PROPOSALS ON SELECTED TOPICS FOR RESEARCH GROUP
- The Future of the Nigerian Economy in the Face of Rapid Growth in Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
The major challenge facing businesses today is no longer establishing new ones but surviving in the face of stiff competition. Very vital to business operations is the speed at which information flows from one end to another within the business sphere. Internal and external stakeholders must maintain contact among themselves for continuity in business to be ensued. Information and communications Technology (ICT) therefore, can be said to be the main driver of every business economy. Many businesses have failed because of insufficient flow of information between customers and organizations. Several enterprises operate in isolation without a proper link between them and their stakeholders. The typical Nigerian business does not maintain a database where customers’ profile can be adequately kept, updated when necessary , and customer relationship maintained. Yet, these activities are a common practice in developed countries which accounts for the reason why they are ahead of Nigerian businesses in so many ways.
It is very obvious that although Nigeria is improving technologically, yet, the rate of growth in advancement is still very low. This study sparks up a concern to business experts as to what the future of the Nigerian business economy holds in the face of rapid advancement in ICT, considering the fact that other foreign counterparts are adapting faster than we are doing at the moment. Does the future hold positive results for us, or do we see Nigerian businesses failing more as a result of its inability to keep up with the fast pace at which ICT is advancing in the world today?
- Implementing the Cashless Policy through Integrated Marketing Communications in Nigeria
Policy implementation has been the bane to Nigeria’s development in so many circumstances. Over the years, it has been discovered that government and business leaders initiate policies sound enough to make the country experience a remarkable leap from the level of underdeveloped/developing to that of a developed country. However, hardly had most policies been initiated than they had failed as a result of poor implementation. One thing that most policy makers have failed to realize is that executing a policy is highly dependent on the extent to which the people concerned are carried along. Sometimes, people do not really understand why they should accept a particular transformation or why they should be a part of an economic change. This is simply because the policy makers have undermined the importance of Marketing Communications. Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) which involves the design and dissemination of messages to the same audience through different means, without any form of distortion would go a long way to emphasise why a particular economic change is necessary. And since the messages are targeted at them consistently in ways that appeal to them, it generates a favourable response towards such policy.
The issue of executing the cashless policy has been on the minds of Nigerian economists for quite some time. Why is that some people have not heard about it at all for the first time? Some who have heard of it do not really know what it is all about, while others who have some knowledge about it keep receiving distorted messages about the concept from different groups at different times, thereby weakening the impact. This study aims at presenting how adopting Integrated Marketing Communications (IMCs) can help in reaching out to the public thus, implementing the cashless policy on the Nigerian business economy.
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