CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Background to the study Business management is an important discipline and exists in almost every human

activity be it in schools, business and commerce, home, hospital, government or industry. Management is the ability to accomplish stated goals and objectives through efficient use of people, capital and equipments (Atogyire, 1997). The business management course has been designed to give students an extensive knowledge about the various aspects of business, its techniques and also improve upon their skills. The earliest form of business education started in the United States of America (USA) and took the form of apprenticeship training. Later, the US senate decided to incorporate it in the curriculum of schools. The subject spread to other nations through the missionaries and was then incorporated into the curriculum of Senior High Schools (Siaw, 2007) In Ghana, it was private entrepreneurs who started opening commercial and business schools to train students in typing, business management and other business related subjects. Government participation in business education in the country is of recent origin. In 1980/81 academic year, a new vocational and technical plan was instituted to give more room for the teaching of students with business orientation (Antwi, 1992). Since then, the number of students offering business education has increased as more schools include it in their curriculum. Today, because there has been a demand for sophisticated business enterprises, there is therefore the need to prepare students in the business subjects in order to adapt the fast changing business world. In fact, whatever the orientation of an individual to work, it is through the

process of management that the efforts of the members of the organisation are coordinated, guided and directed towards the achievement of both individual and organisational goals. Management therefore, is the cornerstone of organisational effectiveness and is concerned with arrangements for the carrying out of organisational processes and the execution of work (Mullins, 1995). He continued to say that management enables the organisation to contribute the needed results to society, the economy and the individual. The study of business management by both business and non-business students help in all works of life and its important role in the growth and development of the society as a whole cannot be underestimated. The subject is therefore designed for students who are aspiring to administrative, managerial and entrepreneurial positions in the near future and provides the body of knowledge that will help them become effective managers. For those who do not hope to take up managerial positions, the study of business management will give them a great deal of insight into the way people in management behaves and why they conduct themselves as such. In addition, the study also helps reduce poor management practices and thus save managed institutions from collapsing or going bankrupt. (Atogyire, 1997) It is imperative to know that the positive aspects of the business management course could only be felt if students understand the principles of the course, performs well in that area and are able to put them into practice in the future. Past experience and related literature seems to suggest that the general attitude of the student; his/her interest and aspirations, background and dislike have a tendency to have an effect on his/her performance in any field of study. Students tend to pay particular attention to things that interest them and hence commit their time and resources to the greater pursuit of that interest.

Finally, students performance may be directly related to the teaching learning resources available for teaching the subject. Schools with requisite teaching learning resources have a propensity to exhibit better performance than those with poor teaching learning resources. If the performance of students is not encouraging, then, there is the need to examine the various variables influencing the performance of students in that field of study. It is against this background that the researchers are interested in identifying the possible factors likely to influence the performance of business management students in Ghanaian Senior High Schools.

Statement of the Problem Since 1987, the government of Ghana has embarked on major wide ranging reforms in educational delivery system in the country. The essence of these reforms is to ensure the effective teaching and learning in our schools and to improve the performance of students in their fields of study. In the first place, it appears the methods used in teaching the subject have an effect (positive or negative) on the level of understanding of the discipline by the students. Again, it seems students general attitude towards the discipline, his/her interest and aspirations as well as his/her background information can be a contributing factor to the level of performance he/she exhibits at the end of his/her study. This is because the action or inaction of an individual is informed by his/her interest, aspiration and attitude towards something. In addition, it looks as if the performance of a student depends on the quality of the teacher handling him/her. For the better understanding of the discipline, the teacher should be

well versed in the subject matter, possess the appropriate pedagogical skills and should have a personality and demeanor that draws students to him/her. This could have a bearing on the students level of performance in a subject. Finally, observation shows that, teaching learning resources like text books, charts and models among others are inadequate for the effective teaching and learning of a discipline. Teaching of a discipline, in most cases has been restricted to the classroom while students restrict themselves to the notes given them in the classroom. This tends to make the subject very abstract to the student.

Purpose of the Study The purpose of the study is to find out the factors that influence the performance of Business Management students in some selected Senior High Schools in the Cape Coast Metropolis. More importantly after identification and analysis of the factors that influence students performance, constructive suggestions will be given as well.

Research objectives The research objectives are as follows: To find out the extent to which the methods adopted to teach business management studies affect the students performance. To identify the level to which the attitude of students affect their performance in business management.

Unearth the level to which the availability of teaching learning resources affect students performance in business management.

Research Questions The research seeks to answer the following questions: 1. To what extent does the method used to teach Business Management affects students performance? 2. How does the attitude of students affect their performance in Business Management? 3. How does the availability of Teaching Learning Resources affect students performance in Business Management?

Significance of the Study The findings from the study, it is hoped, would contribute towards a clearer understanding and knowledge of what is actually happening in respect of the performance of Business management students at the Senior High School level. Secondly, the findings of the study will help teachers appreciate and adopt methods that are used to ensure effective teaching and learning in Business management. In particular, teachers may benefit from appropriate suggestions and recommendations aimed at improving the effective teaching of Business management studies. Finally, the findings of the study may also be useful to educational planners, policy makers and administrators who wish to identify areas where support and materials are needed to

ensure successful teaching and learning of Business management studies. The results of the study will bring into focus the general academic performance of students in Business Management Studies at the WASSCE.

Delimitation The study was limited to students in some selected Senior High Schools in the Cape Coast Metropolis. These schools are University Practice Senior High School and St. Augustines College. The above mentioned schools were chosen because they were easily accessible to the researchers and they also undertake Business Management as a subject. It is assumed that problems at the selected schools are similar to problems in other schools, since they use the same syllabus, similar teaching methods and facilities.

Organisation of the Study The study consists of five (5) chapters. Chapter one looks at the introduction of the study with other components like background to the study, statement of the problem, research questions, purpose of the study, significance of the study and delimitation as well as organisation of the study are discussed. Chapter two discusses the review of related literature under the following topics; the scope and functions of business management, the goals and content of business management and the factors influencing the performance of business management students considering the

methods used in teaching business management, the attitude of students towards the study of business management and the availability of teaching learning resources. Chapter three presents the research method employed for the study. It deals with the research design, population, sample and sampling procedure, development and design of research instrument, data collection procedure, data analysis technique and limitations to the study. Chapter four deals with the analysis and presentation of the data collected from the respondents. It also discusses the data collected. Tables are used to present the personal and general profiles of the respondents. Chapter five deals with the summary of the relevant features discussed in the study. We conclude with the discussions on the findings of the study and suggest some solutions to the research based on the findings.