Effect of green business practices on organizational performance of selected manufacturing firms in Nigeria

This study presents an empirical investigation of the effect of green  business practices on organizational performance of selected  manufacturing firms in Nigeria. This study was also motivated by the  urgent need to solve the environmental problems caused by the activities of profit driven entrepreneurs in developing economy as well as  exploring the benefits to organizations. The study was guided by one key objective, from which appropriate research question and hypothesis were formulated. The specific objective of this study was to determine the extent to which green business practices affect the manufacturing firm„s productivity in Nigeria. This study adopted the survey design. Simple random sampling technique was used in selecting the 10 manufacturing firms in Nigeria. A sample size of 543 respondents was determined from the population of 5705 drawn from management, middle and lower cadre of the selected manufacturing firms using Cochran (1977) statistical formula. A stratified sampling technique was also used to determine the proportional allocation of questionnaire to management cadre, middle cadre and lower cadre. Designed questionnaire and personal interview were used for primary data collection. The questionnaire was structured on 5-point Likert scale. The validity of the instrument was ascertained using content validity. The instrument was checked for reliability using test re-test method through Cronbach alpha, with a value of 0.90, which shows consistency in the items of survey. Data were analyzed and the hypotheses were tested using linear regression analysis. Probability level of significance was given at 5%. Data were presented using simple  percentages. Findings revealed that green business initiatives had  significant and positive effect on the selected manufacturing firm„s  productivity (r=.756, F=346.024; T=18.602;p=.000). In conclusion, the implementation of green business practices, principles and processes  will lead to very positive outcome that will be visibly manifested in the  organization and the environment.Keywords: Green business practice; Ecopreneur; Developing economy; Productivity; Performance; Manufacturing firms

Modelling the Effects of Friction on Tool-Chip Interface Temperature During Orthogonal Cutting of Al6061-T6 Aluminium Alloy

© IEOM Society International - IEOM 2019In this work, finite element simulations based on the analytical model derived with the MATLAB software were used to establish the temperature fields within the cutting tool and tool-chip interface. The average tool-chip interface temperature model was simulated and the simulation results were compared with experimental results for validation. At a maximum cutting speed of 90 m/min, the maximum temperature obtained from the experiment was 410 oC, at same rake angle of 0o. However, the developed model predicted 490 oC under the same conditions. The higher value obtained by the model can be attributed to the negligence of heat losses to the surrounding by both convection and radiation modes, as an assumption in the formulated model. A similar trend of these results was also recorded for the case of rake angle and feed rate of 30o and 0.0635 mm/rev, respectively. It was observed that the simulation results and experimental measurements for the average tool-chip interface temperature agreed significantly.Final Published versio

The magic of the Last Planner® System for Nigerian construction

Extremely poor economic performance of the Nigerian construction industry suggests that non-value adding activities are prevalent, which result not only in the reduction of contractors’ profit margin but economic loss for the country in general. This study analyses non-value adding activities in Nigerian construction sites. The research seeks to establish potential antidotes within the Last Planner® System (LPS) and reveal the elements of the LPS which could be abstracted into Nigerian construction to improve performance. It was found that these elements form the theoretical basis for developing a lean approach that was labelled Last Planner® thinking

An evaluation of total quality management practices on business performance of the Nigerian telecommunications sector: a case study of MTN Nigeria Limited

This study examines the effects of The Total Quality Management practices on Business Performance of the Nigerian Telecommunications Sector. A review of literatures on TQM shows that no study has been carried out on its application in the Nigerian Telecommunication sector hence the need for this research. To assess the situation One hundred and fifty (150) questionnaires were administered to customers of MTN Limited within the Lagos environ. These customers were randomly selected from five (5) different MTN customer care centres within the five divisions of Lagos State. These divisions include Epe, Ikorodu, Lagos Island, Lagos Mainland and Badagry. Thirty (30) questionnaires were administered at each centre. Fifty (50) questionnaires were also administered to employees of MTN and a total of twenty (20) questionnaires were administered to top management in the same organizations. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis. Our finding revealed that 90.7% of the changes that occurred in employees’ satisfaction could be traced to the policy and commitment of top management. It also shows that 69.4% of the changes in customer satisfaction could be attributed to continuous training in quality. The study recommended among other things the training of telecommunications personnel on Total Quality Management practices and the adoption of alternative renewable sources of energy like solar to address their energy problems

Alignment model for trunk road network maintenance outsourcing

Road maintenance outsourcing is now the foremost strategy by which road authorities procure maintenance works. Despite growing application of road maintenance outsourcing, there are conflicting estimates on the effective­ness of road maintenance outsourcing and shortage of appropriate models to align over optimistic expectations of road authorities from road maintenance outsourcing with substantiated benefits. This paper investigates the efficacy of road maintenance outsourcing. In this paper, the different variants of road maintenance outsourcing and road maintenance works are evaluated with a SWOT analysis and a comprehensive literature review respectively. In addition, a road main­tenance outsourcing alignment model based on a decision tree and Balance Score Card is proposed and illustrated with a Nigerian trunk road network authority as a case study. The result of the SWOT analysis and comprehensive literature review establishes fresh insight into road maintenance outsourcing dynamics. The presented road maintenance outsourc­ing alignment model provides adequate pathways that could assist road authorities identify the most appropriate road maintenance outsourcing variant for road maintenance procurement. In addition it aligns actual benefits and expectations of road maintenance outsourcing and facilitates development of SMART metrics for effective assessment of road main­tenance outsourcing. The proposed model is applicable across other infrastructures. First published online: 01 Sep 201

Environmental scanning strategy of manufacturing companies in Southwestern Nigeria

In this paper, we examine the environmental scanning strategy of manufacturing companies in Southwestern Nigeria against the background that manufacturing companies in Nigeria exist in a challenging environment characterised by high import dependency, inappropriate policies, lack of transparent governance and weak industrial capabilities. Empirical data was collected with a questionnaire from a sample of 84 manufacturing firms in Southwestern Nigeria. We found that generally, companies in the industry actively engage in systematic gathering, analyses and assimilation of information about the business environment as strategic input into planning. The main objective of search was to obtain information required to initiate or support strategies for competing in the domestic market. Central among the factors determining the companies' level of intrusiveness into the environment are companies' capacity to interpret changes in the environment, available channels of information and quality of information.business environment; environmental scanning; environmental analysability; environmental uncertainty; manufacturing, strategy; technology; capabilities

OFFSITE MANUFACTURING: THE WAY FORWARD FOR NIGERIA’S HOUSING INDUSTRY

Nigeria is one of the most developed countries in Africa, with construction contributing to approximately 9 of its Gross Domestic Product. From a housing perspective, new initiatives are now being explored, one of which is Offsite Manufacturing (OSM). Globally, the OSM market uses several terms interchangeably, the most prevalent of which include: prefabrication, offsite production, industrialised building systems, dry construction, modern methods of construction etc. These collective approaches have been successfully used in many countries as means of improving housing delivery, particularly in countries like the UK, USA, Australia, Sweden, Japan and Malaysia. Despite the myriad of benefits associated with OSM (e.g. speed of construction, improved quality, reduced risk etc.), there are various barriers identified in the course of adopting OSM; some of these barriers include: client resistance, lack of established codes and standards, negative perception etc. Given these opportunities and barriers, this study investigates the feasibility of adopting OSM and ways of overcoming the barriers hindering its uptake in Nigeria based on the experiences of developed countries. The first part of this paper presents a synthesised literature review which explores the benefits and challenges of using OSM in different countries (including Nigeria as a comparator). Research findings highlight core OSM uptake barriers, including issues such as: reluctance to innovate, paucity of codes and standards, lack of guidance and information, high capital cost, supply chain integrations, skill requirements etc. Whilst many of these countries have now established strategies to offset these uncertainties, it was also observed that governmental support was pivotal in helping to establish OSM as a viable alternative to traditional approaches. From a Nigerian context, similar parallels are observed, most notably the need to encourage OSM through greater awareness, better government policies, and through skilled supply chain partners in order to help improve the problem of housing shortage

A BOUND TESTING ANALYSIS OF EXCHANGE RATE PASS- THROUGH TO AGGREGATE IMPORT PRICES IN NIGERIA: 1980-2006

This paper examines the extent of pass-through of exchange rate into import prices for Nigeria between 1980 and 2006 using the recently developed UECM-Bounds test proposed by Pesaran et al. (2001). Empirical evidence reveals that world export prices has a dominant effect compared to exchange rate in explaining changes in Nigeria¡¯s import prices in the short and long run. The major implication for our study therefore is that exogenous factors such as world export prices appeared to be more important determinants of domestic import prices than a country¡¯s exchange rate policies.Aggregate Import Price, World Export Price, Bound Testing, Nigeria

An Empirical Investigation of the Level of Users’ Acceptance of E-Banking in Nigeria

Nigeria was depicted to be the fastest growing telecommunications nation in African. Presently, all members of the Nigeria banking industry have engaged the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a platform for effective and efficient means of conducting financial transactions. This paper focuses on determining the level of users’ acceptance of the electronic banking services and investigating the factors that determine users’ behavioral intentions to use electronic banking systems in Nigeria. The survey instrument employed involved design and administration of a total of 500 survey questionnaires within the Lagos metropolis and its environs. An extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was employed as a conceptual framework to investigate the factors that influence users’ acceptance and intention to use electronic banking. To test the model, data was collected from 292 customers from various commercial banks in Nigeria. The model measured the impact of Perceived Credibility (PC), Computer Self-Efficacy (CSE), Perceived Usefulness (PU), and Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) on customer attitude and customer attitude on customer adaptation. The result of this research shows that ATM still remains the most widely used form e-Banking service. Banks’ customers who are active users of e-Banking system use it because it is convenient, easy to use, time saving and appropriate for their transaction needs. Also the network security and the security of the system in terms of privacy are the major concerns of the users and constitute hindrance to intending users