Co-Operation Between Employee And Management To Increase Productivity

Project and Seminar Material for Business Administration and Management BAM

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to carry out research on the effect of the management and employee relationship on productivity in an organization. This thesis project uses Mobil producing Nigeria Unlimited, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil as a case study. The primary focus of this work is on the factors that can improve the relationship in the work place to enhance productivity.

The research was completed by reviewing theories on human resource management. Interviews were conducted by phone and email to obtain direct information for the purpose of this study. The researcher has also made use of EBooks forms to further shed light to the topic of this study.

Data were collected and analyzed using a quantitative research method. Open-ended questions were provided in a questionnaire and responses analyzed in order to facilitate evaluation of the effect of management and employee relations in the organization.

Suggestions and recommendations were made based on the results of the research on the issues identified by the study which affect the organization’s work-force and management.

As a result of the research findings the need for a healthy relationship between management and employees was affirmed, and methods of utilizing this to enhance productivity in any organization and reasons for why this is important were disclosed. The study highlights the importance of effective human resource management as an essential aspect of any organization.

Chapter One

Introduction

From one standpoint, human resources are the most important asset in the organization. From another point of view, management is responsible for organizing, coordinating, planning labor and other organizational resources in order to achieve the stated goals and objectives; Bratton & Gold (2003, 357). This situation creates a necessity of employer-employee relation-ship, which is good for the growth of any organization. Many researchers have carried out extensive research on productivity in organizations, but only relatively few studies have been conducted in the context examined in this thesis report which is the employee and management relationship in the oil producing industries. It is based on this background that I am motivated to fill the gap, by carrying out a practical study on evaluating and analyzing employee and management as it affects an oil producing company in Nigeria.

For a better and clearer perception of this research work, there would be an understanding about what the topic entails and its benefits in an organization. The researcher would also like to state that relationships between employees and management differ from one company to another, as well as one country to another. How to create a good relationship between employee and management so as to increase productivity has been the subject of many studies, examples of such relationship creation could be seminars, conferences, and workshops. It is well known that productivity is a critical factor in economics and social development, for it determines the standard of living of people of a country. When productivity is high, organizations earn higher incomes with very good profit which leaves the organization in a better position to stay in business and there will be job security for employees. But when productivity is low, there will be unemployment and employee lay-offs.

To improve employee-management relations, there has to be a certain degree of compatibility between employee and management. An employee will be highly dedicated, productive and also co-operative if he\she believes that by such co-operation his\her interest would be protected. This topic cannot be over emphasized because employee-management relationship is vital to the success of any company or business. If employees are not happy, then it is unlikely that they will make the customers happy. The organization is therefore throwing its profits and its business away. To be more precise, management should have the interest of employees at heart so as to know their needs and methods of satisfying those needs. There is a general belief that if the employee is recognized in the scheme of things within the organization, the positives are expected such as readiness to put in their best in terms of promoting efficiency, and reducing or eliminating waste.

This study will concentrate on the effect of employee-management relation as one of the measures to increase productivity in Mobil producing Nigeria Unlimited, Nigeria (a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corporation).

1.1 Background to the Company

Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPN) was chosen by the researcher as a case study in which research study will be conducted for the thesis. Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, an oil company, engages in the offshore production of crude, condensate, and natural gas liquid. Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited was formerly known as Mobil Exploration Nigeria Incorporated and changed its name to Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited in 1969. The company was founded in 1951 and is based in Lagos, Nigeria. Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited operates as a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corp. Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited is also an operator of the NNPC\MPN joint venture plans to carry out Hydro cyclone Sand Checks on flowing wells located in their joint venture (JV) acreage.

All of its operations are offshore. MPN is the second largest producer of crude oil in Nigeria after Shell. The company operates in the integrated oil and gas industry; they are also engaged in the production and marketing petrochemicals (gasoline, motor oils, lubricants, marine and jet fuels, etc.) packaging films and other chemical product. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Mobil operates worldwide oil and gas exploration and producing business, a global marketing and refining complex, a network of pipe-lines. MOP has 300 employees to its credit.
Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited has its administrative headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria and the operative base is located at the eastern part of Nigeria named Qua iboe terminal (Q.I.T) Eket in Akwa ibom state. The company is one of American multinational oil companies in Nigeria and it specializes in engineering and off-shore drilling.

MPN has offices in different parts of Nigeria where different operations are been carried out and also has six functional departments such as Accounting, Security, Drilling, Telecommunications, Purchasing and Transportation, all headed by a departmental manager. The researcher chose one of its bases in the eastern part named Port Harcourt. In this base their duty is to shift materials from the various oil servicing companies through one port to various rigs. Basically this base is called the supply base.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Every organization exists to achieve some objectives. However, organizational goals may not be achieved unless all the employees put in their best to achieve these set goals and objectives. Therefore, it can be said that in every organization, it is quite obvious that the prevailing socio-economic problems in Nigeria, such as, constant labor strike, unrest, rising unemployment etc., can be traceable to lack of co-operation between employee/management in most business organizations. Poor employee-management relation has been identified by Balogun (2002) as one of the contributing factors of low standard of living and economic development in Nigeria. How employee-management relation can be achieved have been a thing of concern in business organizations and its effect on productivity. This research is aimed at identifying the problems and to help suggest methods of solution to organizations using Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, Port Harcourt as a case study.

1.3 Purpose / Objective of the Study

The purpose of this study is to access more possible ways through employee-management relation to increase productivity in Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, Port-Harcourt Nigeria. The study will also examine the strategies adopted by the management to improve the employee-management relation as to attain higher productivity level. It will also enable managers to adopt effective motivational strategies where necessary that would enhance positive attitude at work and to find out how the various management actions affect the behavior of employees at work. Moreover the study is expected to shed some light on employers and employees conflicts concerning productivity and reward. Finally the result of the study will highlight some issues on employee-management policies used in business organization.

1.4 Research Hypothesis

As a guide to finding a probable solution a hypothesis was set to guide the thesis to arrive at necessary recommendation that will help the organisation. A hypothesis can be defined as a proposal set forth as an explanation for the outcome of some specified group in an event, either maintained as a provisional assumption to aid in research or received as highly probable in the event of facts discovered.

The following null hypotheses are tested in this study:

H01: Management does not engage in performance appraisal as a form of motivation.
H02: Financial incentive does not motivate staffs more than non-financial incentive.

1.5 Scope / Limitation of the Study

This research will be limited to the facts collected from questionnaire as well as any other information gathered from interview by phone with staffs of the company, emails and information released on the company’s website.

The objective and validity of any conclusion drawn from the research study will be limited by the accuracy of information given by respondents as well as phone interviews and material used. Therefore the research is specifically limited to Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, Nigeria.

1.6 Assumptions

It is assumed that the subject of the study would give maximum and needed cooperation to the researcher through completing and returning the questionnaire. It is also assumed that the questionnaire returned will get to the researcher within a stipulated period, to aid the prompt completion of the research. The researcher has an expectation that at least 48% of the questionnaires that was sent to the company will be returned.

Chapter Five

Conclusion and Recommendation

5.1 Conclusion

The employee management relationship in Mobil producing Nigeria Unlimited is not different from any other company. It can be seen from the data analysis that lack of Employee management relationship affects productivity. Employee-management relationship is a necessary ingredient to accomplishing organizational goals in any organization. Workers feel reluctant to put in much effort to accomplish and reach set of organizational objectives. When workers feel uncomfortable at work, it demoralizes them and resort to negative approaches to the working environment. If such relationships are not cordial, the workforce at the floor level might try to derail the organization leading to low productivity. Furthermore, it could be realized that management does not practice performance appraisal as a form of motivational tool. In this event, if the employees are not appraised or been given feedback on progress of work done it makes the employee not see whether they are on track to accomplishing organizational objectives. Performance appraisal helps most organizations to realize their weakness and improve upon their strengths as a company strategy. Motivation in general is a necessary instrument to propel workers or employees to strive to achieve strategic objectives. Motivation comes in several forms such as remuneration, promotion, short courses, seminars, good and encouraging words from supervisors and even a tap on the shoulder of a worker could be very important. On the other hand, majority of employees in the labor market see financial incentives as the most motivating factor to encourage workers than non-financial incentives. From the situation of the case company it was realized that financial incentives strategy is preferred to non-financial incentives by most employees but few of workers preferred non-financial incentives strategies to motivate job performance. It can also be seen that labor unionism is not permitted in the organization which depicts that management prefers direct dealings with employees which is not a good sign for the company; rather there should be a mouthpiece for employees in a form of labor union to negotiate with management on issues related to employee-management. It was also confirmed that there exists some form job security and very few of the workers recorded that there is no job security in the company or organization.

From the case of study it shows that where employee management relation is lacking, there is bound to be problem in productivity in the organization, which is because most employees like to have sense of belonging. For example being part of the happenings and important events gives a certain level of satisfaction to the workers. Happenings like participation in some decision making, motivation etc. The researcher has also found out that financial incentives and participation in some decision making issues, motivating the workers to higher or improved performance to increase productivity. Based on the research findings and the discussions made, the following conclusion were drawn that is an obvious fact that participative management is dependent upon several factors as provided in literature review, but for harmonious industrial relations to exist, participation is predicated upon the balance of “power” between management and subordinates. This study revealed that the organization adopts participative management and this has contributed immensely to the achievement of the organizational on the part of the management, they tend to develop a lukewarm attitude towards the job.

5.2 Recommendation

Labor union activities should be incorporated in the organizational policy of the company so that employees would be able to channel their grievances through them and also stand for workers who are faced with difficulties pertaining to work related issues that might affect progress of work. Again, it could further be recommended that employee appraisal be enhanced in the company to allow workers track their performance in the organization. Another aspect of improvement is the issue of employee –management relationships. This is a vital area in organizational development because; if the relationship between management and employees are not cordial it tends to distract progress of work as well as leading to loss of production which can affect profit. According to the theoretical aspect of this thesis, Lack of good relationship between management and employees have effects on productivity and from the data we can conclude that in this company there is poor relationship between management and employees. Especially younger staffs have paid more attention to their work relations, and it can be agreed upon that for every organization the younger generation are the future of such companies. So it can be concluded that ExxonMobil Nigeria is at a risk of encountering bad productivity which can be very devastating on the profit of the organization.