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Abstract
The study examined the relationship between human capital development and organization resilience of selected manufacturing firms in Rivers State. The survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of this study is made up of all the management and junior staffs of selected manufacturing firms in Rivers State which include selected manufacturing firms in Port Harcourt which includes Demcok Paints Limited, First Aluminium Plc, and Kabelmetal Nigeria Plc, Port Harcourt. The taro yemens formula was used to determine the sample size of 85. Both the primary and secondary data were used for the study. The method used to analyze the data was simple descriptive method stated in tables and expressed in percentage. The study revealed that staff training, staff development and employee coaching associate with organizational resilience in selected manufacturing firms in Port Harcourt. Based on the finding of the study, we recommend that the management having seen human resource exercise as a vital aspect in organization should be encouraged to finance it, seeing that the company is one that makes use of highly trained personnel, lack of funds as a problem should not be allowed to hinder effective implementations development and educational qualifications more especially of technical qualifications should be a pre-requisite for recruitment, dilution, placement, promotion appraisal and lay off of workers.
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Resilience has emerged as a critical characteristic of complex, dynamic systems in a range of disciplines till it recently emerged strongly into the business literatures and management (Sheffi, 2007). It has increasingly become a multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary concept (Ponomarov and Holcomb 2009), however still inadequately theorized (Sutcliffe, & Vogus, 2003). Resilience has become a semantically overloaded term, meaning somewhat different things in different fields (Madni and Jackson 2009). Some authors have focussed on the corporate attributes that yield resilience, understanding its drivers and how to sustain it like Weick and Sutcliffe (2007), while some have aimed at expanding the concept as done by Pettit, Fiksel and Croxton, (2010).
The nature of the business environment has made modern organizations become aware of the need to prepare for the unexpected. The dynamic nature of the environment makes it imperative for organizations to embrace proper human capital development so as to achieve resilience. Organisations are now reminded that the unexpected still happen considering the emerging threat of a pandemic and the Hurrican Katrina (www.resorgs.nz). According to Wildarskey (1988) the ability to handle unexpected dangers after their occurrence is resilience. Advanced organizations that have an embedded resilience capacity may be able to seize opportunities in addition to invoking protective activities – bouncing toward as opposed to bouncing back. In the present environment where the unimaginable is getting at its peak, organizations and their various units may not have all it takes to anticipate every challenge that comes their way (Weick, Sutcliffe & Obstfeld, 1999). Organizational resilience holds onto practice in risk management and on existing literature. According to Mitroff (2005) organization resilience is a steadily process that supports performance in the organization and crisis situation. A set of four abilities identified by Hollnagel et al (2000) which define the quality of resilience are: the ability to react to different challenges; to anticipate disruptions; to learn from experience and ability to carefully observe what is happening.
In order for organizations to gain competitive advantage, they should leverage on employees as a competitive weapon. Organizations focus have been on how to improve on employees productivity to drive higher value for them. This improvement can be done through comprehensive human capital development programe which enables for organization’s long term survival and sustainability. To effectively operate in an unstable and complicated environment, employees should acquire knowledge, skills and experience. A lot have been written over the years on human capital development and economic growth in Nigeria. (Okorafor & Oforegbunam, 2010; Manmuthu & Arokiasamy, 2009). However, we are not aware of a unified empirical work done on human capital development and organizational resilience in manufacturing firms in Nigeria. To cover the knowledge gap, the study seeks to examine the relationship between human capital development and organization resilience of selected manufacturing firms in Rivers State.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The Nigerian manufacturing sector is facing challenges such as inflation, decrepit infrastructure, low investment, high cost of production, low level of technology, low capacity utilization, poor power supply and poor human capital development (Anyanwu, 2000). In the light of these challenges facing Nigerian manufacturing sector, the interest in exploring organizational resilience is principally to identify the factors that enable organizations resist the negative impacts of crises and adapt in ways that enable them stand in a changing environment. The work seeks to examine how effective human capital development can help manufacturing firms achieve agility and organizational adaptive capacity. Hence, the study seeks to examine the relationship between human capital development and organizational resilience of selected manufacturing firms in Rivers State.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
To cover the knowledge gap, the study seeks to examine the relationship between human capital development and organization resilience of selected manufacturing firms in Rivers State.
1. To examine the relationship between staff training and organization resilience of selected manufacturing firms in Rivers State.
2. To examine the relationship between staff development and organization resilience of selected manufacturing firms in Rivers State.
3. To examine the relationship between coaching and organization resilience of selected manufacturing firms in Rivers State.
1.4 Research Questions
1. To what extent does staff training affect organization resilience of selected manufacturing firms in Rivers State?
2. To what extent does staff development affect organization resilience of selected manufacturing firms in Rivers State?
3. To what extent does coaching affect organization resilience of selected manufacturing firms in Rivers State?
1.5 Significance of the Study
The study made use of three (3) reputable manufacturing firms which is a good representation of the manufacturing firming sector in Nigeria. The work stands to give manufacturing firm managers an insight into the relevance of human capital development which will help to improve the financial resilience of their organizations. The employees will also see the need for proper career development in terms of possessing more expertise and relevant skills to face challenges in their jobs. Future researchers will also find the data used for this study very useful for further studies.
1.6 Scope of the Study
The scope of this study is delimited into the followings:
Content Scope: The specific areas of organizational resilience the study investigated include; Organizational Agility and organizational adaptive capability. Whereas, the areas of human capital development includes Performance Management and staff training.
Geographical scope: This study limited to selected manufacturing firms in Port Harcourt, Rivers State with special reference to selected manufacturing firms in Port Harcourt which includes Demcok Paints Limited, 76, Elioparanwo Road, Off Wimpey Junction, Mile 4, Port Harcourt, First Aluminium Plc, 19/21 Onitsha Street, Trans Amadi Industrial Layout, Port Harcourt and Kabelmetal Nigeria Plc, 6, Bori Road, Rumuibekwe Port Harcourt.
Unit of Analysis: The unit of analysis is employee of the selected organizations. Hence, it is a micro level study.
1.7 Limitation of the Study
The major limitation of the study is the short time frame the research lasted, coupled with the tight academic time table, which prevented a very comprehensive study. The fund available to the researcher was also limited and therefore the study was limited to a small portion of the survey population.
Another limitations are difficulties, encountered by the researcher in obtaining all needed information and materials from the right source and computation of data for the project.
1.8 Definitions of Terms
COACHING
Coaching and mentoring can provide an array of benefits for organizations of all sizes, especially small businesses.
HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT
Human capital is an intangible assets that creates future economic value, which include the competencies of front-line employees and the organizational capabilities.
ORGANIZATIONAL RESILIENCE
Organizational resilience is most often defined as (1) a strong desire to remain a member of a particular organization; (2) a willingness to exert high levels of effort on behalf of the organization; and (3) a definite belief in, and acceptance of, the values and goals of the organization.
PROFITABILITY
Profitability is the state of yielding financial profit or gain. It is often measured by price to earnings ratio.
STAFF TRAINING
Staff training is a planned effort by an organization to facilitate the learning of job related to knowledge and skills by its employees to improve employee’s resilience and further organizational goals.
STAFF DEVELOPMENT
Development takes the form of learning activities that prepare people to exercise wider or increased responsibilities.