Category: Youth

This paper highlights my business “problem” and offers some insightful remarks about my investigation. The study based on the comparison of a rival competitor’s financial figures and other credible sources determined that people might be ready and willing to play golf in the case when strategies are put together to attract more individuals into golf sport.

First of all, critically analyzing the business concept of an outdoor activity sport, my investigation suggests a target of non-traditional golfing segments, particularly women and youth. I believe that this innovation will be interesting because previously they had never participated in this game. In addition, the development of mini-golf courses that perhaps would be more suitable for women and children taking into account its size and cost seem to be interesting. Entry age reduction also would be useful in order to acquaint young people with an interesting game, as golf is a game that is sweeping the impression from the first minute. Playing golf is universal: people can play alone or with partners. The same game golf partners could be of different levels and qualifications. Golf playing is not just a new sports hobby – it is an introduction to a specific culture, beautiful and aristocratic.

Moreover, nowadays golf is one of the most popular amateur sports in the United States, and it continues to gain recognition in the world. Therefore, one of my business strategies is to develop my golf company not only in the United States but also to extend geographical frameworks stepping up to the next level of development and profitability. For example, among countries interested in golf there are England, Germany, Sweden, and others. However, expanding of business to another region is not an easy task. A businessman has to think over every aspect including rival rates, staff, and period of the entry into a new market.

In addition, I have learned that it would be very useful to reduce the cost of golf equipment, golf courses, and fees in order to attract more people to my business and allow people with middle or low income to enjoy that nice sports activity. Instead of purchasing new facilities I could remodel, renovate, and upgrade the existing ones. Even despite the fact that golf was originally considered an elite sport, everyone would be able to play it regardless of financial wealth or the physical form.

I consider my investigation is useful and significant in order to resolve the problem of inaccessibility of golf for all people. The analysis of the data that was made by me can be easily proved as I used the evidence taken from credible sources. I used problem-solving strategies and techniques (brainstorming and PDCA method) and illustrative materials such as tables and graphs to prove my point of view. Consequently, I may conclude that the goal desired by me was achieved to some extent because I provided a reader with the useful and comprehensible information.

In conclusion, it should be noted that I would continue to work towards solving my business project in the future, as it is not completely resolved. I am pondering over the idea that my golf club needs the coaching staff and perhaps individual training of members could be a good source of additional income and attraction of people.

Introduction

Peter Senge’s has got the vision of a learning organization in a very specific way. For his interpretation it is very much related to a group of people who are more into the act of enhancing their skills and their capabilities in order to get something created with lots of influence. All the skills and practices are being categorised as per their functionalities. These categorisations are the elementary points for the understanding and application of the professional and national occupational standards for youth. Matters and skills related to the capacity for organizing, planning, coordinating and leading the company are being the major topics of speculation. The practical usability of all these practices are worth their demonstration and the real application are thus very important to be noticed and followed.

This paper is thus an elaboration of all the skills as per the formulations forwarded by Senge in reference to Fromm, E. (1979). The capabilities as has been discussed are needed to enhance the position of a youth in the corporate world. This is a paper is that is discussing the efficiency and appropriateness of a manger and his idea of dealing with the human resources to get the best of the results and to make the company excel in the market. The dominance of his spirits and the capacity to maintain the same makes his position much stronger and thus makes him the leader. This aspect of being the leader needs more intelligent skills than just the knowledge on theoretical groundings. There are lots of aspects that are put on practical foregrounding to get the best one out. From the point of view of the five disciplines Senge’s has got the perception that very much central to learning organizations. There are certain dealings that are indispensible part of the practice along with the theory of learning organizations.

The Fifth Discipline

The Fifth Discipline as analyzed by Senge, P. et. al. (1994) introduces the word of “learning organizations,” as a term that determines an organizations where people are in a continually mode to explore and expand their capacity. The intention is to get success oriented results. The attempt is always for the establishment of new and expansive patterns of thinking that gets nurtured on collective basis in order to mould the aspiration. The aspiration is very much independent and the process of learning continues to get the knowledge on common grounds. Senge recommends five disciplines, and these are dubbed by him as the guild for the learning organizations. There are some case studies to support the instances to explain how the disciplines have resulted well in some companies. According to Senge the need for learning organizations is important as it is the basis for making a better grounding for a business that has got complex. It is the means to bring in the dynamic and all sorts of international competition up close. The terms are all related to a dynamic kind of persuasion that has got understanding, knowledge and most importantly the preparation. The flow is also very much on due to the agreement that considers the expertise and the experience as has been collected for the professional and national occupational standards for youth.

As for his speculations the five disciplines are such kind of system thinking that has got the acquisition of personal mastery and above all the provision for mental models. The mental modes are subject to shared vision and that leads to the dominant version of team learning for the purpose of professional and national occupational standards for youth. All of Senge’s five disciplines have predefined application that intend for the purpose of individual participation. On the other hand Guttman, A. and Thompson, D. (1996) illustrated that the last two are for have group application. The quality of excelling in these fields with the quality of being a perfect leader brings forth the purpose for learning organizations. Systematized thinking has the distinction that gets expressed through fifth discipline and as such there is the provision for the acquisition of making other follow the disciplines that is to make them work together for business benefit.

The Fifth Discipline is an integration of five parts, which are:

1. Business setting needing change,
2. Explained or archetypes systems thinking,
3. Four more disciplines,
4. Case studies, and
5. Thoughts on forthcoming disciplines.

All the fundamental specifications are discussed with all the specifications and the predominant distinctions for the learning organizations gets established from traditional authoritarian that is also known for “controlling organizations”. The capacity and the specifications are all related to mastery of certain basic disciplines, dealing with “disciplines of the learning organization”.

For the purpose of the professional and national occupational standards for youth Smith, M. K. (2001) forwarded the strategic work in resolving for the hindrances related to ‘learning organization’ is very strong and adamant. It is here that the cost of advancing principles are considered more worth and as such there is the space for the collection of the views related to apostolic dedication. These are equally beneficial for the purpose of dealing with the task was to a task and the goals that are an integral part of the whole learning system. In the process of making a professional and a very dynamic social approach it is very important to get hold over the trend of following the instinct. The follow up of instinct-based, are basically ambiguous in action. This is the reason that these are difficult to settle through dialogues. The next very important section that brings in some solutions to the existing hindrances is related to criticism. The mode of criticism under many circumstances results to be harsh and there remains a kind of strictness in it. Added to this Sennett, R. (1998) comes up the criticism that also has the personal disagreement and sometimes is beyond the manageable dominance. In some cases the simple openness is sometimes not that worth to be maintained. Myth surrounds the existence of Goddess said to have ruled through central Europe during early Neolithic and late Paleolithic cultures. These were the cultures that were neither warlike nor male dominated but were of great help in interpreting the means to have a well balanced young and dynamic corporate world.

In order to overcome some of the hindrances that make the young professional more into the job can be well enlisted below. The first is the matter related to integrity that is predominantly being true to the customer and to the community. It is also for the comprehensive understanding for the organization. The next on the list is the matter of being authentic. Through the characteristic feature of being authentic the ability to grow with reality and genuine appeal is expected. There is also the need for collective intelligence. The role played by the attitude with aspiration too is of great use. It is well supported by desires for the future, hopes, vision and above all the accurate mode of direction. The participation of conceptualization to brings in a very dominant role in this field. It is the capacity to perceive the future by the mode of understands the imagination and systems thinking. The concert pianist thinks only of the aesthetics of the performance, not the mechanics.

Disciplines for business needs

In terms to acquire disciplines for business needs, Senge recommended five main characteristic features. These features have a relationship with individual learning process that enables an individual to participate in a group. This is a part of personal mastery and needs to be learnt for the receptivity to others’ activities, like those of questions, learning, and experience. Added to these there is also the need for manner of thought on the mental models. In relation to this there is the need for the viewpoint that is enough to be comprehensive about the business cycles. This also is in concern of bearing an application to system relationships. In both the cases the need is related to the working as per the convenience of the cycles and also in being a part of relationships that are acceptable for all the systems and people, that is a concept and a product of Senge’s systems thinking. Guiding purposes and all kinds of predominated shared values under the perception of shared vision gets well established by Finger, M. and Brand, S. B. (1999), through corporate effort. This is the point where the Tower of Babel problem kind of situation needs to be dealt with. There are also the aspects that are very much a part of the organization and lead to the creation of confusion that result from different language. The activity related to team learning is of great value. The basic hindrances in these aspects get created from the aspect that is very much a part of the whole tradition under certain speculation there are instances when the disciplines of learning get into the reign of foreign dominance. There are some aspects when these are well established through understanding the difference between great distances that prevails in an idea of personal mastery. This gets contrasted with behaviors that are in common carry the habit of looking for stuff on the network. The learning enhances the dominance where the person gets recognized as a resource. The role of motivation and the leadership qualities are very much apart f the whole learning process. The hindrances came along when there is the need for more dominant criteria that makes the organization get into the lose tie ups. The capacity of business administration is for the purpose to gain the idea for public and the external sector of the company. This is, on the other hand is more elaborative and maintain less terms within the company. The professional and national occupational standards for youth however are more concerned about the standards within the company. The matter is all related to the technology, work, processes, people, etc. and are all related to in house administration. The professional and national occupational standards for youth are a far broader word and are a kind of consolation that needs to be there is every important twists of the company. Realistically all the aspects are related to the organizational unity and are very much a process to maximize the effectiveness of the industry in the market. For young aspiring groups this kind of dominance is very important and the organisational learning is the means for its elaborative dominance. There are certain benefits attained by the organisations through the crisis management. The primary aims of these benefits has been stated by Senge, P., Kleiner, A., Roberts, C., Ross, R., Roth, G. and Smith, B. (1999) include the attainment of ability by the respective company to assess the situation from inside and outside the organisational setup, just the way all stakeholders might perceive it. The whole process of crisis management is also to attain benefits in an effective way. It is further utilised to get rapid outcomes to those particular parts of business that were involved in the continuity management. There are also channels that exist for organizational buoyancy, in concern to the company stakeholders. The benefits that gets derived, thus go into the process of paying compliance with ethical and regulatory requirements; that also includes corporate social responsibilities.

This leads to better and rapid improvement in management applications that pertains to incidents, and enhances staff awareness in context of the roles and responsibilities. There is also the rapid increase in the ability, confidence and morale aspects supporting the organisation. David Garvin, (1994 pp.19-28), adds that the skills and proficiencies of the risk management get highly enhanced. This identifies risks, and paves a way for their mitigation through proper and effective management. There are principles that are well scrutinized in order to get the vision and a real understanding of all those incidences that are related to the present show. The organizational initiations are better understood and used under the prolific participation of the leader. The first step leading to the individual existence for the participation of being a part of a learning organization is very much a process sot gain the exposure to existence. The matter is very much related to the participation that must be well supported by the dominant act of making the organization realize about the performance delivered.

Object-oriented design

There is the participation that leads to the object-oriented design and this is an integral part to the participation that leads to object-oriented computer programming languages. The purpose is to give the learners much more directly dominated phase for the understanding of organizational set up. Under this initiation the provision has been made for the learner to gain enough emphasis in the organizational sector. Senge, P., Cambron-McCabe, N. Lucas, T., Smith, B., Dutton, J. and Kleiner, A. (2000) brings in the assumptions that has been well sorted and says that the procedural programming practice must get well balanced and for this purpose there must be enough initiations that will make it stand on object-oriented programming. The need is all about the pedagogical elements for the purpose of defining structures or units of educational material to every sector and section on the organizational enterprises. The pedagogical approaches gets statistically evaluated before the beginning the creation of object-oriented programming content. There has to be the adaptation of very simple pedagogical approaches in the creation of the content, but lack flexibility, richness and downstream functionality. If the adaptation of the pedagogical approach is complex in structure and is not comprehensive to the learners than it directly harms the developmental changes of the organization. Thus it is very important to follow an ideal pedagogy that can allow the educator to create effective educational materials. It should also give him enough scope of providing the most engaging educational experiences for students. The purpose of the object-oriented programming is to share the same language with adequate elements. It also demands for the new language elements with more design options. The importance of object-oriented programmers and designers lies over the aspects that have got the programmers with seeming options. The structure of the study in respect to object-oriented programming is to add to the justifiable convention in custom systems development that sees systems design and execution as a manner of social and political debate by demonstrating similar inclinations with the selection and operation of packaged software. Developers of learning systems work, as a network through the process of Collaborative Learning Development. This leads developers to the aspect of leading and sharing knowledge collaboratively. There are softwares, that can be used to acquire knowledge of a single subject from remote locations. This builds an immense impact of structural organization among the workers.

In object-oriented programmed the instructor and student is separated by space or time where the gap between the two is bridged through the use of online technologies and IT equipments and procedures. Stenhouse, L. (1975) says that it is used for the interchangeability in a wide variety of contexts. In the peripheries of company resources, it is referred to the strategies that use the company network to deliver training courses to employees. This is the grounding for the technical elements of the language that brings in the perspective that stands in different angles and result with all effective and dominant usefulness to the objects.

Conclusion

Eventually it can be well determined that the professional and national occupational standards for youth, who were an integral a part of whole learning system; can have predominated peripheries. The main thing that makes them an integral part to the whole organizational learning is the team oriented performances. There are many things that need to be inspected before taking and initiation. It is here that the dominant aspects are well realized and the people are made aware of every single aspect of it.

The solutions as has been forwarded by Senge are full proof to a great extent. They are very much a part of the learning process until the organizational participation is predominantly analyzed. All kinds of learning can be considered as favorable until and unless they are well organized for the dominant set up. The functionalities are thus needs to be well synchronized for better learning and comprehensiveness of whole organizational communication.

References

Fieldbook for Educators, Parents, and Everyone Who Cares About Education, New York: Doubleday/Currency.

Senge, P., Kleiner, A., Roberts, C., Ross, R., Roth, G. and Smith, B. (1999) The Dance of Change: The Challenges of Sustaining Momentum in Learning Organizations, New York: Doubleday/Currency).

Sennett, R. (1998) The Corrosion of Character. The personal consequences of work in the new capitalism, New York: Norton.

Smith, M. K. (2001) ‘Peter Senge and the learning organization’, the encyclopedia of informal education.

Stenhouse, L. (1975) An Introduction to Curriculum Research and Development, London: Heinemann.

Introduction

Background

Studies have attempted to identify factors that impact the attitudes of youths toward entrepreneurship in the UAE. Entrepreneurship is the best remedy to the unemployment issue and economic development since many youths venture into Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) (Mohammed, 2019). According to Al-Sartawi et al. (2019), entrepreneurship is one of the most significant economic forces in recent years. However, it is necessary to draw up a specific program, addresses such important factors as the current generation’s thought process and their expectations. (Pathak, 2019). The UAE has been seen to possess a large population of youths over recent years. The growing youth population prefers to work in the public sector, also because private companies often hire foreigners for less pay (Al Saiqal, 2015). Nevertheless, youths are the future decision-makers, adults, leaders, and business operators. Therefore, their contribution towards entrepreneurship through investments poses a right bearing on the future of the UAE’s business relations. Studies have shown that the presence of existing business organizations may set the trend for similar entrepreneurial startups in the future. (Pathak, 2019). Investigating the attitude of youths towards entrepreneurship in UAE is significant in studies related to it. Entrepreneurship offers a transformational passage that aims to achieve and attain the sustainable and diversifiable goals that are deemed to yield development.

Attitude can be seen as a psychological set of beliefs, emotions, and behaviors related to entrepreneurial activities. Youth refers to an individual who is in the transition period from childhood dependence and independent adulthood. The attitude can be resulting from either upbringing or experience and bears a stronger influence on a youth’s behavior (Ashour & Hui, 2016). Thus, it is important to give young people a proper upbringing to shape their lives.

An entrepreneur refers to an individual who can use the potentially available resources in a suitable form possible to have exceptionally perfect performance. An entrepreneur should, therefore, be knowledgeable, possess financial aid, and have proper relating skills. Entrepreneurship is the ability to take advantage of the resources at your disposal by combining them with smart strategies to avoid failure (Gilliard, 2018). Alternatively, it can be an attempt by an individual or a group of persons to formulate new ideas for a business or create an avenue for the expansion of a business that already exists (Mohammed, 2019). The entrepreneurial network and competition are powerful tools and drivers of the state’s economic growth (Prasetyo, 2019). Therefore, entrepreneurship is an avenue for introducing a new competitive strategy that will contribute to productivity.

Objectives

The objectives of this study are:

• To study the attitude of youths toward entrepreneurship in the UAE;
• To assess youths towards the UAE business environment;
• To determine whether the youths in the UAE are aware of entrepreneurial business opportunities suitable for them;
• To determine whether the youths in the UAE have access to socially available networks and are willing to take risks and start a business.

Literature Review

studies have been conducted to determine whether there exists any difference in the entrepreneurship intents among female and male students. Findings reveal that male students are more inclined toward starting a business, although the differences between the sexes are mainly related to cultural characteristics (Jagannathan et al., 2017). The tendency of being future entrepreneurs is not dependent on gender; rather, it depends on motivation, awareness, and creativity among the students (Ashour & Hui, 2016). Furthermore, the research suggested the creation of transparent and innovative government practices that would increase the degree of youth trust in government institutions (Adarsh & Jayashree, 2020). The strategies informed on government’s perception of its plans for the young people.

Various research have been conducted to increase the knowledge of young people’s perception of careers. According to the study that was performed on the career and perception choices associated with the entrepreneurial intentions of UAE youths, the male participants had a higher stress-handling capacity than the females (Ashour & Hui, 2016). Furthermore, differences were evident between the genders. This was an indication of the existence of high entrepreneurship intentions, participants’ attitudes, and experience.

Various researches have measured students’ entrepreneurial intentions covering the regions of Al Dhafra, the UAE, and Abu Dhabi. According to these studies, there exists a stronger association between entrepreneurial intentions and the factors such as perceptions (Mohammed, 2019). Furthermore, the participants were empowered in this study, which boosted their morale to participate in entrepreneurship.

Methodology

Research Questions

The research questions to be answered by this study are

1. Does the youths’ attitude towards entrepreneurship in the UAE have any relationship to other perceived factors such as age, educational level, or gender?
2. Are the attitudes of the youths in the UAE towards entrepreneurship associated with the business environment?
3. Are the UAE youths’ awareness of entrepreneurial business opportunities suitable for them within the market have any relation to their attitude towards entrepreneurship?
4. Do the youths in the UAE have access to socially available networks that have any effect on their attitude?
5. Are UAE youths’ willingness to take risks and start a business associated with their attitude towards entrepreneurship?

Research Design

The study will use a quantitative method to answer the research questions. The following table summarizes the methods used to answer each question:

Table 1. Methods Used to Answer Research Questions

Instruments

To effectively determine the suitable research methods related to the case of the student taking a business course, a reference was made according to Sanders, Lewis, and Thornhill’s (2019) study. This research was conducted using the quantitative approach, which would allow the provision of solutions to the research questions. The design allowed for the development of questionnaires to be presented to the study participants. The questionnaire had two sections: participants’ personal details, attitude towards entrepreneurship, and willingness to indulge in entrepreneurship (Mohammed, 2019). The designed questionnaire used the five-point measurement of the Likert scale with the highest value, five represented as strongly agree while the lowest value represented as strongly disagree.

Sample

The study population mainly consisted of youths in their high secondary and second-year levels from one of the UAE’s leading public universities and public high schools. Initially, 200 youths were selected, out of which only 100 valid questionnaires were returned (response rate of 50%). Sample selection followed, where the random selection was applied based on the youth’s school. The representative group per school was selected randomly from a choice of institutions of learning offering business-related studies. The youths were aged between 15-and 24 years.

Data Collection

For this research, volunteers who are conversant with the English language were used in administering the questionnaires. The volunteers incorporated the primary data technique of collection of data since the study aimed to measure youths’ attitudes toward entrepreneurship in the UAE, and it required raw data that was suitable for addressing the issues.

Data Analysis

The quantitative gathered data was analyzed using Excel since the technique applied during data collection was quantitative. The applied methods in the research included linear regression and correlation. Furthermore, frequency analysis was vital since it would test the interpretation and assessment of responses obtained from the youths participating in the study. The number of respondents was 100. The descriptive statistic data was represented, as shown in Table 2.

Table 2: Respondents Descriptive Statistics

Limitations

The study fails to consider other factors that may affect youths’ attitudes toward entrepreneurship in the UAE. These factors include environmental conditions, economic, demographical, and cultural practices. The size of the sample of the participants in the study is small. One hundred youths will not give a perfect generalization of the study’s findings, leading to the need to take up more people to give the study a sample representative of the entire population.

Results

Research Questions

Results relating to the research questions of the study are represented in Table 2.

Figure 1 represents a chart of the respondents’ total number as per the formulated research questions.

Testing whether there is an association between age group, gender, and level of education, and attitude of youths towards entrepreneurship in the UAE.

Discussion

Figure 1 shows that youths’ attitude toward entrepreneurship in the UAE has a positive relationship to other perceived factors such as age, educational level, or gender. Furthermore, UAE youths’ willingness to take risks and start a business is associated with their attitude towards entrepreneurship. According to Figure 1, unwillingness is evident because the number of youths not interested in engaging in entrepreneurship is higher.

Further results from the regression analysis indicate that youths’ attitude toward entrepreneurship in the UAE has an association with perceived factors such as age, gender, and level of education. The existing association is validated by the fact that both the p-value and f-statistic values are greater than their significance level of confidence, respectively, that is, 1.2310>0.348 and 0.118>0.05. Therefore, the youth level of education in the UAE has encouraged them to indulge in entrepreneurship.

Recommendation

• Future related studies should consider and investigate other factors such as environmental conditions, economic, demographical, and cultural practices that impact youths’ attitudes toward entrepreneurship in the UAE.
• An exploration of this study with larger sample size is recommended. Other complex statistical analysis techniques such as SPSS should be incorporated to yield an exhaustive analysis of the youths’ attitudes towards entrepreneurship in the UAE.
• This study should also be expanded to other UAE neighboring countries or through the Middle East to compare youths’ attitudes in different countries.

References

Al Saiqal, N. Y. (2015). Entrepreneurial intentions of UAE youth: A work in progress. In ICSB World Conference Proceedings (p. 1). International Council for Small Business (ICSB).

Al-Sartawi, A. M. M., Badawi, S., Hanoon, A., Hamdan, A., Reyad, S., & Razzaque, A. (2019). Entrepreneurship Education and Country Competitiveness: Avenues for Future Research in the Arab Countries. In European Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (pp. 59-XXIV). Academic Conferences International Limited.

Ashour, S., & Hui, S. K. F. (2016). Social and business entrepreneurship as career options for university students in the United Arab Emirates: The drive–preparedness gap.Cogent Education, 3(1), 1-18. Web.

Gilliard, T. (2018). Entrepreneurial opportunities to develop strategies for small business success (Publication No. 10790990). [Doctoral dissertation, Walden University]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.

Jagannathan, R., Camasso, M. J., Das, B., Tosun, J., & Iyengar, S. (2017). Family, society and the individual: Determinants of entrepreneurial attitudes among youth in Chennai, South India.Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, 7(1), 1-22. Web.

Mohammed, D. (2019). Measuring student’s entrepreneurial intentions: The study of Al Dhafra region, Abu Dhabi, UAE. International Journal of Entrepreneurship, 23(3), 1939−4675.

Pathak, S. (2019). Future trends in entrepreneurship education: Re-visiting business curricula. Journal of Entrepreneurship Education, 22(4), 1-13.

Prasetyo, P. E. (2019). Role of entrepreneurial culture as the driver of economic growth.International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, 9(3), 237. Web.

Considering the information provided in the text, the author’s primary research question concerns the fact what contemporary models of mentorship might be of relevance in the given environment and how these schemes could be implemented in the already existing mentoring programs. Thus, the thesis of the research could be outlined from the citation below:

Similar stories abound of unwise and uncaring mentor/learner matches, and this is where the present threat to mentoring lies, not in ‘overkill,’ but in the misuse of the term ‘mentoring’ and in bad practice. (Bennetts, 2003, p. 65)

The following sentence implies the necessity to dwell upon the variety of today’s definitions and examples of mentoring in order to define how the relatively new model could be not only trendy but efficient. The argument that stems from such a statement claims that reconsideration of mentoring was required due to its tendency to become entrenched in the traditional relationship models. The implications of the following article include establishing full-scale mentoring programs for youth that could be supported by the government to ensure tangible outcomes of the formal mentoring schemes.

The article itself, while displaying some outdated information when compared to the modern achievements in the segment of mentoring and guidance, possesses a considerable novelty in terms of the given timeframe. Whereas many enterprises were at the point of mentorship discovery for the business, Bennetts (2003) managed to define the superficiality of the term in the vast majority of cases:

The current trend for the use of the word ‘mentoring’ may be a fad, and it is now necessary to ask how often mentoring is used as a ‘catch-all’ phrase aimed mainly at catching funding. Who benefits most, young people, or those who gain funding for new posts? (p. 74)

Considering the theoretical foundation for examining the diachronic development of mentorship development within the context of business, it might be concluded that Bennetts’s study is a valuable tool when considering the theoretical foundation for the examination of the diachronic development of mentorship development. However, the work itself lacks the analysis of primary data, implying its relevance only in combination with the conduction of empirical research in order to secure exhaustive results.

Reference

Bennetts, C. (2003). Mentoring youth: trend and tradition.British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 31(1), 63. Web.

Introduction

The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) which requires companies to treat all their stakeholders in an ethical and socially responsible manner has gained primacy all over the world in the course of the last two decades. Today, companies are expected to behave responsibly and the number of CSR initiatives has risen significantly as companies seek to become more competitive and foster greater social cohesion.

Emphasize on CSR has been due to the realization that corporate responsibility is necessary if a corporation wants to increase its chances of succeeding. A less known concept is that of National Social Responsibility (NSR) which explores how a nation treats its stakeholders (citizens) in a responsible manner.

Jawahir and Hopkins (2008) lament that while CSR has been implemented aggressively in many countries; most nation states lack social responsibility programs for their citizens who are the key stakeholders of the state. In spite of the poor results in NSR by many states, there have been some NSR programs which have shown great success.

An example of this is the National Youth Service Corps Schemes (NYSC) which is a Nigerian national youth programme that lasts for one year. While the NYSC was originally created as a Peace Keeping initiative, the program has become an instrument of making the youth more socially responsible.

This paper will set out to illustrate the similarities between CSR and the national youth service initiative in Nigeria so as to demonstrate that the NYSC is a successful model of how corporate social responsibility can go national.

Snapshot of Nigeria

Nigeria is a developing country in Africa and it is ranked as the most populous nation in the continent. Elaigwu (2008) documents that “Nigeria has a total area of 932,768 square kilometers and boasts of a population of about 130 million people, as well as a population growth rate of 2.6 percent” (p.1).

It is one of the world’s most ethnically diverse countries (with over 300 identifiable ethnic groups and over 400 lingo-cultural groups) and this communal heterogeneity makes governance a complex affair. The official language of the country is English but the languages of the three large ethno linguistic groups; the Hausa, Yoruba, and the Igbo, make up the major languages of the Nigerian people.

There are three major religions in Nigeria: Islam, Christianity and African Traditional Religion. Of the three religions, the African Traditional Religion is the oldest one and it is also the religion that has suffered the greatest loss of followers as Nigerians move to the other two predominant religions.

An important feature of Nigeria is that it is a federation of a number of states. This federation was established by the British colonial rulers in 1954 and it has survived intact up to date. Elaigwu (2008) notes that this federation of previously independent states was not the result of voluntary union or contract between the states but rather an imposition by the British colonial rulers.

While the federal system was introduced in 1954, the various states maintained a lot of autonomy and this only increased after independence due to the mutual suspicions and fears that existed among ethnic groups (Elaigwu, 2008).

Nigeria has had a turbulent history after it attained independence from Britain. The country gained its independence from Britain in 1960 and a government was formed with Nnamdi Azikiwe being the first president of the country. The post of president was largely ceremonial and the real power was wielded by the prime minister who was Abubakar Tafawa.

While most other African countries had years of relative peace following independence from their respective colonial masters, Nigeria’s independence was followed by civil wars which were sparked by a number of reasons. From the onset, there existed rivalry and suspicion among the major ethnic groups: Hausa-Fulani in the north, the Yoruba in the west and the Ibo in the east.

Abubakar’s rule was marred by great corruption and inefficiency in delivery of services to the county’s population. Opposition to this corrupt and ineffective government led to a coup in 1966 which resulted in the ousting of the first president of Nigeria. A counter-coup closely followed this and Colonel Yakuba Gowon took leadership.

Due to the huge militarization of the country that followed these coups, there was a secession attempt by the Eastern Nigeria region and this sparked a civil war in 1967. The war ended in 1970 having caused the death of up to 3 million people and greatly damaged the infrastructure of the young nation.

Even though the federal government of Nigeria won the war, it realized that for peace to prevail in the multi-ethnic and multi-religious country, unity had to be achieved among the various constituent parts of the state. Achieving nationwide unity in Nigeria was going to be hard since the country has many ethnic groups (estimated to be around 375) and there is no common ancestry upon which loyalty for the land could be based.

It was therefore recognized that the desired unity and true feelings of loyalty for the state were not going to come about naturally but they could only be achieved through a deliberate social process.

National Youth Service Corp. Program

The National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) was started in 1973 under the leadership of the military head of state, General Yakubu Gowon. Agumagu, Adesope and Njoku (2006) note that the core objective of the scheme is to instill in the Nigerian youth “the spirit of selfless service to the community, and emphasize the spirit of oneness and brotherhood of all Nigerians irrespective of cultural or social background” (p.70).

The initiative also has unity as a central point to the entire scheme. Agumagu et al. (2006) point out that as a result of the turbulent history experienced by Nigeria since her independence, there is need for unity among the people.

The NYSC program is compulsory for all graduates in Nigeria since if it were voluntary in nature, only a few youths would be willing to engage in it and this would hurt the vital goal of enhancing national unity in the highest number of people.

The NYSC scheme encourages the youth to serve their nation in whatever capacity they have professional training in (Agumagu, et al., 2006). All corps members are expected to make positive contributions to the communities where they are serving.

The reason why the youth were targeted by the state as agents of change is because this group is uniquely placed to influence the society. The youth are a unique group who possess potent energies that can be channeled into meaningful activities for the purpose of national development.

Obadare (2005) notes that the potency of youth as a social category in African has been trivialized and over-simplified due to the negative connotation attached to the term “youth” in Africa.

The term African youth has come to be a metaphor for violence, crime, and struggling in the continent. This overgeneralization overshadows the reality that the youth can be engaged in peaceful social processes and serve important roles in advancing the prosperity of a nation.

The scheme is made up of four phases which are undertaken in a sequential manner. The first phase is mobilization where the corps members are posted to the various stations where they will serve.

In order to achieve the objective of forging unity and inter-ethnic understanding, members of the NYSC are required to serve in states far away from their own home state so that they can learn the ways of life of culturally different Nigerians.

Being posted in other states also helps to get rid of stereotypical views that the individual might have had concerning other ethnic groups and a more liberal outlook is adopted by the corps member (Agumagu et al., 2006).

The oriental phase takes two-weeks during which the corps members are initiated into the details of the program. The orientation phase is designed to provide the new corps members with a proper understanding of the goals of the program as well as the ideals that are held by the NYSC.

The first part of the orientation consists of citizenship and leadership training during which the corps members engage in drill and non-drill activities (Agumagu et al., 2006).

The non-drill activities include a series of lectures on history, politics, and administration and the activities are aimed at increasing knowledge of the corps members in their national heritage. The drill activities are conducted by Army officials and they include survival techniques, parading, uniform, and discipline.

The third phase consists of primary assignments and each of the corps members is required to perform his national service in the area where he/she has been deployed. The service provided is normally of a specialized nature and the corps member is placed in a field relevant to his academic qualification.

The final stage consists of winding up activities (both the primary assignments and community development services) and a final passing out parade during which corps members are awarded with certificates (Agumagu et al., 2006). A graduate in Nigeria is only eligible for legal employment after they have acquired this certificate which acts as proof that they have successfully completed the NYSC program.

While the need for the NYSC was acknowledged by the political leaders and the youths of Nigeria, the initial reaction to the NYSC scheme was not favorable and there was widespread opposition to the program by many students.

This opposition which mostly emerged from the university students was because the students had not been involved in the development of the program and there was little attempt by the government to promote the ideals of the scheme to the population. However, the scheme came to be accepted by the youth and it has been running successfully for the past 29 years.

Literature Review

From its conception, the NYSC had political motivations and the government of Nigeria hoped to advance some values using the program. The government had witnessed a breakdown in relations between people of differing ethnic groups and a civil war which led to immense losses for many Nigerians.

For the nation to succeed in future, plans had to be put in place to foster reconciliation and promote peace and unity in the country and the NYSC purported to fulfill this objectives (Agumagu et al., 2006).

In a similar manner, CSR acknowledges the political realities in the environment the company exists and stays in tune with sociopolitical movements for social equity and justice. As such, CSR is influenced by the political environment and some of the activities implemented are politically motivated.

In establishing the NYSC, the government was admitting that it needed the input of the youth so as to fulfill the goals of development and unity (Agumagu et al., 2006). This admission is based on the reality that the state has an intimate connection with its citizens and the manner in which it carries out its activities will influence the actions of these stakeholders.

Similarly, CSR is emphasized upon due to the interdependence between corporations and the society and from the acknowledgement that the organization’s activities will have an impact which may lead to positive or negative consequences within the community.

A core goal of the NYSC is to encourage self-reliance in the Nigerian youths. NYSC aims to foster the spirit of entrepreneurship in corps members and therefore enable them to become self-employed once they are through with the program.

This deemphasize on dependency on public service employment is crucial in Nigeria where the number of employment candidates far outweighs the employment opportunities provided by the government and the private sector. CSR initiatives aim to achieve the same results for the community.

Kent, Cheney, and Roper (2007) reveal that some CSR programs target unemployed members of the community and help to make them self-reliant and establish their own income generating activities.

NSR requires the state to be committed to maintaining a good overall quality of life for its citizens. This requires that resources be dedicated to communities which are poor in order to promote a rise in the living standards.

In Nigeria communities, especially in the rural areas, suffer from a dire lack of skilled labor which is needed to achieve optimal results in food production and industry. The NYSC program helps to alleviate this problem by sending skilled candidates to these areas (Agumagu et al., 2006).

The knowledge and skills of these skilled members of the corps is harnessed and used to achieve favorable outcomes such as food production, economic recovery and industry development in impoverished regions.

Some of the CSR strategies implemented by companies also aim to improve the lives of the community members. Kent et al. (2007) reveals that in some rural areas, companies implement water and sanitation programs that program help to deliver clean water to the community therefore improving their quality of life.

CSR promotes cultural awareness which is a necessity for many companies as they serve increasingly diverse cultural groups. The NYSC promotes cultural integration through the youth. This is achieved since the program requires that each corps member serve in a state different from his/her state of origin.

The youth are therefore exposed to cultures and traditions that may be significantly different from their own. This exposure to different cultures leads to an appreciation for the other people’s ways of life. Without exposure to other cultures, a person may see their culture as the only “right one” and the rigid stance will lead to poor relationships.

The NYSC forces individuals to experience other cultures and this leads to an accommodative outlook since the individual appreciates that different people have different ways of doing things. The NYSC scheme does not only influence the opinion of the corps members but also their immediate relations.

Obadare (2005) points out that the parents and relations of corps members acquire an interest about the specific area where their kin is posted. This forces the relatives to “think national” and therefore fosters a national consciousness and integration.

A key positive outcome of many CSR programs is to empower community members. This empowerment may be achieved through training and seminars where individuals are equipped with knowledge and life skills that help them to become productive members of the society. The NYSC has also achieved this goal of empowering corps members and the community at large.

Agumagu et al. (2006) asserts that corps members develop a high level of self confidence as a result of their engagement in the program. The community members are also empowered through the teaching services that are provided by corps members.

In addition to this, the national service increases the awareness of the participants of the needs of others. NYSC gives the state an opportunity to add value to its citizens by instilling professional knowledge to the youths. As has been noted, the programme is meant for graduates of tertiary institutions and a majority of these graduates possess little or no work experience.

Agumagu et al. (2006) reveal that NYSC provides on-the-job training and experience for corps members therefore increasing their professional value. Individuals who have gone through the program gain important work experience which makes it easier for them to get gainful employment after they have completed their year of service.

The NYSC scheme leads to a formation of a positive attitude towards community development service as the members engage with the community. The NYSC promotes the kind of service described by Sherraden (2001) as “an organized period of substantial engagement and contribution to the local, national, or world community, recognized and valued by society, with minima; monetary compensation to the participant” (p.2).

This service provided by the youth meets certain human needs and promotes the development of the community. Agumagu et al. (2006) states that as corps members attend various community development service sessions, individual members see the need to be more committed.

The members are enthusiastic as they share ideas and discuss how they should act in order to bring about progress in the community they are serving. CSR also promotes community service since the companies are expected to engage in community development projects without any compensation.

NSR can be used to obtain a positive influence on citizenship. This is the case with the NYSC where some explicit ideals are instilled in the members of the corps during their service. An objective of the program is to impart a right attitude, good values, and enhance the development of good qualities in the youths of Nigeria.

The service that the youth are obligated to support promotes good citizenship which helps in the development of the nation. This is similar to CSR which aims to present the company in a positive light to the public.

Kent et al. (2007) reveal that while CSR has emerged as a strategic process that is beneficial to the society, the primary concern of this strategic process is managing the image of corporations and countering any real or potential criticism of the social impacts of profit-driven businesses on the lives and values of people.

The companies therefore undertake image management through a guided philanthropy which is quickly publicized to the community that counts therefore raising the standing of the company. The same can be said for NYSC which was entrenched in the constitution of the country as a “national interest” as perceived by the military regime of the time.

CSR aims to address the particular social problem of social exclusion which is where some individuals or groups lack access to rights and benefits that are fundamental to other members of the community. CSR helps to alleviate this problem though implementations of programs which help enhance the social inclusion.

Companies can also take up greater advocacy for sufficient social changes so as to foster social inclusion and therefore benefit the previously marginalized groups (Agumagu et al., 2006). The NYSC also promotes social inclusion through the interaction among corps members and with the communities.

Through interaction among the corps members, graduates hailing from varied ethno-cultural groups are able to appreciate the similarities existing between their cultures. Interaction with the communities leads to a reduction in ethnic chauvinism and the graduates are able to develop healthy attitudes towards groups that were otherwise excluded.

A key goal of all corporate social responsibility initiatives is to bring about positive changes to the communities that the company interacts with. Arguably the most frequently mentioned vision statement in the corporate social responsibility plan of many organizations is to give back to society.

CSR therefore involves giving to the community without expecting any repayment for the services rendered. The NYSC also applies the same philosophy since the corps members are expected to offer services to their nation without expecting repayments for the actions.

The then Nigerian Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, best articulated the mandate of the NYSC at the formal inauguration of the NYSC Directorate in June 1973 as; mobilizing the youths and preparing them to “offer willingly and without asking for return, their best in the service of their nation at all times” (Obadare, 2005, p.14).

The corps members are supposed to learn about the higher ideals of service to the community beyond the thought of reward as they serve their nation for no payment.

Most CSR efforts have a number of tangible contributions to the society. For example, some companies build social facilities such as hospitals, schools, and roads for the community that they interact with. Others contribute labor to health care facilities or even homeless shelters.

These physical contributions improve the lives of the society and also increase the wellbeing of the community members. The NYSC scheme also brings about some tangible benefits to the various stations where the corps members are deployed.

These contributions are mostly in the form of skilled manpower supply and in the education sector where a majority of the corps members serve in (Agumagu et al., 2006). The program members also make a contribution to the rural infrastructure and health care delivery therefore greatly benefiting members of the community.

While most urban areas have the necessary skilled labor force, the rural areas suffer from a shortage of skilled workers. The NYSC assists in tackling this skilled manpower issue since the graduates who possess technical knowledge are posted in the areas where the skilled manpower is needed but lacking.

A significant outcome of NYSC is that it has served as the main source of teachers and doctors in rural communities therefore contributing to the welfare of people in these areas.

The NYSC stresses on sustainability and it teaches the corps members to protect the nation’s environment and natural resources. This is because sustainable development is critical to the overall long-term well being of the society and it is a core objective for many governments (Sherraden, 2001).

For any development to be regarded as sustainable, it has to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. CSR initiatives take this into consideration and all possible measures are made to use resources in a responsible manner.

Criticism of NYSC

While the NYSC has achieved many successes in its role as a national social responsibility strategy, the program is criticized for a number of reasons.

To begin with, the success of NYSC in achieving its core goals of promoting unity, patriotism and citizenship values has been questioned considering the high levels of ethno-religious intolerance and uncivil behavior that has been carried out by the youth and the rest of the population in Nigeria.

The effectiveness of some of the stages of the scheme is also below standard. Corps members reveal that the community development initiative of the NYSC which is aimed at enhancing community service and instilling values of selfless service to the nation is mostly a failure.

This is because the initiative suffers from inadequate funding which makes it impossible for the corps members to carry out non-trivial projects in service to the community.

Further compounding the problem is the fact that there lacks adequate supervision by the NYSC officials which has made the community development day for many corps members “a weekly holiday, another day for meetings and socialization by corps members”(Obadare, 2005, p.36).

Another criticism to the program is that it fails to sustain the values of selflessness and an emphasis on unity in the corps members. Research on the success of the NYSC revealed that a while a significantly high number of serving corps members had a positive opinion about the scheme (86.7%), the proportion of former corps members who had positive opinions about the program was lower (70%) (Obadare, 2005).

From these findings, it would appear that while the program instilled values in the corps members, the same values are easily eroded. However, this might not be a problem with the NYSC scheme but rather with the overall society which makes it hard for the former corps members to live by the ideals inculcated during their year of service.

Discussion

Social responsibility has become an indispensable component for both corporations and nation states since it has not only social but economic consequences. This paper has provided a discussion of the NYSC in Nigeria and how it serves as a National Social Responsibility program.

The National Youth Service Corps has been in operation since 1973 and the scheme has been instrumental in promoting service to the nation by the youths. The need for unity in Nigeria cannot be over emphasized considering the upsurge in inter-faith clashes that the country has experienced in the previous years.

As a result of being exposed to this program, corps members are actively involved in the community development services and have a positive attitude towards community service. The whole community has benefited since the youth are more willing to play their part in national development.

As with many other national service programs in the continent, the NYSC was designed to mobilize young people for national development and foster peace and unity in Nigeria. The program has been able to bridge the gap that exists between the different peoples of the nation and therefore enhance unity and peaceful co-existence in Nigeria.

The NYSC as a National Social Responsibility has some major advantages over CSR. Kent et al. (2007) states that CSR sometimes fails to work as well as it could due to the voluntary nature of CSR. The CSR targets set by companies are therefore not always met since there is no binding obligation for the company to achieve these objectives.

The regulations set to govern the CSR can also be changed as the company deems appropriate and not all companies will be willing to incur extra expenses in the name of CSR. In contrast to this, the NYSC program is compulsory for all graduates in Nigeria and the graduates cannot be legally employed until they have served they have completed their one year of service and have a certificate to attest to this.

The scheme is therefore able to meet its targets since there is a binding obligation for the corps members to engage in the activities assigned to them.

In spite of the criticism that the NYSC has faced, a majority of serving corps members and alumni of the program argue for the continued existence of the program.

These points to the relevance of the program in promoting advancing its core objectives of national integration and peace as well as acting as a platform for national social responsibility. Just like CSR strategies give companies competitive advantages, NSR can give a nation advantages by promoting innovation and economic growth by the nations citizens.

Conclusion

This paper set out to demonstrate how the NYSC scheme in Nigeria acts as a CSR program on a national level. The paper has demonstrated that while CSR is often associated with businesses, NSR emulates some of the philosophies of CSR albeit at a national level.

This paper has underscored the importance of the NYSC scheme in Nigeria and the role that this scheme has played in fostering unity and also bringing about community development. The program has had significant success in promoting national integration in the multi-ethnic nation of Nigeria.

Moreover, the scheme has inculcated civic ethos and improved the standard of living for a significant number of communities in the rural areas of Nigeria. The NYSC has served as an essential pillar of nation building and how its relevance in the country is still strong even after 29 years of existence.

This paper has noted that there are many attributes of the NYSC which are similar to Corporate Social Responsibility. It can therefore be suggested that the NYSC scheme takes CSR to a national level since the program is implemented through the entire country.

The NYSC has gone beyond inculcating the spirit of service and patriotism in the nation’s youth; it has proved to be an adept tool for national social service with many positive results being reaped by the communities and the nation as a whole.

References

Agumagu, A.C., Adesope, O.M. & Njoku, M.C. (2006). Attitude of youth corpers towards the community development service of NYSC in Nigeria. Journal of Agriculture and Social Research, 6(1), 70-75.

Elaigwu, J.I. (2008). The Federal Republic of Nigeria. NY: International Association of Centers for federal Studies.

Jawahir, A. & Hopkins, M. (2008). National social responsibility (NSR) and nation states. Web.

Kent, S., Cheney, G., & Roper, J. (2007). The Debate over corporate social responsibility. Cambridge: Oxford University Press.

Obadare, E. (2005). Statism, Youth and the Civic Imagination: A Critical Study of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Programme in Nigeria. St Louis: Center for Social Development.

Sherraden, Michael (2001). Civic Service: Issues, Outlook, Institution Building (CSD Perspective). St Louis, Center for Social Development.

The sculpture of the victorious youth is made of bronze and was discovered in the year 1964 in the Adriatic Sea. It came from the sea in the fishing nets of the fishing equipment. It is large in size, nearly the size of a person. Initially, art scholars credited it to a great Greek sculptor known as Lysippos.However, from scholarly research it is evident that it is of Greek origin. In today’s context, scholars are less concerned with the origin of the sculpture but the original reason behind its making. After discovery, the sculpture entered the market for sale and after intense competition from potential buyers; it was finally bought by the Getty museum. This was back in the year 1977.At present; the sculpture has elicited heated debates and controversies

The sculpture has distinct iconographic features that make it easy to identify the subject depicted. The main theme of the sculpture is competition and how important winning was to the Greeks. As evidence, the youth is presented as putting or touching an olive crown on his head. An olive crown was the prize given to the winner in the Olympic Games at that time. This shows that the youth is a winner. This was the origin of the name of the sculpture, the victorious youth. Another notable feature of the sculpture is the body form of the youth. The youth has an admirable physique characteristic of athletes: strong and muscular hands and legs. The nudity of the youth accentuates the nice physique. The nudity further exposes all the features of the youth that are a sign of good health and perfection. All these features are proportional to body size. The body physique is an expression of perfection and vitality that stems from training, an important factor in training.

The sculptor’s intention was to celebrate the Greek’s high value for competition and victory. Historically, Greeks are known for their running ability and as such, they treasured winning a lot. Winning was a result of intense training that led to a nice physique and body as depicted in the statue. There is a high probability that the sculptor of the victorious youth was also expressing certain political sentiments. Just like athletics, politics was an important issue to the Greeks. The ideas of perfection and victory were also important in politics. The sculptor could have been presenting the ideal person for politics just as the athlete with a perfect physique was ideal for victory.

The statue has features that qualify it as a classical masterpiece. The youth looks very calm and relaxed and this is a feature of classical works of art. The youth is inclining more on his right leg. This means that the right leg supports most of his body weight. This effect in art is known as “contrapposto” and it is a feature of classical Greek statuary. That qualifies the victorious youth as a classical piece of Greek art.

Upon discovery, the statue was in a bad state and underwent repairs to restore it by replacing missing parts. It was broken at the knee and therefore, not resting on its original base. As such, the sculpture lacks feet and rests on a single leg with a single piece of metal bar that connects it to the resting base.