OKWU Oroma
Department of Management, Faculty of Management Sciences, Rivers State University,
Nkpolu-Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
BAGSHAW, Karibo Benaiah
Department of Management, Faculty of Management Sciences, Rivers State University,
Nkpolu-Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
FLORENCE Ebitimi Wilson.
Department of Management, Faculty of Management Sciences, Rivers State University,
Nkpolu-Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
Email:
oroma.okwu@ust.edu.ng, bagshaw.karibo@ust.edu.ng, wilsonef@fuotuoke.edu.ng
ABSTRACT
The study examined the relationship between customer focus and operational efficiency of
manufacturing firms in Rivers State, Nigeria. The measures of operational efficiency used are product
quality and on-time delivery. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey research design. The target
population was the 34 manufacturing firms registered with the Manufacturing Association of Nigeria,
as obtained from the 2022 updated Directory of Rivers state zone of the association. However, the
study elements were 102 which comprised managers from the production, marketing and operations
departments of the respective 34 manufacturing firms. The study adopted a census sampling since the
population of the study was relatively small. Data for the study was collected through structured
questionnaires, while the five-point Likert scale was used to measure the responses from the
respondents. The face validity of the survey instrument was achieved through supervisor‟s scrutiny
and approval. Data was analysed using mean and standard deviations with charts to display the study
variables, while inferential statistics such as the Spearman‟s Rank Order Correlation Coefficient
Statistics technique was used to test the hypotheses with the aid of Statistical Package for Social
Science version 29.0 for the purpose of examining the nature and proposed association. The results of
the study showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between customer focus and
operational efficiency. The study concludes that customer focus has a strong influence on the product
quality of manufacturing firms in Rivers State. The study also concludes that customer focus has a
strong influence on on-time delivery of manufacturing firms in Rivers State. The study therefore
recommends that manufacturing firms in Rivers State, Nigeria should create more distribution
channels in other to get their products delivered to the customers on-time.
Keywords: Customer focus, On-time delivery, Operational efficiency, Product quality