Sekibo, C. C.
Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Asdministration and Management, Rivers State University, Nkpolu-Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
Email: christian.sekibo@ust.edu.ng
and
Bagshaw, K. B.
Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Asdministration and Management, Rivers State University, Nkpolu-Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
Email: bagshaw.karibo@ust.edu.ng
ABSTRACT
The study examined the relationship between continuous improvement and growth of energy firms in Rivers State, Nigeria. The measures of growth used are market share, service quality and customer satisfaction. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey research design. The target population was the 24 energy firms in Rivers State as obtained from the updated directory of finelib.com. However, the study elements were 72 which comprised managers from the operations, human resource and marketing departments of the respective 24 construction firms. The study adopted a census sampling technique since the population of the study was relatively small. Data for the study was collected through a structured questionnaire, while the four-point Likert scale was used to measure the responses from the respondents. Data was analysed using the Spearman’s Rank Order Correlation Coefficient Statistics technique was used to test the hypotheses with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 27. The results of the study showed that there is a significant positive relationship between resource planning and the measures of project performance. The study concludes that continuous improvement has a strong relationship with growth of energy firms in Rivers State, Nigeria. The study therefore recommends amongst others that energy firms in Rivers State should institutionalize a culture of continuous improvement across all operational and service departments. Regularly reviewing processes, incorporating employee suggestions, and benchmarking against best practices can drive innovation and operational excellence.
Keywords: Continuous improvement, customer satisfaction, growth, market share, service quality.