E -BUSINESS COMPETENCIES REQUIRED BY BUSINESS EDUCATION STUDENTS FOR MITIGATING CURRENT CHALLENGES OF MANAGING SMALL SCALE BUSINESSES IN DELTA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study was designed to ascertain e-business competencies required by Business Education students for mitigating challenges of managing small scale businesses in Delta State, Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The population of the study was 86 Business Educators from the colleges of education in Delta State. The entire population constituted the sample of the study because of its manageable size.  Three research questions and two hypotheses tested at 0.05 alpha level guided the study. Structured questionnaire was used for data collection and data collected was analyzed using mean and standard deviation, while t-test statistics was used to analyze the hypotheses. Two experts validated the instrument. The instrument was trial tested using Pearson Moment Correlation Coefficient(r) and found to have a coefficient of 0.76. The findings of the study revealed that: e-banking, e-accounting and e-advertising competencies are required by business education students for mitigating current challenges of management of small scale businesses. The finding on the hypotheses testing at 0.05 alpha level revealed that oneof the hypotheses was retained while the other rejected. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that:  business education curriculum should be reviewed from time to time to reflect current trends and issues, the business educators should as a matter of necessity ensure the usage of available and relevant new information and communication technologies in teaching and learning process and that students of business education should harness the potentials of ICT to create wealth and be self-reliant.

Key words: E-business, Competencies, Business education, Business education students and Small scale businesses.