Problems of Management in the 21st Century, Vol. 17, No.

1, 2022
ISSN 2029-6932 (Print) ISSN 2538-712X (Online)

PROBLEMS OF MANAGEMENT IN
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 PROBLEMS
OF MANAGEMENT

Contents IN THE 21st CENTURY

Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

Editorial

FRAGILITY - RESILIENCE AND ROBUSTNESS - ANTIFRAGILITY: NECESSITY, CHOICE,

OPPORTUNITY OR SOMETHING ELSE IN MANAGEMENT?
Iwona Gorzeń-Mitka .................................................................................................. 4

Articles

NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE IN NIGERIA

Idongesit Oto Eshiett, Oto Eyamba Eshiett ..........................................................................8

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANAGEMENT OF PROCESSES FOR THE ACQUISITION

AND STANDARDIZATION OF PHARMACEUTICAL INGREDIENTS
IN A SCHOOL LABORATORY
Elaine Forgoza, Jorge Magalhães ................................................................................ 25

PEOPLE-CENTRED DEVELOPMENT: THE CASE OF DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

IN PAPUA INDONESIA DURING THE SPECIAL AUTONOMY SYSTEM
Putri Hergianasari, Muhammad Uhaib As'ad, Novriest Umbu W. Nau ..........................................36

PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL: THE CASE OF A PUBLIC ENTITY IN PORTUGAL

Maria da Conceição da Costa Marques .............................................................................48

INNOVATIVENESS AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF SMALL AND

MEDIUM-SIZE ENTERPRISES IN KOGI STATE, NIGERIA
Akeem Tunde Nafiu, Danlami Joseph Aduku, Napoleon Ukwubile Abah ......................................63

THE MANAGEMENT OF DISEASE IN A TRADITIONAL MEDICINE PERSPECTIVE:

THE CASE OF NAMPULA, NORTH OF MOZAMBIQUE
Laura António Nhaueleque ...........................................................................................78

Information

INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS .............................................................................. 90

GAMTAMOKSLINIS UGDYMAS / NATURAL SCIENCE EDUCATION................................93

ISSN 2029-6932 (Print) ISSN 2538-712X (Online)

 This is an open access article under the
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License

PROBLEMS
OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

4
FRAGILITY - RESILIENCE AND
ROBUSTNESS - ANTIFRAGILITY:
NECESSITY, CHOICE, OPPORTUNITY OR
SOMETHING ELSE IN MANAGEMENT?
Iwona Gorzeń-Mitka
Czestochowa University of Technology, Poland
Email: [email protected]

Modern organisations are constantly, even permanently, exposed to unexpected, and of-
ten destructive, events. The level of volatility and uncertainty currently faced by both individu-
als and businesses is so high that the traditional risk-based approach to action planning has be-
come useless (Aven, 2014, Gorzeń-Mitka, 2018). The discussion of organisational resilience in
the context of disruptions occurring unexpectedly in the organisation's environment (Covid-19
pandemic, energy crisis, geopolitical uncertainty) has recently become one of the dominant
themes in management (e.g., Wieczorek-Kosmala et al., 2022).
Management science is primarily concerned with research related to and benefiting from
the experience of business practice. Hence, the search for optimal solutions, often takes place
on the 'living fabric' of organisations. The current situation is no different. On the one hand
(in the face of geopolitical instability in Europe), we observe the fragility of organisations or
hitherto applied solutions (acute disruptions: of supply chains - e.g., of highly processed goods;
of services - e.g., related to global links in the banking system; or related to reorientation in
the energy system). The need for rapid (often radical) change in the organisation proved to be
a condition for its survival. On the other hand, we note a number of effects indicating the high
competence of companies, operating mainly in highly developed economies (such as Europe),
in terms of their flexibility and resilience to highly volatile disruptions (which are undoubtedly
present in Europe). The search for effective ways/methods to increase organisations' level of
preparedness for future crises and build its capacity to turn crises into opportunities has become
more important than ever.
Undoubtedly, SMEs are a group of companies that are very sensitive to the impact of
risk and volatility in the environment. Many of them, especially small companies, have had
to change their business model. Paradoxically, the crisis has become an opportunity for some
of them to move toward more value-added activities. Research and innovation processes have
played a special role in the reorientation of models (Corvello et al. 2022; Sipa, 2019). As Cor-
vello et al. (2022) point out, the implementation of these processes, especially in cooperation
with research institutions, proved to be of great importance in building the antifragility of small
entities.
As Munoz et al. (2022) point out, when faced with unexpected changes in an organiza-
tion's environment, they can experience three different outcomes:
(1) resilience - manifested by an improvement in organisational performance after a
previous decline,
(2) robustness - understood as the organisation's insensitivity to uncertainty (being, along
with resilience, an element of organizational stability), and
(3) antifragility - manifested by an improvement in organisational performance follow-
ing adversity.

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Iwona GORZEŃ-MITKA. Fragility - resilience and robustness - antifragility: Necessity, choice, opportunity or something else in
management?
PROBLEMS
OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

The concepts of fragile and antifragile were proposed by Taleb (2012, 2013) who pointed 5
out, among other things, that under crisis conditions the reactions of complex systems can be
reduced to three possibilities: the system will break (fragile), it will endure without change
(robust), or it will improve (antifragile). A fragile system cannot cope under stress/crisis condi-
tions and the response is failure of the whole system or a significant part of it. In contrast, stress/
crisis factors do not induce changes/breaks in a robust system. However, prolonged stress/
crisis factors can cause damage to systems. In the other hand, systems described as resilient
are characterised by their adaptation to stressful/crisis situations. This is due to their nature
i.e., systems designed with stress/crisis response mechanisms in mind. However, they do not
take into account the element of learning i.e., a change in the intensity of the stressor does not
involve learning the system (the system returns to its original form). As a result, it is necessary
to strive for a state of systems/organisation that is characterised by antifragility, i.e., the ability
of the system to produce a response in which the benefits outweigh the damage resulting from
the stress/crisis situation (so-called convex response) (Taleb, 2012). Thus, antifragile systems
develop under stressful conditions and, using them, create added value for the system/organisa-
tion. While it is true that Taleb (2012) argues that resilience and robustness are similar concepts,
a number of studies take a different view on this topic (Bridge, 2021; Tokalić et al., 2021).
Emphasising the co-existence of these three outcomes is the result of their view of organisa-
tional resilience through the lens of knowledge from uncertainty, risk and its management and
systems theory (Aven, 2014; Größler, 2020).
Undoubtedly, many, both practitioners and researchers, are troubled by the question:
how to keep organization robustness? How do you build antifragility? What variables/factors
stimulate it. An attempt to find an answer was made by Corvello et al. (2022) by studying the
behaviour and actions of small and medium-sized service companies. They identified resources
and capabilities that support the development of the capacity to counter fragility in the organ-
isation. They pointed out the importance of resources such as insufficient financial resources,
numerous and diverse research and innovation partners, operational agility, speed, and creativ-
ity. In contrast, they identified entrepreneurial orientation, contextual insight, and operational
agility as components of antifragility capabilities. Antifragile philosophy is the key to improv-
ing the management of companies based on research and development projects. It may result
in improving the management of this area and, consequently, its development. As a result of a
study by Mardaras et al. (2021), it was verified that the characteristics of an ideal research in-
stitute system with an anti-fragile philosophy are multidisciplinary and autonomous teams and
their ability to react and adapt quickly to changes in the environment.
The discussion on how to pursue organizational antifragility has undoubtedly gained
momentum. These few remarks, of course, do not exhaust the subject matter, but we hope that
they can become a signal of the current intensive needs and research quests in management.
Definitely, we live in stormy times. A sequence of complex disruptions and the co-occur-
rence of unprecedented phenomena undoubtedly pose unprecedented challenges to individual
organisations, economies, regions, or even the world as a whole. At the same time, this situation
creates unprecedented opportunities for researchers, among others, being a source of unique
collections of information about them. We are undoubtedly at a turning point in the discussion
of approaches to managing a business in an unpredictably volatile environment. The succes-
sive economic and geopolitical turbulences and disruptions we are observing seem to confirm
Beck's statement, who described the 21st century as the age of risk (Beck, 2009). The question
of whether fragility, resilience, robustness or antifragility are a necessity, a choice, an opportu-
nity or something else in the management of modern organizations remains open.
I believe that the articles proposed to you in the current issue of PMC, make one's con-
tribution to building knowledge to 'arm' managers with the necessary skills for stormy times.

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 Iwona GORZEŃ-MITKA. Fragility - resilience and robustness - antifragility: Necessity, choice, opportunity or something else in
management?
PROBLEMS
OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

6 References

Aven, T (2014). The concept of antifragility and its implications for the practice of risk analysis. Risk
Analysis, 35(3), 476–483. https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.12279
Beck, U. (2009). World at risk. Policy Press.
Bridge, S. (2021). Facing uncertainty: An entrepreneurial view of the future? Journal of Management and
Organization, 27(2), 312-323. https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2018.65
Corvello, V., Straffalaci, V., & Filice, L. (2022). Small business antifragility: How research and innova-
tion can help survive crises and thrive. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Management, 26(3-4), 252-268. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJEIM.2022.124856
Corvello, V., Verteramo, S., & Giglio, C. (2022). Turning crises into opportunities in the service sector:
How to build antifragility in small and medium service enterprises. TQM Journal, https://doi.
org/10.1108/TQM-12-2021-0364
Gorzen-Mitka, I. (2018). Leading markers of risk culture in organization. European Journal of Sustain-
able Development, 7(1), 425-425. https://doi.org/10.14207/ejsd.2018.v7n1p425
Größler, A. (2020). A managerial operationalization of antifragility and its consequences in supply chains.
Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 37(6), 896-905. https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.2759
Hillmann, J., & Guenther, E. (2021). Organizational resilience: A valuable construct for management
research? International Journal of Management Reviews, 23(1), 7-44. https://doi.org/10.1111/
ijmr.12239
Mardaras, E., Artola, G., Duarte, S., & Otegi-Olaso, J. R. (2021). Antifragile philosophy in R&D proj-
ects: Applying q methodology and the possibility of open innovation. Journal of Open Inno-
vation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 7(4), Article 209. https://www.mdpi.com/2199-
8531/7/4/209
Munoz, A., Billsberry, J., & Ambrosini, V. (2022). Resilience, robustness, and antifragility: Towards an
appreciation of distinct organizational responses to adversity. International Journal of Manage-
ment Reviews, 24(2), 181-187. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12289
Sipa, M. (2019). What factors determine the creativity of employees? The perspective of entities with
a diversified level of innovation. In Proceedings of the 33rd International Business Information
Management Association Conference, IBIMA 2019: Education Excellence and Innovation Man-
agement through Vision 2020 (pp. 9756-9764). IBIMA.
Taleb, N. N. (2013). Philosophy: 'Antifragility' as a mathematical idea. Nature, 494(7438), 430. https://
doi.org/10.1038/494430e
Taleb, N. N. (2012). Antifragile: Things that gain from disorder. Random House.
Tokalić, R., Viđak, M., Kaknjo, M. M., & Marušić, A. (2021). Antifragility of healthcare systems in
Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina: Learning from man-made and natural crises. The Lancet
Regional Health-Europe, 9, Article 100216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2021.100216
Wieczorek-Kosmala, M., Gorzeń-Mitka, I., & Błach, J. (2022). The interruptive power of COVID-19
under a business continuity perspective. In: Florio, C., Wieczorek-Kosmala, M., Linsley, P. M.,
Shrives, P. (Eds), Risk management. Risk, governance and society (Vol. 20). Springer. https://doi.
org/10.1007/978-3-030-88374-4_3

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Iwona GORZEŃ-MITKA. Fragility - resilience and robustness - antifragility: Necessity, choice, opportunity or something else in
management?
PROBLEMS
OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

Received: October 19, 2022 Revised: November 25, 2022 Accepted: December 15, 2022 7

Cite as: Gorzeń-Mitka, I. (2022). Fragility - resilience and robustness - antifragility: Necessity,
choice, opportunity or something else in management? Problems of Management in the 21st
Century, 17(1), 4-7. https://doi.org/10.33225/pmc/22.17.04

Iwona Gorzeń-Mitka PhD, Assistant Professor, Czestochowa University of Technology, J. H.

Dabrowskiego 69 St., Czestochowa, Poland.
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: https://wz.pcz.pl/
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2844-0054

ISSN 2029-6932 (Print) ISSN 2538-712X (Online) https://doi.org/10.33225/pmc/22.17.04

 This is an open access article under the
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License

PROBLEMS
OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

8
NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND
ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE IN
NIGERIA
Idongesit Oto Eshiett
Akwa Ibom State University, Nigeria
Email: [email protected]

Oto Eyamba Eshiett

ICT University, Cameroun
Email: [email protected]

Abstract

The idea of New Product Development (NPD) has its origin from constant changes in consumer preference
and choices based on available products. The changing trend in customer accessibility to information on
product availability and performance driven by Information and Communications Technology (ICT); has
emboldened manufacturing firms to modify their NPD process in line with customers’ needs and wants
for the ultimate purpose of satisfying the end users of their products. The aim objective of this study is to
examine the effect of new product development on organizational performance, additional challenging
issues include; the far-reaching effect of market research, specific allocation of budget for NPD by
manufacturing firms and effective training and re-training of personnel for Research and Development
(R&D). The study evaluates the concept of new product development and organizational performance by
adopting the dynamic capability theory. The descriptive research methodology was adopted in which 302
questionnaires were administered to respondents who were basically staff, distribution intermediaries
and end users of products in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State and Port Harcourt Rivers State.; also, comprehensive
interview was conducted on areas where the questionnaire could not cover effectively. The result of
the study revealed that there was a significant relationship between New Product Development and
organizational performance. The study recommended that key towards outstanding performance by
manufacturing firms ‘lie in their ability to effectively train their personnel to conduct effective market
research to identify the preferences of the consumer, and deliver products that satisfy their exact need, as
a pre-requisite for sustainable performance.
Keywords: new product development, organizational performance, research & development, and
customer

Introduction

The processes involved in establishing new product ideas is the complete introduction
of an entirely new product or extension of existing brand to augment the existing product,
for the ultimate purpose of satisfying customers’ need and wants. New product Development
(NPD) according to dictionary of business management 5th edition could be explained as the
conversion of market openings/ideas into product services readily available to end users. This
conversion process may often involve the adoption of technologically innovative techniques
by firms; in creating product/service needed by their customer, while making profit through the
sale of such products. New products could be in the form of manufactured goods (tangibles)
that can be seen, touched, or physically consumed, or services (intangibles) which involve a

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Idongesit Oto ESHIETT, Oto Eyamba ESHIETT. New product development and organizational performance in Nigeria
PROBLEMS
OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

perceived experience encountered by the customer on service delivered and evaluated within 9
a standardized framework of service offering; calculation based on product cost, production
time taken, and the quality of the product when juxtaposed with rivals within a specific industry
(Kahn, et al. 2012). 
In new product development, a common phenomenon is always adopted for all new
products whether they are physical goods or service experience for the purpose of earning
income for such investments. NPD involves a process which must be carefully followed, this
process is otherwise known as the (Booz, Allen and Hamilton) BAH model. Developed and
published in the 1980’s, this model affirms that all new products must follow the BAH seven
phase processes which include formulation of product strategy, creation of product ideas, Idea
screening and appraisal, business evaluation, development of product phase, testing of product
and commercial production for onward delivery to end users (Bruiyan et al., 2011).
The main cause for the development of new products is the result of changing trends,
consumer preference and awareness, drive to increase or retain market share, volatile business
environment, unpredictable product life cycle and the ever-increasing competitive trends in the
21st century. (Christopher et al., 2004). Hence, for NPD process to be sustainable, firms must
interact with their customers to ascertain the exact needs of the customers. But the dynamism
in global competition amongst industries has been very complex with most firms depending on
introduction of new products as a differentiating factor for growth, winning customer loyalty,
and increase in market share (Carillo &. Franza, 2006, Droge et al., 2000; & Choperana, 1996).
Developing new products in the manufacturing sector has become very complex, based
on stiff national and global competitive trend; hence, management of firms have to re-strategize
their game plan on how to effectively manage the various stages in the existing product life cycle,
in order to retain their market share. (Carillo & Franza, 2006). Additional competitive options
could be the need to shorten the existing product life cycle, make room for introduction of new
products, and make an adequate plan for all-round profitability (Droge et al., 2000). Companies
could also outsmart their business rivals in creating robust supply chain management process,
which ensures that all firm products are first-to-be-introduced in the market. This process will
guarantee the firm the opportunity to increase product prices before competition sets in, gain
a reasonable share of the market, attract the loyalty of its customers, and increase its growth/
profitability (Hilletofth et al., 2009; Choperana, 1996).
The process of developing new products in the service industry has its own special
characteristics, which is void of physical-product based clues and these include; i) Service
Perishability (service cannot be stored or kept for future use as inventory) ii) Intangibility of
Service (service an experience that is consumed at the point of purchasing it), iii) Inseparability
of Service (service products are produced and consumed simultaneously) and iv) Heterogeneity
of Service (service is variable because the pricing depends on the terms of the service provider
(Gronroos, 2001; Lovelock & Wirtz, 2011; Woodroffe, 2003; Ziethmal & Bitner, 2003). Service
delivery in the financial sector is a unique example of product service development; with its
competitiveness and technologically driven innovation offering; customized towards delivering
service to customers (David-West et al., 2018; Hine & Greenaway, 1995; Madeira, 2016). The
advent of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), has tremendously changed the
operational paradigm in the sector, based on changing preferences of banking consumers. In
recent years, banks have made huge investments on procurement of ICT infrastructures and
training of human resources to operate these facilities. Recent development has equipped the
customer to independently engage with the banking platform without assistance from bank
staff; for the purpose of self-service delivery (De Oliveira & Rabechini Jr, 2019; David-West
et al., 2019a; David-West et al., 2019b, Kim et al., 2018, Ouma & Odongo, 2017; & Pollari,
2016).

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 Idongesit Oto ESHIETT, Oto Eyamba ESHIETT. New product development and organizational performance in Nigeria
PROBLEMS
OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

10 Table 1
Previous Conceptualization on New Product Development

Parameter of Measure-
Authors Conceptualization Item of Performance
ment
NPD capabilities, im-
Empirical Study; knowl-
Akroush & Awwad, (2018). provement, and internal Internal Capabilities
edge sharing
learning,

Effectiveness in customer Customer–Centric product Empirical Study; Customer

Chang & Taylor, (2016).
participation development active involvement

Moderating role of best

Empirical Study; Product
Vinayak & Kodali, (2014). practices in the manufac- Innovation in new product
Quality
turing industry

Empirical Study; Solution

Sheperd & Ahmed (2000). Competitive Advantage Innovation in new product
Innovation

Empirical Study; On NPD

Ganeshkumar & Nambira- Supply Chain Manage-
Competitiveness Performance enhance-
jan. (2013). ment
ment tool

Empirical Study; On Per-

Smith & Bititci. (2017).  Employee Engagement Internal Capabilities
formance Measurement

Homburg, Alavi, Rajab & Research & Development Empirical Study; On Con-

Internal Capabilities
Wieseke. (2017). R&D tingent Co-operation

Hilletofth1, Ericsson, Olli-

Flexible Automation Supply Chain Manage- Empirical Study; Intelligent
Pekka & Hedenstierna.
process ment Manufacturing
(2009).

Droge, Jayaram & Vickery. Effective customer Aware- Empirical Study; Timing of
Product Introduction
(2000). ness of new product New Product

Effective customer involve-

Customer–Centric product Empirical Study; On mar-
Ateke & Iruka. (2015). ment in product develop-
development keting performance
ment

The aforementioned studies were conceptualization on investigation specifically

conducted by researchers in the product service sector. In manufacturing, there have also been
documented evidence as shown in table 1, such as introduction of new product (Droge et al.,
2000), enhancing internal and external capabilities, knowledge sharing and internal learning,
(Akroush & Awwad, 2018; Smith & Bititci, 2017; Homburg et al., 2017), innovative and
creative ideas in new product development (Vinayak & Kodali, 2014; Sheperd & Ahmed, 2000),
effectiveness of customer participation in new product development (Ateke & Iruka, 2015;
Chang & Taylor, 2016), effective supply chain management (Ganeshkumar & Nambirajan,
2013; Hilletofth et al., 2009) and the relationship between innovation and performance; the
moderating role of best practices in the manufacturing industry (Vinayak & Kodali, 2014).
The foregoing empirical studies have shown that research on product development in the
noodle manufacturing sector in Nigeria is very scanty, hence this research is conducted based
on the need to fill a huge literature gap. This study critically examines new product development
and organizational performance by encouraging firms to embark on aggressive market research
on customer need and wants, as a prerequisite for sustainable new product development and
customer satisfaction in Nigeria.

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Problem Statement 11

The broad aim of business organizations is the provision of product/services to

their customers at profit. Profit made by firms is most often shared amongst stakeholders
(shareholders, management, employees, and community social responsibility). A percentage
of profit made by firms is most often ploughed back for future expansion and development; a
part of this development includes budgetary allocation to research and development towards the
development of new products. New product development as important as it is to the growth of
organizations, has certain setbacks that most manufacturing firms find it difficult to implement
and this includes the under-listed items.
The core basis of new product and product line extension lies in the ability of firms
to create a robust market research team which has the core mandate of investigating on the
perceived limitations of existing products, and how the customer will prefer future product;
procurement, production, packaging, delivery and after sales service to be delivered by the
firm. The problem most production firms have is either a sub-optimal market research team or a
non-existing one. This challenge has led to failure of new products as a result of such products
lacking the ability to address customers’ needs and wants, poor strategy management and late
product launch / arrival in the market.
Also, the issue of funding new product development has become a core challenge. Most
manufacturing firms have their various research and development teams without necessary
budgetary allocation to this unit for the acquisition of needed infrastructural facilities/equipment
and overhead cost for the creation of new products or product line extension. Sometimes, where
such budgetary allocations are made, the funds are either diverted to other expense head or the
projects are underfunded. This has led to existing products lacking in their capacity to compete
effectively with their national and global rivals.
A key index in the development of new products or extension of existing product line
is the exposure of personnel to effective training and retraining for the purpose of empowering
such personnel to acquire new skill and competence in; processing, equipment handling, quality
control, packaging, delivery and feedback processes. Where effective training of key production
personnel is not encouraged by management, the firm will find it difficult if not impossible to
compete with its peers.

Research Aim

The aim of the study was to determine the effect of new product development in the
performance of Indomie Nigeria Plc, additional aim also includes the fact that:
● There is no significant effect between market research and the performance of
Indomie Nigeria Plc.
● Funding for new product development has no effect on the performance of Indomie
Nigeria Plc.
● Training and re-training of personnel has no significant effect on the performance of
Indomie Nigeria Plc.

Literature Review

Concept of New Product Development (NPD)

New product development (NPD) is a process that requires objective and analytical
application of a coordinated line of activities, approach and procedure (Chang & Taylor, 2016;
Kahn et al. 2012). This explains that a successful NPD process must have basic features takeoff

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12 changing the market trends as it affects the; customer (pre and post sales services), suppliers,
trending technology and competitors based on the opportunities presented by the assumed
product to be developed (Chang & Taylor, 2016; Cooper, 2014; Cooper, 1988).
Kotler et al., (2018) defined new product development as a process of evolving an
entirely new product, transforming an existing product to reflect refinement of ideas, alteration
of certain product features, and creating new varieties of product/services by a firm, based on
its new product development strive.
The authors further explained the essence of new product development as attributing
added value to the customers and the firms’ sales force, while satisfying the customer on one
hand and adding increased profitability to the firms that own the new product. In the 21st century,
marketplace, embarking on new product development has become a major window for firms’
growth, productivity, and accomplishments (Kotler et al., 2018).
Chang and Taylor (2018) posited that the term new product development connotes the
process of adapting current technological tools in converting creative product ideas into finished
products, readily available at the customers’ disposal. It is the point at which new products are
launched into the market.
Ansoff (1987) also explained that new product development has its core focal point
on the needs and wants of present customers and also, on how to utilize such opportunity in
reaching out to the global markets based on industrial trends.
Sheperd and Ahmed (2000) explain new product development by reflecting on the past
trends which were a resultant effect of the changing cycles in marketing concepts. The authors
observed that in the current periods new product developments have been driven by the dynamic
rate in technological changes; with the ultimate emphasis of providing quality products that
appeal directly to customers; needs and wants before and after product service delivery.
David et al., (2015) posited that in-spite of the merits of new product developments, there
are certain setbacks that have made such huge efforts, innovations, funding, and time complete
waste based on the high cost and risk involved in venturing into new product development. The
author further stated that; based on documented evidence, about 60% of basically all the new
product/services initiated by outstanding organization most often fail, also about two -thirds of
such ideas are never established.
In recent years, well established firms, such as Google, Apple, and Microsoft have
further expanded their R&D units to include the creation of laboratories for other sub-units
under R&D to also include research, development, and innovation to assist in their endeavors
on development of new products. This has led to greater appreciation by end users through
increased sales, and also returns to the firms in terms of profitability, product acceptance by
customers, increase in market share and consumption (Cuervo-Cazurra et al., 2018; Santoro et
al., 2017; Homburg et al., 2017).
Retrospectively, a well-coordinated NPD process must have underlying features such
as in-depth analysis of the basic necessities of products, a comprehensive undertaking by the
new product research team to unravel the exact needs and wants of customers, thoroughly
understanding the defects at every stage of the life cycle of the outgoing and yet-to-be-launched
product, exhaustively undertaking a study on the changing trends as well as suppositions
about the product. To this end, certain activities must be conducted, such as customer feelings
and anticipations, good product designs, ascertainment of the project requirement, studying
existing blueprints and experimental ideas, actual project test tries and debut and product
accomplishments evaluation (Ateke & Iruka, 2015).
The success of new products is a combination of shared effort pf all stakeholders in the
organization, particular mention should be made on the effort of the new product manager and
the team working together to achieve a successful launch of the product. The manager must be
creative and apt to ensure that the right product development decisions are taken and on time to
avert failure of new product (Naghi-Ganji et. al., 2017).

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Concept of Organizational Performance 13

Organizational performance explains a process of ascertaining that a given level of input
to attain some level of output based on the task required to achieve set objectives by; personnel,
unit, or organization Harris et al., (2003). The determination of organizational performance
standard is most often preset by the firms’ top management in charge of strategic decisions such
as the duties and responsibilities of key personnel, expectations on staff conducts, remuneration
attached to each position, (Mettler & Rohner, 2009; Smith & Bititci, 2017).  The effective
performance (productivity) of personnel and reward (remuneration) process in any organization
must be carefully planned and well-defined, to encourage effective service delivery through
teamwork/collaborations rather than internal rivalry (Peacock et al., 2020; Smith & Bititci,
2017; Zaffron & Steve, 2009).
Van Decker et al., (2017) defined organizational performance as a process of obtaining
solutions through effective planning by management of firms on the basic sectors in which
an organization revolves, includes; crafting of strategy, current business plans and future
projections, management of finances, as well as product distribution and logistics management.
Ateke and Iruka, (2015), posited organizational performance to mean a process of
evaluating new product performance is based on how profitable the new product is to the firm,
competitiveness of a new product with rivals, increase in market share, how customers are
satisfied with the product, the level of product usage by customers and effectiveness of feedback
and after sales process.
The foregoing explains what organizational performance means, the evaluation of
Product performance itself therefore refers to; how much a product accomplishes in the market
amongst its rivals based on various indices, such as effect of new product development on
customer adoption, the retention of users, quantum of market share acquired based on new
product, extent to which customers are assuaged, premium generated by firm on new products
when compared to its rivals, level of profitability as well as pre and post sales service delivery
process (Ganeshkumar & Nambirajan, 2013; Namusonge et al, 2017; Schilling & Hill, 1998).
Hence, for firms to make dynamic progress with the introduction of new products, certain
goals must be accomplished by optimizing its net earnings from sale of new product based on
satisfied customers’ expectation and ensuring that a robust Supply Chain Management (SCM)
system is established to ensure that new products are made available to customers on time
ahead of rival products. This feat can be easily accomplished through a robust strategic plan
on how the Research and Development (R&D) unit on new products can accomplish set tasks
(Namusonge et al., 2017; Schilling & Hill, 1998).

History of Indomie Nigeria Public Limited Company (Plc)

Indomie is one of the global brands of instant noodle from Indonesia. The company has
about 18 companies across the globe with the Nigerian brand produced since 1995 under Dufil
Prima Foods. Indomie has rightly upheld its vision statement of wanting to become the trusted
consumer food brand in lead of the instant noodle market globally. The total quantum of noodle
packets produced annually from these factories is about 15 billion, while the product is also
exported from Indonesia to a dozen of countries. In Nigeria, the company has three (3) factories
strategically located in Kaduna (North Central), Ogun State (South-West and Porth Harcourt,
Rivers State (South-South) Nigeria.
Indomie is a market leader in the noodle industry in Nigeria, delivering its noodle brand
across the country, providing job opportunities, and impacting the lives of Nigerians through its
robust Community Social Responsibility (CSR) programs.

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14 In line with this study, Indomie is a key industrial player with creative/innovative
capacity that has done more in terms of new product development that is in line with customers
through its delightsome taste, improved product quality and strict adherence to customers’
preference in its new product development stride. Some of its popular brands include Standard
pack, super-pack, Hungry-man belle-full, Relish and with outstanding flavor such as: Onion
Flavor, Chicken Flavor, Indomitable.

Theoretical Framework – Organizational Dynamic Capability Theory (DCT)

The main essence for examining theoretical concept in any study is to establish a basis in
which the study derives its foundation. Hence the DCT theory explains about the potentiality of
an organization to persistently consolidate on its internal/external capabilities for the purpose of
addressing dynamic trends within the environ (David et al., 1997; Helfat et al., 2009).
The proposition for this theory connotes that the organizational capabilities of such
organization should be harnessed towards generating momentary competitive disposition that
will evolve into an enduring competitive edge (Douma &  Schreuder, 2002; Nelson, 1982).
This capability explains the need for firms to efficiently determine to create sustainable human
and material resources in its operational processes, this involves crafting strategies to handle
technologically-driven dynamic changes in the industry, example; whenever changes occur
in industry, managers are expected to formulate policies (operational, financial and logistic)
that will keep the firm balanced between existing technology and acquiring new technological
innovational processes (Basiouni et al., 2019; David et al, 1997; Douma & Schreuder, 2002;
Ludwig & Pemberton, 2011; Nelson, 1982).  
A swift move by other authors has suggested the advent of ‘The New Dynamic Capabilities’
which suggests the adaptation of firms’ capabilities in mobilizing and modifying their needs by
making provision to outsource for external resources, where such needs cannot be provided
for internally, and as such still leverage in its position, market share and profitability within
the industry. This method is currently practiced with outstanding successes by Apple, Google
Android, and IBM Linux (Shuen & Sieber, 2009; Shuen, 2008). This new approach gives due
consideration to changing trends in Information and communication technology (ICT) and cost
savings arising from using previous methods in which the operational paradigm was based on
internal capabilities (Shapiro & Varian, 1998; Williamson, 2009). Other authors believe that
the above proposition on ‘the new capabilities’ as it applies to management of organizations
product operations is not exhaustive, and hence still needs additional investigation (Basiouni,
2012; Cordes-Berszinn, 2013). Others see the proposition on the model as mere rhetoric and
superfluous (Wang, 2007; Wheeler, 2002).

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Figure 1 15
Application of New Product Development

Adapted: Garbuz E, (2018), Theory of New Product and its Applications, https://doi.org 10.5772/
intechopen.74527

It is quite interesting to note that, while the critiquing of the new dynamic capability
proposition is on-going, the theory still remains for now the best available approach for firms to
tackle dynamic changes in business domain, hence a tough challenge in the operationalization
of this theory. Lawson, (2001), Figure. 1 shows how the dynamic Capability Theory is adapted
to the Gurbuz, theory (2018), by consistently consolidating on internal/external capabilities,
to create sustainable competitive edge beyond its rivals (Basiouni et. al., 2019; Douma
& Schreuder, 2002; Helfat et al., 2009).
The new product development framework which adapts the eight stages of the basic
NPD process of ‘Idea Generation for new product; (this involves effective and dynamic market
research to create customer driven product), Idea Evaluation (screening new products to
ensure it guarantees anticipated sales volume, and steady profitability), Concept Development
(transforming product concept to brand concept), Marketing Strategy (detail plan to introduce
product based on identified target markets), Business Analysis (envisage product attractiveness
to ensure it is in line with organizational objectives), Product Development (transforming new
product ideas into physical product brand), Test Marketing (product is launched into the market
to test its acceptability by customers, channel intermediaries and rivals) and Commercialization’
in product development.
It is expected that managers should make efficient decisions at the end of each stage
based on available information and resources. Hence, this theory culminates with the fact that
organizational performance could be significantly impacted by new product development based
on augmented sales volume, increased market shares over rivals, and all-round profitability.

Research Methodology

The study adopts the descriptive research approach in which structured questionnaire
was administered in two different locations; Port Harcourt, Rivers State where the production

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16 plant is located and Uyo Akwa Ibom State. The challenge in this study was the cost implication
aspect of conducting personal interviews in two different locations; interviews became
necessary to cover all aspects that the structured questionnaire could not accommodate
effectively (Saunders et al., (2009); Probability sample approaches became necessary, to afford
the chance of the selected locations equal opportunity to be chosen from the entire population
of the study Saunders et. al., (2009); hence, cluster/random sampling technique was adopted by
stratifying the samples from both locations to ensure that, it shows a proper representation of
the population under consideration (Liedtka, 1992; Patton, 2002).
Based on Krejcie and Morgan (1970) proposition on how to determine the sample size
for finite population at 95 Percent level of confidence the sample for the study is 263 based on
a population frame of 2800. The respondents under consideration were; employees, channel
intermediaries and the customers; it was quite necessary to access these respondents to enhance
appropriate data collection Robson, (2002).
To ensure credibility and dependability of the study, the research instruments were
subjected to validity and reliability test (Mitchell, 1996; Robson, 2002); by deploying the
services of scholars in the field of marketing, to ensure the authenticity of the research instrument
used for the study (Field, 2005; Taherdoost, 2016).

Method of Data Collection, Presentation and Analysis

Primary (questionnaires and personal interviews) and secondary (journals, books, and
periodicals) sources of information were deployed in obtaining data for the study. Data collected
from both was analyzed confirming the relationship between the variables of the construct. Table
1 shows a breakdown of data collected which indicates that; out of 302 questionnaires issued
to respondents, 263 questionnaires representing 87% were returned, and were valid for use in
the study, 23 questionnaires representing 8% were not returned at all, while 16 questionnaires
representing 5% were unacceptable for the study due to cancellation, mutilation, and observable
errors by the respondents in the process of filling the questionnaires,

Table 2
Respondents Rate Table

Questionnaires Number of questionnaires Percentage of questionnaires

Returned 263 87
Rejected 16 5
Not returned 23 8
Total 302 100

Research Results

Based on the outcome of the analysis of the data collected for the study, the results for
each of the three (3) hypotheses analyzed are outlined in the tables below;

Hypothesis One

There is no significant effect between market research and the performance of Indomie
Nigeria Plc.

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Table 3 17
Correlation

New Product Development Market Research

Pearson Correlation 1.000 .863

New Product development
p .000
N 263 263

Pearson Correlation .863 1.000

Market Research
p .000
N 263 263
**. Correlation is significant at the .01 level (2-tailed).

The correlations coefficient analysis obtained was .863, which indicates that market
research has a significant effect on the new product development in Indomie Nigeria Plc. The
sample represented by N used for the analysis was 263, the level of significance of the study
or otherwise known as the p value of the study is 0.000 which is less than the 0.05 alpha level
of significance. Hence, the outcome of the analysis affirms that there is a positive correlation
between the dependent and independent variables. The analysis result summary could be
expressed as follows; [r = .863, n = 263, p < .0005].

Hypothesis Two

Funding for new product development has no effect on the performance of Indomie
Nigeria Plc

Table 4
Correlation

New Product Development Funding

Pearson Correlation 1.000 .711

New Product Development
p .000
N 263 263

Pearson Correlation .711 1.000

Funding
p .000
N 263 263
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

The outcome of the correlation coefficient analysis obtained which is represented by r

was .711, which reveals funding has facilitating effect on new product development in Indomie
Nigeria Plc. The sample represented by N used for the analysis was 263, the level of significance
of the study the p value was 0.000, which is less than the 0.05 alpha level of significance.
Considerably, the result of the study analysis confirms that there is a significant relationship
between the dependent and independent variables. The outcome of the correlation analysis
could be summarized as, [ r = .711, n = 263, p < .0005].

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18 Hypothesis Three

Training and re-training has no significant effect on the performance of Indomie Nigeria
Plc

Table 5
Correlations

New Product DevelopmentTraining and Re-Training

Pearson Correlation 1.000 .702

New Product Development
p .000
N 263 263

Pearson Correlation .702 1.000

Training and Re-Training
p .000
N 263 263
**. Correlation is significant at the .01 level (2-tailed).

The outcome of the correlation coefficient analysis obtained which is represented by

r was .702, which reveals that there is a significant effect of training and re-training on new
product development in Indomie Nigeria Plc. The sample represented by N used for the analysis
was 263, the level of significance of the study the p value was 0.000, which is less than the 0.05
alpha level of significance. Consequently, the result of the study analysis affirms that there is a
significant relationship between the dependent and independent variables. The outcome of the
correlation analysis could be summarized as, [r = .702, n = 263, p < .0005].

Discussion

This study findings and discussions are drawn from the objectives of the study, which
set out to determine the effect of new product development in the performance of Indomie
Nigeria Plc, as well as the outcome of the analysis of the variables, which examined the effect of
market research in organizational performance. The result of the study revealed that there was
a positive relationship between market research and the performance of Indomie Nigeria Plc.
Based on the study findings in hypothesis one, the result states that market research on
new product development has a significant effect on the performance of Indomie Nigeria Plc,
as summarized; [r = .863, n = 263, p < .0005].
● The results of the correlation analysis .863 indicates a positive statistical value
for market research as a key index to be considered in new product development,
effective market research will result in sustainable products that are customer driven
Douma et al., (1982), hence consistent patronage that will increase customers’
satisfaction and profitability to the firm (Shuen & Sieber, 2009; Shuen, 2008).

Consequently, the outcome of the study in hypotheses two also revealed that funding for
new product development has a facilitating effect on the organizational performance of Indomie
Nigeria Plc, and summarized as follows; [r = .711, n = 263, p < .0005].
● The result of the correlation analysis in hypothesis two reveals that funding of new
products ideas by firms shows a dwindling trend in Nigeria, Ateke and Iruka, (2015),

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the research and development unit is the engine room where new product ideas are 19
transformed into reality Helfat et al., (2009); but where funding is lacking, it gives
room to competing products from abroad to out stage existing locally made products.
The outcome of the analysis shows a statistically established correlation coefficient
of .711.
Apparently, the result of the analysis of the null hypothesis three shows that training and
re-training of personnel on new product development has a significant effect on the organization
performance of Indomie Nigeria Plc, this is also summarized as [r = .702, n = 263, p < .0005].
● The outcome of the correlation analysis in hypothesis three reveals that there is an
interrelationship between training of personnel and organizational performance;
(Shapiro & Varian, 1998; Williamson, 2009) this is shown on positive statistical
value of .702; Training and re-training of personnel increase productivity and
position of the organization to compete effectively with rival products from abroad
(Alojairi, 2019; Naghi et al, 2017).

Theoretically, the DCT theory enhances organizational competitive edge by adopting

technologically proven methods of production in the industry Helfat et al., (2009), ensuring
that environmentally sustainable processes are adopted (David et al., (1997). DCT also
encourages firms to effectively manage their production changeover processes from manual to
technologically driven production processes to ensure organizational balance (Basiouni et al.,
2019; Ludwig & Pemberton, 2011; Helfat et al., (2009). The foregoing confirms the adaptation
of a completely new theory, (DCT) which was never considered by previous studies. In essence,
this proposition will help in filling the theoretical gap in previous investigations conducted by
other studies.
Empirically, most of the studies undertaken were based on critical examination of
introduction of new product Droge et al., (2000), enhancing internal and external capabilities,
knowledge sharing and internal learning, (Akroush & Awwad, 2018; Smith & Bititci, 2017;
Homburg et al., 2017), innovative and creative ideas in new product development, (Vinayak
&  Kodali, 2014; Sheperd & Ahmed, 2000), effectiveness of customer participation in new
product development (Ateke & Iruka, 2015; Chang & Taylor, 2016), effective supply chain
management (Ganeshkumar & Nambirajan, 2013; Hilletofth et al., 2009) and the relationship
between innovation and performance: the moderating role of best practices in the manufacturing
industry Vinayak and  Kodali (2014). None of these studies holistically evaluated the link
between new product development and its significant effect on organizational performance in
Nigeria.
In essence, the implication of the study based on its findings confirms that, implementation
of effective market research, provision of funding and training/re-training of personnel on new
product development could enhance the overall organizational performance of Indomie Nigeria
Plc.

Conclusions and Recommendations

The study holistically examined the effect of new product development on organizational
performance. It revealed that conducting effective market research on the needs and wants
of consumers, budgetary allocation and implementation and training/re-training of personnel
could aid the firm to ‘weather the storm’ of competitiveness in the industry and harness its
market leadership in the industry.
The study was conducted in Port Harcour, Rivers State and the urban and semi-urban
areas of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. The detailed information was gathered using questionnaire as
a research instrument, 263 questionnaires were received from the field. The study hypotheses

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20 were tested; data collected were subjected to statistical analysis using Pearson Correlation
Analysis. The outcome of the study indicates a positive relationship between the dependent and
independent variables.
Based on the study outcome, it is quite revealing that the actualization of customer
satisfaction through sustainable product life cycle could be achieved by; effective and customer-
centric market research on new products, provision of funding for the procurement of resources
needed to develop new products and the training/re-training of personnel required to implement
the development of new products. These activities could trigger the growth of the firm and by
extension industrial revolution in Nigeria. Based on the findings of this study, the following
was made;
i) To enhance increasing level of organizational performance in Indomie Nigeria Plc.
Shareholders should make available funding to R & D unit to conduct effective market
research that will reveal the exact need and wants of the consumers.
● Implication;
The increase in budgetary allocation to customer-driven new product development
will increase the organizational internal/external capabilities in effectively competing with
proliferated products from abroad; through confidence building in customers, through improved
product quality and effective customer engagement. Market research that is customer driven
could produce sustainable products that could compete effectively with global rivals.

ii) Funding provided should be reasonably deployed into effective market research of
customer-driven products, required technology/equipment, and human resources required
for the implementation of the new product ideas.
● Implication;
The acquisition of state-of-the-art technology in new product development will position
the firm to compete effectively with global rivals, it will aid the firm in transferring new
technology to local employees and in expanding the economies of scale production amongst
operational firms.

iii) Effective training and re-training of personnel handling new product development
is essential to the organizational performance. This will reduce cost of production and
enhance competitiveness with global rivals.
● Implication:
Training and re-training of personnel by firms makes new product development
successful. It makes room for increased productivity and boosts the confidence of
stakeholders in firm’s ability to meet its set organizational objectives.
The NPD winning strategy adopted by Indomie Nigeria Plc is the customization of its
new products to reflect the cultural, social, economic diversities within the framework of the
Nigerian society. Each of the new products introduced by the firm such as (Standard pack,
super-pack, Hungry-man belle-full, Relish and with outstanding flavor such as: Onion Flavor,
Chicken Flavor, Indomitable), is to address socio/cultural and economic realities, and create
new noodle products that reflect on these realities. In achieving success and competitive edge,
the firm has expanded its operational activities, by creating differentiated products that match its
target market. This strategy has increased the companies’ earnings, boosted its growth and the
entire sector; as well as increased shareholders confidence in firm’s ability to deliver dividend
on investments at all times.

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Idongesit Oto ESHIETT, Oto Eyamba ESHIETT. New product development and organizational performance in Nigeria
PROBLEMS
OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

Acknowledgements 21

The author{s] quite appreciate the company under study Indomie Nigeria Plc, for the
opportunity to allow us access to the production plant in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and all the
distribution intermediaries in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria to conduct this research effectively.

Declaration of Interest

The authors declare no competing interest.

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Received: May 01, 2022 Revised: October 07, 2022 Accepted: November 30, 2022

Cite as: Eshiett, I. O., & Eshiett, O. E. (2022). New product development and
organizational performance in Nigeria. Problems of Management in the 21st Century,
17(1), 8-24. https://doi.org/10.33225/pmc/22.17.08

Idongesit Oto Eshiett PhD, Lecturer, Department of Marketing, Faculty of Management and
(Corresponding author) Social Sciences, Akwa Ibom State University, Akwa Ibom State Nigeria.
Email: [email protected]
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3375-1356

Oto Eyamba Eshiett Lecturer, Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management

Sciences, ICT University, Messassi, Yaunde, Cameroun.
Email: [email protected]

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 This is an open access article under the
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License

PROBLEMS
OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANAGEMENT OF 25

PROCESSES FOR THE ACQUISITION AND

STANDARDIZATION OF PHARMACEUTICAL
INGREDIENTS IN A SCHOOL LABORATORY
Elaine Forgoza, Jorge Magalhães
Professional Postgraduate Program in Management, Research and Development in
Pharmaceutical Industry at Institute of Drugs Technology/Farmanguinhos, Oswaldo
Cruz Foundation/Fiocruz, Brazil
E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract

The pharmaceutical industry is a dynamic sector in terms of innovation and management. The
sector generates around US$ 1.5 trillion a year. In this sense, continuous improvement actions in the
management of its processes are constantly present. However, the training of its professionals permeates
strict knowledge in the field of quality, pharmaceutical legislation, and public health since education
generates knowledge and provides innovation. Therefore, studying quality management, processes and
innovation for the education sector and industry are fundamental for companies and organizations in the
health area in the 21st century to improve the management of the acquisition of inputs. The results point
to gains for the implementation of the Guideline for Standardization and Acquisition of pharmaceutical
ingredients in their respective processes.
Keywords: knowledge management, process control, quality management, pharmaceutical laboratory

Introduction

Until the 20th century, the pharmaceutical industry produced its medicines by hand.
Doctors and pharmacists were the main producers (Halas & Sampaio, 2020). An extremely
important factor for its unfolding was research and its innovation process, since the constitution
of the competition pattern of this industry took place through the launch of new or improved
products (Bastos, 2005; Halas & Sampaio, 2020).
At the end of the 19th century, the world pharmaceutical sector began to organize itself
based on the chemical revolution. According to Achilladelis and Antonakis (2001), in the
years 1820-1880, the first generation of pharmaceutical innovations appeared on the European
continent, introduced by the researcher Lavoisier and the French School of Chemistry (Basil
Achilladelis, 2001; Kornis et al., 2014). After 1945, with the end of World War II, there was a
pharmacological explosion and the emergence of the North American pharmaceutical industry,
which inherited the spoils of the German pharmaceutical sector, focusing on chemical synthesis.
Pharmaceutical industries began to restructure their strategy. Queiroz and Velásquez (2001),
companies began to invest in R&D of new drugs (1st stage), industrial production of these
inputs (2nd stage), as well as in the production of pharmaceutical specialties (3rd stage) and
marketing and commercialization (4th stage).
With the entry of the third generation of innovation, there was an intensification of
research, with the adoption of intensive marketing methods aimed at doctors, hospitals, and
pharmacies. In this way, the fourth generation innovations emerged, resulting from the change

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 Elaine FORGOZA, Jorge MAGALHÃES. Improvement in the management of processes for the acquisition and standardization of
pharmaceutical ingredients in a school laboratory
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OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
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26 in the scientific basis of the chemical and pharmacology industry with the life sciences (Kornis
et al., 2014).
Thus, with the increase in innovations, the pharmaceutical market became concentrated,
moving from broader competition to oligopoly. With this advance, the US emerges as the leader
of the world pharmaceutical industry, even after the reconstruction of Europe. This fact was
provided by the favorable institutional environment, which enabled technological innovations
(Antunes, AMS & Magalhaes, JL, 2008). In this perspective, the world scenario, after the Second
World War, served as the cradle for the modern pharmaceutical company, with an increase in
the competitiveness of companies through strategies of internationalization of their activities.
Industries have gained a leadership position in the development of corporate structures and
marketing and sales practices. This fact guaranteed the return on investments in research and
development and the profitability of the pharmaceutical industry worldwide (Magalhaes, JL et
al., 2008).
According to Vargas et al. (2012), the world's pharmaceutical industries have adopted
management strategies, such as: centralized decision-making process, with the global
decentralization of the productive sector and Research and Development (R&D); achieving
global economies of scale and scope through acquisitions and mergers; and diversification
of productive activity through the production of generic and unethical drugs. In addition,
the pharmaceutical sector used market dominance to acquire technology externally, through
licensing agreements, R&D contracts, joint ventures, alliances and acquisitions of biotechnology
companies (Kornis et al., 2014).
For the effectiveness of pharmaceutical products, an entire regulatory framework is
issued by health surveillance agencies, as well as all training of skills and professionals in the
area are governed by multidisciplinary areas such as chemistry, biology, pharmacy, and others,
as the pharmacy is the main area (Souza & Gomes Filho, 2020).
Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) are a set of procedures aimed at reducing the
risks inherent in production practices, being a constituent part of Quality Assurance intended to
be an instrument by which it is ensured that products are consistently produced and controlled
with high quality standard (Calarge et al., 2007). This concept of GMP emerged in 1941, when
there was a failure in the recall of an antibiotic that had cross contamination in its formulation,
leading to the death of 300 people in the USA. As a result, the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) was asked to initiate a review of manufacturing requirements, where the production
process should have greater control over its production. However, it was only in 1973 that the
GMP began to have legal support in the United States and companies began to verify their
compliance to avoid sanctions by the supervisory bodies (FDA Guidance for Industry: Process
Validation: General Principles and Practices - ECA Academy, 2011). Nevertheless, quality
standards are important and strict requirements to be managed by professionals in the sector.
Good Manufacturing Products (GMP) are the main requirements that guide pharmaceutical
production.
Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) are applied to test facilities that carry out studies
required by regulatory bodies for the registration of pesticides, pharmaceuticals, food and feed
additives, cosmetics, veterinary products, industrial chemicals, genetically modified organisms
- GMOs, aiming to assess their environmental risk and human health (FDA Guidance for
Industry: Process Validation: General Principles and Practices - ECA Academy, 2011). As
this study is based on a technical course, whose practical classes take place in a laboratory,
professors, students and employees must pay attention to (GLP), to guarantee the quality of
the process of using and handling medication and to minimize human errors resulting from the
lack of standardization ( National Service for Commercial Learning Laboratory School, 2021).
Given that, considering that the 21st century has in vogue the issue of the knowledge
era, companies increasingly need effective and innovative processes to remain in a global

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Elaine FORGOZA, Jorge MAGALHÃES. Improvement in the management of processes for the acquisition and standardization of
pharmaceutical ingredients in a school laboratory
PROBLEMS
OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

competitive environment and ensure the quality of the services provided (Magalhaes, JL & 27
Quoniam, 2015). Likewise, the search for excellence in processes must permeate institutions
through quality management, as well as the training of skills that will work in this segment.
Therefore, this work aimed to contribute to the identification and proposition of a better
management in the processes of acquisition of Pharmaceutical ingredients for the Laboratory
School of a Brazilian institution.

Research Methodology

Research is characterized by an applied, qualitative, and exploratory nature. It seeks

to identify the application of theoretical concepts about flow in the productive process of the
National Service for Commercial Learning Laboratory School (SENAC - Brazilian term). The
state of the art took place in indexed databases, such as SciELO and Scopus. The keywords
involved "Education", "Technical Education", "Pharmaceutical Industry in Brazil", "World
Pharmaceutical Industry", "School laboratory", "Good Manufacturing Practices", "Quality
Tools", "Pharmaceutical Inputs” and “Good Manufacturing”.
The temporal scope of the research was between October 2021 and November 2022.
For the analysis of the retrieved documents, specific manuscripts for education, quality,
pharmaceutical production, and Good Laboratory Practices were segregated. Data were
processed in Microsoft 365 - excel, version 2211 and subsequently read and analyzed.

Research Results

The pharmaceutical industry is a sector that grows annually. Regardless of economic or

health crises, the sector innovates and increases its participation in public health (J. Magalhães
et al., 2020). The sector generates around US$ 1.5 trillion a year (Quintiles IMS Institute
Forecast, 2022). Given the relevance for humanity, in 1975, the World Health Organization, in
the 28th Assembly, determined that it was mandatory to adopt Good Manufacturing Practices
(GMP) and Quality Control of Medicines, likewise, implement a Quality Certification System
for Pharmaceutical Products in the international trade of health supplies. Thus, all member
states were obliged to apply the requirements set out in these documents (WHO, 2008).
In Brazil, GMP regulation is coordinated and supervised by the National Health
Surveillance Agency (ANVISA). All drug manufacturers must comply with the guidelines of
the Technical Regulation of Good Practices for the Manufacture of Medicines (Brasil, 2001).
Regarding the regulatory norms applied to the SENAC School Laboratory, the following were
identified: theoretical foundations of quality, quality management system, quality tools and
good manufacturing practices. The compiled and summarized data are shown in Table 1:

Table 1
Sanitary Guides to the Pharmaceutical Industry

Brazilian General Guidelines for Good Manufacturing Practices for Medicines Year

ANVISA – RDC 658 2022

INMETRO NIT- DICLA 035 2019
Source: (ANVISA, 2022)

Concerning the SENAC pedagogical model, applied to professionals to be trained for the
pharmaceutical sector, the documents listed in table 2 were identified.

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 Elaine FORGOZA, Jorge MAGALHÃES. Improvement in the management of processes for the acquisition and standardization of
pharmaceutical ingredients in a school laboratory
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IN THE 21st CENTURY
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28 Table 2
SENAC Pedagogical Model for Professional Pharmaceutical Class

SENAC Pedagogical Model Year

Technical Course Plan in Pharmacy Professional Techni-
2015
cal Qualification at Medium Level
Source: (SENAC, 2021).

Regarding the professional to be trained to work in the pharmaceutical market, he must

be a professional specialized in the area, but with a holistic and multidisciplinary view. The areas
of science are correlational and the presence of transdisciplinary skills increasingly strengthens
the specific sector, contributing to the management and innovation of its processes and services
(Araujo et al., 2022; J. L. Magalhães et al., 2014; Pesqueira et al., 2020).
Education in some world societies is considered as a simple service that a party (State or
private companies) offer to clients or consumers (D. Silva et al., 2018). In the United States of
America (USA) this change assumes an air of normality and naturalness and of supposedly new
and original activities (Ravitch, 2011; D. Silva et al., 2018).
The main characteristics of professional education in some countries that are among the
seven largest economies in the world are: United States, Germany Japan, France, and United
Kingdom - with a focus on England (table 3).

Table 3
Main Characteristics of Professional Education in the Main World Economies

Countries Historical highlights Current configuration

- There are three “schools”, the academic one, preparatory to higher
education; the vocational one, which also gives access to higher edu-
cation, however, due to the emphasis on professionalization, it pro-
vides students with lower academic conditions than the first one, and
Tradition of promoting
the general one, which tends to bring together low-achieving students
United States professional education
around fewer demanding curricula;
since the 19th century.
- The country facilitates the completion of secondary education, "con-
tinuing" "continuing" seeking to ensure universal schooling for all up to
the twelfth year, being an essential "continuing" condition for employ-
ability.

- Germany's dual system is based on the early separation of those

who go on to higher education (between 11 and 12 years old) and
professionalization;
- Despite this, there is a certain prestige for professional education,
while there is the occurrence of return transfers, whereby higher-level
Dual system, inspired by
students enroll in technical courses to better build bridges between
Germany medieval guilds, guilds of
theories and practices and between education and training. the work;
craftsmen and artists.
-Possibilities have been established for graduates from professional
education to continue their studies in higher education, which is diver-
sified and flexible, comprising universities, polytechnic schools, tech-
nological universities, and professional colleges. However, graduates
of academic or general education courses have a higher education.

Tradition of school prepa-

ration, strong state influ- Education and training are largely “continued” “continued” separate,
Japan ence and modest demand the former in the Ministry of Education and the latter in the Ministry
for professional educa- of Labor.
tion.

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29
-The single school goes up to 14 years old and, from 15 to 18 years
It developed one of the
old, extends to upper secondary education, with several options of
historical matrices of
general and professional education, culminating in a final exam;
professional education,
-Approximately 37% of students in lower secondary education enroll in
which had wide repercus-
a career choice, because of an orientation process in which the choice
sions in the world, includ-
of the student and family tends to be less important than the student's
France ing in Brazil. This model is
performance in school and the decision of the advisors;
centralized, state-owned
-In this sense, as in other countries, educational guidance is accused
and embedded in the
of being a smooth process of scholastic and social selection, which
educational system, with
reflects the strong influence of the students' social origins. Students
roots in Napoleonic and
and parents are free to choose, but admission is determined by the
other reforms.
school, based on performance and other characteristics.

Faced with the challenges

of a globalized economy
and competitiveness, the
United Kingdom -Flexible, quasi-market system, with less State participation;
United Kingdom and Eng-
with focus -Demanding evaluation processes, providing data and information to
land, have taken great
England increase public awareness of options.
steps towards improv-
ing vocational education
since the 1980s.
Source: (SENAC, 2021; D. Silva et al., 2018).

As for the mapping carried out of the process of purchasing inputs, it was shown that
it follows ANVISA guidelines, according to RDC 658/2022. Therefore, these documents
demonstrate that for each delivery of raw material, the containers are checked for integrity
of the packaging, including the tamper evidence seal where applicable, the correspondence
between the delivery note, the purchase order, supplier labels and information approved by the
drug manufacturer. About points of improvement, in the light of current legislation, the absence
of analysis certificates, inappropriate storage conditions of pharmaceutical supplies, packaging
that is not consistent with the guidelines of RDC 658/2022, as well as the lack of information on
the identification of inputs in the fractionation act, must be observed and followed (ANVISA,
2022).

Discussion

The manufacture of the pharmaceutical sector is characterized far beyond the simple
production of medicines. It is an intense sector that involves education, research, development
and innovation of its processes and products. However, the management of production, quality,
operations and knowledge are essential characteristics for success and avant-garde in the 21st
century (Magalhaes, JL et al., 2008; Pezzola & Sweet, 2016; Souza & Gomes Filho, 2020).
Before the industrial revolution, manufacturing had quality controlled by the craftsman
himself, he defined his criteria and these directly influenced productivity, because the more
quality, accuracy in the product's shape, the less production, making the value of the product
higher for use more expensive inputs and take longer to manufacture. The artisanal processes
faced industrial production, in which the machines were able to meet a greater demand for
products, but the quality dropped, since the process was segmented and each part had a person
in charge, with no control over the realization of the whole (Olivares, 2019).
Administrative sciences evolved with the various attempts at productive growth among
workers, with mechanisms of incentive and stimulus based on financial improvements, methods
that encouraged faster and quality work through awards and promotions within the company.
Scientific management was a model that strengthened product quality based on controlled

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 Elaine FORGOZA, Jorge MAGALHÃES. Improvement in the management of processes for the acquisition and standardization of
pharmaceutical ingredients in a school laboratory
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30 processes, analysis and skills training (Figueiredo & Silveira, 2020). According to Bravo
(2010), scientific management is the global combination of science, harmony, cooperation
and greater performance in substitution of empiricism, discord, individualism and reduced
production respectively, all revolving around human development with a focus on efficiency
and personal growth and satisfaction.
The history of quality began in Japan and the main people responsible for the great
transformation were Deming, Juran, and Ishikawa who, after the Second World War, with the
application of their quality concepts, began a process of industrial revitalization. In this scenario,
quality underwent a major revolution in the 20th century, starting from an inspection that was
carried out by craftsmen on finished products to strategic business management (Olivares,
2015).
With the increase in production, products began to be analyzed by sampling, using
statistical quality control techniques, such as the statistical process control chart that made it
possible to identify occurrences of defects throughout production. The quality function began
to reach the level of defect prevention and care was extended to the process and not just the
product (Fonseca, 2015).
It is observed that rapid changes - both economic and social - that occurred, mainly
after the phenomenon of globalization, generated greater competitiveness in the conquest of
markets by companies. Several technological innovations and new organizational management
practices introduced by companies were often not enough to achieve the desired objectives,
which generated greater commercial competition in several markets, taking as an example the
market of retail banks with strong competition in the segment (Vale et al., 2018).
Quality then becomes a highlight in the search for competitive advantages (Drucker,
2006). In this context, quality management is a management model that generates awareness of
quality in all stages of a process within an organization, in which all people involved must be
focused on contributing to the execution of quality control, from employees to their suppliers
(Camargo, 2011). According to (2000), quality management works as an ally for every company
that is working in the search for a better positioning throughout its operation, which involves all
hierarchical levels and sectors.
In Brazil, the ANVISA Resolution – RDC n° 658/2022, maintains Brazil adequate to the
world standards of manufacture of pharmaceutical products, in accordance with the regulatory
requirements of the GMP. Therefore, it obliges manufacturers in this segment to comply with
the guidelines of this resolution. Regarding professional education, the countries present the
following aspects: educational duality (professional education and propaedeutic education
- initial education for later specialization), flexible quasi-market system and professional
education as access to employability (D. Silva et al., 2018).
Empirically, the first practices of professional teaching began with the arrival of the
Portuguese to the settlements of their colonies, where the Jesuits trained indigenous and black
people, free or enslaved, for methodical work. In the first two centuries of colonization, the
Jesuits created religious colleges in the main urban centers, called workshop schools, which
trained artisans and people to work in other trades. These schools are considered the first
professional training centers in the country (Soldão & Filho, 2021).
Professional education in Brazil has its origins within a welfare perspective with the
objective of “supporting orphans and other disadvantaged people”, that is, to assist those who
did not have satisfactory social conditions, so that they would not continue to practice actions
that were contrary to good customs (Ramos, 2020; V. M. P. da Silva, 2018; Thiesen, 2008).
The modality of commercial teaching expands in Brazil according to economic, social,
and political demands. The development of education is intrinsically linked to the country's
economy, which sees in it a possibility of advancement. The relationships that may exist between
the educational system and the economic system are thus deeper: they are measured not only in

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Elaine FORGOZA, Jorge MAGALHÃES. Improvement in the management of processes for the acquisition and standardization of
pharmaceutical ingredients in a school laboratory
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terms of lag, but also in terms of the real requirements of the economic mode. Both determine 31
the degree of advancement or delay of the school (Romanelli, 2011; Soldão & Filho, 2021).
In this scenario, the National Service for Commercial Learning (SENAC – Brazilian
term), is an institution governed by private law, subordinate to the National Confederation
of Commerce (CNC – Brazilian term), which has been responding to requests from
commerce since 1946, governed by Decree No. decree n° 61,843, in 1967. In 2021, SENAC
made available to the population a network of 548 school units, 403 professional education
centers, 30 pedagogical companies, 10 specialized professional education centers, 81 mobile
school units, 24 units higher education, 40 administrative units. It has a total staff of 33,234
employees, of which 20,887 are professors and instructors. It offers more than two thousand
courses grouped into seven technological axes: environment, health and safety; educational
support; management and business; hospitality and leisure; information and communication;
infrastructure; and, finally, cultural production and design (SENAC, 2021). Among them, the
technical course in Pharmacy, which has a total workload of 1,200 hours, whose objective is
to train professionals with skills to act and intervene in their field of work, focusing on results.
The technical course in pharmacy addresses a pedagogical plan model with 14 curricular units,
involving activities in the processes of: inventory control, quality assurance, quality control,
manipulation, production, and supply of medicines in drugstores, pharmacies and in the SUS.
Trends point to the need for greater professionalization of activities in the pharmaceutical
sector and the urgent need to adopt new management tools to guarantee the survival of
companies in this highly competitive context. This same scenario also indicates that the
technical professional qualification Retail Pharmacist Clerk will imply a technical advance in
the activities carried out by pharmaceutical retail professionals, qualifying them and providing
better customer service in this sector (SENAC, 2021).
The laboratory is normally considered an adverse place, and due to the risk factors
in this work environment, the safety of laboratory practices represents fundamental element
of teaching, so that students perform their technical activities, with quality and productivity
(Furtado, 2011; C. M. da Silva & Fiori, 2022). The analysis of this reality demonstrates that it
is necessary to disseminate the principles of GLP at all levels of education, to make laboratory
procedures safer for everyone. Therefore, risks must be monitored, and codes of conduct must
be drawn up and respected to reduce risks (Furtado, 2011).
The learning of GLP principles by students who need to use the laboratories is fundamental
for professional development, as it makes learning more practical and contextualized with the
objectives of professional training. Therefore, the elaboration and implementation of GLP
teaching for students is relevant, as well as awareness and awareness of the risks of exposure to
chemical agents, in educational environments ((C. M. da Silva & Fiori, 2022).
The GMP are procedures that guarantee hygiene and safety in the work environment,
aiming to guarantee the quality of the manufacturing process and handling of medicines,
minimizing human errors resulting from the lack of standardization. In general, this content
is offered through discussions of legislation by the National Health Surveillance Agency
(ANVISA) and quality standards published by the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards
- ABNT (ANVISA, 2022).
In this context, SENAC's contribution to teaching professionals for the pharmaceutical
sector is urgent and fundamental. Braga et al. (2012), for example, defend the importance of
experimental activities and the didactic laboratory for the formation of more complex views
about the nature of science, through a framework of great discussions on epistemological issues
related to the role of experimentation in the construction of scientific knowledge. This role of
using experimental classes for didactic purposes not only points to a formative character of
citizenship, in a better understanding of the importance of science in the modern world, but
also to a technical character, because better understanding some of the tools with which one

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 Elaine FORGOZA, Jorge MAGALHÃES. Improvement in the management of processes for the acquisition and standardization of
pharmaceutical ingredients in a school laboratory
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32 works in the laboratory it is of great importance for those who will do science or work with
technology professionally. Knowing science from a historical-philosophical point of view, it is
possible to understand scientific concepts and, mainly, to use this knowledge to understand the
contemporary world. Modern science is the result of the historical process, and it is from it that
mathematics and experimentation are incorporated into science. Students must understand the
entire context in which the pharmaceutical product is produced, and the pharmaceutical sector
is no different (Cavalcanti; Queiroz, 2018).

Conclusions

The pharmaceutical sector is intense in research, development, and innovation. It

is a primordial industry for the public health of the people. Professional education in the
pharmaceutical area must be multidisciplinary and comprehensive, in tune with the best
teaching practices and sanitary regulatory guidelines, to contribute to holistic and competent
training in the area in question.
It is noted, gaps to be improved, for better compliance with regulatory guidelines to
improve the process of receiving inputs for the School Laboratory. Thus, a Guideline, guiding
the stages of the flow from the purchase order to receipt, must be detailed, to avoid loss of
analysis certificates, storage conditions and, also, quality tests. These actions will further
contribute to the safety and effectiveness of the production process at the Escola Laboratory.
Although the “in-school process” is not audited by the GMP guidelines required in the industry,
it is beneficial for students to understand what they will demonstrate within the pharmaceutical
sector. The adoption of GMP practices at the School Laboratory makes professional training
even more complete.
It is noteworthy that routine management ensures that activities produce the expected
results, eliminating task rework, making it possible to adapt processes to current regulations
and scale the number of people needed to meet the objectives of the areas, reducing work
overload and operating costs.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the National Service for Commercial Learning (SENAC
- Brazilian term) for their willingness to carry out this study, as well as Farmanguinhos-Fiocruz
for the opportunity to undertake a Master's degree at this prestigious institution.

Declaration of Interest

The authors declare no competing interest.

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Ensino Médio: Algumas Relações com a Política de Educação Profissional Mundial [The
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Científica do Instituto Federal de Alagoas, 13(1), Article 1.
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de Lisboa [Education as a pillar of the solidary economy - ISCTE- Instituto Universitário de
Lisboa]. https://repositorio.iscte-iul.pt/handle/10071/18751
Soldão, M., & Filho, M. C. (2021). A Trajetória Histórica do Ensino Comercial no Brasil [The Historical
Trajectory of Commercial Education in Brazil]. Revista Educativa - Revista de Educação, 23(1),
Article 1. https://doi.org/10.18224/educ.v23i1.5410
Souza, P. C. S., & Gomes Filho, A. S. (2020). Análise da Evolução e Crescimento do Setor Farmacêutico
no Brasil [Analysis of the Evolution and Growth of the Pharmaceutical Sector in Brazil]. Revista
de psicologia, 14(49). https://doi.org/10.14295/idonline.v14i49.2127
Thiesen, J. da S. (2008). A interdisciplinaridade como um movimento articulador no processo ensino-
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Elaine FORGOZA, Jorge MAGALHÃES. Improvement in the management of processes for the acquisition and standardization of
pharmaceutical ingredients in a school laboratory
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OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022
Vale, A. L. do, Vasconcelos, A. P. V. de, Piassi, A. R., Bicalho, A. C. S., Lopes, A. P. B., Melo, A. E. 35
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wha61/en/index.html

Received: November 27, 2022 Revised: December 15, 2022 Accepted: December 25, 2022

Cite as: Forgoza, E. R., & Magalhães, J. (2022). Improvement in the management
of processes for the acquisition and standardization of pharmaceutical ingredients
in a school laboratory. Problems of Management in the 21 st Century, 17(1), 25-35.
https://doi.org/10.33225/pmc/22.17.25

Elaine Ribeiro Forgoza Master Candidate in the Professional Postgraduate Program in Management,
(Corresponding author) Research and Development in Pharmaceutical Industry at Institute of Drugs
Technology – Farmanguinhos, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation – Fiocruz. Rua
Sizenando Nabuco, 100 – Manguinhos, CEP 21.041-250, Brazil.
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2623-0379

Jorge Magalhães PhD, Researcher in Public Health, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation/FIOCRUZ,

Farmanguinhos, Rua Sizenando Nabuco, 100 – Manguinhos, CEP 21.041-
250, Brazil.
Global Health and Tropical Medicine, GHTM, Institute of Hygiene and Tropical
Medicine, IHMT, NOVA University Lisbon – UNL, Portugal.
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2219-5446

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 This is an open access article under the
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License

PROBLEMS
OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

36
PEOPLE-CENTRED DEVELOPMENT: THE
CASE OF DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN
PAPUA INDONESIA DURING THE SPECIAL
AUTONOMY SYSTEM
Putri Hergianasari
Satya Wacana Christian University, Indonesia
E-mail: [email protected]

Muhammad Uhaib As'ad

Islamic University of Muhammad Arsyad Al Banjari Kalimantan, Indonesia
E-mail: [email protected]

Novriest Umbu W. Nau

Satya Wacana Christian University, Indonesia
E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

In many developing countries, various development models have been used, but the results are far from
expectations. This happens because this ideology only focuses on equitable development by focusing only
on economic growth factors. Even so, we can assume developmental deviations are common because
when applied in the field, we cannot study them completely thoroughly. However, based on the conditions
above, we can take the most optimal approach to formulate an optimal mutually dependent and beneficial
relationship between the community and the government as stipulated in legal policy. Therefore, this
paper examines how the political economy and the role of the state shape the development of Papua
in Special Autonomy System. With FGD data and research from the literature, we use a descriptive-
qualitative strategy. According to the findings of the study, the background of economic exploitation
in Papua and the sustainability of nature as a production space has a paradoxical relationship, where
the result of increasing the economic value of mining activities is conducted by PT. Freeport which
is inversely proportional to the loss of green open space. This results in damage to living ecosystems.
As a result, the sustainability of the Papuan people's livelihood in the future is threatened. Based on
this, the author provides the results of his study as a solution for government policy makers to provide
recommendations so that the government prioritizes human-centered development strategies. This study
concludes that "capacity building" is needed by humans in order to become the subject of development.
With this framework in mind, the people of Papua can optimize development in their area more effectively
because the process is carried out through social development that emphasizes education, knowledge,
and skills.
Keywords: development projects, economic exploitation, people centered development, special autonomy
region

Introduction

The government has a responsibility to provide infrastructure both in cities and vil-
lages as a form of community service (OECD, 2015). The structural framework and cultural
background are the driving forces of the rural economy. Economic and political development
policies that prioritize urban development over rural areas are referred to as structural contexts

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Putri HERGIANASARI, Muhammad Uhaib AS'AD, Novriest Umbu W. NAU. People-centred development: The case of development
projects in Papua Indonesia during the special autonomy system
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IN THE 21st CENTURY
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(Turok & McGranahan, 2013). Implementation of a development strategy that favors urban ar- 37
eas, with the state as the dominant player, will cause development inequality, especially in rural
areas, namely the development of transportation and infrastructure (Orenstein & Shach-Pinsley,
2017). A good development strategy must focus on solid policies and a country-centered ap-
proach, supported by the role of the state in taking on the role of initiator, implementer, and
supervisor of the entire system (Turok, 2013).
One of the Indonesian provinces that has experienced a name change is Papua. This
island was formerly named Irian Jaya. The name Irian Jaya was changed to Papua under the
administration of Indonesia's fourth president, KH Abdurrahman Wahid by issuing Law Num-
ber 21 of 2001 concerning the creation of the Special Autonomy Region for Papua (Malaka,
2012). Papua has received special attention in line with the development of the mining industry
as the main axis of its economy. Apart from Papua, other cities with Special Autonomy Region
System include Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.
Some of these fields are referred to as specializations because many factors influence
the uniqueness of the region. This privilege is based on cultural, social, economic, and politi-
cal contexts. For Papua, the government has implemented a "Special Autonomy" government
policy that is different from other Indonesian city-provinces. Efforts to streamline the public
service sector can bring themselves closer to the public, guided by realizing people's welfare
through policy arrangements (Parmar et al., 2022). Meanwhile, efforts to strengthen regional
capacity and accountability in solving local problems with regional talent and creativity. This
is done by encouraging the process of democracy and wider public involvement (Achmady,
2020). Development is the achievement of general welfare and the goals of a society that is
aware of its rights and obligations in politics. This is because development refers to a planned
quality change from one national situation to another, which is more valuable. The country's
public policy in the development agenda determines qualitative changes in the level of social
progress throughout the implementation process. Whatever development model is used, every
political system must rely on the principles that are the context of the political community,
namely the general welfare. Political power, on the other hand, gains legitimacy based on the
principle of the common good (Loewe & Rippin, 2015).
Papua is one of the provinces that has become the main concern and priority for devel-
opment under the Jokowi government (2019-2024). Various infrastructure improvements are
being promoted as significant steps to boost the economy of the Papuan people. One of the ma-
jor projects that is expected to improve the economy of the Papuan people is reducing income
inequality and reducing high prices in each region. This is realized by the construction of the
Trans Papua Highway mega project that connects the Provinces of West Papua and East Papua
Provinces (Mambrasar, 2020).
Research on development in Papua has been carried out by many researchers before.
Four interrelated factors–communication factors, resource factors, character or attitude factors,
and social factors. They are directly involved in the implementation of the Special Autonomy
policy in Papua (Edyanto et al., 2021). What's more, this research also raises complementary
questions about the goals of development in Papua, whether due to politics or the economy.
Nonetheless, this question at the end of the article remains one that readers cannot answer
because the writing focuses too much on economic evidence rather than political evidence.
In contrast to this, Adriana Elisabeth shows that the best way to improve communication in
developing Papua is through peaceful dialogue, where this will help reduce misunderstandings
and prejudices that have long caused tension, disputes, and conflicts in Papua (Elisabeth, 2012).
It is different again in research according to Ervianto (2017), which stated several con-
clusions drawn regarding the difficulties of infrastructure development in Papua, including: (a)
the high problem of corruption or bribery in construction projects, which reached 9.1%; (b) the
concept of sustainable development has not been formulated at a practical level; (c) various

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 Putri HERGIANASARI, Muhammad Uhaib AS'AD, Novriest Umbu W. NAU. People-centred development: The case of development
projects in Papua Indonesia during the special autonomy system
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38 knowledge of service providers regarding sustainability principles; and (d) capacity issues of
stakeholders involved in construction projects (Ervianto, 2017).
However, these previous studies did not provide a practical solution for how develop-
ment in Papua was established. They only focus on the explanation of root causes that disrupt
the development process in Papua; but meanwhile, the solution remains untouched. At the same
time, the term of government continues to run in a political contract, so that policy changes will
be very difficult to implement because they have to go through a long bureaucratic process. As
a result, the alleviation of people's suffering is getting longer. Therefore, the author provides a
breakthrough through the emphasis on mandatory solutions for stakeholders so that sustainable
development does not stop in such a way that it can threaten the prosperity of the people.

Research Problem

The adoption of Special Autonomy for the province of Papua is based on Law no. 21 of
2001 and Law no. 35 of 2008, which was the result of a political agreement between the people
of Papua and the central government to end the protracted period since 1962 (Office of Assis-
tant to Deputy Cabinet Secretary for State Documents & Translation, 2021). The government is
willing to make changes through political compromise to avoid repeating various development
policies and strategies from the past, which usually did not benefit the Papuan people. Apart
from that, it also has an impact on the marginalization and backwardness of the Papuan people
in all fields of development thereby strengthening their desire to separate themselves from
Indonesia.
Implicitly, the report also shows that the effectiveness of the implementation of Special
Autonomy System in Papua for more than 8 years has not shown maximum results. This law
provides a formal legal basis for the granting of special powers by the state to the government
and the people of Papua Province. Furthermore, the law forces the government to commit to
allocating a number of affirmative funding sources to spur the process of (1) accelerating de-
velopment in various fields, (2) improving the quality of governance and public services, and
(3) developing initiatives to accelerate development creatively and relevant to the uniqueness
of superior social, economic, cultural, and geographical conditions as well as natural resource
potential in Papua (Halmin, 2006).
Based on this, the authors refer to the range of development in Papua during the special
autonomy period. This research also looks at the dimensions of human development and physi-
cal development to measure success, with or without special autonomy. Thus, a holistic analysis
can be carried out to get a thorough portrait of the problem. In the next chapter, we explained
the background of our choice of arguments in choosing a research focus.

Research Focus

In establishing the research focus, the authors conducted an analysis of the impact of the
realization of Special Autonomy in the economic and political sectors. This is done because
the study of the sector is a performance indicator in analyzing development results. Based on
research conducted by Mambrasar (2020), it was found that the cause of the failure of Special
Autonomy System in Papua since 2001 was a development paradigm error that did not suit the
needs of the Papuan people. The development carried out in Papua assumes that rationality and
administrative behavior are universally human. As a result, society is considered homogeneous
and not creative, so that the pattern of development in one area can be applied in the same way
elsewhere. Because of this view, policy makers fail to see the uniqueness of human beings who
tend to be different, and consequently fail to find solutions to the problems they want to solve.
Based on the results of the above factual data spawning, the establishment of a Papua Special

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Putri HERGIANASARI, Muhammad Uhaib AS'AD, Novriest Umbu W. NAU. People-centred development: The case of development
projects in Papua Indonesia during the special autonomy system
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OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

Autonomy development solution must start from the paradigm of the uniqueness of humans 39
as active actors (subjects) in regional development. If this has been implemented, there will
be accelerated development with optimal results with the support of the role of environmental
sustainability.

Research Methodology

General Background

A descriptive-qualitative method is used in this research. This study has used two types
of data, namely, primary data and secondary data. Data was collected using the focus group
discussion method with I Ngurah Suryawan as a lecturer at the Department of Political Science
and Government, Warmadewa University, and Muhammad Azka Fahriza from the Institute for
Community Studies and Advocacy. Yohanis Mambrasar, S.H., wrote "Portrait of the Infrastruc-
ture and Development Paradigm of Papua" during the Special Autonomy. FGD data was used
to collect primary data. Secondary data was collected from relevant information to the research
questions that came from book sources, the internet, official reports, and journals.

Instruments and Procedures

The FGD was organized by the Center for the Study of Religion, Pluralism and Democ-
racy (PusAPDem) and the Center for Sustainable Development Studies (CSDS) of Satya Wa-
cana Christian University. The theme of the FGD was a book review "Infrastructure, Portraits,
and the Development Paradigm of Papua in the Special Autonomy Period. This event was held
on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, for two hours. The event was held via the Zoom Meeting platform.

Data Analysis

In analyzing data, researchers collect relevant data. Then the data is sorted and selected
according to the formulation of the problem. Subsequently, the data were analyzed using theory
and concepts. In the end, this research was analyzed in the form of verbal descriptions and ex-
planations which then came to conclusions.

Research Results

Papua’s Special Autonomy System (Otonomi Khusus)

Special Autonomy for the Papua Province is a special authority that is recognized and
given to the Papua Province to regulate and manage the interests of the local community ac-
cording to their own initiative based on the aspirations and basic rights of the Papuan people.
(Widjojo, 2012). The granting of this authority is carried out so that the administration of the
government and the implementation of development in Papua Province can fulfill a sense of
justice, accelerate the achievement of people's welfare, support the establishment of law en-
forcement, and show respect for human rights in Papua Province, especially indigenous Pap-
uans. Law Number 21 of 2001 concerning Papua's Special Autonomy has three main policy
principles regarding the meaning of "specificity" which is the focus of the law:
1. Alignment with Indigenous Papuans by creating opportunities to develop themselves
and placing them on an equal footing with members of the Indonesian community
or the world within the framework of the Republic of Indonesia and members of the
world community.

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 Putri HERGIANASARI, Muhammad Uhaib AS'AD, Novriest Umbu W. NAU. People-centred development: The case of development
projects in Papua Indonesia during the special autonomy system
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40 2. Protection of the Indigenous Peoples of Papua through recognition and legal protec-
tion of Human Rights and Customary Rights as well as local wisdom.
3. Empowerment of indigenous Papuans, namely providing development based on:
orientation to the real needs of the local community.(Undang-Undang Republik In-
donesia Nomer 21 Tahun 2021 Tentang Otonomi Khusus Bagi Provinsi Papua [Law
of The Republic of Indonesia Number 21 of 2021 Concerning Special Autonomy for
the Papua Province], 2001)
In its commitment, the government of the Republic of Indonesia has carried out its func-
tion properly in terms of providing funds for the implementation of Special Autonomy. Ac-
cording to the Regional Financial and Asset Management Agency, the provision of Special
Autonomy funds for the province of Papua is intended to support the acceleration of the imple-
mentation of the Special Autonomy for the province of Papua, in the framework of realizing
justice, upholding the rule of law, upholding human rights, accelerating economic development,
increasing the welfare and progress of the Papuan people in the framework of equity and bal-
ance with the progress of other provinces in Indonesia. In the field of Regional Finance, the
specialties given to the Province of Papua related to the implementation of Special Autonomy
are in the form of: Special Revenue Post for the Implementation of Special Autonomy which
is equivalent to 2% of the National General Allocation Fund ceiling for 25 years, primarily
intended for financing education and health posts. Additional funds are given to Infrastructure
for the Implementation of Special Autonomy, the amount of which is determined between the
Government and the House of Representatives based on the recommendation every fiscal year
(bpkad.papua.go.id, 2017).

State and Power

Before entering into a further analysis of how the Indonesian state regulates develop-
ment in Papua, we must position the relationship between the state's goals for the welfare of its
people and politics as a medium. There, the author argues that the Trias Politica theory can be
used as a basis for knowing the goals of the state from upstream to downstream. In the study
conducted, the author explained the goals of the state, the separation of state powers, and con-
temporary political phenomena that have caused the people to lose their bargaining power with
the state. This will explain the root causes of development problems in Papua today.
The state is a political organization that is empowered by the people as members of the
state to regulate all matters relating to the achievement of state goals. The purpose of the state
is to achieve prosperity, security and create order for its people, as well as other goals that
are always related to the interests of the people of a country (Montesquieu with his teachings
Trias Politica, separation of state powers). It is necessary to maintain the country so that the
original purpose of the state is not dominated by one or a group of people (Montesquieu, 1989).
The concept of representation in political science includes representative institutions consisting
of people's representatives, political institutions such as political parties and interest groups,
which are institutions that balance state power and guarantee that the state will always operate
on the basis of interests and the needs of the community. Political parties and interest groups
are channels for aggregating people's interests and representative institutions are channels for
articulating these interests (Beyers et al., 2008).
Contemporary political phenomena are still dominated by the state. For example, it is
becoming increasingly apparent that civil society movements are unable to bargain for interests
and power with the state. While the state is increasingly demonstrating its power as an unchal-
lengeable and uncontested center of power, the tendency to create statism is becoming stronger
(Krasner, 1976).This is also because the state is considered as the only legitimate actor using
certain powers over its people. Therefore, there is a big challenge for the people to reveal their
needs and their important voice before the state.

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Putri HERGIANASARI, Muhammad Uhaib AS'AD, Novriest Umbu W. NAU. People-centred development: The case of development
projects in Papua Indonesia during the special autonomy system
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OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

David Korten criticizes the growth-centered development model because it pays less at- 41
tention to the central position of humanity in development and has made the poorest layers of
society dependent on government development services and programs. This criticism gave rise
to an alternative development model, namely the human-centered development model. David
Korten stated that it is possible that all basic human needs can be fulfilled, but that does not
mean that they have given them an environment to become human. Korten went on to empha-
size human-centered development, aimed at benefiting people, both in actions and results, as
well as giving them the opportunity to develop creative intelligence for their own future and
the future of society. A development model like this will reduce people's dependence on the
bureaucracy and guarantee the growth of community self-help capabilities towards sustainable
development (C. Korten, 2005) with the following explanation:

Figure 1
Institutionalization of Power

Source:(C. Korten, 2005)

Organic State Theory states that the state is seen as always being able to act neutrally.
The state inherently in itself has good goals for society and is unlikely to harm the lives of its
citizens. In theory of Marxism-Leninism, the state is the embodiment of the dictatorship of
the proletariat. In this condition, the state functions as the realization of an egalitarian society
toward an end of history, namely a classless communist society. This means that state absolutes
are needed at the time of the transition from socialism to communism. If a society that has the
same feeling has been created, then state institutions are no longer needed. However, often the
state becomes a very autonomous institution and ignores the various interests of its people. The
state has even always functioned as a tool and a justification machine for its apparatus in carry-
ing out repression (Marx, 2004).
According to the findings of the focus group discussions, regional development in the
Land of Papua has been influenced more by a centralized growth paradigm than a welfare para-
digm that is pro-people. The people of Papua desire the management and Special Autonomy of
Papua by carrying out the principles of compliance, supervision, and accountability for Special
Autonomy funds in accordance with the mandate. These principles are coming to the surface
because the annual accountability report on the management of the Special Autonomy funds
demonstrates accountability in favor of the Papuan provincial government rather than priority
programs and the community. It must side with the people of Papua when compiling and plan-
ning development programs. As a result, it is critical to apply the people-centered development
approach in Papua, not only for people-centered development, but also for Papuans to actively
participate in the development process.

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 Putri HERGIANASARI, Muhammad Uhaib AS'AD, Novriest Umbu W. NAU. People-centred development: The case of development
projects in Papua Indonesia during the special autonomy system
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OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

42 Discussion

People Centered Development for Papua Development

The new perspective of development gives a special role to the government, which is
clearly different from the role of the government in the previous development models. The
role of the government in this case is to create a social environment that allows it to develop,
namely, a social environment that encourages human development and the actualization of hu-
man potential in a larger way (Drewer, 1980). The creation of a social environment requires
a self-organizing learning system, namely by orienting informal organizational networks and
communication flows to local needs and variations as a complement to a more formal command
system. The functioning of these structural arrangements is highly dependent on the people's
initiative to be creative on sources of information that are never dry, both of which determine
the main source inputs of the model. The following is the development paradigm.

Figure 2
Development Paradigm

Source: Ife & Tesoriero, 2008

This development model positions community members as actors, not just subjects, who
set their own goals, control the resources needed to achieve those goals, and direct the processes
that affect their lives. Although human-centered development recognizes the importance of
growth, the performance of a growth system is primarily measured by how broadly people are
involved and how high the quality of their working conditions and access to development is for
them. In this regard, one of the most important aspects that distinguishes the human-centered
development model from the growth/production-oriented development model is that the former
subordinates the interests of the production system to those of the human being, while the latter
places human interests under the subordination of the interests of the production system.
Three important themes to define the concept of human-centered development plan-
ning, namely are: emphasis on support and development of self-help enterprises of the poor to
address their own needs, the realization that although the modern sector is the main source of
conventional economic growth, but traditionally, the main source of livelihood for the major-
ity of poor households, the need for new institutional capacities to build the capacity of poor
beneficiaries for productive and self-reliant management based on local resources. Humans and
the environment are the main endogenous variables, namely as a starting point for development
planning, so that the basic perspective and analysis method in this development approach is
Human Ecology, which is the study of the interaction between human systems and their ecosys-
tems (Njoh, 2002). This is the design community as a development target for Papuan.

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Putri HERGIANASARI, Muhammad Uhaib AS'AD, Novriest Umbu W. NAU. People-centred development: The case of development
projects in Papua Indonesia during the special autonomy system
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OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
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Figure 3 43
Design Community as a Development Target

In a development model that is oriented toward equity, bottom-up planning strategies are
applied, which are supported by service providers from the bureaucracy, then a human-centered
development model requires transactive planning, which emphasizes planning in the context
of community development through policies that are democratic, the bureaucracy conducts
planning together with the community and is an enabler/facilitator. This type of planning em-
phasizes the process of personal and organizational development and not just the achievement
of specific functional goals. The process is characterized by a mutual learning process and is
related to interpersonal dialogue with people who are affected by decisions. The effectiveness
of the resulting plans is measured not by the amount of goods or services provided to society,
but by their impact on their dignity, sense of effectiveness, values, and behavior, as well as their
ability to develop through cooperation. (Bower, 1974)
In the human-centered development model, there must be emphasis on a community-
based approach to resource management, the characteristics of which are: (1) Gradually, the ini-
tiative and decision-making process, to meet the needs, must be placed on the community itself;
(2) The ability of the community to manage and mobilize existing resources must be improved
to meet their needs; (3) Paying attention to local variations, because it is very flexible, adapts to
local conditions; (4) Emphasizing social learning between the bureaucracy and the community
starting from the planning process to project evaluation based on mutual learning; (5) Form-
ing networks between bureaucrats and non-governmental organizations as well as independent
traditional organizational units. Through this networking process, it is hoped that there will be
a symbiosis between development structures at the local level.
The lack of public facilities such as schools, basic health facilities, and village-city con-
necting roads is a problem in Papua Province. Teacher resources, both physical and non-physi-
cal, are also required. The implication of a lack of basic facilities is a reduction in quality of life.
Since the enactment of Papua's special autonomy, development has only focused on growth.
Problems that arise in Papua Province are as a result of the incorrect implementation of previ-
ous development policies and the future implementation of the Papuan development policy
model that recognizes identity and strengthens competitive local resource capacity. However,
community participation in development is still minimal. The following are the problem factors
for Papua:

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 Putri HERGIANASARI, Muhammad Uhaib AS'AD, Novriest Umbu W. NAU. People-centred development: The case of development
projects in Papua Indonesia during the special autonomy system
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OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

44 Figure 4
The Factor of Development Problems in Papua

Based on the factors of development problems in Papua, it can be mapped as follows:

Figure 5
Mapping the Development Problem in Papua

The weakness of the implementation of Special Autonomy in Papua Province is, first,
at the policy level. This can be seen that there is no technical guideline as an elaboration of the
Special Autonomy Law. Second, the problem lies in the level of policy implementation. This
can be seen from the lack of understanding of the local government and the community regard-
ing the implementation of Special Autonomy, as well as the limited quantity and quality of
implementers, the efforts made by the Papua Provincial Government in implementing Special
Autonomy are still not optimal.
From the results of the analysis, this study recommends a development approach in Pap-
ua, namely the welfare approach, human-centered development, and pro-poor based budgeting.
This is the figure of the solution recommendation.

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Putri HERGIANASARI, Muhammad Uhaib AS'AD, Novriest Umbu W. NAU. People-centred development: The case of development
projects in Papua Indonesia during the special autonomy system
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Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

Figure 6 45
Solution Recommendation

Three essential themes define the concept of human-centered development planning:

the emphasis on supporting and developing the self-help businesses of the poor to cope with
their own needs and the awareness that the modern sector is the primary source of conventional
economic growth. Traditionally, it is the primary source of livelihood for most poor households.
New institutional capacity is needed to build the abilities of the Papuan people. Humans and the
environment are the main endogenous variables, namely as the starting point for development
planning, so the fundamental perspective and analytical method in this development approach
is people-centered development.

Conclusions

The definition of modernization as a euphemism in economic parameters such as pro-

gressing product using physical and material factors was too narrow. Based on our research,
we argue because it requires non-material aspects which include the formation and develop-
ment of social attitudes in society. The capacity of the central and regional governments must
be strengthened to advance the welfare of the Papuan people. This approach continues to be a
problem because the orientation of growth is actually more focused on development but not on
the factor of ensuring the needs of the community. In his book State Building: Governance and
World Order in the 21st Century, Francis Fukuyama reminds us that weak government institu-
tions in formulating and implementing policies will cause problems that go one after another
and never end.
Moreover, if there is weak government capacity, it will complicate the process of equal-
izing welfare. As a result, people will be more hampered in accessing health, education, and
employment services, which can eventually lead to more conflict and violence. The practical
solution is to change procedures and mechanisms through the regulation of a democratic politi-
cal system. This process was then continued by making an exception policy, namely by setting
parameters for calculating the number of House of Representatives which were not only based
on the size of the population, but also taking into account the area, level of difficulty, and pov-
erty score. This is called a proportional calculation.
Based on the rationale above, it can be concluded that the Special Autonomy Govern-
ment System is not just a top-down program from the center. Based on the findings of this
study, the government is expected to be wise in involving the Papuan people as a whole in the
implementation of special autonomy. With this system, it is possible for the Papuan people to
become actors who play an important role and have a sustainable development livelihood plan,

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 Putri HERGIANASARI, Muhammad Uhaib AS'AD, Novriest Umbu W. NAU. People-centred development: The case of development
projects in Papua Indonesia during the special autonomy system
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IN THE 21st CENTURY
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46 namely determining their own goals, controlling the resources needed to achieve these goals,
and directing other influential livelihood processes.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana and Universitas Islam Kalimantan Mu-
hammad Arsayad Albanjari for the collaboration.

Declaration of Interest

The authors declare no competing interest.

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Received: October 17, 2022 Revised: October 26, 2022 Accepted: November 30, 2022

Cite as: Hergianasari, P., As'ad, M. U., & Nau, N. U. W. (2022). People-centred
development: The case of development projects in Papua Indonesia during the
special autonomy system. Problems of Management in the 21 st Century, 17(1), 36-
47. https://doi.org/10.33225/pmc/22.17.36

Putri Hergianasari Satya Wacana Christian University, Indonesia.

(Corresponding author) E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4607-3278

Muhammad Uhaib As'ad PhD, Department of Public Administration Faculty of Social and
Political Science, Islamic University of Muhammad Arsyad Al Banjari
Kalimantan, Indonesia.
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2912-3034

Novriest Umbu W. Nau Master of International Relations, Lecturer, Satya Wacana Christian
University, Indonesia.
E-mail: [email protected]

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 This is an open access article under the
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License

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48
PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL: THE CASE OF
A PUBLIC ENTITY IN PORTUGAL
Maria da Conceição da Costa Marques
ISCAC Coimbra Business School, Portugal
E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

In the past, the attempt by organizations to establish a system for evaluating their employees has shown
some inconsistency. This arose, essentially, due to the lack of objectivity at the time of classification, a
process that always involves strong subjectivity. In the current paradigm, more and more organizations
need to implement performance evaluation models based on strategic competencies, to fulfill established
objectives to cement the creation of an organization's value.
In most companies and organizations, the performance appraisal process is a tool used annually, serv-
ing only to monitor the performance of employees. If a company or organization wants to go beyond the
control function, it must see the performance evaluation process as a component of performance manage-
ment throughout the year. This should create conditions so that the activities carried out by the employees
and the results of these, effectively contribute to achieving the organization's objectives. For the same
author, it is a process that seeks to identify, observe, measure, and develop the performance of individu-
als, having as focus the agreement with the objectives of the organization. The purpose of performance
appraisal is to obtain better results in the organizations or teams and individuals within the organization,
understanding and management performance within an agreement, the structure of planned goals, stan-
dards, and competence requirements.
Keywords: Performance appraisal, evaluation, human resources, organization, management

Introduction

Despite the great relevance of individual performance and the widespread use of job
performance as an outcome measure, relatively little effort has been devoted to clarifying the
concept of performance (Collings, 2017). Davila (2017) and Davila and Elvira (2018) sug-
gested that performance is a multidimensional construct, whose measurement varies according
to a variety of factors. Iacovini (1993) and Ensslin et al (2015) argued that performance should
be defined as the result of work because employees are linked to the organization's strategic
objectives, customer satisfaction and financial contributions. A more comprehensive view of
performance is achieved if performance is defined as including both behaviors and outcomes.
Performance is always associated with managing results and measuring performance.
The performance management and measurement process involve steps that need to be rec-
ognized and supported. Kivak (2018) and Machado et al (2014) understand that performance
management is a systematic process to improve performance, strengthening the performance
of individuals and teams. This is a conceptual, organizational, and operational definition that
has proven useful in performance measurement research. Similarly, McAdam (2005) argued
that performance management is a broad set of activities aimed at improving employee perfor-
mance. The core of performance management is the development of people with competence
and commitment, who work towards achieving meaningful shared goals within an organization
that supports and encourages performance. For Netke (2013), Politt (2006) and Rego et al,
(2015), the purpose of performance management is to obtain better results from an entire orga-
nization or team and individuals within it, understanding and managing performance within an
agreed framework of planned goals, standards, and competency requirements.

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Management is mainly concerned with improving the value creation process, that is, 49
increasing productivity and the quality of the relationship between the organization, from the
perspective of inputs/resources, outputs/deliveries, and results achieved.
Human capital is an inexhaustible capital, a priority for an entity that creates value, en-
sures and carries out the strategic mission, which is survival in the competitive global market.
Choosing an innovative form of development requires improving the mechanism for training
and using human capital, in all its components: accounting, analysis, motivation, control, etc.
Human resource management (HRM) is a very broad concept; it is related to the way
people act and how individuals are structured to guide and manage human behavior in the
organizational environment and can make the difference between companies that know how
to choose the right people to carry out the organization's tasks (Brewster et al, 2016). That
is, they have the skills and competences necessary to achieve the goals and are committed to
their work. HRM aims to coordinate internal behavior, increase and strengthen human capital
through the training and development of skills and capabilities, to meet the strategic objectives
of organizations. In the strategic management model, people are defined as the most important
asset in organizations.
An organization is a set of interconnected and interdependent elements, with specific
objectives. It is made up of people, systems and processes that interact with each other, leading
to an exponential value creation synergy.

Human Resource Management

For Bilhim (2007) human resource management is basically concerned with the articula-
tion and adaptation between the people who work in the organization and their strategic needs,
ensuring the full use of available human resources.
Currently, one of the main concerns of managers is the impossibility of identifying em-
ployees capable of assuming leadership positions in the future (Bergamini, 1980, Collings,
2017). The role of Strategic Human Resources Management within a current organization is
characterized by the strategic directive function, which has played a positive role in the main
business decisions in recent years, arising from the mission and objectives of the organization
and actively contributing to the achievement of its overall results. This confers, for the first
time, a role of partner in the organization in the definition and implementation of strategic goals
at the level of top management (Tavares et al, 2000, 52).
Human Resource Management (HRM) does not only deal with issues of recruitment
and selection of employees, but has a crucial influence on the strategic positioning of the orga-
nization, ensuring the best adaptation of human resources (HR) to the organizational culture,
integrating the vision, mission and values ​​of the organization, which guarantees the existence of
an effective performance appraisal process, a career management system and adequate manage-
ment of remuneration policies, among others. In this way, an effective performance appraisal
system provides managers with a greater degree of confidence when making decisions (Brew-
ster, 2016, Collings, 2017).
In the area of ​​management, HRM is the area responsible for establishing policies, proce-
dures and exploring theories that allow the organization to better coordinate its employees and
maximize their potential, always with the aim of achieving organizational success (Fachada,
2012). HRM focuses on the development, training, and motivation of its HR, determining re-
muneration methods, practices of attraction and retention of HR, which seek to achieve high
levels of performance (Kivak, 2018). All this is achieved using recruitment techniques, inter-
views and hiring of new HR, development and training programs and improvement of labor re-
lations (Kivak, 2018). In most companies and organizations, the performance appraisal process
is an annual tool used only to monitor employee performance.

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50 Caetano (2008), Brewster et al (2016) argued that performance management can be un-
derstood as the process that seeks to identify, observe, measure, and develop the performance of
individuals, with the main objective of harmonizing this process with the organization's goals.
HRM has a set of functional areas that contribute to achieving the success of an organiza-
tion's strategic objectives (Fernandes, 2016), in which the so-called Performance Management
(PM) system occupies a central place (Câmara et al, 2016). In this sense, PM deals with the
entire organizational process, through which pre-established goals are defined, according to the
organizational strategy (Abbad et al, 1996), through activities such as (Felgueiras and Proença,
2013):
a) Definition of organizational, departmental, team and individual objectives.
b) Implementation of a performance appraisal system.
c) Design of clearing systems.
d) Training and development strategies.
e) Feedback, communication, and coaching.
f) Career planning.

From this it can be inferred that through PM, there is a constant concern to align the ac-
tions and activities of individuals with the values and objectives of the organization.

Green Human Resource Management

For Carollo and Guerci (2018), some scholars have linked human resource management
to environmental management, calling it “green human resource management” or “environ-
mental human resource management” (Renwick et al., 2013, Ehnert, 2009). This aspect of
human resource management linked to environmental issues, leads scholars to develop specific
procedures for the implementation of green human resource management practices. For ex-
ample, Milliman and Clair (1996) proposed four steps for an environmental assessment in the
HRM model:
(1) Provide an environmental view as a guide.
(2) Train employees to share their environmental vision and goals.
(3) Evaluate the environmental performance of employees; and
(4) Recognize employees' environmental activities using reward programs.
Similarly, Daily and Huang (2001) suggested a conceptual framework for involving ele-
ments of human resources in the environmental management system. The proposed model in-
cluded (1) senior executive support, (2) training, (3) power, and (4) rewards as key components
of environmental HR. Top management communicate the environmental policy, plan, and other
relevant information to employees. Employee training helps them to understand new envi-
ronmental practices and enables them to get involved in environmental activities. In addition,
rewards can encourage employees to be environmentally responsible (Renwick et al, 2013).
Therefore, green human resource management refers to the development of ecological
skills in the recruitment, selection, training, and development of green leadership. This green
management aims to motivate employees by evaluating and rewarding their green performance.
It also aims to encourage human resources to be involved in environmental issues, generating
a friendly organizational culture.

Performance Appraisal

Performance appraisal was already practiced before World War II, especially in the US
Army, mainly for promotion purposes (Wood and Marshall 1993). The development of perfor-
mance appraisal as a management tool was associated with the idea of greater
​​ control (Mul-

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vaney, 2017), especially in public entities, after the financial crisis of the 70s and 80s. In the 51
1990s, performance appraisal systems became widespread in the public sector in developed
countries, mainly to improve efficiency.
With the advent of New Public Management (NPM), public sector organizations have
undergone significant changes that have emphasized individual performance, making it easier
to fire or discipline those who do not meet the required standards (Pollitt, 2006). Workers are
increasingly compared to each other and evaluated for their performance based on the achieve-
ment of previously established goals. The literature suggests (Hood, 2005; Brewster et al.,
2016; Ensslin et al, 2015) that NPM contemplates explicit performance standards, competition,
results orientation (often quantified) and material, and financial incentives, as in the example of
performance-related pay.
The introduction of individual performance appraisal in the public sector has often led
to controversial results (Wood & Marshall, 1993; McAdam et al., 2005). Several factors were
proposed to explain these problems. Burgess et al. (2017) suggested that the problems arising
from the implementation derive from the deficient technical design of systems that rely heavily
on the experience of the private sector. Others point to an irreconcilable divergence between
NPM-driven performance appraisal and the public sector, due to the difficulty of measuring
performance in contexts where outcomes are often impossible to define or attribute to a public
organization or individual (Abbad et al., 2006, Bilhim, 2013, Fachada, 2012). Some research
suggests low support and acceptance among public sector workers, reflecting perceptions of
injustice (Caetano, 2008, Bilhim, 2012, Wenzel et al., 2019).
Individual performance assessment is conceptually and directly linked to motivation re-
search. Through individual performance appraisal, employees' motivation can be increased by
providing them with training, job rotation, recognition, etc., instead of providing them with
incentives that increase work efforts. Performance appraisal focuses on the future rather than
the past, discusses ways to improve, and makes recommendations for achieving future goals.
Nowadays, much is heard about intellectual and professional performance. The profes-
sional to meet the demands and expectations of the job market, must have the skills of an
entrepreneur, creativity, leadership, negotiator, teamwork, and proactivity. However, all these
qualities and skills need to be translated into results for the professional to be effective in their
roles, which means that he (or she) must perform well.
Organizations are made up of people and depend on each other to achieve their goals
and personal needs; for example, family support. On the other hand, the company also needs
motivated and determined people to achieve the proposed objectives. To achieve the goals, it is
necessary to provide structures and tools so that employees can achieve their individual goals
and feel motivated to support companies to achieve their goals.
Performance appraisal is a dynamic concept, because an employee is always evaluated,
whether in a direct or indirect appraisal. It is a means by which problems are identified for the
control of the team, it reflects the integration of an employee in the organization or in the exist-
ing functions or, simply, a lack of use of the employee in the current functions, because this
shows a higher level of potential.
Thus, according to the types of problems identified, performance appraisal can collabo-
rate in the determination and development of an appropriate human resources policy, to meet
the needs of the organization (Chiavenato, 2008).
Performance appraisal is the entire set of instruments that allow measuring an individ-
ual's performance in a fair and rigorous way (Mulvaney, 2017). These instruments may differ
depending on the management style adopted. According to Rego et al (2015), there are cer-
tain fundamental conditions for the effectiveness of performance management (PM) systems,
namely:

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52 • Relevance – the dimensions established for PM in a given job must be really impor-
tant for its performance.
• Sensitivity – ability to distinguish between good and bad performance.
• Reliability – the evaluator's subjectivities and the influence of factors that are exter-
nal or that do not directly depend on the person being evaluated must be avoided.
• Acceptability – a very important criterion because if employees do not accept the
system, its procedures and criteria, they end up distrustful and consider it unfair.
• Practicability – it must be possible to consider it useful and practical.
• Trust – essential in the relationship between all stakeholders in the process; their
absence will always raise reservations and boycotts.
Maçães (2014, p. 553) defines PM as “an interaction between the appraiser and the ap-
praisee, in which the work developed over the period is analyzed and discussed by both parties”,
seeking to identify the positive and negative aspects, as well as how to find ways to improve
performance, always ensuring that the person being evaluated knows what the organization
expects of him (Mulvaney, 2017).
For Sousa et al (2006) specific goals of PM can be grouped into four broad areas:
• Achieve the organization's strategic goals, where individual goals come directly
from the main organizational goals.
• Promote innovation and adaptation to organizational changes.
• Overcoming average performances, changing behaviors, on the way to excellence.
• Improve internal communication.

Performance Appraisal Models

Performance appraisal is a meritocracy tool that seeks to recognize and differentiate an

organization's employees. Therefore, it is possible to identify the strengths, as well as the points
that employees should seek to improve and achieve, through a development plan, so that the
company can train them so that they do not become expendable.
There are several ways to classify performance, and each company, depending on the
intended objective, must find the model that best suits its needs (Bergamini, 1980; Abbad et al,
1996). In the following points, we will analyze the models most used by companies in evaluat-
ing the performance of their employees.

Graphic Scale Model

This method is the easiest and most traditional; the evaluation is carried out by filling
in a form in columns, in which the values ​​in rows, skills, attitudes and behaviors that must be
analyzed and verified are placed in the first column. Variables such as punctuality, relationship
with colleagues and technical skills are included in this space. From the columns, a scale of in-
crease or decrease values ​​is created, which evaluates the level at which the classified employee
falls, usually the numbers on this scale range from 1 to 5, representing (very bad, bad, regular,
good, or excellent) or even (satisfied, indifferent, or dissatisfied). The objective of this model
is to facilitate the evaluation of employees, ending up being the most used and least effective.

Model of Forced Choice

This evaluation model consists of structuring a form with a list of questions that are not
directly related to each other. These are grouped into four articles: (a) Easily irritated; (b) Do
not delay the delivery of tasks; (c) Are always late; (d) Do not possess the technical knowledge.

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The leader or evaluator must then choose two of the elements and select the one that 53
most applies and the one that least applies to the performance of the person being evaluated
and which is closest to the reality of their work. For Gil (2001), it can be presented in several
ways, but the most common is to present, for each employee, two positive and two negative
expressions. In the employee analysis, the evaluator selects the one that most and least applies
to his performance. Thus, the forced choice method requires more attention from the evaluator
because the questions are correctly understood and must have accurate and reliable data.
For this reason, the process also requires more care from those who prepare the form
and create the questions that must be included in it. It is important for the HR leader to assess
whether the questions in this questionnaire are in fact strategic and whether they can define the
employee.

Field Research Method

It is a method based on interviews by a performance appraisal specialist with the ap-

praiser, through which the performance of his subordinates is evaluated. The causes, sources
and reasons for this performance are evaluated, observing data and facts. In this form of evalua-
tion, the specialist goes to each respective area to interview the manager about the performance
of the employees. In this form of PM there is support for the evaluator. However, in this method
there are negative factors that are the operational costs that it entails, for having to work with
expert advice, little participation of the evaluated and for being a slow and time-consuming
evaluation process.

Self-Assessment Method

This method is one in which the individual evaluates himself, which can be done through
reports, graphic scales, or descriptive phrases. It is only valid if the employee has a high degree
of professional maturity and will describe what he actually looks like and does while perform-
ing his role in the company. After the employee has been evaluated, your leader or superior will
read and discuss what can be done to improve the employee's performance.
Through self-assessment, it is possible to identify when and how the assessed profes-
sional is able to analyze their behavior and results. When an employee recognizes their strengths
and weaknesses that need improvement, it's easier to get a promotion or pay raise.

Competency-Based Assessment Method

Competency-based assessment is a process through which evidence of performance and

knowledge of the person being assessed is extracted, considering their professional skills. This
kind of evaluation goes beyond what is called employee performance. It considers three factors
known as CHA.
C - Knowledge: cognitive skills, "knowing something".
H - Ability: psychomotor domain, "knowing how to do it".
A - Attitude: motivating factor, "wanting to do".
Therefore, in this evaluation method, the questionnaire must consider the technical and
behavioral skills of the employee. The appraiser and the appraisee must consider the employee's
professional and behavioral issues. The latter answers the questionnaire as a self-assessment,
pointing out the skills he already has, those that are under development and those that still need
to be developed. Then, the supervisor, together with the evaluated employee, gives his/her
opinion on the employee's responses and, together, they will develop an action plan to improve
what is necessary.

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54 Matrix 9 Box to develop talent

The Matrix 9 Box is a visual tool that serves as the basis for creating a meritocracy
model in companies. Based on it, it is possible to make better evaluations and make important
decisions regarding employees. This matrix helps to develop the capacity of team members,
considering aspects of competence, behavior, results, and skills. As it is a simple and practical
tool, the results are relevant for any type of company, as shown in the figure below.

Matrix 9 Box

Source: Adapted from STRATWs One (2019)

Goals and Results

This performance appraisal method has a quantitative approach. Here, the results
achieved by the employee in a given period are considered. The objective is to identify whether
the evaluated person was able to respond to the company's expectations. As it is based on num-
bers, this assessment is safer and more assertive.
Examples of factors to consider:
• Absenteeism.
• Sales conversion.
• Clients’ satisfaction.
• Retention.
Evaluation by goals and results can also be applied to the team as a whole, to find out
who are the most and least productive employees.

Model of Participatory Evaluation by Objectives (PEBO)

This evaluation model has a quantitative approach when considering the results achieved
by the employee in a given period and by goals achieved. The objective is to identify whether
the person being evaluated can meet the expectations of the organization, the degree of contri-
bution and the organizational efforts of the employee.

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Modern methods emerged in response to the limitations of traditional methods and seek 55
employee participation and performance. For Chiavenato (2008), the PEBO method is demo-
cratic, participatory, engaging and motivating. It consists of six phases: formulation of agreed
goals, personal commitment to achieving those goals, negotiation on the allocation of resources
and means to achieve the goals, performance, monitoring of results and comparison with for-
mulated goals, intensive feedback, and joint and continuous evaluation.

360º evaluation method

The 360º evaluation method is considered one of the most complete. This is because all
employees involved in the work routine are invited to participate in the process.
Leaders, team members, the employee himself, as well as customers and suppliers, par-
ticipate in the assessment. At the end of the process, a comparison is made between the evalua-
tors' considerations and those of the evaluated ones that generate extremely valuable feedback.
This 360º evaluation model is a richer and more reliable evaluation method, which brings
results over time. It can increase the reliability of the evaluation system for employees and lead-
ers, allow the emergence of goals consistent with the parameters of the organization, minimize
the aspects of evaluation errors, as well as reduce employee dissatisfaction and uncertainty.

Leader's Performance Assessment

Like employees, leaders also need to be evaluated. The leader is responsible for lead-
ing the team towards success. When their performance is poor, the tendency is for this to be
reflected in the team members. Hence, he, too, must undergo an evaluation process and acquire
feedback on his performance. In this case, the evaluation of employees and their superiors can
provide an overview of their performance. In this way, the leader and his team will be able to
better understand if they are on the right track and which aspects can be improved.

Research Methodology

The methodology used for the elaboration of this study is the deductive method used by
the bibliographic and documental research (Silva, et al. 2005). The bibliographic-documentary
research applied in this article is based on the theoretical study of the main authors on the sub-
ject, both national and foreign.
In connection with the methodology presented above, a descriptive case study will also
be carried out, concerning a public sector entity, as observed by Vieira et al (2009). This kind
of case study has material to describe techniques and practices followed by managers. The data
were obtained from the activity report of this public organization, via the entity's website on the
Internet. It is an exploratory research, because it aims to know the evaluation method applied
in an organization.

Performance appraisal in the Public Sector - SIADAP

The performance appraisal models implemented in the public sector are based on a man-
agement by objectives methodology, developed by Peter Drucker after the Second World War,
in opposition to the Taylorist model and the Weberian model, dominant until then. The empha-
sis will be on "doing the work most relevant to the organization's goals well" rather than "doing
the work well" (Drucker, 1954). In this way, the organization begins to focus on the measure-
ment and control of results, seeks to adapt individual performance to organizational goals and
provide constant feedback (Araújo, 2007; Bilhim 2000, 2012, 2013). Its implementation in

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56 organizations generally and consensually consists of four stages: definition of objectives, action
planning, self-control, and periodic reviews (Caetano, 1996).
The implementation of a performance appraisal system requires an organizational cul-
ture oriented towards results and merit, fundamentally geared towards the global success of the
organization.
SIADAP – Integrated System of Performance appraisal in Public Administration, is a
performance evaluation process designed to evaluate public sector bodies and institutions, un-
like the performance evaluation systems mentioned above, which are more applied to private
entities. This is part of the reform process based on the objectives of “quality and excellence”;
“leadership and responsibility” and “merit and qualification”.
SIADAP has the following essential objectives:
• Promote the quality of Public Administration services and bodies.
• Mobilize employees around the essential mission of the service, guiding their activ-
ity according to clear objectives and transparent evaluation criteria.
• Recognize merit.
• Enhance teamwork.
• Promote communication between hierarchies.
• Identify training needs.
This system was designed with well-defined and specified parameters, being different
from the performance appraisals applied to private entities, since it provides a permanently
forced distribution in the evaluations. In other words, there are defined quotas that are distrib-
uted to workers, that is, “relevant”, “adequate” and “inadequate” classification levels, instead
of the previous classification system, in which the leniency error was evident, in which all civil
servants had favorable ratings.
SIADAP assumes that assessments are distributed by quotas. Thus, article 75 of Law
66-B/2007, of December 28, under the heading “Performance differentiation” establishes the
following:
“1-Without prejudice to the provisions of subparagraph a) of article 27, performance dif-
ferentiation is guaranteed by setting a maximum percentage of 25% for the final qualitative as-
sessments of relevant performance and, among these, 5% of the total of workers for recognition
of outstanding performance. 2-The percentages provided for in the previous number focus on
the number of workers provided for in paragraphs 2 to 7 of article 42, with approximation by
excess, when necessary, and must, as a rule, be distributed proportionally across all careers”.
However, according to the same Law, the solution of the percentage limit was considered
legally indispensable, due to imperatives of balance, given the prevailing culture in certain sec-
tors of Public Administration, and bearing in mind the system of foreseen effects that is recog-
nized in the performance appraisal.
It is expressed in qualitative mentions in the following terms (Table 1):

Table 1
Types of Classification

Performance Classification

Relevant Performance Corresponds to a final assessment of 4 to 5

Adequate Performance Corresponds to a final assessment of 2 to 3,999

Inadequate Performance Corresponds to an assessment between 1 and 1,999

In the final evaluation, the recognition of excellence occurs at the initiative of the evalu-
ated or the evaluator, duly substantiated, and will be the object of appreciation of the Evaluation

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Coordinating Council and subject of publication in the service. 57

In terms of the effects of the evaluation, the employee with excellent performance in
3 consecutive years is entitled to 5 days of vacation or corresponding remuneration, plus a
sabbatical period with a maximum duration of 3 months to carry out a study, internship in a
foreign public administration body or international organization, internship in another public
service, non-governmental organization or non-governmental business entity or business entity,
frequency of training actions suitable for professional development. Relevant performance in
3 consecutive years entitles employee to 3 days of vacation or corresponding remuneration.

Case Study

The institution from which we will present the data, which we will call entity X, is a pub-
lic body endowed with administrative and financial autonomy in the area of education, which in
2019 had 395 workers at its service, as can be seen in the map below (Table 2).

Table 2
Effective 2019/2018

  Number of Human Resources Variation

  2019 2018 No. %

Effective 393 399 -6 -1.50%

Absences for more than 6 months 2 5 -3 -60%

Total jobs occupied 395 404 -9 -2.23%

Source: Social Balance 2019, entity X

If we look at the categories, the situation is as shown in Table 3 below:

Table 3
Employees 2019/2018 by type of category

Source: Social Balance 2019, entity X

Note: CTFP is Employment contract in public functions for an indefinite period.

According to the same source, with regard to gender, workers are mostly women (65%)
and the rest are men (35%). Regarding performance appraisal, given that it is an entity that
provides services to students globally, operational assistants carry out tasks to which the “com-
petence-based assessment” applies, as the skills that the employee possesses and those that are
required are considered need to be improved. In this context, the involvement of the leadership
and of the evaluated future in the whole process is considered relevant, from the definition of
the competences needed by the organization to the identification of individual competences. In
this way, everyone's involvement in the process is guaranteed, and the supervisor, together with
the employee, can develop an action plan to improve what is necessary.

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58 In the category of assistant coach, the assessment of “adequate” dominates, while the
quota of “relevant” was filled by Senior Technicians. In the classification awarded in 2019,
referring to the year 2018, an employee who created an innovative process in the area of ​​infor-
mation technologies was assigned an “excellent” rating.
This is the result of the evaluation of the performance of the employees of this public
entity in the years under analysis, and it should be noted that many of them are not satisfied with
the classification obtained, especially since their future career progression is highly dependent
on this evaluation. This is in line with research done by other authors previously, who reached
similar conclusions.

Conclusions and Implications

From what has been exposed, it can be concluded that performance appraisal systems
show several benefits for public organizations, since they contribute to improving productivity
and the quality of services provided.
A review of the literature on people management and its subsystems, with an emphasis
on skills mapping and the development of a performance appraisal model, reinforces the rel-
evance of these actions in the organizational context.
The importance of performance appraisal as a people management tool is highlighted.
A performance appraisal system must be able to follow and monitor, throughout the evaluation
period, both the evaluated and the evaluators.
In the public sector, performance appraisal must involve the adoption of differentiated
methods of performance appraisal, which include common and other specific criteria, related to
the characteristics of the various public bodies. It is considered to be advantageous to obtain the
contribution and commitment of the different actors in the different stages of the performance
appraisal process.
Based on the results and assumptions of the literature, this article is relevant insofar as it
highlights the importance of talented and competent individuals in organizations and the way
in which they can contribute to the improvement of the management process. Furthermore, the
study developed shows a real case of evaluation of Public Administration workers in Portugal,
therefore a topic that raises sometimes divergent understandings and that increasingly must be
investigated and disseminated. The implications of this research should be of interest to both
management and policymakers.

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 Maria da Conceição da Costa MARQUES. Performance appraisal: The case of a public entity in Portugal
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Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

62 Received: April 12, 2022 Revised: September 28, 2022 Accepted: October 16, 2022

Cite as: Marques, M. C. C. (2022). Performance appraisal: The case of a public

entity in Portugal. Problems of Management in the 21 st Century, 17(1), 48-62.
https://doi.org/10.33225/pmc/22.17.48

Maria da Conceição da Costa Marques ISCAC Coimbra Business School, CBS-RC Research Center,
Portugal.
E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8232-8397

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 This is an open access article under the
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License

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OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

INNOVATIVENESS AND COMPETITIVE 63

ADVANTAGE OF SMALL AND MEDIUM-

SIZE ENTERPRISES IN KOGI STATE,
NIGERIA
Akeem Tunde Nafiu, Danlami Joseph Aduku, Napoleon Ukwubile Abah
Prince Abubakar Audu University, Nigeria
E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

This study focused on link innovativeness and Competitive Advantage (CA) of Small and Medium-size
Enterprise (SMEs). The study examined the effect of Value Capture Innovation (VCI) on the CA, as well
as the effect of VPI on the CA of SMEs in Kogi State. The survey research design was adopted. 255 SMEs
were surveyed, but 219 owners/managers eventually became active participants. Multi-stage random
sampling technique was adopted. The reliability results showed VCI (α=0.917); and VPI (α=0.776).
Multiple Regression analysis was used for testing hypotheses. Descriptive statistics aggregated and char-
acterized the data in a straightforward and clear manner. Finding showed that VCI has significant effect
on the CA of SMEs in Kogi State, and that (Value Proposition Innovation (VPI) has significant effect on
CA of SMEs. The study concluded that SMEs need to possess innovation capabilities so as to enhance
reasonable position in the competitive business environment. The study recommended that SME owners
should increase their commitment to VCI so as to achieve sustainable CA for their enterprises, and that
SME owners should invest in VPI to create effective medium route towards the achievement of sustainable
CA of their enterprises.
Keywords: innovative activity, competitive advantage, value capture innovation, value proposition in-
novation, new customer relationships

Introduction

From the global perspective, innovation is paramount for Small and Medium Enterprises
(SMEs) to cope with the competition dynamics engineered by the COVID-19 epidemic. The
epidemic also unveils the potential for innovation to business ventures that have adequate re-
sources. Adam and Alarifi (2021) expressed that innovation practice of SMEs is inevitable
to confront the challenge posed by COVID-19 epidemic in the global business environment.
Hervás-Oliver et al. (2021) expressed that there is evidence that Europe has benefited from
SMEs’ innovativeness. The atmosphere for innovation fosters business competition. SMEs that
adopt innovation have the chance to increase value propositions. In order for SMEs to flourish
with its value creation promise in Africa, it must be supported to be innovative. Innovation is
sometimes connected with altering or creating new things out of existing ones. Some small
enterprises may have neglected the idea of innovation. Among other African countries, Nde-
saulwa and Kikula (2016) posited that the flexibility and capacity of SMEs for swift and effec-
tive integration of ideas has made them more innovative than larger enterprises.
In Nigeria, SMEs account for 46.31% of the National Gross Domestic Product, 6.21%
of gross export, 96.9% and 87.9% of employment (Small & Medium Enterprises Development
Agency of Nigeria [SMEDAN], 2021). There is a need for increased innovation by SMEs in
Nigeria. Studies (Ajayi & Morton, 2015; Baita & Adhama, 2020) posited that increasing inno-
vativeness of SMEs is required to transform the economy of Nigeria. Kogi State also needs to

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 Akeem Tunde NAFIU, Danlami Joseph ADUKU, Napoleon Ukwubile ABAH. Innovativeness and competitive advantage of small and
medium-size enterprises in Kogi state, Nigeria
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OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

64 support the SME sector. This is because increasing number of innovative SMEs will not only
bring about intense CA but economic benefit for Kogi State in Nigeria. Jeje (2022) posited that
sustainable SMEs can drive economic growth. The idea of innovation is well recognized by
SMEs in Kogi State and has caught the interest of both the academic and business communities.
The areas of focus are how innovation can be used to spur performance and the CA of firms.
In the SME sector of Kogi State, CA seems to be an issue of concern. SMEs are battling
with competitive pressure with limited capacity today. The broad understanding of the phenom-
enon blamed the competitive pressure facing SMEs on the global economic shake up (due to
COVID-19) and the Russian-Ukraine war. It is evident that these two upsurges are inimical to
the progress of the global economy, and SMEs have been wallowing within the constraint with
less foresight on how to utilize innovations in Kogi State. Academic researchers have focused
on this issue and have centered it on the idea of innovation capability. Today, innovations re-
quire a shift from the traditional approach to modern and contingent demand. The traditional
approach gives credence to innovations from the perspective of product, process, and chan-
nels. The contingent approach to innovations opened to SMEs mirrors value capture, value
proposition, and value creation. Clauss (2016) was of the position that VCI is centered on new
processes, new technology and new capabilities. The traditional way only sees an element of
VCI (which is process innovation). Clauss (2016) also argued that VPI can manifest consider-
ing New Customer Relationships (NCR), new channels, new customers and markets and new
offerings, and that value creation innovation can be achieved through new cost structures and
new revenue models.

Problem Statement

Based on the critical situation facing the economy of Nigeria today, it is clear that SMEs
have failed in the intellectual manipulation of contingent innovations approach. This failure can
be attributed to the competitive pressure affecting the CA of SMEs in the competitive environ-
ment of Kogi State. There is a wide research gap relative to how VCI, VPI and value creation
innovation can be utilized by SMEs in the pursuit of CA in Kogi State. Howell et al. (2018) ar-
gued that value creation and value capturing remain big challenges in the subject of innovation.
Nafula (2017) advocated the need for SMEs to be proactive such that their competitiveness can
be sustained overtime. The notion that innovation is a unique and strategic tool for pursuing
performance or CA has persisted over time despite being controversial. Studies (Aziz & Samad,
2016; Boachie-Mensah & Acquah, 2015; Ferreira et al., 2018; Nafiu et al., 2020; Onileowo et
al., 2021; Ukpabio et al., 2018) have been able to establish that there is a linear relationship
between innovations and CA. There is a research oversight on the relevance of constructs and
sub-constructs of innovations as exposed by Clauss (2016); as these have explanatory potential
on the nature of the CA.

Research Questions

The study raised some questions as follows:

i. What is the effect of VCI on the CA of SMEs?
ii. To what extent has VPI affected the CA of SMEs?

Research Focus

The study's major aim was to clarify how innovation and the CA of SMEs are related.
The study specifically:
i. Examined the effect of VCI on the CA of SMEs.
ii. Investigated the effect of VPI on the CA of SMEs.

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Akeem Tunde NAFIU, Danlami Joseph ADUKU, Napoleon Ukwubile ABAH. Innovativeness and competitive advantage of small and
medium-size enterprises in Kogi state, Nigeria
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OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
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Literature Review 65

The concept innovation has gained a wide x–ray. This is why the concept has received
different perspectives. The most important is the pervasiveness of innovation in organizational
life within the context of the business environment. Mulibana and Rena (2021) expressed that
innovation has been acknowledged as a catalyst that raises the chances of small enterprises
becoming sustainable. According to Kahn (2018), the term "innovation" is now used by en-
terprises in their mission, vision, and goal statements. This is based on the understanding that
innovation is a constant thing that must be integral of the mission, vision, and objectives of
any enterprises. Innovation must be viewed as a process as well as an end effect. The process
perspective is a function of technological innovation. Technological innovation often drives
product and process innovation. The end effect perspective reflects the customer-centrism. It
relies on how values can be proposed, created, and captured. Enterprises that limit innovation
to process or end effect will fail in their efforts. Enterprises that concentrate on end effect will
eliminate the process, which may culminate into irrational optimization of resources and ef-
fort duplication. Kahn (2018) posited that enterprises that are focused on processes frequently
develop bureaucracies that make it too difficult to achieve results. It is essential to have a bal-
anced perspective that takes both the process and the end effect into account. Martínez-Román
and Romero (2017) added that the interconnections between technological innovation (product
and process innovation) and those originating from the administrative system demonstrate the
complexity and multidimensional nature of innovation (organizational innovation and market-
ing innovation).

VCI and Competitive Advantage

VCI is one that is pivoting to success in the marketplace. In marketing literature, the
customer's decision to purchase products/service is influenced by the market offering's value
(Chesbrough et al., 2018). VCI is the way of obtaining an economic or non-economic return
from value creation. According to the value-in-use perspective, value capture is the practice of
obtaining a portion of the value generated by some other actor at the time of resource usage. As
a result, value capture in this situation is focused on participating in the value creation of other
actors (Chesbrough et al., 2018). It also refers to obtaining resources in exchange for those that
are given to another actor. Value capture defines how value propositions are converted into rev-
enues (Clauss, 2016). It is the practice of bargaining a mutual resource exchange at the moment
of a swap (Chesbrough et al., 2018).
Business performance and a competitive edge may not always follow from undertaking
business in nascent markets. Enterprises are challenged to use VCI in order to successfully
achieve CA. In the form of high-quality products, SMEs can come up with a business model
that drives how "value" is captured. There is a need for a business model that targets persistent
innovation (Adrodegari & Saccani, 2017; Foss & Saebi, 2017; Sjödin et al., 2019; Raddats et
al., 2019). Suggestable imperative business models for SMEs are New Cost Structures and New
Revenue Models. In respect of this, CA can be assured for SMEs. This informs the need for
SMEs to take advantage of VCI for a change in their competitive status in Kogi State. Sequel
to this, a hypothesis was drawn that:
H1 VCI has a significant effect on the CA of SMEs.

VPI and Competitive Advantage

The value proposition is a concept that practitioners regularly apply (Terho et al., 2012).
The value that business guarantees to provide to customers when they decide to purchase its
goods is referred to as a value proposition. The whole marketing plan of an enterprise includes a
value proposition. Consumers are introduced to an enterprise's brand through the value proposi-

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 Akeem Tunde NAFIU, Danlami Joseph ADUKU, Napoleon Ukwubile ABAH. Innovativeness and competitive advantage of small and
medium-size enterprises in Kogi state, Nigeria
PROBLEMS
OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

66 tion, which explains to them what the firm stands for, how it functions, and why it merits their
business.
The VPI approach entails activities including generating ideas for product value proposi-
tions, confirming those ideas, putting those ideas into practice, and subsequently making the
product available to customers on the market. Determining an exact value proposition, or the
advantages a product is supposed to offer to its customers in order to raise customer value, is the
most crucial task. These advantages ought to be verified in the sense that none of the underly-
ing assumptions regarding the product value proposition ought to be just presumptions rather
than something that those potential customers actually need. Thus, VPI is inevitable practice for
SMEs in Kogi State. It is perceived that it is a rationale practice that positions enterprises under
a competitive climate. VPI must therefore be the target at NCR, new channels, new custom-
ers and markets, and new offerings to enable SMEs to achieve sustainable CAs in Kogi State.
Based on this, it was necessary to draw hypothesis that:
H 2 VPI has a significant effect on the CA of SMEs.

Theoretical Review

The theory of innovation was propounded by Joseph Schumpeter. The theory is a com-
ponent of Endogenous Growth Models (EGM) that are centered on innovation (Schumpeter,
1934). The theory outlines how innovation and entrepreneurship contribute to economic prog-
ress. The idea works under the presumption that markets are constantly changing. Entrepreneur
is a driver within the economy that explains underlying changes and growths in a dynamic
environment (Raymond & St-Pierre, 2010). The entrepreneur is "an instrument of innovation
and a fulcrum of change," (Schumpeter, 1934). He asserts that innovation and entrepreneurship
are crucial for success in a dynamic society. Nafula (2017) and Nafiu et al. (2020) argued that
entrepreneurship is ultimately concerned about innovation and that the role of entrepreneurs is
to implement novel configurations of factors of production that result in rapid and substantial
change, which serves as the foundation for economic progress.
According to Schumpeter, innovation is essential for economic growth and can take
many different forms, such as "the introduction of a new product or the rectification of the old
product; the usage of unique production techniques; the launch of new markets; the adoption
of new sources of supply or raw materials; and the creation of a brand-new industry struc-
ture" (Schumpeter, 1934). Thus, entrepreneurs use innovation as a particular instrument to open
doors for a new good or service. The goal of innovation is to develop new procedures or goods
that provide the business owner with a CA over rivals.
Innovation is the justification for increased business earnings and investments. Accord-
ing to Schumpeter, innovation includes new ways of doing things, consolidating methods or
procedures to create varying products as well as services, using resources that already exist,
and utilizing new technology (Schumpeter, 1954). This study's assessment of the crucial role
of innovation in any competitive situation is informed by theory. Entrepreneurial innovation is
crucial in value creation. The idea also guides research on the different sorts of innovation that
can be employed to provide value (Schumpeter, 1934). Innovation is the cornerstone of CA.
Distanont and Khongmalai (2020) established that innovation is critical to the achievement of
CA.

Research Methodology

The survey research design was adopted. The research design provided a framework or
plan of action for this study. The research design addressed the pressing problem of innovation
in SMEs in Kogi State. This design supported the collection and analysis of quantitative data
related to SME owners during their participation. The study's population was people who were
owners of SMEs and could describe the issue around innovation and innovation capacity. The

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Akeem Tunde NAFIU, Danlami Joseph ADUKU, Napoleon Ukwubile ABAH. Innovativeness and competitive advantage of small and
medium-size enterprises in Kogi state, Nigeria
PROBLEMS
OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

population was taken from manufacturing, accommodation & food services, and education sec- 67
tors. The population of the registered SMEs in Kogi State was 12,517. It consisted of 12,078
small enterprises and 439 medium enterprises. Thus, this study only concentrated on the reg-
istered SMEs in Kogi State. For this study, a sample was selected using multi-stage sampling
technique. This was achieved by dividing the population into groups (small and medium). The
study also considered the hierarchical structure of natural clusters within the population. The
respondents were selected on common characteristics. The SME sector was strictly surveyed.
The selected SMEs were from manufacturing, accommodation & food services, and education
sectors.
Using a formula, a stratified sample of 255 SMEs was randomly chosen under the as-
sumptions of a 1% sampling error and 99% reliability. The study assumed sampling error of
1% or 0.01, 99% reliability, probability level is 2.58 and standard value at 1%. Then the sample
size was computed as:

Where n = sample size

p = Population proportion
Se= Sampling error (0.01)
Z= Standard value-2.58 @ 1% probability level with 0.99 reliability
N = Population Total (12,517)
N= 254.6149659279326‬ (255 approximately)‬‬‬

The researchers collected primary data by carrying out survey. The instrument used was
a well-designed questionnaire. It was used to collect the primary data. The constructs were
measured using the Likert scale. Data were also collected in relationship to the determinants of
innovative capability and the CA of SMEs in Kogi State. The Cronbach Coefficient alpha was
utilized to determine the reliability of the instrument. Zikmund et al. (2010) deem a coefficient
of 0.70 and higher to have reliability coefficient, which is the most often used estimate of a
multiple-item scale's reliability.

Table 1
Reliability of Innovation

S/N Constructs Cronbach’s Alpha No. of Items

1 Value capture innovation .917 4

2 Value Proposition Innovation .776 4

Source: Field Survey (2020)

Table 1 shows the reliability of innovation capability. The constructs such as VCI and
VPI proxy are the innovation of SMEs. The results show that the first construct has 0.917; and
the second 0.776. Following the critical point of 0.70 by Zikmund et al. (2010), the results of
the constructs show strong reliability. A frequency distribution table was used to show and ana-
lyze the obtained data. Multiple regressions were utilized to test the hypotheses. In a specific
form, the study’s models were stated below:

CAS = β0 + β1NSS + β2NRM + Ɛ…………………………………………… 1

Where X= The independent variable
NSS = New Cost Structures
NRM = New Revenue Models
CAS= Competitive Advantage (dependent variable)
β = independent variable coefficients

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 Akeem Tunde NAFIU, Danlami Joseph ADUKU, Napoleon Ukwubile ABAH. Innovativeness and competitive advantage of small and
medium-size enterprises in Kogi state, Nigeria
PROBLEMS
OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

68 e = Error margin
CAS = β0 + β1NCR + β2NCS + β3NCM + β4NEO + Ɛ……………………… 2
Where X= The independent variable
NCR = New Customer Relationship
NCS = New Channels
NCM = New Customers and Markets
NEO= New Offerings
CAS= Competitive Advantage (dependent variable)
β = independent variable coefficients
e = Error margin

Research Results

The data gathered were subjected to analysis. This includes the analyses of both demo-
graphic characteristics and salient variables. The tables below show the results of the analyses.

Table 2
Questionnaire Administration

Questionnaires Frequency Percentage

Administered 255 100
Retrieved 219 85.88
Un-retrieved 36 14.12

Table 2 shows that out of the administered questionnaires; only 219 copies (85.88%)
were retrieved; and 36 copies (14.12%) were not retrieved. Thus, subsequent analyses were
based on the data retrieved from the 219 copies.

Table 3
Demography of Respondents

Variables Categories Frequencies Percentage

Gender Single 198 90.4
Married 21 9.6
Total 219 100.0
Age < 20 Years 49 22.4
21-25 Years 98 44.7
26- 30 Years 72 32.9
Total 219 100.0
Marital status Single 198 90.4
Married 21 9.6
Total 219 100.0
Academic qualification PSLC 71 32.4
SSCE 98 44.7
OND/NCE 49 22.4
HND/B.Sc and above 1 .5
Total 219 100.0

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Akeem Tunde NAFIU, Danlami Joseph ADUKU, Napoleon Ukwubile ABAH. Innovativeness and competitive advantage of small and
medium-size enterprises in Kogi state, Nigeria
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OF MANAGEMENT
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Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

Business experience 5 to 10 years 168 76.7 69

11 to 15 years 51 23.3
Total 219 100.0

Table 3 shows that 123 respondents (56.2%) were male, and 96 respondents (43.8%)
were female. The result shows that the majority of SME owners were male.
Table 3 shows that 49 respondents (22.4%) were less than 20 years; 98 respondents
(44.7%) were between the ages of 21 to 25; and 72 respondents (32.9%) were between the ages
of 26 to 30. The results indicate that the preponderance of respondents—SME owners—were
between the ages of 21 and 25.
Table 3 shows that 198 respondents (90.4%) were single; and 21 respondents (9.6%)
were married. The responses only favored single and marital status. There was other marital
status which did not fall into the categories of the respondents. The result, however, shows that
the majority of the respondents are single.
Table 3 shows that 71 respondents (32.4%) held primary-school-leaving-certificate; 98
respondents (44.7%) held secondary-school-certificate; 49 respondents (22.4%) held ordinary
national diploma/national certificate; and 1 respondent (0.5%) held a Higher National Diploma/
Bachelor of Science certificate.
Table 3 shows that 168 respondents (76.7%) have 5 to 10 years’ business experience; and
51 respondents (23.3%) have 11 to 15 years’ business experience. The result shows that the
majority of the respondents have 5 to 10 years’ business experience.

Table 4
Regression Result on VCI and CA

CAS Coefficients SE t-value p-value

NRM .4213096 .0379766 11.09 0.01
NCS 1.643617 .0874623 18.79 0.01
Cons -.6463953 .0951786 -6.79 0.01
F-value 357.351598
No. of obs 219
F(2, 216) 933.44
Prob > F 0.01
Root MSE .4142
R-squared 0.8963

In table 4, the R2 of 0.8963 unveils how VCI explains the CA of SMEs in Kogi State. The
result shows that 89.6% variation in CA of SMEs is explained by VCI. The remaining 10.4%
unexplained variation in the CA of SMEs implies that there are more other variables that can
be considered for explanation of the variation. The F(2, 216) shows the degrees of freedom
(933.44) and Prob> F shows statistically significant regression model (p-value < .01). The F-
value (357.351598) reveals that the model has a high goodness of fit and contradicts the null
hypothesis because the Prob > F is less than 0.01. The root MSE (0.4142) indicates the standard
deviation of the error component.
The table presents a linear relationship between new revenue models and CA of SMEs
(given that β= 0.4213096; p-value < .01). The table reveals the proportion of the CA of SMEs
that changes for 42.1% change in the new revenue models. The coefficient is positive; reveal-

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 Akeem Tunde NAFIU, Danlami Joseph ADUKU, Napoleon Ukwubile ABAH. Innovativeness and competitive advantage of small and
medium-size enterprises in Kogi state, Nigeria
PROBLEMS
OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

70 ing that the linear relationship is just significant (at p-value less than 0.01) but positive and
has t-value (11.09). The coefficient (0.4213096) is statistically significant; revealing that new
revenue models significantly predict CA of SMEs in Kogi State.
The table presents a linear relationship between new cost structures and CA of SMEs
(given that β= 1.643617; p-value < .01). The table reveals the proportion of the CA of SMEs
that changes for 164.4% change in the new cost structures. The coefficient is also positive; re-
vealing that the linear relationship is just significant (at p-value less than .01) but positive and
has t-value (18.79). The coefficient (1.643617) is statistically significant; revealing that new
cost structures significantly predict CA of SMEs in Kogi State.

Table 5
Regression Result on VPI and CA

CAS Coefficients SE t-value p-value|

NCR .5484779 .1395746 3.93 .01
NWC .2173525 .0999128 2.18 .03
NCM .445777 .0805312 5.54 .01
NEW -.0924052 .0668347 -1.38 .17
Cons .5918829 .2074457 2.85 .01
F-value 357.351598
No. of obs 219
F(4, 214) 64.73
Prob > F .01
Root MSE .86928
R-squared .5475
Source: Field Survey (2022)

Table 5 shows the R2 of 0.5475 on the effect of VPI on CA of SMEs in Kogi State. The
result shows that 54.8% variation in CA of SMEs is explained by VPI. The remaining 45.2%
unexplained variation in the CA of SMEs implies that there are more other variables that can
be considered for explanation of the variation. The F(4, 214) shows the degrees of freedom
(64.73) and Prob> F shows statistically significant regression model (p < .01). The F-value
(357.351598) reveals that the model has a high goodness of fit and contradicts the null hy-
pothesis because the Prob > F is less than .01. The root MSE (0.86928) indicates the standard
deviation of the error component.
NCR, new channels, new customers and markets, and new offerings are considered as
proxies for VPI. The table reveals a significant positive linear connection between NCR and
CA of SMEs (given that β= 0.5484779; p-value = .01). That is, a 54.8% mean change in NCR
will lead to corresponding change in CA of SMEs. This implies that improved NCR will bring
about improved CA for SMEs.
The result shows that new channels have significant positive linear relationship with
CA of SMEs (given that β= 0.2173525; p-value < .05). That is, 21.7% change in new channels
introduced will result in proportional change in CA of SMEs. This also implies that the CA of
SMEs will increase correspondingly, given an increase in new channels.
The result shows that new customers and markets have a significant positive linear rela-
tionship with CA of SMEs (given that β= 0.445777; p-value = .01). That is, 44.6% mean change
in new customers and markets explains almost proportional change in CA of SMEs. This means
that increased new customers and markets lead to increased CA of SMEs.

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Akeem Tunde NAFIU, Danlami Joseph ADUKU, Napoleon Ukwubile ABAH. Innovativeness and competitive advantage of small and
medium-size enterprises in Kogi state, Nigeria
PROBLEMS
OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

Given that = -0.0924052; p-value .05, the result demonstrates a strong negative linear 71
association between new offerings and SMEs' CA. In other words, a 9.2% mean change in new
offerings accounts for a nearly proportionate change in SMEs' CA. This means that increased
new offerings lead to decreased CA of SMEs.

Discussion

Findings showed that VCI has a significant effect on the CA of SMEs in Kogi State. New
cost structures and new revenue models as the components of VCI were estimated against CA
of SMEs in Kogi State. Findings revealed that new revenue models significantly relate with CA
of SMEs. A few of the new revenue models are Subscription Revenue Model (SRM), Transac-
tional Revenue Model (TRM), Affiliate Revenue Model (ARM) and Ad-Based Revenue Model
(ARM). This finding advances the study of Chen et al. (2020) which only found that innovation
in business models contributes to the expansion of SMEs. This aligns with the finding of Anwar
(2018) that Business Model Innovation significantly enhances SMEs' CA. The finding also
revealed that new cost structures significantly correlate with the CA of SMEs. This implies that
new cost structures relative to cost savings, price differentiation and price-quantity strategy can
give SMEs edges in business competition.
Findings showed that VPI has a significant effect on CA of SMEs. This advances the
assertion of Eggert et al. (2018) that customer value proposition is instrumental to the achieve-
ment of CA. It is a strategic instrument with multiple facets, irrespective of the value parame-
ters on which the customers’ value proposition is extended. It establishes a connection between
enterprises and customers. The strategic options of VPI considered for this study are NCR, new
channels, new customers and markets and new offerings.
It was found that there is a significant positive linear connection between NCR and CA of
SMEs. This suggests that strengthened new customer ties will boost SMEs' CAs. This confirms
the position of Soltani and Navimipour (2016) that customer relationship engineers CA. It was
found that new channels have a significant positive linear relationship with CA of SMEs. This
indicates that, given additional new channels, SMEs' CA will grow accordingly. Adding new
distribution channels means that SME owners are consciously trying to increase their enter-
prises’ competitive edge. This advances the finding of Marques and Ferreira (2009); Kuswan-
toro et al. (2012) that new distribution channels impact SMEs' performance. It was found that
new customers and markets have a significant positive relationship with CA of SMEs. Growing
numbers of new customers and markets result in growing SMEs' CAs. Furthermore, it was
found that a strong negative relationship exists between new offerings and SMEs' CA. In other
words, more innovative products lead to SMEs having less of a CA.

Conclusions

SMEs need to possess innovation capabilities so as to enhance reasonable position in

the competitive business environment. It is no more news that SMEs are key to the economy.
Thus, increasing the level of SMEs’ innovativeness will certainly contribute to the economy.
SMEs can take advantage of varying aspects of VCI, VPI and value creation innovation. The
commitment to the aspects is expected to favor both the SMEs and the economy in the long run.
It was empirically ascertained that commitment to VCI can enhance CA of SMEs in Kogi
State. New revenue models and cost structures are elements of VCI. The empirical investiga-
tion proved that adding new revenue models can increase SMEs' CA. The new revenue models
in question are Subscription Revenue Model (SRM), Transactional Revenue Model (TRM),
Affiliate Revenue Model (ARM) and Ad-Based Revenue Model (ARM). There is also empiri-
cal evidence that adding new cost structures can stimulate increased CA of SMEs. New cost
structures in terms of cost reduction, price differentiation, and cost leadership may be able to
give SMEs an advantage in the business world.

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 Akeem Tunde NAFIU, Danlami Joseph ADUKU, Napoleon Ukwubile ABAH. Innovativeness and competitive advantage of small and
medium-size enterprises in Kogi state, Nigeria
PROBLEMS
OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

72 The value proposition is intended to generate economic reward for the SME owners be-
cause it predicts and is structured to satisfy markets that can easily afford new offerings through
the use of new channels. There is scientific proof that VPI can affect CA of SMEs. NCR in VPI
has been proven to have a positive influence on CA of SMEs. This explicitly converses that
building new customer ties is significant for improved SMEs' CAs. New channels can also be
instrumental in the achievement of SMEs’ CA. The CA of SMEs will increase in line with the
advent of new channels. By introducing new distribution channels, SME owners are actively
attempting to boost the competitiveness of their enterprises. New customers and markets have a
very favorable impact on SMEs' CA. Increasing SMEs' CAs are the outcomes of rising popula-
tion of new customers and marketplaces. New products have a significant detrimental impact
on SMEs' competitive edge.

Recommendations

The study recommends that:

i. SME owners should increase their commitment to VCI so as to achieve sustainable CA
for their enterprises. New revenue models (such as Subscription Revenue Model, Transactional
Revenue Model, Affiliate Revenue Model and Ad-Based Revenue Model) and new cost struc-
tures (costs saving, price differentiation and cost estimation technique) should be considered by
policymakers to facilitate the achievement of CA of SMEs.
ii. SME owners should invest in VPI to create an effective medium route towards the
achievement of sustainable CA of their enterprises. The areas to focus investment are NCR
(using customer retention approach) and new offerings that can induce consistent customers’
loyalty and patronage.

Contribution to Knowledge

Numerous studies have been conducted with a single research focus. The studies only
investigated product, process, organizational and market innovations. This present study is the
first to use Ordered Probit Regression to investigate the determinant of innovation capability of
SMEs in Kogi State. In fact, the study is the first to have considered VCI, VPI and value cre-
ation innovation for research. The study is thus the first to provide empirical evidence on how
these areas of innovations can be helpful in sustaining CA.

Declaration of Interest

The authors declare no competing interest.

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Appendix
Section A: Demographic Characteristics

No. Questions Responses

1 Indicate your gender Gender Tick
Male
Female
2 What age bracket do you belong to? Age Tick
Below 20 Years
21-25 Years
26- 30 Years
31-35 Years
36- 40 Years
41- 45 Years
Above 46 Years

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Akeem Tunde NAFIU, Danlami Joseph ADUKU, Napoleon Ukwubile ABAH. Innovativeness and competitive advantage of small and
medium-size enterprises in Kogi state, Nigeria
PROBLEMS
OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

3 What is your marital status? Marital status Tick 75

Single
Married
Widow
Separated
Divorced
4 What is your level of education? Education Tick
Primary School Cert
Secondary School Cert
OND/NCE
HND/B.Sc & above
5 Years of business experience Work Experience Tick
5-10 Year
11-15 Years
16-20 Years
21-26 Years
Above 26 Years

SECTION B: CA
No. Questions Responses

37 The enterprise has edge over other competitors Options Tick

Strongly Agree
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
38 The enterprise has a good position in the Options Tick
competitive business environment Strongly Agree
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly Disagree

SECTION C: DIMENSIONS OF INNOVATION

Rate your degree of agreement with the following Effects of Innovation for your Enterprise
Where 5- strongly agree, 4- Agree, 3- somewhat agree, 2- Disagree, 1- Strongly disagree
VCI
S/N 1 2 3 4 5
New Revenue Models
39 Recently, we created fresh revenue prospects.
40 To achieve long-term economic success, we increasingly provide in-
terconnected services.
41 We recently added long-term cash flow strategies to supplement or
replace one-time transaction income.

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 Akeem Tunde NAFIU, Danlami Joseph ADUKU, Napoleon Ukwubile ABAH. Innovativeness and competitive advantage of small and
medium-size enterprises in Kogi state, Nigeria
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76 42 We don't count on our current funding streams lasting forever.

New Cost Structures
43 We review our price-quantity approach frequently.
44 We look for ways to reduce manufacturing costs on a regular basis.
45 Our manufacturing costs are continuously reviewed and, where nec-
essary, adjusted in accordance with market prices.
46 We frequently take advantage of opportunities brought about by price
differential.

VPI
S/N 1 2 3 4 5
New Customers and Markets
47 We frequently seize possibilities that develop in emerging or expand-
ing areas.
48 We frequently target brand-new, underserved market niches.
49 We are always looking for new markets and consumer groups for our
goods and services.
New Channels
50 We frequently use fresh avenues of distribution for our goods and ser-
vices.
51 Our channels' functions are now more effectively performing owing to
ongoing adjustments.
52 Our portfolio of distribution outlets is always changing.
NCR
53 By introducing new service options, we work to boost customer reten-
tion.
54 To boost customer retention, we prioritize novel and contemporary
strategies.
55 We recently made a number of steps to improve our customer relation-
ships.
New Offerings
56 We frequently respond to fresh, unmet client demands.
57 Compared to our rivals, our products or services are exceptionally in-
novative.
58 Customers frequently have needs that our products or services consis-
tently address that competitors have not.

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Akeem Tunde NAFIU, Danlami Joseph ADUKU, Napoleon Ukwubile ABAH. Innovativeness and competitive advantage of small and
medium-size enterprises in Kogi state, Nigeria
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IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

Received: October 17, 2022 Revised: October 26, 2022 Accepted: November 30, 2022 77

Cite as: Nafiu, A. T., Aduku, D. J., & Abah, N. U. (2022). Innovativeness and competitive
advantage of small and medium-size enterprises in Kogi state, Nigeria. Problems of
Management in the 21st Century, 17(1), 63-77. https://doi.org/10.33225/pmc/22.17.63

Akeem Tunde Nafiu PhD, Research Assistant, Centre for Predegree and Diploma Studies,
(Corresponding author) Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba, Nigeria. 
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1705-6890

Danlami Joseph Aduku  Department of Business Administration, Prince Abubakar Audu Univer-

sity, Ayigba, Kogi State, Nigeria.
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8244-5788

Napoleon Ukwubile Abah Department of Business Administration, Prince Abubakar Audu Univer-

sity, Ayigba, Kogi State, Nigeria.
 

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 This is an open access article under the
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License

PROBLEMS
OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

78
THE MANAGEMENT OF DISEASE IN A
TRADITIONAL MEDICINE PERSPECTIVE:
THE CASE OF NAMPULA, NORTH OF
MOZAMBIQUE
Laura António Nhaueleque
Open University, Lisbon
Instituto Superior Monitor, Mozambique
E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Within a province (Nampula) of one of the world's poorest countries, Mozambique, the spread of tradi-
tional medicine is particularly significant. This study aims to delve into the main figures of traditional
medicine as well as the way in which they manage the care pathways in Nampula City. This treatment
must be framed within a very specific cultural, cosmological, and ethical context, that of the Makhuwa
culture, the largest language group in Mozambique. The research was carried out through direct observa-
tion work between 2015 and 2018, with the advantage that the author is a Nampula-born researcher and
a native Emakhuwa speaker. This circumstance allowed her to understand the dialogues and interviews
done on site without the need for interpreters. The result was that important local cultural elements,
together with the almost total absence of modern hospital facilities and conventional doctors made the
city of Nampula an urban center where traditions of medical care related to traditional knowledge still
prevail, and where caregivers perform social, pedagogical and medical functions.
Keywords: local knowledge, Emakhuwa Culture, medical dialogue, diseases

Introduction

The Amakhwa1 constitute the leading linguistic-cultural group in Mozambique. They

represent about 26% of the whole Mozambican population, occupying a great part of the North
of this country, namely the provinces of Nampula, consistent parts of the Provinces of Cabo
Delgado and Niassa, and the North of Zambezia (Medeiros, 2007). Lately, many Amakhwa
have moved to Southern Mozambique, especially the capital, Maputo, where they have tried
to reproduce their traditional religious customs and beliefs, as in Bairro Mafalala in Maputo
(Laranjeira, 2016).
The Amakhuwa have been traditionally excluded from the political as well as the eco-
nomic Mozambican national system carried out by FRELIMO (Front of Liberation of Mozam-
bique), the incumbent party since the independence obtained from Portugal in 1975. FRELIMO
has historically managed power through a close alliance between its most prominent repre-
sentatives of the South (as Eduardo Mondlane, Samora Machel, Joaquim Chissano and many
others) with the Makonde fighters of the North, in this moment represented by the Chief of
State, Filipe Nyusi, the General Chipande, the General Pachinuapa and many others (Bussotti
& Nhaueleque, 2022).
Amakhuwa people show a particular culture and social organization clearly distinct from
these of the South of Mozambique: they have a matrilinear society that – according to important
research (Geffray, 2000) – has developed over the time a sort of dependency of man in relation
to woman; they maintain a complex traditional religion and specific local habits and cultures.
Emakhuwa cultures and language (with its different varieties) have survived to the process of
1 Plural of “Makhuwa”.

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Laura António NHAUELEQUE. The management of disease in a traditional medicine perspective: The case of Nampula, North of
Mozambique
PROBLEMS
OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

inculturation carried out in a first time by Islam mainly in the coast, and thus, starting from the 79
16th century, by Christianism, especially in inland territories, as in the case of Nampula capital
province, Nampula city (Bonate, 2007; Machele, 2019).
As in many cases in African cultures, Amakhuwa too have been building a holistic sys-
tem of thought and values, integrating religion, social habits and organization, ethics. Inside this
conception, the respect for the nature, for the body care, for the ancestral spirits became the ref-
erence point to frame disease and its treatment (Behrens, 2010; Postioma, 1968; White, 2015).
The study here presented aims to show the main conceptions and procedures regarding
the traditional treatment of the disease in Nampula City. For a long time, traditional medicine
in Africa was downgraded to mere empirical knowledge, at best. At worst, it was associated
with witchcraft, superstition and an anti-scientific dimension that should have been overcome
and even fought against. In the 20th century the competition between Western colonial medicine
and traditional African medicine was very pronounced. This gave rise to “struggles all over the
colonies over the status of indigenous medicine” (Pemunta & Tabenyang, 2020, p. 47). In Mo-
zambique, at the end of the 19th century, the Portuguese crown decided to implement an initial
health system in the colonies as well. In a country like Mozambique, this meant dispersing the
knowledge that had been accumulated in various parts of that territory by traditional doctors,
imposing an 'official' and 'scientific' system (Roque, 2014).
With the end of colonialism, the situation did not change significantly. In Mozambique,
the watchword of the socialist government headed by Samora Machel was 'kill the tribe to make
the nation'. In this short phrase was summed up the logic with which the enlightened socialist
regime looked at everything traditional and religious: to do away with any colonial remnants
to form a “new man” (Farré, 2015). Many traditional curators and “regulos” (local chiefs) were
sent to re-education (but it would be more correct to say concentration) camps in Niassa Prov-
ince, from where few returned. As stated by Meneses, traditional medicine was fought by both
colonialism and the post-colonial socialist regime that wanted to overthrow colonial remnants
(Meneses, 2007). With the end of the socialist experience, the Mozambican State passed more
tolerant regulations towards local leaders, including some traditional medicine practices in the
new national health strategies. However, traditional healers continued to be viewed with great
suspicion. This was true both within a Mozambique whose dominant paradigm continued to
be that of Eurocentric biomedicine and through studies conducted mainly by Western scholars
or funded by Western institutions. The latter, imbued with a modernizing logic, in most cases
showed extreme difficulty in accepting the holistic view of disease that traditional curators pro-
posed, especially in Makhuwa society. Here, traditional medicine went hand in hand with other
traditional practices, such as initiation rites. These practices were interpreted as violating the
human rights of young women, favoring forced and early marriages and school drop-outs (José,
2016; Osório & Macuácua, 2013; Vahocha & Piedade, 2021).
Even the few works on Makhuwa traditional practices have been written by European
authors, including missionaries, with all the merits and limitations that such studies have en-
tailed (Martinez, 1989; Medeiros, 2007).
The same must also be said for the very few studies that, of the Makuwa culture, take
into consideration the theme of cure, its treatment and the main figures of traditional doctors
who intervene in this process (Gaspari, 2015).
There is therefore a problem of knowledge of how, in an ethnic group comprising some 7
million people, the disease is conceived, treated, and cured. Hence, the importance of this study,
one of the first to attempt to address these issues, starting from an empirical groundwork, and
conducted almost entirely in Emakhuwa language and according to a Makhuwa perspective.
This first work cannot exhaust the study of such a complex phenomenon within Emakhu-
wa culture. Traditional healing practices, unlike what people think, are rather permeable to even
significant changes. This is due, for example, to the increasingly close relationship between
traditional and conventional medicine, to the socio-cultural general changes which also influ-
ence the way Amakhuwa represent illness and, consequently, imagine treatment. In addition,

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 Laura António NHAUELEQUE. The management of disease in a traditional medicine perspective: The case of Nampula, North of
Mozambique
PROBLEMS
OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

80 the study conducted here was carried out in the city of Nampula, in an urban context that may
differ from the more rural environments in which the Amakhuwa live in the various provinces
of the north of the country. Different religious tendencies also play a very important role in the
different perceptions of illness and care as well as in its management: while in Nampula city the
religious prevalence is of the Catholics, along the coast from Nampula to Cabo Delgado those
who prevail are the Muslims. All these decisive variables were not considered in this research,
which is a case-study limited to the urban context of the city of Nampula.

Research Methodology

This research adopted a qualitative approach, taking the form of a case-study. The
groundwork was carried out in Nampula City from 2015 to 2018. Besides direct observation,
a series of semi-structured interviews were conducted with some privileged witnesses, namely
traditional medicine practitioners. The direct observation consisted in assisting to various mo-
ments of the care pathway managed by traditional physicians. They allowed access to the treat-
ment practice only after having explained to patients the meaning of the presence of a stranger
at such a delicate moment as the treatment of a disease. Due to the scarcity of bibliographical
sources, the empirical data collection represented the pivotal moment of this research; the idiom
to carry out the fieldwork has been almost exclusively Emakhuwa.

Research Results

Amakhuwa Cosmology

African cosmology has been the object of various works, especially in the field of philos-
ophy and religious studies. In general, African cosmology is framed inside the relation between
the man and the universe, with a strict interconnection with the supernatural dimension (Kanu,
2013). Despite a part of African philosophy, namely the analytical school, does not share the
idea of a relationship between philosophy, myth, and cosmology, it is worth remembering that,
at least in the Makhuwa case, this relation is evident, as shown below. The case of the Igbo
from Nigeria represents good evidence to demonstrate this interrelation. The medium between
sky and earth is represented by local oral tradition as well as by specific figures who know the
origins of the evil and how to treat it (Udefi, 2012). Although it is not possible to generalize,
many illustrious African philosophers state that – analyzing African mythology - evil would not
be originated by God, since God created the universe in harmony and peace (Mbiti, 1969). Evil
is brought by members of society used by malefic forces. Their actions can provoke disorder
inside the community; for, they need to be neutralized because social order is sacred (Daniel,
2009).
African traditional medicine is part of the African religions and philosophy; in a broad
sense, “it deals with everything that can be used to heal, kill or possess, power, health, fertility,
personality, to maintain order or cause disorderliness” (Ajima & Ubana, 2018, p. 2). It is in this
dimension of maintaining individual and social order that the intervention of physicians and
traditional caregivers must be seen.
The Amakhuwa fit into this cosmological and religious tradition, with some features of
their own. For the Amakhuwa, the universe started with a myth of origins, that of the Namuli
mountains (Nhaueleque, 2012). Namuli is a name given to a mountain range known as the
Giro Namuli formation. It starts in Zambezia Province (District of Gurué), where it reaches the
height of 2419 meters. The typical Makhuwa expression to designate the origins of this people
from Namuli mountains is the following: “Miyo kokhuma o Namuli” (“I was generated by
Namuli Mountain”) (Martinez, 1989).
The Amakhwa identify the Namuli with a generating deity. It is said that it was on that
mountain - when the land was still deserted and totally uncovered - that a deity immersed from

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Laura António NHAUELEQUE. The management of disease in a traditional medicine perspective: The case of Nampula, North of
Mozambique
PROBLEMS
OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

the great depths, all beings and things of all species, gender and race that cover the land, the 81
seas, the plateaus. All water and earth resources, minerals, and all that exist and populate the
universe, were generated in the Namuli.
According to oral sources interviewed in Nampula City, the mountain was inaccessible
because of its sacredness. When someone tried to reach the top of the hill, a group of dwarves
would cut and claw their way down, causing the person to wander until they returned2.
From the Namuli also man was begotten; and in early times the Supreme Being begot the
Makholos (first fathers of families or ancestors) of the Mahimos (clans).
The Namuli - the Amakhwa say – also generated all talents, vocations, knowledge, skills,
abilities, strength, beauty, all given to man at creation as a gift. This means that for these peo-
ple man was created endowed with certain qualities that were probably designed as means or
mechanisms for survival.
The Myth of the Namuli is like a profession of faith of the Amakhwa. Consequently, it
seems legitimate to say that the Namuli myth is the first religious manifestation for this people
regardless of their revealed religious belongings. If nature, human beings, skills and propen-
tions were originated by Namuli mountains, the pivotal idea of Emakhuwa culture is to live in
social harmony and individual peace. It means to live healthily, with a healthy body and mind.
Thus, everything that can upset this condition – at the individual as well as at the collective
level - must be removed, returning the person or the group to an original well-being. Hence, the
importance of the treatment of the disease. In the next point it is explained how the traditional
medicine can help to treat such diseases, considering as a case-study the Emakhuwa society of
Nampula.

Traditional Medicine in Emakhuwa Society

There are many definitions and studies about traditional medicine. A good starting point
is the conception of traditional medicine proposed by the World Health Organization. In a docu-
ment entitled "WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy", it is conceived as a broad term to refer to
both Chinese, Arabic, and various local traditional medicine systems (WHO, 2013). According
to WHO, traditional medicine is “the sum total of the knowledge, skill, and practices based on
the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or
not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or
treatment of physical and mental illness” (WHO, 2013, p. 15). WHO does not want to explain
the reasons why traditional medicine is in continuous expansion all over the world; for this
organization the important is that it can contribute to the improved health, together with the
conventional medicine. Thus, in its strategic plan, WHO aims to complement traditional with
conventional medicine within a unique national system, according to the peculiarities of each
State. This decision has its roots in the Bejing Declaration, adopted by the WHO Congress of
traditional Medicine in 2008, as well as in the assessment made after the first WHO Traditional
Medicine Strategy 2002-2005.
The WHO Strategy is embedded especially into Asian traditions, as that of China – for
instance with acupuncture – or India, in terms of formation of local traditional medicine practi-
tioners, with other cases listed there, as Japan and South Korea.
In Africa, one of the first official steps carried out by the African Union in the field of
traditional medicine was the publication, in 1985, of the two volumes of the African Pharmaco-
poeia (AU, 1985); thus African Union implemented a whole strategy, through a Plan of Action
approved in 2001, which had, as its main goals, to develop the traditional medicine in Africa,
integrating it into the national health system of each member State, to approve specific national
legislation on this subject, and finally to proceed to a plan of formation and communication
within the local communities (AU, 2001). In a declaration stated at the day of African tradi-
tional medicine, 31 August 2021, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti
2 Interview made in Nampula City with André Chequela José André, September, 2017.

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 Laura António NHAUELEQUE. The management of disease in a traditional medicine perspective: The case of Nampula, North of
Mozambique
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OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

82 remembered that 40 African countries have policy framework for traditional medicine, and that
biodiversity and the use of medicinal plants and herbs have been implemented successfully in
the last few years (WHO AFRICA, 2021).
As such, traditional medicine refers to diverse health knowledge and beliefs that incor-
porate plant, animal, and spiritual therapies, manual techniques, and the application of indi-
vidual forms, diagnosis, and disease prevention.
Nevertheless, traditional medicine is something more than the use of plants and herbs;
especially in Africa, it involves prevention and protection, physical, psychological, social be-
havior to avoid novice nutrition. And also the care of the spirit and of social conflicts which can
perturbe individuals, as well as a collectivity as a whole is a privileged field of intervention of
traditional medicine.
The Makhuwa approach to traditional medicine has to be framed into a general overview
of the African traditional medicine above described. Nevertheless, it has its own characteristics
and is exercised by specialists. These specialists are knowledgeable about their reality: social
and cultural.
Paraphrasing Felizardo Cipire, the specialists of traditional medicine are people who
have a deep knowledge of the nature from which they get their medicinal plants, the behavior of
the people, the behavior of the people they come in contact with, that is, they know the society,
the area where they are (Cipire, 1996). These figures perform differentiated functions. Each of
them has a special task that cannot be confused with the others, all of them playing an important
role in treating or also in causing diseases. Because of the confusion that exists between tradi-
tional doctors and witchdoctors, it is important to say a few words about this.
For the Amakhuwa, traditional physicians or healers are those whose actions are aimed
at solving various ills within society, that is, they are synonymous of good. According to the in-
terviewed source, a traditional doctor from Nampula, her role is fundamental in the Amakhuwa
society: she knows how to cure migraines, as well as how to perform divinations, and many
people seek her out.3 However, there is a belief that anahavara (witch doctors) exist in large
number among the Amakhuwa clans. Naharava, unlike the traditional medical practitioner, is
an individual who suffers social exclusion because he is considered synonymous of evil; in fact,
the very term naharava derived from havara, which means leopard. Thus, nahavara is a person
who does evil and has within himself the spirit that causes harm to innocent people. Wizards are
compared to leopard that feeds on human flesh despite appearing to be ordinary people.
Sickness is a real and frequent fact among the Amakhuwa living in Nampula City; there
are even maxims about it as when one says for example: owereiwa khuna mwanene! (“No one
owns the sickness”), or eretha khinmona mwana nnakhala khinwona amwene! (“The sickness
does not choose anyone: child or king, poor or rich, young adult or old”)4.
These maxims show that the people of Nampula City experience sickness as an evil for
everyone, which causes separation between the sick person and the rest of the people, brings
disharmony to the ordinary life of family members and acquaintances. In addition, the sick
person loses his vital dynamism and is deprived of daily life and work - this is why illness is a
phenomenon that causes separation.
When one is ill, not only does sadness invade the victim, but family and friends also
become worried. Hence, no one remains indifferent in front of a sick family member. In this
regard the author Fernandez writes in the following terms: “When one is ill one feels the illness
as a deep existential disorder and struggles to restore harmony” (Fernandez, 1989).
According to the interviews carried out in Nampula during the filed-work, people believe
that illness can have various origins such as: divine, ancestor (when the individual transgresses
the norms of moral conduct, even angering his ancestors) or human origins, when the illness
proceeds from a sorcerer.
3 Interview carried out in Nampula City with Maria, a traditional medicine physician, October, 2017.
4 These sentences have been picked up during the fieldwork in Nampula, transcribed and translated
in English.

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Laura António NHAUELEQUE. The management of disease in a traditional medicine perspective: The case of Nampula, North of
Mozambique
PROBLEMS
OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

On the one hand, there are known illnesses that can be cured without the intervention of 83
healing specialists, and on the other hand, there are illnesses that require the intervention of a
specialist, who will follow a specific framework of rites and respective prohibitions according
to the illness.
Healing specialists among the Amakhuwa occupy a very important place in the lives
of the people and the community. They are individuals who are committed to discovering the
origin of illnesses and other ills that plague people. According to the results of the groundwork
made in Nampula, it is possible to identify at least three main figures which intervene in the
cure pathway. They are mostly known and referred to as anahako, diviners; mukhulukano, heal-
ers, traditional doctors, and anamuko, instructors or masters.
It is possible to say that anahako is the first traditional medical figure to manage ill-
ness: he strives to discover what is hidden and unknown. He researches to make public what
is a mystery unattainable by anyone, especially when it comes to illness, misfortune, and even
death. He is a very important person. People turn to him to find out the cause of their illnesses
and sufferings, calamities, and storms. He foretells the future and decodes the events of the past
and present. Everything that happens can be deciphered and decoded by the diviner - according
to popular belief.
Due to its function, the anahakho in Nampula City is the first person to be sought out
and requested, not only when someone dies suspiciously, but especially in cases of illness or
depression. He is the one who will tell if it is a matter of illness or natural death, or if these
misfortunes were caused by a nahavara, or even in the case of illness - by punishment of the
ancestors, because the sick person did not follow and fulfill his obligations.
The anahako exercises the art of investigation in society with knowledge and skill; he
possesses extraordinary powers, a quality that people in general do not have. He received such
abilities from tradition mainly because the ancestors are with him and assist him.
Mukhulukano is the specialist dedicated to the healing of illnesses, administering herbs,
or even using magic. In Nampula City mukhulukano is a doctor, an individual who knows and
cures, the knower of solutions to diseases, illnesses, misfortunes, bad luck. This is an individual
who does beneficial deeds in the community, contrary to the evil deeds of the witchdoctors. In
one word one can say that mukhulukhano is the synonym of good and the fighter of evil.
Mukulukano is the one who knows medicinal herbs, knows how to prepare medicines,
confect and administer them to the patient, taking care of his therapy. This is why he is also
known by the name of man or owner of the medicines (namirethe).
This practice can be acquired in various ways, such as: ohiyeriwa mirethe na muha kalai,
that is, inheriting the medicines from the ancestors; othuma mirethe, by buying the medicines;
ophepa mirethe, by learning within a given period.
In a case of disease treatment witnessed in direct observation work, the patient is intro-
duced to the mukhulukano, who gives precise orientations. For instance, he establishes some
prohibitions: the patient should abstain from certain foods - not eat certain meats, fish, eggs,
etc.; or to certain practices, for example: not having sexual relations; or to certain behaviors, not
arguing, not getting too angry, not yelling, not insulting, among others.
It is important to note that there are other akhulukano who are also diviners, anahakho.
These, when a sick person comes to them, first make a proper investigation of the disease, then
seek the right treatment for its cure.
However, not all healers are good healer herbalists. As such, there are the true and false
akhulukano. The latter, even though they are aware that they do not know the actual treatment
of the disease, insist on keeping their good names in the community. And there are differences
in competence: while some cure many kinds of illnesses, others only know how to cure a single
illness or a few.
In this diversity of knowledge and skills, a healer can only cure cases of sterility, sexual
impotence or coldness, marital and social problems, discover places where stolen goods have
been kept, and much more. While others, only know how to cure cases like: omomola nakhuru,
that is “expel the spirit”; namakara, “rheumatism”, and so forth.

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 Laura António NHAUELEQUE. The management of disease in a traditional medicine perspective: The case of Nampula, North of
Mozambique
PROBLEMS
OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

84 Namuko – “instructor”, in Emakhuwa language and society - is a recognized person who

has deep knowledge of some healing plants. His main task is to accompany and perform treat-
ments, as to assist pregnant women. Fernandez wrote:
“Namuko performs a very important function in the rites of passage of initiation, in
which he participates as master, and in the other phases of the life cycle, in which he participates
as advisor and helper” (Fernandez, 1989).
Namuko is a person in charge of healing, not only with his medicines, but also with his
advice; he guides the healing rites, especially when the cult investigator indicates it. In another
context, he performs the function of instructor in the rites of passage of initiation (Medeiros,
2007). He is therefore both master and physician.
The word namuko is composed by two words: the prefix na which designates the func-
tion, the profession that someone is carrying on, and wuku which means to join, to connect one
thing with another, to heap together. From the word wuku derives the verb wukela, that is, to put
together for a job. Thus, anamuko is a person who calls other people to do his work, that is, who
brings other people together. One has the impression that anamuko seems like a type of person
who believes that the success of his works depends, essentially, on working together, believing
in the potential of the others. Regarding anamuko Fernandez states:
“Namuko is a person who gathers around him other individuals who have extraordinary
supernatural knowledge and powers for communal beneficial action” (Fernandez, 1989).

Managing the Care Pathway

In this point it is presented a resume of the care pathway that Amakhuwa in general em-
bark in and how it is managed by the specialized figures mentioned above.
The Amakhuwa in Nampula City are concerned about symptoms of any kind of illness.
When signs appear in one of the family members, the family body gets together to examine the
case whether to go to a traditional specialist or a conventional physician, or even if it is possible
to solve everything within the family.
There are many symptoms. Some of the most frequent are connected with spirit diseases,
such as pallor of the skin accompanied by weight loss and lack of appetite, little effort in do-
mestic and agricultural work, frequent bad humor, and dislike of social gatherings. After the
identification of the symptoms, the patient is taken to a specialist to find out the cause of the
disease and its respective treatment.
When the specialist is found, before making the divination, he invokes his ancestors
to help him in his research. To do this, there are proper formulas, such as Xonthe, minepa sa
makholo mwuari amusi aka akhalai. Mukikhaviherhe ni ehako aka ela (“Please spirits of the
ancestors who in the beginning, were my relatives. Help me in my research”).
It is important to emphasize that these maxims are not uniform for everyone. Each spe-
cialist has his or her own formulas. Some don't utter a single word; others make invocations by
throwing the flour to the place considered sacred: in a tree or in the corner of the house; still
others make invocations accompanied by clapping as a sign of respect. Once the invocations are
made, the specialist does the investigation. He then communicates the results of his investiga-
tion to the patient and the family. In cases where the investigator is also mukhulukano he starts
with the treatments; on the contrary, he advises the patient where to turn.
In this stage, the specialist administers and guides the patient's treatment by giving him
medicine and requiring that the patient refrain from certain prohibitions depending on the ill-
ness. During the treatment, the patient must believe in the success of the remedies and expect
to be cured. This is a belief associated with folk wisdom. In relation to this, there are maxims
such as these Nroromelo, kapwithi mulupale wira murethe ovoniye! (“a crença nos medicamen-
tos é grande segredo para o remédio produzir o seu efeito”), Wamini wira miri sinnipemuxa,
ethu yulupale wira muthu ovone! (“a crença nos remédios contribui de certa maneira na cura
do doente”).

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Laura António NHAUELEQUE. The management of disease in a traditional medicine perspective: The case of Nampula, North of
Mozambique
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IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

For specific illness like Nakuru, muru ou majini, mirusi, mokinta, nvira and others, 85
known as spirit diseases, the mukhulukano requires “hospitalization”. It means that the patient
has to remain in the mukhulukano residence because the treatment will be long, generally be-
tween two to three days.
During the hospitalization period, the patient should be accompanied by his or her own
close family (parents, siblings, or uncles, rarely cousins); however, they cannot fuel suspicions
of witchcraft. These relatives serve as witnesses to the treatment process. This is done to avoid
suspicion and it is a way for the specialist to maintain his reputation in the community if the
treatment fails.
In addition, the patient needs someone to help him (bathing, drinking water, feeding,
washing clothes). The family presence, affection, support, consoles and encourages the patient.
A maxim which resumes this condition is the following: muretha khonhiwa mekhawe (“never
abandon the patient”).
A very important moment of the treatment is the rite known as orapa murethe (“medi-
cine shower”). The period of these baths varies from healer to healer, depending mainly on the
health condition of the patient over time.
The rite of the oyeha murethe occurs after the patient healing. The witchdoctor collects
all the remaining medicines that the patient used during the treatment and buries them in far-
away places, such as in the woods, in the garbage dump of the house, or at the crossroads. This
is all to prevent the witchdoctor from cursing the medicines.
Other pivotal rite in the management of the illness is that of omutaphula natiri. It con-
sists in a promise, with the aim to making a feast, or buying a cloth for one of the ancestors
(usually the one who was the chief of the tribe), making a meal only for the children of the com-
munity, or throwing a certain amount of money in the middle of a crowd of people. But there
are other kinds of promises.
After the sick person feels cured, and returns to his or her ordinary social life, the sick
person joins his or her family, trying to fulfill the promise made before. The lack of fulfillment
can cause other problems such as misfortune, illness, bad luck, failure, and much more.

Discussion

As mentioned above, very few studies refer to traditional care practices in Makhuwa
society. Nevertheless, it is important to note that several authors highlight 'evolutionary' ele-
ments of care management by traditional practitioners. In other cases, the emphasis falls on the
unreliability of traditional caregivers.
An important element that was found during the groundwork coincides with what Fer-
nandez had written at the time about the awareness of the limits of the work carried out by
conscious caregivers. According to this author, there are cases when specialists advise patients
to go to a hospital for treatment: “Once the cause of the illness has been discovered, the diviner
informs his client of the results of his work and tells him what he must do, to whom he must
turn in order to perform the actual healing rites” (Fernandez, 1989, p. 201).
Nevertheless, a controversial issue has to do with the difficulty of dialogue between the
two medical approaches, despite the steps that have been made over the past years in Mozam-
bique (Granjio, 2009). In several cases traditional doctors, especially in Nampula and Zam-
bezia province, have been associated with illicit activities or even participation in murders of
defenseless citizens: sometimes to sell their organs, in other cases to complete the treatment for
one of their patients. Nevertheless, as stated by AMETRAMO, the Mozambican organization
of traditional physicians, such types of traditional doctors who instigate people to kill others in
order to complete their treatment and succeed in life are considered to be "second-rate doctors",
and evil sorcerers, since it is never necessary to have other people's human body parts to carry
out healing ceremonies (Liga Moçambicana dos Direitos Humanos, 2009).

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 Laura António NHAUELEQUE. The management of disease in a traditional medicine perspective: The case of Nampula, North of
Mozambique
PROBLEMS
OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

86 Despite the important role played by traditional medicine in Nampula, there are criti-
cisms directed towards traditional medicine practitioners: for example, Adelaide Agostinho
argues that a greater interconnection with conventional medicine is needed, and vice versa.
Diseases of the spirit, for example, cannot be cured by conventional medicine, since they rep-
resent a specific area of traditional medicine. At the same time, some traditional practitioners
purposely let natural medicines that they themselves had prescribed rot, usually left in water,
thinking of increasing their curative power. This can jeopardize the patient's life, rather than
helping him. Such behavior is caused by ignorance on the part of traditional physicians, who
should therefore be instructed by conventional doctors on how to make the correct use of the
medicinal plants that they usually prescribe.5
As seen above, the functions exerted by the three fundamental figures of traditional
Makhuwa medicine practitioners are at least of three kinds: firstly, they are seen by local so-
ciety as sustaining the social order because they fight against the sorcerers (criminals) who
subvert the order of the community. Their power is exercised for the good of those who decide
to consult them or to be healed (W.A, 1988). However, in some cases this social function -
which grants the traditional curator a reputation in the community - can be a double-edged
sword. In order not to lose social esteem, “certain healers, afraid of losing their reputation in
the village, bury themselves in ignorance, making a thousand turns in the plants to cure the sick
even though they are aware that he is not capable of healing. Some have great knowledge of
plants and diseases beyond their village” (Brelet, 2014, p. 85). Secondly, the healing specialists
acquire cultural value in that they pass on their knowledge to future generations. (Martinez,
2001). These individuals enliven the art of healing by maintaining the cultural heritage, the
heritage of local medicine knowledge and skills, perpetuating the teachings of the ancestors
within the cultures of their people. Finally, they exert a pedagogical function within society. As
a matter of fact, they are committed to counseling their patients, to know how to control their
diets preventing the patient from getting worse. As Ribeiro Nunes stated, “Every specialist in
traditional medicine will have to perform two fundamental functions: that of educator and that
of therapist” (Ribeiro Nunes, 1999, p. 16).
Beyond the reservations expressed by conventional medicine and several other observ-
ers, the role of traditional healers is on the rise. It is estimated that in Mozambique there is one
traditional doctor for every 80 inhabitants (Moçambique, 2014). The ratio of inhabitants to
conventional doctors is much lower: in Mozambique there are only 2,500 conventional physi-
cians per 30 million inhabitants nationwide, most of them concentrated in the capital Maputo
(Agudo, 2021). It means that in northern provinces such as Nampula, the success of traditional
medicine must be explained not only by deep-rooted cultural stratification and in a different
perception of disease, as demonstrated in this article, but also by the enormous shortage of
available conventional doctors, as well as the most basic modern diagnostic equipment (Bus-
sotti, 2021).

Conclusions and Implications

This study aimed to analyze the types of disease management in the Makhuwa world by
traditional medicine practitioners. It has been demonstrated that in Nampula City the care path-
ways is part of a more general conception of the universe, religion and social order. However,
the specialists who contribute to individual as well as to collective care of illness carry out dif-
ferentiated functions, in accordance with their abilities and knowledge.
Therefore, the healing specialists have their own research techniques, appropriate places
of work, and obey their own framework for treating diseases. The conclusion was reached that
healing specialists are very important in the lives of people and communities, especially in
places where there are no health services. These specialists have in-depth knowledge of heal-
5 Discourse pronunced by Dra Adelaide Bela Agostinho, Professor at the University Eduardo Mond-
lane, Maputo, at the Scientific Encounters of ISMMA, Maputo, 2006.

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Laura António NHAUELEQUE. The management of disease in a traditional medicine perspective: The case of Nampula, North of
Mozambique
PROBLEMS
OF MANAGEMENT
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

ing with medicinal plants and other forms of healing. They respect life and the dignity of the 87
human person, observe the rules of moral conduct accepted in the local society, and strive for
community harmony.
The course of treatment can be long and complex. Close family members are also usually
involved in it, since illness, in the Makhuwa culture, is believed to be the result of a collec-
tive malaise that befalls a specific individual but disrupts the entire social order. Although in
this article it has not been possible to deep the relations between traditional and conventional
medicine, it is worth remembering, as mentioned in the previous point, that many problems still
characterize such relation, in Mozambique as elsewhere in Africa. Nevertheless, AMETRAMO
has been officially recognized by the State, and a certain collaboration has begun between
traditional and conventional medicine. The avenue for an integration of these two conceptions
of medical care has been traced and may produce, in the future, results compatible with local
traditions and knowledge, helping the national medical system to make up for shortcomings of
the conventional medical facilities, especially in Northern Mozambique.

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Laura António NHAUELEQUE. The management of disease in a traditional medicine perspective: The case of Nampula, North of
Mozambique
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IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022
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handle/10665/92455/9789241506090_eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Received: October 17, 2022 Revised: October 26, 2022 Accepted: November 30, 2022

Cite as: Nhaueleque, L. A. (2022). The management of disease in a traditional medicine

perspective: The case of Nampula, North of Mozambique. Problems of Management in the
21st Century, 17(1), 78-89. https://doi.org/10.33225/pmc/22.17.89

Laura António Nhaueleque PhD, Researcher, Open University, Lisbon.

Instituto Superior Monitor, Mozambique.
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: https://cemri.uab.pt/en/investigador/laura-antonio-nhaueleque/
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2123-0636

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is intended for the teachers of general education schools, the lecturers of higher educational
institutions and all, who are interested in the problems of natural science education.
The GU/NSE journal welcomes the submission of manuscripts that meet the general
criteria of scientific and methodical (practical/applied) papers.
GAMTAMOKSLINIS UGDYMAS / NATURAL SCIENCE EDUCATION
ISSN 1648-939X /Print/, ISSN 2669-1140 /Online/
http://gu.puslapiai.lt/gu/
http://gu.puslapiai.lt/gu/jr-online_article_submission/
http://oaji.net/journal-detail.html?number=514

Fast Publication This journal is abstracted / listed / indexed / cited in:

Peer Reviewed COPERNICUS INDEX , LIST OF SCIENCE EDUCATION JOURNALS, JOURNALS OF
INTEREST TO CHEMICAL EDUCATORS, SKYLIGHT, OAJI, WebQualis (QUALIS/CAPES ),
Open Access MIAR, EuroPub, QOAM, ESJI, Crossref, DOI, Internet Archive.
Applied research/practical/methodical work. This type of submission is best suited for
practical/didactical work and reports, as well as position papers raising original and provocati-
ve theoretical or practical discourses and questions (small-scale research, applied research,
didactical/methodical papers, case studies, best educational practices etc.). Each submission is
carefully reviewed by two independent reviewers and ranked based on: quality of preparation,
relevance to the educational community, didactical quality, originality, and importance of the
contribution.
Instruction for authors and other details are available on the journal`s website at:
http://gu.puslapiai.lt/gu/aut-info/
GU/NSE is an Open Access journal accessible for free on the Internet. Papers must be
submitted on the understanding that they have not been published elsewhere and are not
currently under consideration by another publisher. Optimal paper`s size: 8/12 pages. Partial
article processing charges are: 5-8 EUR per one A4 page.

For contacts, questions and papers submission: [email protected]

Sincerely yours, Editorial Board

ISSN 2029-6932 (Print) ISSN 2538-712X (Online)

Problems of Management in the 21st Century,
ISSN 2029-6932 (Print) ISSN 2538-712X (Online)
Vol. 17, No. 1, 2022

Compiler Vincentas Lamanauskas

Designer Jurgina Jankauskienė
Paste-up artist Loreta Šimutytė-Balčiūnienė
English language proofreader Ilona Ratkevičienė

25 December 2022. Publishing in Quires 5,875. Edition 80.

Publisher Scientia Socialis, Ltd. & SMC „Scientia Educologica“,

Donelaicio Street 29, Siauliai, Lithuania
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +370 687 95668
http://www.scientiasocialis.lt

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Phone: +370 41 500 333.
Fax: +370 41 500 336
E-mail: [email protected]