ABSTRACT
There is a challenge of the difficulty in determining the effect of Diversity Management on Employee Morale in the Brewing Industry in Southeastern Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study were to determine the type of influence diversity management has on employee morale in the brewing industry in Southeastern Nigeria, to determine the nature of the effect of demographic work-place diversity on the state of the minds aspect of employee morale in the brewing companies that were studied, to establish the effect of socio-cultural work place diversity on the willingness to perform aspect of employee morale in the brewing companies in the area studied, to determine the influence of workplace diversity management on the polarization aspect of employee morale of the brewing companies in the area studied and to ascertain the effect of workplace management on the autonomy aspect of employee morale of the brewing companies in the area studied. The research design was a combination of the survey, oral interview and PEST model modification. Hypotheses 1, 2, 3 were tested using the Z test of population proportions while 4 and 5 used the Z test for Likert Scale Responses. It was found that Diversity Management had a positive influence on employee morale in the brewing industry in Southeastern Nigeria (Zc = 5.936 > Zt = 1.645), the demographic workplace diversity had a positive influence on the state of the minds aspect of employee morale in the brewing companies in the area studied (Zc = 7.139 > Zt = 1.645), the socio-cultural workplace diversity had a positive influence on the willingness to perform aspect of employee morale in the brewing companies in the area studied (Zc = 8.343 > Zt = 1.645), the demographic workplace diversity management had a positive influence on the polarization aspect of employee morale in the brewing companies in the brewing companies in the area studied (Zc = 33.904 > Zt = 1.645) and that the workplace management had a positive effect on the autonomy aspect of employee morale of the brewing companies in the area studied (Zc = 33.990 > Zt = 1.645). The conclusion was that Diversity Management had a positive influence on Employee Morale in the brewing industry in Southeastern Nigeria which implied that the management of the differences and similarities of the behaviour, attitude to work, culture, religion and management styles of the workers would make for an increase in the performance factor of employee morale which determines the extent to which the workers of the brewing companies are doing their work. Recommendations were made along that line.
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Managing diversity and employee morale have had early influences. Management of diversity naturally has been of some concern to organized history throughout the history of civilization. Most of the early contributions came from practitioners such as Taylor and Fayol. Taylor is the father of scientific management and wrote his book in 1911 while Fayol developed the fourteen principles of administration (Koontz and O’Donnel, 2000). Management in antiquity shows the interpretation of early Egyptian papyri, extending as far back as 1300 B.C., that indicates the recognition of the importance of organization and administration in the bureaucratic states of antiquity with similar records of such existence for ancient China. Confucius’s parables include practical suggestions for proper public administration, and admonitions to choose honest, unselfish, and capable public officers (Koontz and O’Donnel and Weihrich, 2000).
The Roman Catholic Church, if one is to judge by age, is probably the most efficient formal organization in the history of Western civilization. Its long organizational life has been due not only to the appeal of its objectives but also to the effectiveness of its organization and management techniques. The development of the hierarchy of authority with its scalar territorial organization, the specialization of activities along functional lines, and the early use of the staff device are striking examples of these techniques. However, present times are showing the challenges of diversity management where the Pope Benedict XVI resigned on Thursday February 28, 2013 in the face of growing issues of age and general administration (Nwachukwu, 2013).
In the Military Organisations as might be expected, some of the more important principles and practices of modern business management may be traced to military organizations. Except for the Church, no other form of organization in the history of Western civilization has been forced, by the problems of managing large groups, to develop organization principles. Yet despite the need, the military organizations probably failed to put the theory to use before the past two centuries (Koontz and O’Donnel, 2000).
Management of diversity has also existed in Nigeria and employee morale has been a very important performance variable. In 1946 there was the first pre-development plan and it was financed by the British Administration. Its aim was to raise raw materials as inputs in
the British factories to generate revenue to win the Second World War. The diversity here was whether the plan was for Nigeria or for Britain as their interest was on growth abroad rather than indigenous employee’s moral. Between 1962 and 1985 there were four post- independence development plans, followed by the 7-point agenda of late President Musa Y’Adua. There were the economic reforms of President Olusegun Obasanjo between 1999 and 2007 and presently there is a road map of President Goodluck Jonathan till date. The diversity here is that all the plans, programmes and strategies used by the various Nigerian administrations have had good formulations but it has been observed by some development experts that there were very poor implementations because of the diverse Nigerians socio-economic and religious backgrounds (Nwankwo, 2010).
Diversity management continued to have an influence on employee morale in relation to age, gender, religion, tribe, etc which could be positive if the strategies were right and negative if they were not. As Lawrence (2001) puts it, management of diversity in organisations is dependent upon the acceptance of some primary objectives to which the employees are ready to commit, like the way it would impact on their morale which is a state of the mind of the individuals, or groups as shown in the willingness to perform assigned tasks.
The effect of diversity management on employee morale was very relevant in the Managements of United States of America, Japan and Nigeria. The United States of America in the modern era had diverse management approaches that enhanced the spirit with which the American workers did their work. No wonder their economy became that of wealth and prosperity. A typical example was in the mass production which was initiated by Henry Ford which made it possible to produce a lot of cars that were different and similar as if it were the same brand. In American Management, there was a lot of planning but the Americans were too fast in their planning making for emergent decision making, demand forecasting and simulating the objective function (Koontz, O’Donnel and Weihrich, 2012).
In the case of Japanese Management, diversity management also had a positive effect on employee morale. The Japanese did not have raw materials but had the technology, so they could import raw materials and transform them through the production process to get product like electronic products and Toyota brand of cars. The transform consisted of different machines, methods and maintenance and so diversity management was very
relevant. The Americans were very happy about the increased productivity of the Japanese so much so that American entrepreneurs built factories and asked the Japanese Managers to man the factories, so employee morale was very relevant. The Japanese Management was boosted by the use of life time employment, use of quality circles and effective technology (Koontz, O’Donnel and Weihrich, 2012).
In the case of Nigerian Management, diversity management had also had a positive effect on employee morale. In 1946, the pre-independence development plan which was financed by the British Government was aimed at raising different raw materials to finance the British factories so that Britain will not lose the Second World War. The plan lasted for 10 years between 1946 and 1956 (Nwankwo, 2000). So diversity management in Nigeria had a colonial origin. The Nigerian Enterprises Promotion Decrees of 1972 and 1977 left the control and management of the different enterprises in Nigerian hands. Management was the factor that enhanced economic growth in Nigeria. Between the last quarter of 2013 and the first quarter of 2014, due to a rebasing done, the Gross Domestic Product growth rate of Nigeria was 7.4%. This made the economy of Nigeria bigger than that of South Africa that has continued to be an emerging economy with Egypt. The Nigerian economy became the largest in Africa (Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, 2014). Unfortunately, this economic growth has not been matched with effective employment of young school leavers, poverty alleviation and high literacy rate.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Nigerian managers since independence in 1960 have struggled with the challenges of managing religious, ethnic and political diversities bordering on gender, nationality, social class, background, sex orientation, age, mental and physical capabilities amongst others in organisations. This major test of manager’s ability to promote organisational integration has been causing a lot of moral and performance difficulties on diversity management.
There is the difficulty in determining the type of influence diversity management has on employee morale in the brewing industry in Southeastern Nigeria. There is the difficulty in finding out the nature of the effect of demographic work-place diversity on the potency aspect of employee morale in the brewing companies to be studied in Southeastern Nigeria. There is the difficulty in establishing the effect of socio-cultural work place diversity on the participation aspect of employee morale in the brewing companies in the area to be studied.
There is the difficulty in determining whether the workplace diversity management has any influence on the polarization aspect of employee morale of the brewing companies in the area to be studied. Polarization is that element of employee morale that establishes the degree to which the group of workers with their similarities and differences is oriented towards an objective that is clear to the members and shared by them.
There is the difficulty in ascertaining the effect of workplace management on the autonomy aspect of employee morale of the brewing companies in the area to be studied.
In diversity management both similarities and differences are important however in management by exception only differences are important and not similarities. Other problems also abound such as professionalism, individual identity, intellectual discrimination, etc as such practices that can dampen morale by some staff that stretch these components in a work place too far. It has also entailed showing concern only for the achievement of departmental goals rather than overall organizational goals, neglecting the cost/effect on broad organizational goals. It has also entailed forgetting that Diversity Management knowledge is to galvanize the entire different forces; environmental factors of Political, Economic, Socio-Cultural and technological environments.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The main thrust of the study is to determine the influence of Diversity Management on
Employee Morale in the Brewing Industry in Southeastern Nigeria. The specific objectives are:
1. To determine the type of influence diversity management has on employee morale in the brewing industry in Southeastern Nigeria.
2. To determine the nature of the effect of demographic work-place diversity on the potency aspect of employee morale in the brewing companies studied in Southeastern Nigeria.
3. To establish the effect of socio-cultural work place diversity on the participation aspect of employee morale in the brewing companies in the area studied.
4. To determine the influence of workplace diversity management on the polarization aspect of employee morale of the brewing companies in the area to be studied.
5. To ascertain the effect of workplace management on the autonomy aspect of employee morale of the brewing companies in the area studied.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
This research is designed to provide answers to the following questions:
1. What type of influence does diversity management exert on employee morale in the brewing industry in Southeastern Nigeria?
2. What is the nature of the effect of the demographic work place diversity on the potency aspect of employee morale in the brewing companies studied in Southeastern Nigeria?
3. What effect does the socio-cultural work place diversity have on the participation aspect of employee morale in the brewing companies in the area studied?
4. What is the influence on the polarization aspect of employee morale of the brewing companies in the area studied?
5. What effect does the workplace management have on the autonomy aspect of employee morale of the brewing companies in the area studied?
1.5 HYPOTHESES
The following five hypotheses will guide the conduct of this study as follows:
HA1: Diversity management exerts a significant influence on employee morale in the brewing industry in Southeastern Nigeria.
HA2: The demographic work place diversity has a significant influence on the potency aspect of employee morale in the brewing companies to be studied in Southeastern Nigeria.
HA3: The socio-cultural work place diversity has a significant influence on the participation aspect of employee morale in the brewing companies in the area studied.
HA4: The workplace diversity management has a significant influence on the polarization aspect of employee morale of the brewing companies in the area studied.
HA5: The workplace management has a significant effect on the autonomy aspect of employee morale of the brewing companies in the area studied.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study was significant because it produced data on the influence of diversity management on employee morale in the brewing industry in South-Eastern Nigeria that will lead to contribution to knowledge, policy making and practice.
1.7 SCOPE AND DELIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
The focus of the study is to determine the influence whether positive, negative or not at all of Diversity Management in four Brewing Companies in Southeastern Nigeria. Only the brewing industries of the food and beverage sub sector is to be studied. The independent variables were the diversity management, demographic workplace diversity, socio-cultural work place diversity, workplace diversity management and workplace management.
The dependent variables were employee morale, potency, participation in assigned tasks, polarization and autonomy. The Breweries studied were Nigerian Breweries Plc, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Hero Breweries Plc and the Continental Breweries Limited. The geographical scope of the work was Southeastern Nigeria. The study was delimited in these Breweries that have their depots in the five States of the Southeast geopolitical zone of Nigeria. The time scope of the study is two years.
1.8 PROFILES OF THE FOUR BREWERIES STUDIED
1.8.1 The Profile of Guinness Nigeria Plc
In 1759, Mr. Arthur Guinness built his brewery on a site whose area was four acres. The site was not far from the Western entrance to the city of Dublin in Ireland. Even though the gate is no more, the brewery which bears the name of the founder has increased in size to upwards of 66 acres and is one of the biggest breweries in the world (Guinness Nigeria Plc, 2011).
In 1936, the high demand for Guinness necessitated the establishment of a second brewery. This was located at Park Royal near London. In 1963, the third Guinness brewery was opened at Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria. Quite unlike the situation in both Dublin and Park Royal, Guinness in Nigeria is bottled in the brewery and the Ikeja brewery has the largest bottling hall of all Guinness breweries all over the world (Guinness Nigeria Plc,
2011).
The world wide popularity of Guinness has made it possible to establish breweries in the following countries:
1. Malaysia;
2. Cameroon;
3. Ghana; and
4. Jamaica (Guinness Nigeria Plc, 2011).
Guinness is also brewed under Guinness supervision in the following countries:
i. Kenya;
ii. Sierra Leone;
iii. Australia; iv. Trinidad; v. Canada;
vi. Mauritius;
vii. New Zealand;
viii. Seychelles;
ix. Liberia;
x. Thailand;
xi. Indonesia; and
xii. Venezuela (Guinness Nigeria plc, 2011)
In 1959, Guinness went into the production of a lager brand of beer called Harp in Ireland and soon expanded this market into many other countries including U.K. where it sells very widely. Lager beer is now produced in Ireland, U.K., Malaysia, Cameroon and in the Benin Brewery in Nigeria (Guinness Nigeria Plc, 2011).
1.8.2 The Profile of Nigerian Breweries Plc
Nigerian Breweries Plc (NBPLC) is the country’s pioneer brewery. Incorporated in 1946, it commenced production in 1949. It started as a joint venture between the United African Company (UAC) International, UK and Heineken of Holland, Thus, at inception, it was
100 per cent foreign owned. By the early 1950s, when it began operating fully, some indigenous traders already involved with its products were invited to become shareholders. Under the indigenization policy of the early 1970s the foreign shareholders were forced to sell a significant proportion of their holdings. Today, the company is 60 per cent Nigerian owned and 40 per cent foreign owned. The 60 percent Nigerian stake is held by company employees and members of the public, while the 40 per cent foreign ownership is split almost equally between CWA Holdings Limited (for Unilever) and Heineken Brouwerijen BV.
The foreign partners now perform the role of technical advisers, with Unilever advising on commercial aspects such as accounting, purchasing, marketing and personnel, while Heineken does the same for technology. Organizationally, the company has four divisions:
technical, finance, marketing and personnel, each of which is headed by an executive director.
At its inception in 1949, NBPLC had only Star Lager (Nigeria’s first) on the market, over the years it has broadened its product range. Except for the period 1984 86, when sales volume suffered an annual average decline of about 18 per cent, turnover growth in the company has generally been accompanied by growth in profit and production volume. Thus, when normal growth was restored in 1987, the 51 per cent and 83 per cent increases in turnover and operating profit, respectively, for 1987 – 88 were accompanied by about
35 per cent volume growth. Similarly, the turnover of about N1.7 billion recorded in 1991 was partially the result of 8 per cent growth in sales volume. However, from all indications, product pricing which has to do with what the buyer pays which includes both the cost and the profit which has been the major factor in the impressive growth in operating profits.
The deteriorating results recorded by the company in 1984-86 reflected the foreign exchange rationing policy of the period, which was necessitated by the severe balance of payments crisis of the post-oil-boom era. The import license allocation of the company could hardly satisfy one third of its foreign exchange requirements. The government’s mandatory backward integration policy in the mid-1980s saw the company establishing a
5,000 – hectare farm, estimated to be worth N30 million, in Niger State. The farm is highly mechanized and produces mainly maize, rice and sorghum, with soya beans and cowpeas as rotational crops. The main crops are used as replacements for barley malt. The changeover in input mix was assisted by the company’s N2 million Research and development (R&D) facility, which was commissioned in June 1987 and plant conversion costing about N100 million (N.B.P.L.C, 2011).
The company works with highly structured plans, with annual budgets of intentions translated into explicit targets. The Board of Directors sits towards the end of the year to deliberate on the report of each divisional head. Annual budget estimates are made in the middle of the year while decisions on annual plans are left till the end of the year (N.B.P.L.C, 2011).
The company has experienced remarkable changes in its technical capability. The change in input content in the late 1980s also involved changes in processing technology (N.B.P.L.C, 2011).
Different measures of productivity are used for the technical division and other divisions. In the technical section, productivity is measured in terms of the efficiency of plant operation and also in terms of capacity utilization. In other divisions, it is in terms of the accomplishment of assigned responsibility. The company is viewed as a leader in the brewery industry and in Africa it enjoys a high rating, in term of both productivity and product quality (N.B.P.L.C, 2011).
NBPLC concentrates on the production of its beer and related products, leaving ancillary services such as bottles, crown corks, labels, cartons and crates to be supplied by other local manufacturers. In fact, Nigerian law precludes a brewer from producing such ancillary services. Only the companies in the soft drinks industry appear to sponsor firms to produce such services. Backward integration into farming was a special concession granted to the breweries in 1984 following the stringent foreign exchange control measures introduced in that year. It also uses outside transport companies for 60 per cent of total distribution (N.B.P.L.C, 2011).
The company; collaborates with other producers in the industry in lending materials which are urgently required. Under the umbrella of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), it cooperates with competitors to discuss issues affecting the industry, e.g. adverse government policy and other economic factors. There is no collaboration between competitors in marketing and no cooperation in technical services, probably because most of the local brewers have foreign technical partners (N.B.P.L.C, 2011).
The prosperity of the company has been preserved by its efficient costing system, which seeks to protect profit margins which are the ratio of net profit or gross profit over sales in a high-inflation setting by adjusting prices in response to changing costs of production. Input costs rose about 10.53 per cent in the period 1982 to June 1992 and selling prices have risen to almost the same extent (N.B.P.L.C, 2011).
1.8.3 The Profile of Hero Breweries Plc
Hero Breweries Plc was incorporated on 23rd January, 1976 with head office in Onitsha, Anambra State. It was listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 1988. Proshare reports, shows that Hero Breweries Plc declared in 2008, 2009 and 2010 Audited Results with N42.225m million losses in 2010. The Stock Exchange weekly reports that Hero
Breweries Plc’s audited result for the year ended 31st March 2008 shows low turnover
same as in 2007. Loss after tax stood at N23.005 million compared with N224.21 million in 2007. Consequently, if previous year’s losses are taken into account, the retained loss carried forward stood at N440.3 million compared to N417.3 million in 2007 (Hero Breweries Plc, 2011: 18).
1.8.4 The Profile of Continental Breweries Plc
The company was established at Awoomama in 1980 in Imo State and is very well located on the Onitsha-Owerri Road. It is very close to such big towns like Oguta, Orlu, Owerri and Onitsha and this gives it the advantage of proximity to a lot of traders travelling from Owerri to Onitsha. Owerri is the State Capital of Imo State, Onitsha is the biggest commercial center in Southern Nigeria. The location advantage of the brewery is instrument to their product “33” lager beer to be very popular and the patronage of the customers has led to the brewery being a very big brewery with very modern brewery facilities such as matching, cementing, match rating and bottling facilities (Continental Breweries Plc, 2011).
1.9 OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS OF TERMS
Accountability is the extent to which obligation of an organization to account for its activities in a brewing firm.
Autonomy is that extent to which the organization takes decision independent of the control or influence of the owners in a brewing firm.
Demographic workplace diversity is the totality of the individual differences of the workers that border on such personal characteristics like sex, marital status, name, age and educational qualification in a brewing firm.
Diversity Management is defined as the provision of an operating environment to achieve the objective of understanding the multitude of the individual differences and similarities that exist amongst the workers in the brewing industry in Southeastern Nigeria.
Employee Morale is that factor of performance which makes workers happy when they are doing their work in a brewing firm.
Participation is defined as the extent to which different mechanism of the organization express opinions in a brewing environment.
Polarization explains that aspect of element of employee morale in the brewing firm that establishes the degree to which the group of workers with their similarities and differences is made to understand specific task, work content and objective that is clear to the members and shared by them under a defined work environment.
Potency explains the degree to which the individual needs, formal and informal such as background challenges and standard rewards expectations of the workers in a brewing firm are satisfied because of their membership of a particular group in the organization. Socio-cultural workplace diversity is defined as the totality of the social units: friends, age groups, family status, life styles, company, clubs belonged, community services and other social interactions that affect the individual differences and similarities in a brewing firm.
Workplace diversity management explains the type, location, perception of the brewing firm by the environment and conditions of the working environment provided to achieve the objective of studying the differences and similarities of people in the workplace. Workplace management explains the managerial and administrative leadership provided by a brewing environment to achieve the overall objectives of managing the workplace effectively.
1.10 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
The attitude of the respondents: The survey research design has the limitation that some respondents are reluctant to give answers to probes. This limitation is minimized by persuading the respondents and by having a covering letter.
The interviewing situation: The oral interview has the limitation that the interviewing situation may change especially if more than one field data collector is used to do the fieldwork. This limitation is minimized by the Researcher doing most of the field work. Representation of Reality: A model to be modified has the limitation that it is only an abstraction or representation of reality. This limitation is minimized by relying on the responses of the managers and staff of the Brewing Companies to be studied.
The structured nature of the instrument: The questionnaire research instrument has the limitation that its structured nature may compel the respondents to give answers that they do not fully endorse. This limitation is minimized by also using an oral interview schedule.
The open-ended nature of the schedule: The oral interview schedule has the limitation that it contains open-ended questions that are difficult to analyse. This limitation is minimized by using numbers divided by the total number of schedules returned to give the frequencies.
The cryptic nature of the dichotomous schedule: The dichotomous (yes or no) oral
interview schedule for getting responses to implement the PEST Model has the limitation that the answers do not span the entire answer continuum. This limitation is minimized by using Likert Scale Responses.
This material content is developed to serve as a GUIDE for students to conduct academic research
THE INFLUENCE OF DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT ON EMPLOYEE MORALE IN BREWING INDUSTRY IN SOUTHEASTERN NIGERIA>
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