Narrow Results

The purpose of this paper is to examine the hierarchical effects of Public Health Responses (PHRs) and fiscal policy measures (FPMs) on the tax morale (TM) of entrepreneurial firms in Nigeria during the COVID-19 pandemic. The theoretical basis for the study is based on social contract theory (SCT) and fiscal exchange theory (FET), which oblige entrepreneurs to pay taxes to the state in return for public goods and social services. Using a cross-sectional survey design, we collected primary data from 177 professional managers of entrepreneurial firms in Nigeria using online questionnaires. The sampled firms were accessed with the support of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce. Data collected at a point in time reflecting respondents’ views on the impact of PHRs and FPMs on TM were analyzed using hierarchical regression analysis. Three estimates emerged from the hierarchical regression analyses. The first estimation suggests that the PHRs have a significant positive effect on the TM of entrepreneurial firms. The second estimate suggests that the FPMs do not have a significant positive effect on the TM of entrepreneurial firms. The third estimation found that the interactive effects of PHRs and FPMs do not have a significant positive effect on the TM of entrepreneurial firms. The study, although modest, contributes to the literature on the entrepreneurial behavior of firms and tax morals in a period of economic uncertainty. The study provides valuable insights and validates the social contract and fiscal exchange theories in the recessionary period.

Careful investment of social and human capital within the organisation structure has been believed to improve the performance of the workforce and firms and is also observed to have a constructive impact on the firm and employee performance. A superior human capital and social capital is the accelerator of a firm’s growth. While entrepreneurial firms are agile in themselves, they need to have strong ties with their customers, clients, teams/employees, investors, ecosystem and industry experts, debtors, vendors, subcontractors, etc. and here the need and benefits of social skills not only among owners/founders but also in their teams and employees are always in high demand. A young enterprise faces many challenges, the same as any giant corporate firm. Founders often experience that they are working against the clock in managing both business and human resource challenges, even though they do agree that the entrepreneurial-agile and high-performance-driven culture should not be a substitute for an ethical-courageous-people-friendly culture. This chapter discusses various challenges and issues faced by small and medium businesses and employees of small business firms at their level, and how both parties collectively are trying to support and overcome these challenges, so as to make the work as effective as possible. The chapter is prepared through a comprehensive literature review and data/information has been derived from various secondary sources with a discussion with some start-up founders and small business owners. The chapter also focused on other challenges such as related to human resource development practices, innovation, decision making, and the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on some small businesses are also discussed. The chapter also shares recommended solutions to alter current practices, policies, and processes which can help in addressing operative challenges and can help in developing sustainable practices.

Entrepreneurial firms, which include the new-age start-ups and an emerging era of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), have a central role to play in the economic growth of a country. Moreover, they have a central role in the economy and are imperative for employment generation and boosting technological advancement. It is well established that the management of established large-sized firms is significantly different from the challenges faced in the management of the small-sized entrepreneurial firms. Also, out of the numerous factors that influence the growth of SMEs and start-ups, one of the key differentiating factors is the leadership and the team/people that drive organisational growth. It has been seen that attracting, hiring and retaining key employees has always been challenging for any organisation, but in the case of small-scale entrepreneurial firms, it is even more daunting. In the context of this, the objective of the present chapter is to develop a framework for understanding the factors that affect employee retention in entrepreneurial firms using a systematic literature review. This chapter is an effort to find evidence from the past that indicates the factors affecting the employee retention in entrepreneurial firms. The findings from this study suggested that the HR policies can play the major role in retention practices.