government. • This interaction is seen as the most important factor in facilitating conditions for innovation in a knowledge-based society Triple Helix Model • According to the model, universities, industry and government perform additional roles as well as their traditional functions: • Thus universities take on entrepreneurial tasks like generating innovative knowledge and creating companies, while industries develop academic dimension with inputs to curriculum development, share knowledge among each other and train employees at ever higher skill levels. Frame-Work Approach for Systematically Analyzing Links Between Academia and the Industry The framework incorporates the following four broad channels for generating useful economic and social outcomes: 1. Knowledge diffusion: encouraging the broad industrywide adoption of research findings through communication, building capacity in industry through extension in spin-offs, education and training. 2. Knowledge production (the standard model of research commercialization): selling or licensing the results of research in the form of commodity knowledge. Academia – Industry Linkage 3. Knowledge relationships: providing services that indirectly exploit broad intellectual property platforms, consisting of trade secrets, know-how and other forms of tacit knowledge (this approach centres on cooperation, collaboration, joint ventures and partnerships). 4. Knowledge engagement: universities and research organizations generating useful economic outcomes as a by-product of shared interests and concerns that transcend the boundaries of the university Stakeholders’ Responsibilities for Effective Engineering Education • Considering the Triple Helix Model as an important model for Academia-IndustryGovernment collaboration for effective engineering education delivery, what specific roles should each play? • Consider the following imaginary scenarios: Imagine This! • Federal and State Governments Give priority attention to engineering and technology education as a vital component of the Nation’s economic and technological development Invest a significant percentage of the national budget on functional education that produces entrepreneurial graduates Establish and implement consistent policies for the development of SMEs Create financial incentives and easy access funding windows for establishment of innovative SMEs Government Adopt (adapt) global best practices in Technical and vocational Education and Training (TVET) and Engineering Education and Training (some Governors visited Germany recently to study the Country’s TVET system) Aggressively support research and innovation and partner with the academia and industry on commercialization of research outputs Exercise the requisite political will to engage Nigerian Engineers to reconstruct the national economy Government • Identify their respective competitive advantages and strategically develop their resources using SMEs (e.g Benue State developing `agricultural value chains through mechanized farming, fruit juice processing factories, crop preservation technologies etc) • Reduce wasteful political spending and channel funds to infrastructure development that supports the establishment of dynamic SMEs Imagine This! • A Nigerian Education System that: Focuses on innovation Emphasizes competency based education (‘Brain & Hand Alliance’) Creates entrepreneurial institutions with diverse income streams (e.g Cranfield Institute of Technologynow Cranfield University, England in its Annual Financial Report in 1985 declared a profit of over ₤5M. This came from its diverse income streams – designing Aircrafts for the Aircraft Industry, short training courses for national and international workers, demand driven researches for industry etc) Academia Eradicates institutional dichotomies and builds capacity for healthy competition in innovation (the inferior status of Polytechnics has not helped our technological development. Many Universities in Europe and America are now renaming to ‘Polytechnic University’ – harmonizing Polytechnic and University mandates. Ensures optimum utilization of teaching and learning facilities Academia Produces entrepreneurial engineering graduates with every graduating student having a skill set (some private Universities in the country e.g Covenant University and Redeemers University already have this program in their curriculum. Kaduna Polytechnic is about to start) Encourages commercialization of research results by training institutions as campus enterprises for internal revenue generation Academia Makes tertiary institutions market their research results in collaboration with industries and government agencies for commercialization of their research outputs Encourages academic excellence through innovative researches Stipulates that a candidate for promotion to the post of Professor in a University or Chief Lecturer in a Polytechnic shows proof of an outstanding innovation (patent) Replaces ‘Publish or Perish’ with ‘Patent or Perish’ Imagine This! • Nigerian Society of Engineers that: Collaborates in research and innovation activities of tertiary institutions and invests in commercialization of research results Establishes industries in partnership with tertiary institutions, private investors and government with massive employment opportunities for engineers Interfaces with engineering education and training institutions and industry for regular review of engineering education curriculum in response to global development trends NSE Is an active participant in the Triple Helix Model to create entrepreneurial engineering education institutions Reduces running cost expenditures and invests part of our Annual Dues in creating partnership businesses in which all engineers can own shares and get annual dividends Establishes a Microfinance Bank for funding of engineers’ innovative businesses NSE Reduces the ‘Nigerian Content’ in its politics of Regional Caucuses which has blinded the Society against professional development and meaningful contributions to engineering education and national development Is in very strong alliance with COREN in designing and reviewing the curriculum for educating the engineer of tomorrow in collaboration with industries, training institutions and government • Has an SME Development and Financing Unit interfacing with government SME agencies KADUNA POLYTECHNIC RESEARCH COLLABORATION WITH ORGANIZATIONS The Polytechnic has received acceptance from 13 organizations willing to collaborate with it in Research and Development activities. The collaboration will result in commercialization of our research results An International Research and Innovation Conference with Exhibition is being planned to hold in the 1st quarter of 2017 Kaduna Polytechnic Mobile Fruit Juice Machine CONCLUSION 1. The role of the SME sector is very significant for overall growth and development of a nation’s economy 2. Sustainable economies emerge from indigenous entrepreneurial ventures. 3. If our engineering education is to contribute significantly to Nigeria’s economic recovery, it needs to produce graduates capable of applying their knowledge to start and grow their own businesses. CONCLUSION 4.Increasing the supply of entrepreneurial talent through a more dynamic engineering education system to create and grow new businesses is seen as one way of generating large employment and rejuvenating a beleaguered economy. 5.We need more initiatives in engineering education delivery to cultivate innovation and entrepreneurship at both undergraduate and postgraduate level through regular reviews of curriculum. RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Assess global experiences in SME development to identify successful approaches which can be adopted (adapted) 2. Our tertiary institutions should engage more in the development of an enterprise culture through entrepreneurial education and setting up of spin-off enterprises from research outputs. RECOMMENDATIONS 4. Engineering education curricula should be made more dynamic through frequent reviews in line with technological development and our development needs. 5. The Triple Helix Model is strongly advocated for production of innovative and entrepreneurial graduate engineers capable of setting up technological enterprises. RECOMMENDATIONS • 6.Tertiary institutions in the country should engage in aggressive marketing for commercialization of their research outputs in collaboration with industries and organizations in their catchment areas in order to make researches more useful for economic development. END THANK YOU