International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume IV, Issue III, March 2020 | ISSN 2454–6186

Infopreneurship: Values and Implications on Employment Sustainability of SMEs in Rivers State Nigeria

Gloria Chinyere Chux-Nyehe¹, Patrick Nkiinebari Nwinyokugi^2
1Department of Office and Information Management, Faculty of Business Studies, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
²Department of Office and Information Management, Faculty of Management Sciences, Rivers State University, Nigeria

Abstract: – Unemployment has become a norm in the contemporary economic stories of developing nations across the globe and some forms of entrepreneurial efforts are evolving to close the gap. It therefore becomes necessary to study the relationship between infopreneurship and employment generation and sustainability in Rivers State Nigeria. This study adopted a cross-sectional research design covering a population of all the registered small scale business owners and managers in Port Harcourt, which amounts to a total of six hundred and twenty (620) small scale businesses. The Multi-Stage sampling approach was employed: convenient sampling technique and simple random sampling technique to derive a sample size of 500 operators of internet businesses within the coverage area. Structured questionnaire was used to obtain primary data after it has been validated and tested for reliability using the Cronbach alpha to establish a reliability index of 0.76. Data gathered form the sampled respondents were analyzed using the Spearman rank order correlation coefficient which is presented with the aid of Statistical package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0.The study concluded that youth unemployment problems in Rivers State can be solved to a large extent by engaging in infopreneurship businesses. It also recommended that small and medium enterprises especially those engaged in related infopreneurship business should consider the tested dimensions of infopreneurship as critical tool for employment sustainability in Rivers State.

Keywords: Infoprenuership, Knowledge Creation, Value creations, Information Availability, Authenticity

I. INTRODUCTION

Information is power! And everyone wants information. As such, making information available to end users is key to national development and a major function of an infopreneur. Infopreneurship business seems to be an untapped business that is capable of solving unemployment challenges amongst youths in Rivers State and Nigeria as a whole. Over the years, youth empowerment has become a slogan of most government and stakeholders in Nigeria.