Charles Effiong

A practical government policy on apprenticeship is a requirement to continuously advance and encourage the company toward top performance and adaptability for a long-term sustainability. In Nigeria, which has a significant young unemployment problem, apprenticeship has emerged as a key to reducing youth unemployment. Thus, sustainability of family businesses is a source of employment, and continuing apprenticeship practices have also raised the likelihood that an individual will obtain employment in the southern regions of Nigeria. This study aimed to examine how job creation, vocational and technical training, and apprentice competences aid in sustaining family business growth in southern Nigeria. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey and stratified sampling technique; a sample included 329 apprentices in 48 SMEs in southern regions of Nigeria. Using a five-point Likert scale questionnaire, data were analyzed using a normality test, linearity test, and multicollinearity test to ascertain the adequacy of the data. Correlation analysis was used to test the hypotheses. Findings revealed that job creation is related to sustainable family business growth; however, the strength of the correlation, though weak (30.0%), was statistically significant; a significant degree of association also existed between apprentice vocational training and sustainable family business growth; lastly, apprentice competences relate significantly to sustainable family business growth (72.1%, p < 0.05). The study concluded that continuous apprenticeship practices influence the objective of business growth as a pivot for socioeconomic development and a long-term sustainability of family businesses.

Acknowledgment
The authors would like to sincerely appreciate the Editor-in-Chief and Reviewer(s) for their helpful comments that, in our view, have helped significantly to improve the quality of the manuscript.

Satisfying the consumer and contributing to societal well-being have been globally acknowledged, and these developments consequently boost corporate image, attract investors, increase stock prices, enhance firm value, and enable industrial and other firms to contribute to national development. This paper examines how product responsibility and philanthropy affect the performance of industrial goods firms in Nigeria. A sample of 7 firms was selected from 24 listed firms after employing a judgmental sampling technique and using secondary data and a quantitative research method. Data validation and analysis were aided by econometric views statistical software, panel data regression, fixed and random effects estimators, stationarity test, cross-section dependence test, Durbin-Watson test, and Hausman test. The study revealed that investment in product responsibility, as evidenced by the rising stock turnover rate, is value-enhancing in Nigeria {B1 = 0.076807, P = 0.0171 or P < 0.05}, while philanthropic donation is value destroying {B1 = –0.369535, P = 0.5817 or P > 0.05}. It was concluded that consumers’ confidence in corporate institutions can enhance corporate value, while investment in philanthropy is not usually value-enhancing when done irresponsibly and non-strategically. The study, therefore, recommended that investment in product responsibility should be consolidated to sustain the rising stock turnover rate, while investment in philanthropy should be done strategically and responsibly to make it value-enhancing.

Acknowledgment
This research was based on Nnamdi Azikiwe University Ph.D. Dissertation funded by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (Tetfund), Nigeria. University of Calabar in Nigeria is highly acknowledged for funding the PhD dissertation through its Tetfund platform.

Eighty percent of listed manufacturing firms in Nigeria (4 out of 5 firms) had negative and fluctuating returns on equity eighty-three percent of the time (5 out of 6 years), while inexplicable fluctuations in philanthropic expenditures, labor costs, and creditor days correspondingly occurred during the 6-year period under review (2018–2023). This study looks at how social initiatives affect the value of listed manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Its specific goal was to determine whether a firm’s value (measured as return on equity) is influenced by the cost of corporate giving, the cost of employee well-being, and the time taken to settle creditors. Data were obtained from the financial reports of 5 companies. the sample of which was judgmentally drawn from 16 listed companies using a quantitative method of research. EViews statistical package was used to analyze data. It was found that investments in social initiatives as supported by corporate giving {B1 = 0.010162, P = .2691 or P > .05}, employee well-being {B2 = .012285, P = .3836 or P > .05}, and obligations to creditors {B3 = .012018, P = .8327 or P > .05} are not value-enhancing in Nigeria’s manufacturing sector. In light of the above, it was concluded that listed companies in the manufacturing sector in Nigeria are not legitimately and strategically investing their resources in social initiatives, and corporate value is consequently not enhanced and maximized.