EMPLOYEE VOICE AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT IN THE DOWNSTREAM SECTOR OF OIL PRODUCT IN NIGER DELTA

EMPLOYEE VOICE AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT IN THE DOWNSTREAM SECTOR OF OIL PRODUCT IN NIGER DELTA

ABSTRACT: This study investigated employee voice and organizational commitment in the downstream sector of oil products in the Niger Delta. Three objectives and three corresponding hypotheses were formulated. The population of this study consists of 342 employees of 5 selected manufacturing firms in Port Harcourt. A sample size of 121 employees was selected using simple percentages. The study adopted a quasi-experimental research design. The research instrument was subjected to validity and reliability testing, face and content validity were employed to assess the relevance of the instrument while Cronbach Alpha Statistics was used to determine the reliability of the instrument. The research questions were analyzed using a simple percentage, while the null hypotheses were statistically tested using Kendall’s tau_b with the statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 23. The findings revealed that direct voice correlated positively with affective commitment. Indirect voice plays a significant role in continuance commitment. Direct voice to a large extent influences normative commitment in the downstream of the oil sector in Niger Delta. Based on the finding of this study, it was recommended among others that the management should create an opportunity for employees to have a voice at the workplace because it is a fundamental element of employee commitment.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Commitment is a psychological attachment felt by the person for the organization. It reflects the degree to which the individual internalizes or adopts characteristics or perspectives of the organization “O” Reily and Chatman (1986). Allen and Meyer (1991) defined commitment as a psychological state that characterizes the employee’s relationship with the organization and has implications for the decision to continue or discontinue members in the organization. According to Meyer and Allen (1991), organizational commitment reflects at least three general themes affective attachment to the organization.  The perceived costs associated with leaving it and obligation to remain with it. These three approaches are referred to as affective, continuance and normative commitment. Common to these three approaches is the view that commitment is a psychological state that characterizes the employee’s relationship with the organization and has implications for the decision to continue membership of it. These psychological states also have different implications for work-relevant behavior. Affective commitment refers to the employee’s emotional attachment to identify with and involvement in the organization to identify with and involvement in the organization. An employee with a strong affective commitment continue employment with the organization because they want to. According to Mowday (1982), the antecedents of affective commitment generally fall into four categories; personal categories, structural characteristics, job-related characteristics, and work experiences. Continuance commitment refers to an awareness of the costs associated with leaving the organization. The potential cost of leaving an organization includes the threat of wasting the time and effort spent acquiring non-transferable skills, losing attractive benefits or having to uproot the family and disrupt personal relationships. Normative commitment reflects a feeling of obligation to continue employment. Employees with a high level of normative commitment feel that they ought to remain with the organization. Wiener (1982)suggests that the feeling of obligation to remain with an organization may result from the internalization of normative pressures exertive on an individual before entering into an organization. One crucial factor that motivates employee commitment is an employee’s voice. Employee voice refers to the extent to which employees or workers can have any say concerning work activities, their interest representation, and decision-making issues within and outside the organization in which they work. (Wilkinson and Fay, 2011). It can be seen as speaking up on important issues and problems in an organization by employees (Fyne et al- 2003)

The term can historically be traced to Albert Hirschman in his famous work “The hiding hand principle in 1970, Exit, Voice and Loyalty 1970. Armstrong (2006) noted that there are three specific purposes for employee voice which are to articulate individual dissatisfaction with management, serve as an expression of a collective organization to management, contribute to management decision making regarding quality and productivity and demonstrate the mutuality of the employer. Employee’s voice is crucial in improving organizational performance since it encourages staff retention through fair treatment. Employee voice in the organization can be passive, active, direct, indirect, union representative or participation which is implemented through administrative and managerial openness filled with the organization and the value expression method and feeling of conformity. Employee voice can be constrained by organizational culture, method of communication the employer relationship and labour union.

1.2 Statement of Problem

Employee voice is faced with so many limitations. An examination of employees-employers relationship reveals that employees are not recognized as people that can make a valuable contribution to the decisions of the firms and not consulted in critical issues of the organization even those issues that concern the employees. Wright (2012) noted that the representation gap is not just about trade unions being able to represent employees in collective bargaining but the ability to speak and contribute to the performance of the organization. The consequences are the high rate of employee turnover, increasing operational cost and decreasing organizational productivity. Only a few studies of citable significance have dealt with the problem of employee voice and commitment in Nigeria as an existing literature ficus more in human resources management, therefore, this study intends to examine how employee voice affect employee commitment in the downstream of oil product in Niger Delta.

• Conceptual Framework (img.cf missing in doc)

Source:  Author’s Concept

1.3   Aims and Objectives of the Study

One of the gaps observed in the plethora of management literature so far examined is from the perspective of employees’ voices. It is based on this observed lacuna that this study is designed to examine how employees to voice can be used to implement and enhance their commitment to the organization. The relationship between employee voice and commitment  specific purposes are as follows

1. To determine the relationship between employee indirect voice and affective commitment of employees.
2. To determine the relationship between employees’ direct voice Normative commitment.
3. To examine the extent to which employee direct voice affect continuance commitment.

1.4  Research Questions

From the specific purposes of the study the following research questions are as follows:

1. What is the extent to which employee indirect voice determines affective commitment in the downstream sector of oil products in Niger Delta?
2. To what extent does indirect voice affect continuance commitment?
3. To what extent does direct voice affect affective commitment?
4. To what extent does direct voice affect normative commitment?
5. To what extent does indirect voice affect normative commitment?
6. To what extent does direct voice affect continuance commitment?

1.5   Research Hypothesis

To provide answers systematically to the research questions, an attempt will be made to explore the relationship among variables highlighted in the study. The following null hypothesis is formulated from the study.

1. Employee direct voice does not significantly determine affective commitment in the downstream sector of oil product in Niger Delta
2. Employee indirect voice does not significantly affect continuance commitment.
3. There is no relationship between a direct voice and normative commitment.

1.6   Significance of the Study

An employee’s commitment to an organization is a linear function of the organization culture and a matter of fact to all stakeholders in an organization. Therefore the study will be significant to the following:

The employees: it will give the employees a motivational morale on the relevance of employee contribution to the growth and performance in the downstream sector of oil products in Niger Delta.

Human Resources Management: This study will serve as a consultant to human resources managers in implementing effective policies that will encourage employee voice in the organization that will facilitate the achievement of the organization’s goals.

iii. To the Policy Makers: This study will serve as a reference point for policies that relate to employees’ welfare participation and engagements in corporate decisions in the organization.

1.7   Scope of the Study

Conceptually, this study examines the relationship between employee voice and commitment. The geographical scope is the Niger Delta. The Unit of analysis covers the organizations. The variable covers direct employee voice, union representative and indirect employee voice and employee commitment.

1.8  Limitations of the Study

This work is limited to time and funds.

The time frame within which the study was to be completed was rather too short for a study of this nature.

There were inadequate funds in the part of the researcher to enable her to travel extensively to source for materials. Therefore the researcher had to rely on the materials from the electronic library such as the internet.

1.9 Definition of Terms

Environment: a place where organizations conduct their marketing activities.

Management: can be defined as those who coordinate the resources of an organization through the process of planning, organization, directing and controlling to attain organization objective.

Performance is the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task or function.

Employee Voice: This is defined together with an explanation of concepts of employee involvement and employee participation.

Collective Bargaining: a process in which the representatives of recognized trade unions and employees negotiate, consult and communicate to agree on the procedural and substantial terms and conditions of employment

Direct Voice: where contact is between individuals or small group of employees and their immediate manager.

Indirect Voice: Where contact is between management and an employee intermediary, such as a shop steward or other employee representative, who acts as the agents for a group for a larger group of workers.

Representation gap: the difference between how much influence employees say they have over management decisions, and how much influence they say they would like to have. Lower labor costs.

1.10 Organizational of the Study

This research work consists of five chapters. Chapter one which includes this section)* contains the statement of the problems, scope, and limitations of the study, the significance of the study. The chapter also contains the hypothesis, the statement of hypothesis, and the organization of study and references. Chapter two has a review of the related literature; reviews the concept, structure, policies and empirical studies of employee voice and commitment. Chapter three contains the research methodology, selection criteria and method of analysis. Chapter four is presentation analysis and interpretation of data. Chapter Five, which is the last, comprises the summary, discussion of findings conclusion and recommendations.