Impact of Stakeholders’ Engagement on the Performance of Selected Manufacturing Organizations In South East, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the impact of stakeholders’ engagement on the performance of some selected manufacturing organizations in the South East, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to: ascertain the effect of communication on employee retention in manufacturing organizations, South East, Nigeria, determine the effect of supplier partnership on stability in product delivery schedules of manufacturing organizations, South East, Nigeria, measure the effect of consultation on product innovation in manufacturing organizations, South East, Nigeria, assess the effect of accountability on organizational adaptive capacity in manufacturing organizations, South East, Nigeria, establish the effect of dialogue on project sustainability of manufacturing organizations, South East, Nigeria. This study adopted a survey research design. The population of the study was 7135 of the 15 selected manufacturing organizations in South East, Nigeria. Stratified random sampling was adopted to select the appropriate number of firms from each stratum. The sample size of 554 was obtained from the application of Cochran’s formula for finite population while Bowley’s proportional allocation statistical technique was adopted to determine the allocation of questionnaire to each organization. Data were collected from primary source through the administration of copies of questionnaire. The questionnaire was structured in line with Five-Point Likert Scale. Face and content validity were determined by five experts, three from the Department of Management, University of Nigeria. Enugu Campus and two from the selected organizations: Innoson Nigeria Ltd, and Juhel Nigeria Ltd Manufacturing Company Plc, Enugu. A test-retest method was used to determine the reliability of questionnaire using Cronbach Alpha method. The result gave a reliability coefficient of 0.92. The five hypotheses formulated and were tested with one sample t-test at 0.05 level of significance. Communication had a significant positive (t = 43.742; P<0.05) effect on employee retention in manufacturing organizations in South-East, Nigeria. Supplier partnership had positive and significant (t = 24.766; P < 0.05) effect on product delivery schedules in manufacturing organizations in South-East, Nigeria. Consultation had a significant positive (t = 8.503; P < 0.05) effect on product innovation in manufacturing organizations in South-East Nigeria. Accountability had significant positive (t = 21.779; P < 0.05) effect on organizational adaptive capacity in manufacturing organizations in South-East, Nigeria. Dialogue had a significant positive (t = 30.359 > P < 0.05) effect on project sustainability in selected manufacturing organizations in South East, Nigeria. It recommends, among others, that Manufacturing organizations should ensure that all relevant stakeholders are strategically aligned to their goals, to sustain optimal product delivery.