IMPACT OF EMPLOYEES ATTITUDINAL & BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS ON PERFORMANCE AMONG LOCAL GOVERNMENT WORKER’S

 SOLD BY: Enems Project| ATTRIBUTES: Title, Abstract, Chapter 1-5 and Appendices|FORMAT: Microsoft Word| PRICE: N3000| BUY NOW |DELIVERY TIME: Within 24hrs. For more details Chatt with us on WHATSAPP @ https://wa.me/2348055730284

IMPACT OF EMPLOYEES ATTITUDINAL & BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS  ON PERFORMANCE AMONG LOCAL GOVERNMENT WORKER’S

ABSTRACT

This study set out to find out the impact of employees attitudinal and behavioral problems on performance among local government workers. It was guided by three research objectives as follows: To find out the relationship between employee attitudinal / behavioural problems and performance among Irepo Local Government workers; to establish the correlation between employee attitudinal / behavioral problems and service delivery in Irepo local government workers and to find out the relationship between employee attitudes and revenue collection in the local government . The study used a descriptive cross section research design which involved establishing the relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable. The quantitative data was obtained using structured questionnaires from different categories of people such as respondents from the Irepo Local Government, while the qualitative data was obtained from key informants, interviews and observations. The study was based on a population of 600 individual members with more than half of’ it constituting women where a sample size of 100 was selected. Quantitative data from questionnaires were analysed by use of figures, and frequency tables. After the data was collected, hand written notes were assembled and typed into word processing program-MS word. The findings on the study revealed that there is a positive significant relationship between employee attitudes and productivity in Local Governments with(r = 0.723, sig. = 0,000). The result implies that as employees improve on attitudes towards work, their productivity in the local government will increase. Since the (sig. = 0.000 <0.005), this leads to the rejection of the null hypothesis that there is no relationship between employee attitudes and productivity in Local Governments. there is a Pearson Correlation coefficient of 0.851 between employee attitudes and Service delivery. This finding was subjected to verification to test the hypothesis; there is a significant relationship between employee attitudes and Service delivery. “by comparing the significance of the correlation (P.000) to the recommended significance of 0.05 and that  employee attitudes have a strong and positive relationship with revenue collection in Irepo Local Governments (r 0.690, N 100, p < 0.05). This means that increased adherence to employee attitudes is expected to improve on revenue collection within Irepo Local Government. The study concluded that job satisfaction, performance, Involvement, staff commitment and Performance are associated and inter-related and together lead to the realization of organizational objectives. Some other factors which influence on the performance should be explored by further study. The study recommended that Performance standards should be established and communicated to the employees by the local government in Nigeria and Oyo state in particular. This will help employees to achieve the standards and perform well. Employees who are reaching standards and or above standard should be appreciated and rewarded, Fair pay, benefits, promotion opportunities and good supervision should be in the  organization to satisfy the employees in order to enhance the performance, Good leadership styles as to fit for the organizational conditions may be satisfied the workers and Identifying weaknesses of employees may be the best one to improve the Worker’s performance because it indicates the area which training should be Provided.

CHAPTER ONE

1.0       Introduction

In this chapter, the researcher intends to explain the background of the study, statement of the problem, General objective, specific objectives of the study, research questions. Significance of the study, Scope of the study and definition of key terms. This is intended to give the reader a summary of the research issues and what surrounds them.

1.1       Background of the Study

In many organisations, it is expected that employees exhibit a wide range of work behaviours that would impact positively on organisational well-being and performance among workers. Yet, this is not always the case as some employees also have the tendency to indulge in attitude and work behaviours that are inimical to organisational interest and wellbeing. This type of workplace behaviours had at various times been described using terms such as workplace deviance, antisocial behaviour, organisational misbehaviour  and dysfunctional behavior (Robinson and Bennett, 2016).

Employees have attitudes or viewpoints about several aspects of their jobs, their careers, and their organisation. Attitude describes an employee’s feelings toward his employer, co-workers, job, and position within the organisation. It is a psychological action expressed through evaluation of a particular entity, with some degree of disfavour or favour. In organisational settings, attitudes are essential for the achievement of goals and objectives. Employees’ behaviour at their workplaces often largely depends on their feelings about being there. Employees’ attitude basically involves characteristics such as having an interest in the job, having a positive, cheerful disposition, working without supervision, and willingness to contribute (Chatterjee & Kulakli, 2015).

Employees’ work-related attitudes can directly affect the atmosphere and significantly impact a workplace, including productivity levels and morale. It is essentially either negative or positive, depending on the degree of like or dislike for the matter in question. A positive attitude refers to having a positive mind-set and thinking about the greater good, irrespective of the situation on ground. Positive attitudes are excellent and contagious. Everyone feels like teammates, effort is collective, and everyone’s ideas are valued and welcomed. A positive attitude gives a feeling that everything is achievable. Colleagues support each other and work in tandem. Positive employees’ attitudes lead to numerous other positive outcomes, such as improved morale, willingness to be creative and attempt new things, willingness to share ideas and information, ability to overcome challenges, a greater probability of teamwork and collaboration, better customer service, low employees’ turnover and increased productivity.

Negative attitudes, however, are counter-productive and would always have a profound adverse impact on an organisation’s morale. These include dull performance, unwillingness to be a team player or collaborate, be creative and attempt new things, reduced energy levels, dismal outlook, depressed feelings, reduced quality of job output, low customer engagement, and difficulty overcoming obstacles. A negative attitude breeds contempt and creates a situation of low motivation to make an effort to achieve success, distrusts among teammates, and employees merely struggle to complete their work-hours rather than flourish, take the initiative, and succeed. All these will drag down the morale of co-workers and create stress for fellow workers (Ilahi & Masood, 2016).

Work-related attitudes include job satisfaction, job involvement, and employee commitment. Job satisfaction basically is the extent to which an individual is comfortable and pleased with their job. It is the pleasant emotional state arising from evaluating one’s job or job experiences; It is the positive (or negative) evaluative judgment an employee makes about their jobs or its situation (Mahdi, Sakat, Zin, Nor & Naim, 2017). It is the extent to which employees gain enjoyment from their efforts at the workplace. According to Ndulue and Chinonso (2016), it has two major components – intrinsic (that is, job satisfaction on features associated with the job itself) and extrinsic job (that is, job satisfaction on various features associated with the job environment).

Job involvement, on the other hand, is the measure of how much employees are psychologically engaged in their daily work. It is the extent that a person psychologically identifies himself with his job, participates actively, and considers his performance level significant to self-worth (Singh & Gupta, 2015). Job-involved employees usually believe in work ethics; they find work meaningful and challenging; they are willing to work long hours. They complete given tasks, work at complex tasks employing various skills, and attempt to be high performers (Pardeep & Kumar, 2017).

In this competitive world, the global landscape is changing; the current dynamics of the market, economic situations, and competition make companies radically change how business is being done. Organisations are restructuring to operate better; businesses are moving to explore new markets. Every organisation strives to achieve its competitive advantage by establishing a decent workplace environment so that human resources can improve jobs and organizational performances through new innovative ideas. Organisations must continually change to remain ahead of others, remain profitable, and relevant. The extent to which an organisation has been able to deliver benefits of businesses linked to the substantial portfolio investments depends primarily on its ability to manage the process of organisational change and carry along its employees with strategic initiatives in such a way to reflect that every employee is working together towards a common objective. The extent that an organisation can engage its employees, build an on-going and sound capacity to gain commitment of and engage employees optimally, to ensure profitable and timely delivery of service is the extent that the organisation is successful, would gain competitive advantage and be better than its competitions. It is against this backdrop, therefore, this current study examined the impact of employees attitudinal and behavioral problems on performance among local government workers.

1.2       Statement of the Problem

Nigeria local governments in Nigeria have witness different attempt to improve on the capacity of their employee through staff training and development plan, in which career paths are designed to improve the attitudes and therefore performance of members of staff. Annually, staffs are invited for seminars, counselling sessions and other careers guidance efforts.  Elected leaders are trained on their roles and responsibilities etc; all geared towards improving the employee attitudes to work, for better organisational performance. Nonetheless, this has not yielded positive results, for example, even after the training needs are met and sometimes sponsored by the district local government, employees opt for greener pasture elsewhere instead of bettering their work attitudes. This is an issue that requires to be investigated. It is due to the aforementioned that the researcher has decided to carry out an indepth investigation to establish the relationship between employee attitudes and organisational performance in Local Governments of Nigeria, a case study of Irepo Local Government and find out the solutions to those factors affecting employee attitudes and behavior in the organization.

1.3.      Objective of the Study

The general objective of the study is to examine the impact of employees attitudinal and behavioral problems on performance among local government workers – a case study of Irepo local government area of Oyo state.

Specific Objectives

1. To find out the relationship between employee attitudinal / behavioural problems and performance among Irepo Local Government workers
2. To establish the correlation between employee attitudinal / behavioral problems and service delivery in Irepo local government workers
3. To find out the relationship between employee attitudes and revenue collection in the local government

1.4       Research Questions

1. What is the relationship between employee attitudinal / behavioural problems and performance among Irepo Local Government workers?
2. What is the correlation between employee attitudinal / behavioral problems and service delivery in Irepo local government workers
3. What is the relationship between employee attitudes and revenue collection in the local government

1.5       Significance of the Study

The findings of the study will act as a baseline in the related interventions and for possible modifications in order to find relevant solutions to other specific interventions needed in improving employee attitudes and organizational overall performance.

The research findings will be useful to investigators in the field of Human Resource and they will refer to these findings in their researches.

The research will be of great importance to the government especially Local Governments and of Human Resource department.

The study shall also provide good lessons that can be used to improve the performance of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies both states and nationally level.

The research will be of advantage to the student in fulfilling the partial requirement for the award of the Degree in the field human resources development.

1.6       Scope of the Study

Content Scope

The study’s general interest was the examination of the impact of employee attitudinal and behavioural problems on performance among local government workers.

Geographical Scope

The study was carried out in Irepo Local Government of Oyo state, which keeps records in vouchers, ledgers and other transaction records. Personnel department which keeps Human Resource records as well as communication records were included in the study. This local government has been selected because many complaints have been raised about low turnover of workers, low employee morale, lack of commitment and low productivity of the employees.

Time Scope

The study based data covered on employee attitudinal and behavioral problems and its impact on performance among Irepo local government workers for the last 10 years and this from 2012-2022.

1.7       Limitations and delimitations of the study

The researcher faced a number of challenges in the due course of the research. First and foremost, time was not always on the side of the researchers. The research needs more time, However, the researcher had to employ research assistants to assist in the completion of the work on time.

Secondly, the researcher was limited by funds as there are a lot of costs to be met. In order to address this challenge the researcher had to borrow some money in order to complete the research activities.

During the research, there was also a challenge of uncooperative behavior of some respondents, unapproachable respondents and those who were reluctant to give in information. This was overcome through getting good relationships with the respondents so as to easily collaborate with them in filling up the questionnaires and some of them never trusted the researcher with confidential information.

1.8       Operational Definitions of Terms

Employee Behavior: The term employee behavior, refers to the way in which employees respond to specific circumstances or situations in the workplace.

Job satisfaction: An evaluative state that expresses contentment with and positive feelings about one’s job. The most-used research definition ofjob satisfaction is by Locke (2016). Who defined it as a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of ones job or job experiences.

Job attitudes: evaluation of one’s job that express one’s feelings towards beliefs about and attachment to one’s job.

Organizational commitment: An individual’s psychological bond with the organization. As represented by an affective attachment to the organization, a Feeling of loyalty toward it, and an intention to remain as part of it.

Attitude: A psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favour or disfavour (of which job attitudes are examples). ‘Despite the long history of research on attitudes, there is no universally agreed upon definition.” Perhaps the most widely accepted definition of an attitude, however, was provided by Eagly & Chaiken (2016).

Performance: A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function.

 SOLD BY: Enems Project| ATTRIBUTES: Title, Abstract, Chapter 1-5 and Appendices|FORMAT: Microsoft Word| PRICE: N3000| BUY NOW |DELIVERY TIME: Within 24hrs. For more details Chatt with us on WHATSAPP @ https://wa.me/2348055730284

IMPACT OF EMPLOYEES ATTITUDINAL & BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS ON PERFORMANCE AMONG LOCAL GOVERNMENT WORKER’S

 SOLD BY: Enems Project| ATTRIBUTES: Title, Abstract, Chapter 1-5 and Appendices|FORMAT: Microsoft Word| PRICE: N3000| BUY NOW |DELIVERY TIME: Within 24hrs. For more details Chatt with us on WHATSAPP @ https://wa.me/2348055730284

IMPACT OF EMPLOYEES ATTITUDINAL & BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS  ON PERFORMANCE AMONG LOCAL GOVERNMENT WORKER’S

ABSTRACT

This study set out to find out the impact of employees attitudinal and behavioral problems on performance among local government workers. It was guided by three research objectives as follows: To find out the relationship between employee attitudinal / behavioural problems and performance among Irepo Local Government workers; to establish the correlation between employee attitudinal / behavioral problems and service delivery in Irepo local government workers and to find out the relationship between employee attitudes and revenue collection in the local government . The study used a descriptive cross section research design which involved establishing the relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable. The quantitative data was obtained using structured questionnaires from different categories of people such as respondents from the Irepo Local Government, while the qualitative data was obtained from key informants, interviews and observations. The study was based on a population of 600 individual members with more than half of’ it constituting women where a sample size of 100 was selected. Quantitative data from questionnaires were analysed by use of figures, and frequency tables. After the data was collected, hand written notes were assembled and typed into word processing program-MS word. The findings on the study revealed that there is a positive significant relationship between employee attitudes and productivity in Local Governments with(r = 0.723, sig. = 0,000). The result implies that as employees improve on attitudes towards work, their productivity in the local government will increase. Since the (sig. = 0.000 <0.005), this leads to the rejection of the null hypothesis that there is no relationship between employee attitudes and productivity in Local Governments. there is a Pearson Correlation coefficient of 0.851 between employee attitudes and Service delivery. This finding was subjected to verification to test the hypothesis; there is a significant relationship between employee attitudes and Service delivery. “by comparing the significance of the correlation (P.000) to the recommended significance of 0.05 and that  employee attitudes have a strong and positive relationship with revenue collection in Irepo Local Governments (r 0.690, N 100, p < 0.05). This means that increased adherence to employee attitudes is expected to improve on revenue collection within Irepo Local Government. The study concluded that job satisfaction, performance, Involvement, staff commitment and Performance are associated and inter-related and together lead to the realization of organizational objectives. Some other factors which influence on the performance should be explored by further study. The study recommended that Performance standards should be established and communicated to the employees by the local government in Nigeria and Oyo state in particular. This will help employees to achieve the standards and perform well. Employees who are reaching standards and or above standard should be appreciated and rewarded, Fair pay, benefits, promotion opportunities and good supervision should be in the  organization to satisfy the employees in order to enhance the performance, Good leadership styles as to fit for the organizational conditions may be satisfied the workers and Identifying weaknesses of employees may be the best one to improve the Worker’s performance because it indicates the area which training should be Provided.

CHAPTER ONE

1.0       Introduction

In this chapter, the researcher intends to explain the background of the study, statement of the problem, General objective, specific objectives of the study, research questions. Significance of the study, Scope of the study and definition of key terms. This is intended to give the reader a summary of the research issues and what surrounds them.

1.1       Background of the Study

In many organisations, it is expected that employees exhibit a wide range of work behaviours that would impact positively on organisational well-being and performance among workers. Yet, this is not always the case as some employees also have the tendency to indulge in attitude and work behaviours that are inimical to organisational interest and wellbeing. This type of workplace behaviours had at various times been described using terms such as workplace deviance, antisocial behaviour, organisational misbehaviour  and dysfunctional behavior (Robinson and Bennett, 2016).

Employees have attitudes or viewpoints about several aspects of their jobs, their careers, and their organisation. Attitude describes an employee’s feelings toward his employer, co-workers, job, and position within the organisation. It is a psychological action expressed through evaluation of a particular entity, with some degree of disfavour or favour. In organisational settings, attitudes are essential for the achievement of goals and objectives. Employees’ behaviour at their workplaces often largely depends on their feelings about being there. Employees’ attitude basically involves characteristics such as having an interest in the job, having a positive, cheerful disposition, working without supervision, and willingness to contribute (Chatterjee & Kulakli, 2015).

Employees’ work-related attitudes can directly affect the atmosphere and significantly impact a workplace, including productivity levels and morale. It is essentially either negative or positive, depending on the degree of like or dislike for the matter in question. A positive attitude refers to having a positive mind-set and thinking about the greater good, irrespective of the situation on ground. Positive attitudes are excellent and contagious. Everyone feels like teammates, effort is collective, and everyone’s ideas are valued and welcomed. A positive attitude gives a feeling that everything is achievable. Colleagues support each other and work in tandem. Positive employees’ attitudes lead to numerous other positive outcomes, such as improved morale, willingness to be creative and attempt new things, willingness to share ideas and information, ability to overcome challenges, a greater probability of teamwork and collaboration, better customer service, low employees’ turnover and increased productivity.

Negative attitudes, however, are counter-productive and would always have a profound adverse impact on an organisation’s morale. These include dull performance, unwillingness to be a team player or collaborate, be creative and attempt new things, reduced energy levels, dismal outlook, depressed feelings, reduced quality of job output, low customer engagement, and difficulty overcoming obstacles. A negative attitude breeds contempt and creates a situation of low motivation to make an effort to achieve success, distrusts among teammates, and employees merely struggle to complete their work-hours rather than flourish, take the initiative, and succeed. All these will drag down the morale of co-workers and create stress for fellow workers (Ilahi & Masood, 2016).

Work-related attitudes include job satisfaction, job involvement, and employee commitment. Job satisfaction basically is the extent to which an individual is comfortable and pleased with their job. It is the pleasant emotional state arising from evaluating one’s job or job experiences; It is the positive (or negative) evaluative judgment an employee makes about their jobs or its situation (Mahdi, Sakat, Zin, Nor & Naim, 2017). It is the extent to which employees gain enjoyment from their efforts at the workplace. According to Ndulue and Chinonso (2016), it has two major components – intrinsic (that is, job satisfaction on features associated with the job itself) and extrinsic job (that is, job satisfaction on various features associated with the job environment).

Job involvement, on the other hand, is the measure of how much employees are psychologically engaged in their daily work. It is the extent that a person psychologically identifies himself with his job, participates actively, and considers his performance level significant to self-worth (Singh & Gupta, 2015). Job-involved employees usually believe in work ethics; they find work meaningful and challenging; they are willing to work long hours. They complete given tasks, work at complex tasks employing various skills, and attempt to be high performers (Pardeep & Kumar, 2017).

In this competitive world, the global landscape is changing; the current dynamics of the market, economic situations, and competition make companies radically change how business is being done. Organisations are restructuring to operate better; businesses are moving to explore new markets. Every organisation strives to achieve its competitive advantage by establishing a decent workplace environment so that human resources can improve jobs and organizational performances through new innovative ideas. Organisations must continually change to remain ahead of others, remain profitable, and relevant. The extent to which an organisation has been able to deliver benefits of businesses linked to the substantial portfolio investments depends primarily on its ability to manage the process of organisational change and carry along its employees with strategic initiatives in such a way to reflect that every employee is working together towards a common objective. The extent that an organisation can engage its employees, build an on-going and sound capacity to gain commitment of and engage employees optimally, to ensure profitable and timely delivery of service is the extent that the organisation is successful, would gain competitive advantage and be better than its competitions. It is against this backdrop, therefore, this current study examined the impact of employees attitudinal and behavioral problems on performance among local government workers.

1.2       Statement of the Problem

Nigeria local governments in Nigeria have witness different attempt to improve on the capacity of their employee through staff training and development plan, in which career paths are designed to improve the attitudes and therefore performance of members of staff. Annually, staffs are invited for seminars, counselling sessions and other careers guidance efforts.  Elected leaders are trained on their roles and responsibilities etc; all geared towards improving the employee attitudes to work, for better organisational performance. Nonetheless, this has not yielded positive results, for example, even after the training needs are met and sometimes sponsored by the district local government, employees opt for greener pasture elsewhere instead of bettering their work attitudes. This is an issue that requires to be investigated. It is due to the aforementioned that the researcher has decided to carry out an indepth investigation to establish the relationship between employee attitudes and organisational performance in Local Governments of Nigeria, a case study of Irepo Local Government and find out the solutions to those factors affecting employee attitudes and behavior in the organization.

1.3.      Objective of the Study

The general objective of the study is to examine the impact of employees attitudinal and behavioral problems on performance among local government workers – a case study of Irepo local government area of Oyo state.

Specific Objectives

1. To find out the relationship between employee attitudinal / behavioural problems and performance among Irepo Local Government workers
2. To establish the correlation between employee attitudinal / behavioral problems and service delivery in Irepo local government workers
3. To find out the relationship between employee attitudes and revenue collection in the local government

1.4       Research Questions

1. What is the relationship between employee attitudinal / behavioural problems and performance among Irepo Local Government workers?
2. What is the correlation between employee attitudinal / behavioral problems and service delivery in Irepo local government workers
3. What is the relationship between employee attitudes and revenue collection in the local government

1.5       Significance of the Study

The findings of the study will act as a baseline in the related interventions and for possible modifications in order to find relevant solutions to other specific interventions needed in improving employee attitudes and organizational overall performance.

The research findings will be useful to investigators in the field of Human Resource and they will refer to these findings in their researches.

The research will be of great importance to the government especially Local Governments and of Human Resource department.

The study shall also provide good lessons that can be used to improve the performance of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies both states and nationally level.

The research will be of advantage to the student in fulfilling the partial requirement for the award of the Degree in the field human resources development.

1.6       Scope of the Study

Content Scope

The study’s general interest was the examination of the impact of employee attitudinal and behavioural problems on performance among local government workers.

Geographical Scope

The study was carried out in Irepo Local Government of Oyo state, which keeps records in vouchers, ledgers and other transaction records. Personnel department which keeps Human Resource records as well as communication records were included in the study. This local government has been selected because many complaints have been raised about low turnover of workers, low employee morale, lack of commitment and low productivity of the employees.

Time Scope

The study based data covered on employee attitudinal and behavioral problems and its impact on performance among Irepo local government workers for the last 10 years and this from 2012-2022.

1.7       Limitations and delimitations of the study

The researcher faced a number of challenges in the due course of the research. First and foremost, time was not always on the side of the researchers. The research needs more time, However, the researcher had to employ research assistants to assist in the completion of the work on time.

Secondly, the researcher was limited by funds as there are a lot of costs to be met. In order to address this challenge the researcher had to borrow some money in order to complete the research activities.

During the research, there was also a challenge of uncooperative behavior of some respondents, unapproachable respondents and those who were reluctant to give in information. This was overcome through getting good relationships with the respondents so as to easily collaborate with them in filling up the questionnaires and some of them never trusted the researcher with confidential information.

1.8       Operational Definitions of Terms

Employee Behavior: The term employee behavior, refers to the way in which employees respond to specific circumstances or situations in the workplace.

Job satisfaction: An evaluative state that expresses contentment with and positive feelings about one’s job. The most-used research definition of job satisfaction is by Locke (2016). Who defined it as a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of ones job or job experiences.

Job attitudes: evaluation of one’s job that express one’s feelings towards beliefs about and attachment to one’s job.

Organizational commitment: An individual’s psychological bond with the organization. As represented by an affective attachment to the organization, a Feeling of loyalty toward it, and an intention to remain as part of it.

Attitude: A psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favour or disfavour (of which job attitudes are examples). ‘Despite the long history of research on attitudes, there is no universally agreed upon definition.” Perhaps the most widely accepted definition of an attitude, however, was provided by Eagly & Chaiken (2016).

Performance: A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function.

 SOLD BY: Enems Project| ATTRIBUTES: Title, Abstract, Chapter 1-5 and Appendices|FORMAT: Microsoft Word| PRICE: N3000| BUY NOW |DELIVERY TIME: Within 24hrs. For more details Chatt with us on WHATSAPP @ https://wa.me/2348055730284

THE EFFECTS OF EBOLA VIRUS SPREAD ON THE PERFORMANCE OF SERVICE INDUSTRY

THE EFFECTS OF EBOLA VIRUS SPREAD ON THE PERFORMANCE OF SERVICE INDUSTRY

(A case study of Sheraton Hotels and Towers, Abuja)

ABSTRACT

This research titled “The effect of Ebola Virus Spread on the Performance of Service Industries (A case Study of Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Abuja) is aimed at discussing Ebola Virus in detail and examining its effects on service industries. Ebola Virus is a member of the Filoviridae Viral family of Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) viruses characterized by long thin filaments seen in micrograph images. Nigeria confirmed its first case of Ebola in 23 July, 2014 at First Consultant Hospital, Obalende, Lagos State. The virus entered the country via an infected Liberian air traveler, Patrick Sawyer, who had been visibly ill before even boarding his flight. The outbreak of the virus in Nigeria took its toll on the economy of Nigeria including Sheraton Hotel Abuja which had to take additional measures to protect their numerous guests by retraining their staff and increasing sanitation. Ebola virus is of a great concern to public and global health because it has such a high mortality rate and is a potential bio-terrorism agent. If not properly addressed its spread could pose a big problem to both public and private business organizations. In gathering data for this research, primary and secondary sources were used. Interviews were conducted, questionnaires were distributed, a lot of literature was reviewed and the findings used to make conclusions and recommendations on the possible ways to curb the spread of the disease, curtail its damaging effects on the performance of businesses and the society at large and explore any positive aspects it may have.

 CHAPTER ONEINTRODUCTION1.1     BACKGROUND OF THE STUDYEbola virus is a member of the filoviride viral family of Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) viruses, which are characterized by the long, thin filaments seen in micrograph images. It is named after the Ebola River where the virus was first discovered.The virus causes Ebola hemorrhagic fever which is a serious and usually fatal disease for those who contact it. It damages the endothelial cells that make up the lining of the blood vessel walls become more damaged and the platelets cannot coagulate, the individual undergoes hypovelemic shock, or a dramatic decrease in blood pressure.Depending on the type of virus, Ebola can have up to a ninety (90) percent mortality rate for those infected.There are several different types of Ebola virus that affects humans. Currently, they are Zaire, Sudan and Ivory Coast. Ebola virus, named for the respective regions in Africa in which the strain was found. Reston Ebola Virus is a type of Ebola that only affects non-human primates. It was first discovered in an outbreak in Reston, Virginia. Outbreaks of Ebola are sometimes caused by new strains of virus; so more type can and are being discovered. For example in 2007, there was an outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in Bundibugys district of Uganda where a new strain of the virus, as classified by the centre for disease was found to be the cause.Ebola virus was first discovered in 1976 when an outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever occurred in Zaire and another later that year in Sudan. Each outbreak had about 300 victims but did not spread larger than that because of the remoteness of the area in which they occurred. The Zaire Ebola virus has one of the highest fatality rates of any pathogenic virus affecting humans. In the 1978 outbreak, it killed 88 percent of patients, 81 percent on 1995, 73 percent in 1996, 80 percent in 2001-2002, and 90 percent in 2003, although none of these outbreaks were as large as the original.Ivory Coast Ebola Virus was first discovered in 1.994 when a scientist travelled only to other countries through shipment of non-human primates or through accidental confirmation in testing facilities. Crab-eating manqué that were imported from the Philippines to Reston, Virginia in 1989 were found to have a virus similar to Ebola. Over 150 animal handlers were all tested for Ebola and only 6 were found to have developed Ebola hemorrhagic fever. The centre for disease control concluded that this strain had a low infection rate for humans and it was later classified as its own strain named Reston Ebola virus.In Nigeria, in 2014, nine of the doctors and nurses who treated the first patient became infected and four died. In total, the country recorded 20 cases and 8 deaths.1.2     STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMThe statement of the problem serves as a guiding principle on how and what the research investigates pertaining Ebola virus epidemic in Nigeria.The problems are:- Could it be that Ebola has effects on the performance of service industries in Nigeria?- What exactly are the effects and br threats of Ebola to the service industries?1.3     OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDYThe objectives of the study include:a. To examine the threats of the Ebola virus spread on service industries in Nigeria.b. Identifying ways to curb the spread of the disease curtail its damaging effects and explore its positive aspects.c. Implementing infection control precautions. 1.4     SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDYOne of the biggest weapons we have in the battle is knowledge and education. The study of the deadly Ebola virus will throw more light on the disease in terms of preparing individuals with the proper gear to make sure they don’t have unnecessary exposure, how the disease is contracted and spread, its prevention, its treatment, courses of action to take in the event of contraction, as well as its effect on the economy.1.5     RESEARCH QUESTIONS1.       What are the effects of Ebola virus spread on the performance of service industries? Using Sheraton Hotels and, Towers as a case study.2.       How can the spread of the disease be curbed, its damaging effects curtail      ed and its positive aspects explored?3.       What are the prevention control precautions?1.6     RESEARCH HYPOTHESISNo research work can be done without some basic assumptions which tend to be a guide or give a sense of direction.Hypothesis is a basic assumption in relation to subject of proof, verification and test in order to ascertain the authenticity of such assumptions, in view of the topic under study.H₀: Ebola virus does not have effect on the service industries in Nigeria.H₁: Ebola virus has effects on the service industries in Nigeria.1.7     SCOPE OF THE STUDYThe scope of the study focused on Ebola, its effects on the performance of service industries in Nigeria, and the study covers only Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Abuja.1.8     LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDYThis research was hampered by so many constraints, which affected the quality of the work. In the first place, the project was constrained by financial and time factors. Secondly there was a little difficulty getting information from sources and respondents. Something’s will definitely not turn out easily which are the limiting factors to the quality of this research work. 1.9     DEFINITION OF RELEVANT TERMS1. Ebola:Lethal Virus: a virus transmitted by blood and body fluids that causes the linings of body organs and vessels to leak blood and fluids, usually resulting in death.2. Performance:Working Effectiveness: the way in which somebody does a job, judged by its effectiveness.The manner in which something or somebody functions, operates or behaves.3. Service Industry:An industry that provides a service rather than goods and services or such industries as a whole.4. Endothelia:Internal tissue: a layer of cells that lines the inside of some body cavities e.g. blood vessels.5. Virus:A sub-microscopic, parasitic particle of a nucleic acid surrounded by protein that can only replicate within a host cell.6. Coagulate:To thicken or cause liquid to thicken into a soft semisolid mass.7. Bio-terrorism:Terrorist acts involving the use of biological or chemical weapons.8. Antibody:A protein produced by cells in the body in response to the presence of an antigen e.g. a bacterium or virus.Antibodies are a primary form of immune response in resistance to disease and act by attracting themselves to a foreign antigen and weakening or destroying it.

EFFECT OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS ON THE BUSINESS PERFORMANCE OF IMPERIAL BAKERY

EFFECT OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS ON THE BUSINESS PERFORMANCE OF IMPERIAL BAKERY

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1. Background to the Study

Business organization cannot operate successfully in isolation without dependence on supportive institutions, variables and factors (Oginni, 2010). This means that business organisation exists and operates within an environment where there is complex interplay in terms of activities as well as networks of relationship between and among human resources, material resources and other systems. In the views of Aborade (2005) all business decisions are found to be contingent upon a good analysis of the environment which is often the bane of all the constraints as this environment creates the opportunities, threats and problems for the business organisation. Evolving from this is the belief that business organization is an integral part of its environment on the ground that they are mutually interdependent and exclusive where the environment plays the role of providing the resources and opportunities to organization for its existence, and the business organization in turn, offers its goods and services to the people living in the environment for survival and enlightenment (Ajala, 2005).

The environment in which business organizations operate is a complex, multi-focus dynamic and has a far reaching effect on such organization. The environment tends, shape the outlook, and goal of the organization by placing constraints on them. These constraints in the environment of organizations goal could be in the form of competition, this sets a limit on the goals specify by the organization. For instance, trade union asking for increase in salary, will affect the shareholder dividend. Unethical behaviour also affects profit. All these settings provide multiple contexts that influence how the organization operates and how and what it produces (Oghojafor, 1998).

According to Pearce and Robinson (2003) business environments can be grouped into three interrelated categories: the operating environments, the industrial environments and the remote environments. Operating environments, also called the competitive or task environments, are those factors in a competitive situation that affect the success of a company in acquiring the needed resources and/or in marketing its products and services profitably. According to Pearce and Robinson (2003), some of these factors include: the competitive position of the company, the reputation of the company in the eyes of suppliers/sellers and creditors. Kotler and Armstrong (2013) identified the remote environments as the main macro-environments that include natural and technological environments, social environments, economic and cultural environments, and political, law and security environments.

The concept of business performance can only be understood if the variables that constitute environmental factors are well recognized. These variables include customers, competitors, suppliers, distributors, substitutes, government, the economic, demographic, social and cultural factors. Others are innovations and technological steadfastness (Nnamani & Ajagu, 2014). These factors could be internal to the organization or external. Therefore, examining the environment of business is essential for the survival, growth and performance of any business especially the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs). It is against this background that this study was conducted to determine the effects of environmental factors on the business performance of imperial bakery, Abuja.

1. Statement of the Problem

The Nigerian business environment has witnessed a lot changes from the period of the oil boom in the 1960s and the early 1970s. Austerity measures in the early 1980s and the structured adjustment programme in the late 1980s from the company act of 1960s allied matter decree in the 1990s, undoubtedly brought in the eighty’s the opportunities to be exploited by some firms or the problems that inhibit the survival of so many business firm. The need for studying business environment became important considering the fact that business organization do not operate in vacuum and effective management in complex and dynamic society such as Nigeria, requires the assessment of strengths and weaknesses of the organization and the opportunities and threats posed and the challenges of the external environment. Other issues such as retarded growth rate, high rate of unemployment, low industrial output, coupled with poor demand in terms of services and tangible products, energy crisis put alots of pressure on the survival of business organization. The relationship between industrial representatives and government institutions and representatives keep nose-diving virtually on all matters, criminal activities increasing at alarming and uncontrollable rate, exercising excessive control through excess of rules and regulations with stringent conditions, tax policies without adequate provision of infrastructural facilities to ameliorate business operations. In the face of all these challenges, how effectively can a business organisation respond to its basic operational functions of survival, growth and profit maximisation, hence the need to examine the effect of environmental factors on the business performance of Imperal bakery Abuja.

1. Objectives of the Study

The general objective of this study is to examine the effect of environmental factors on the business performance of Imperial Bakery, Abuja. The specific objectives of the study include:

1. To examine the effect of social cultural factors on the performance of  Imperial Bakery Abuja.
2. To examine the effect of technological factors on the performance of Imperial Bakery Abuja.
3. To assess the effect of political factors on the performance of Imperial Bakery Abuja.
   1. Research questions
4. How does the social cultural factors affect performance of Imperial Bakery Abuja?
5. To what extent does technological factors affect the performance of Imperial Bakery Abuja?
6. How does political factors affect the performance of Imperial Bakery Abuja?

1. Statement of hypothesis

H₀₁: There are no significant effect of cultural factors on the performance of Imperial Bakery.

H₀₂: There is no significant effect of technological factors on the performance of Imperial Bakery Abuja.

H₀₃: Political factors does not have any significant effect on the performance of Imperial Bakery Abuja.

1. Scope and Limitations of the Study

The scope this study will be limited to the examination of the effect of environmental factors on the business performance with particular reference to Imperial Bakery Abuja.

The limitations faced by the researcher in the course of this study include the following:

1. Finance: Lack of adequate funds tends to diminish the vital information that is supposed to obtain, which will thoroughly enhance the findings of this research work.
2. Data: The shortage of comprehensive information is another constraint faced during the research, since most of the employees and customers of the establishment especially the owner and management staff of imperial bakery were very reluctant to share relevant information with the researcher.
3. Time Factor: Insufficient time to undertake the research was also identified as the constraint of the research work and the task of combining lectures and writing of assignments and presentations of term papers in the lecture hall was very cumbersome. Since most of the time, have to forfeit some lectures in other to meet up with my research work.

1. Significance of the study

The research work provided insight into the dynamism of business environment through which major and minor constraints in the environment were identified, the role of environmental factors in ensuring as well as heralding survival and growth of business organisations in relation to danger posed by these environmental factors were identified. The work has equally placed environmental factors in the fore front of business survival and growth thus enlightening that the success of any business organisation is contingent on understanding the environmental factors.

The findings of this study contribute to the knowledge on the effect of environmental factors on the business performance in Nigeria. The study adds value to the existing literature and establishes the gaps for future research on the same or similar topic by suggesting areas that need further studies to be conducted. This helps policy maker to come out with possible alternative policy intervention on creating conducive business environment to improve the performance of micro, small and medium enterprises in Nigeria.

1. Historical Background of the Case Study

Imperial Bakery was established in August 1999 with its head office in Cape town street Wuse zone 4 Abuja. Since its inception, Imperial Bakeries has since grown to become a synonym for fresh quality bread in the capital city. Made with passion and utmost care, Imperial loaves are rich in nutrients that leave one satisfied and smiling.

The management of Imperial Bakery believes that customer satisfaction begins with total employee commitment; its workforce made up of a team of young, dedicated professionals supported by well-trained and skilled personnel. Imperial Bakeries have taken the time in the past two decades to perfect their recipes and ensure that they produce nothing but the best in honour of what is perhaps the earliest processed food known to man and arguably the most consumed food in Nigeria and around the world.

Imperial Bakeries has since been certified by the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). They were among the first bakery in Nigeria to received SON’s seal of approval and have move on to win the hearts of many Nigerians with our delicious products.

PRODUCTS

Imperial Bakery products are baked using specially selected ingredients to give one delicious and affordable product every time. Their skilled bakers pay attention to every detail when crafting each of the products like fine art. The following are the products of Imperial Bakery:

1.  Family Loaf: They are highly nutritious and crafted to not only appeal to ones senses but also because of its size will leave one and the entire family delightfully satisfied. This loaf is ideal for sandwiches and toasts.
2. Imperial Classic Loaf: It is fluffy, yummy, light, and has a free-rising shape to it. One look at this classic loaf makes one want to take a big bite.
3. Imperial Mini Loaf: This is a smaller size of family loaf. This  mini loaf for solo consumers and budget customers.
4. Cinnamon Roll: This bread is made with raisins and enhanced with rich cinnamon extract that is baked to perfection and glazed with caramel. Its large segmented size ensures that everybody gets a piece.
5. Imperial Fruit Bread: The fruit bread is similar to the cinnamon roll except that it is filled with more raisins to give it an extra unique fruity taste.
6. Imperial Wheat Bread: It is 100% made with whole wheat and without any white flour. This is to ensure that one get exactly what one is asking for; which is a healthy yet tasty alternative.
7. Imperial Cake: This English type of cake is delicately flavoured so that it is not too sweet and not too plain either. Its rich delicious taste makes for a perfect family snack.
8. Imperial Cup Cakes: This small but yummy product is the perfect desert.
9. Imperial Burger Buns, Large & Mini: The burger buns are ideal for making sandwiches and burgers of all sorts. Alternatively, they could be served as bread roll appetizers, and could be served with tea or soups.
10. Chin-chin: This is a product we are especially proud of because it has its roots in West Africa. It’s so good it was named twice. The Chin-Chins are made with the finest ingredients, which are mixed, flattened and deep-fried to perfection. Because of its bite-size feature, it is ideal for any occasion from parties and luncheons to weddings and picnics.
11. French stick (Baguette): The baguettes are also ideal for making sandwiches. Hard on the outside, soft on the inside and adequately salted to perfection.
12. Meat pie: The size and taste of the meat pies makes it a perfect snack for all occasions. Stuffed with carrots, potatoes, onions, lots of beef, our meat pies are tasty and highly nutritious.
13. Doughnut: Our doughnuts are deep-fried using cholesterol free vegetable oil whilst maintaining its rich taste. This item is perfect for birthdays, picnics, luncheons, and weddings. Our doughnuts come in different varieties so you have options.

1. Definition of Key Terms

Business environment: Business environment is the sum total of all external and internal factors that influence a business. These are force that affect the operation of business organization (Nnamani & Ajagu, 2014)

Business Performance: Business performance is defined as the operational ability to satisfy the desires of the company’s major shareholders” (Smith & Reece, 1999), and it must be assessed to measure an organisations’ accomplishment.

Customers: A customer is an individual or business that purchases the goods or services produced by a business (Investopedia, 2019). These are the people or organization in the environment who buy goods and services from the organization. 

Economic Environment: The economic environment of an organization is a set of economic indicator which influences the cost of all input and the ability of customer to buy goods and services (Nnamani & Ajagu, 2014).

External forces: These are forces that are not controlled by the business organization. It refers to those forces that are outside the control of the company. They are externally inclined and therefore the management has no control over them (Oginni, 2010).

Internal forces: these are the forces that are controlled by the business organization. It refers to those forces that are within the reach of the company. These forces are internally inclined because they take place within the company and the management has control over them (Oginni, 2010).

The Concept of Staff Productivity

 

The Concept of Staff Productivity

Staff Productivity refers to the real output per unit of labor. It is a powerful driver of international capital flows. Productivity levels seem to be the highest in United States as compared to the euro area, because of higher employment rates in U.S. 

 

(Skoczylas & Tissot, 2015). Meneze (2016) defined productivity as the employee’s ability to produce work or goods and services according to the expected standards set by the employers, or beyond the expected standards. Productivity is calculated by comparing total amount of health care output to the total amount of input used to produce this output. 

 

Output can be measured through primary care, diagnostic facilities, outpatient, accident and emergency departments, volume of activity and mental health and community care settings. Input can be measured through labor, intermediate goods & services and capital (Bojke et al., 2012).

 

Jex (2012) opines that employee performance can generally be defined as all the behaviour employees engage in while at work. It may also refer to the job-related activities of a worker and how well those activities were executed. 

 

According to (Hoppock 2017; Kane & Lawler, 2016), job performance is the record related to the results after practicing a job for a given period. On the other hand, (Schermerhorn, 2019) asserts that job performance refers to the quality and quantity that are attained by individual employees or group of employees after completing a given task. 

 

(Motowildo & Borman 2013) define job performance as the aggregated financial or non-financial added value by the employees in contribution to the fulfillment both directly and indirectly to the targeted goals of the organisation. Mangkunegara (2009) defines it as the work results based on quality and quantity achieved by employee in doing his or her job.