Post-founder Survival of Indigenous Enterprises and Employment Sustainability in South West Nigeria

Abstract

Sustainable employment contributes substantially to sustainable economic  growth and development. In like manner, indigenous private enterprises aid  sustainable development by contributing to job security and sustainability. While many indigenous enterprises  fold up after the death of their founders, some have been able to outlive their founders. Though many studies have been carried out on factors accounting for business survival when the founders are alive, there is a paucity of research on the factors responsible for the survival of the enterprises after their founders’ demise. Moreover, only a handful of empirical research focus on the contributions of ventures whose founders are deceased to employment sustainability in Nigeria. These were the gaps this study aimed to fill. Drawing on insights from the Co-evolution theory and employing a case study research design, 10 purposively selected surviving post-founder indigenous enterprises (in three purposively selected states) in South West Nigeria were studied. Findings show that enterprises of deceased founders that have been able to co-evolve with their environment through adaptation to societal demands and trends,  amongst others, have been able to remain in operation. Also, these enterprises have contributed to employment sustainability by retaining old staff and creating job opportunities for new job seekers. Five out the 10 post-founder indigenous business ventures currently have above 100 employees; one of the ventures has above 30 employees while three of the ventures have above 10 employees. From the findings of the study, the major reason new employees are needed emanates from current social and economic realities. Despite the fact that technological changes and modern economic trends are contributing to job losses globally, these same factors have accounted for the need for new manpower among postfounder indigenous ventures. These trends necessitate the employment new staff who can fit into the modern requirements of work. Besides, the majority of the ventures have been able to retain long-serving employees. These are employees who have been with the enterprise since the founder’s lifetime. The study  recommends that indigenous enterprises should always tailor their services and products to societal needs in order to remain  sustainable and retain their staff. Sustainable business ventures in turn contribute to both sustainable employment and sustainable
development.

Key words: Indigenous enterprises, Post-founder enterprise continuity, Employment sustainability, Sustainable  development, Nigeria