African Business Management Journal

Job characteristics and work engagement among secondary school teachers: the moderating role of co-worker support

2024-06-28T17:36:07+00:00

This study examines the moderating effect of co-worker support on the relationship between job characteristics and employee work engagement among secondary school teachers in Tanzania. A cross-sectional research design was adopted; data were collected using a structured questionnaire from 221 randomly selected respondents, and analysis was carried out using structural equation modelling. The findings indicate that job characteristics have a positive and significant relationship with employee work engagement (β = 0.478, p = 0.001). Additionally, the moderating effect of co-worker support on the relationship between job characteristics and employee work engagement is positive and significant (β = 0.305, p = 0.046). Conversely, the findings indicate that the relationship between co-worker support and employee work engagement is not statistically significant (β = 0.217, p = 0.067). These findings have implications for theory and management, suggesting that managers in the education sector should prioritise fostering a supportive atmosphere among teachers and encouraging mutual assistance and collaboration. This can create a work environment where employees feel valued and empowered, leading to increased job satisfaction and engagement. The study aligns with the job characteristics model, highlighting that job characteristics promote positive outcomes like relationship-building, teamwork, and employee retention. It recommends evaluating jobs to improve their features, making them more attractive and rewarding, which increases employee engagement. Additionally, ambiguous and less attractive jobs should be redesigned to minimise anxiety and stress.

Perceived university entrepreneurship support services and entrepreneurial intentions: experiences from the University of Dodoma’s graduates

2024-06-28T17:53:22+00:00

Entrepreneurship plays a pivotal role in economic growth for developing countries, including Tanzania. Unfortunately, the number of entrepreneurs in Tanzania is still lagging behind other East African countries. The emergence of knowledge-based entrepreneurship programs makes universities one of the vital supply sources for creating entrepreneurs. Even though it has institutional support from the government, entrepreneurship is still not considered a promising alternative career choice. Thus, we investigated the influence of perceived university support services on building entrepreneurial intention from the perspective of the University of Dodoma’s graduates. In this cross-sectional research study, a sample size of 120 is drawn from the business graduates of the University of Dodoma who have received entrepreneurship support services using two-stage random sampling, of which females were 37.5% and males were 62.5%. The data were analysed using multiple regressions. The study found that most of the respondents do not intend to own businesses. The study further found that perceived entrepreneurship education and business development support services have a positive and significant influence on the odds of graduates becoming entrepreneurs. However, concept development support has a positive but insignificant influence on graduates’ entrepreneurial intentions. Thus, we draw a number of recommendations for the theory, future research, and practice of university entrepreneurship support services.

The effect of credit risk management on the financial performance of commercial banks: evidence from Tanzania

2024-06-28T19:14:57+00:00

The vital role played by commercial banks in economic development calls for the stable and sustainable financial performance of banks for smooth financial intermediation. However, unhealthy credit has caused the collapse of many financial institutions all over the world. Therefore, this study examines how credit risk management practices affect the financial performance of commercial banks in Tanzania. While employing multiple linear regression techniques, the study analysed balanced panel data from 225 observations gathered from audited published annual reports of 15 commercial banks in Tanzania from 2006 to 2020. Credit risk approval and credit risk monitoring were used as proxies for credit risk management. The findings reveal that credit risk approval has a positive effect on banks’ capital adequacy, efficient utilisation of equity, asset quality, and liquidity. However, credit monitoring negatively affects the financial performance of banks through their earning ability, asset quality, and liquidity. The study recommends that incorporating credit risk management practices as a core aspect of bank operations is crucial, as it has a beneficial impact on financial performance. Nevertheless, it is advised to exercise caution and achieve a harmonious balance in the integration and concentration of all examined variables since credit approval could not exhibit a positive effect on banks’ earning ability. This has also been established on credit monitoring towards capital adequacy and efficient use of equity.

From academia to enterprise: how work value and organisational factors influence academic entrepreneurship

2024-06-29T14:48:31+00:00

Scholars in the social sciences have paid attention to the work value, but little is known about its significance from an entrepreneurship point of view. The purpose of this study is to look into how an organisational factor influences the relationship between academician work value and academic entrepreneurship engagement. This is a first attempt to investigate academician work values from higher learning institutions in developing nations, adding to the body of knowledge regarding the elements that impact academic entrepreneurship engagement. The selected higher learning institutions provided 381 of their academicians for the study, which employed a quantitative cross-sectional design. Structured questionnaires were used to gather data, and structural equation modelling was used to assess the results. The results show that, when organisational factors act as the moderator, work value in terms of terminal values increases its impact on academic entrepreneurship; on the contrary, organisational factors have no moderation effect with the instrumental value when influencing academic entrepreneurship. The study provided implications for higher learning institutions, academicians, and the government.

The interplay of social influence and top management support on suppliers' behavioural intentions in e-procurement usage

2024-06-28T19:40:31+00:00

The advancement of information technology has revolutionised most aspects of public procurement, including the way suppliers are involved in public procurement opportunities. This study explores the link between social influence and behavioural intention in the usage of the National e-Procurement System of Tanzania (NeST) among suppliers. The study also examines the moderating effect of top management support (TMS) in the relationship between social influence and behavioural intention. Based on cross-sectional data collected from 447 small and medium-sized enterprise suppliers in Dodoma and Dar es Salaam through structured questionnaires and analysed quantitatively using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), the study confirms the positive relationship between social influence and behavioural intention in e-procurement usage. Additionally, the study confirms that TMS strengthens the relationship between social influence and behavioural intention. Specifically, suppliers with a high level of TMS experience a greater effect of social influence on their behavioural intentions compared to those with a low level of TMS. Therefore, both social influence and TMS play significant roles in amplifying behavioural intention. These insights provide crucial implications for practitioners and policymakers who are involved in e-procurement, and academics interested in public procurement.