Proactiveness and Organizational Resilience of Food and Beverage Manufacturing Firms in South-South Nigeria

Abstract

The ever-changing business environment has made it imperative for business organizations to reach beyond risk management and move towards a more holistic view of business health and success. These business organizations must anticipate, prepare for, respond and adapt to incremental change and sudden disruptions in order to survive and prosper. This preparation is the main ingredient to the organization’s resilience. This study is an empirical work on the relationship between proactiveness and resilience of food and beverage manufacturing firms in south-south Nigeria. A cross-sectional survey design was adopted, while primary data was collected via the administration of a structured questionnaire. 321 copies of the questionnaire were distributed to the respondents and 297 copies were retrieved showing 93% retrieval rate. Data analysis was carried out with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The result of the analysis affirmed the alternate hypotheses which stated that proactiveness positively correlates with the measures of organizational resilience. Thus, concluded that proactiveness promotes resilience of the food and beverage manufacturing firms in south-south Nigeria. The study also recommended that organizational work arrangements can be structured to allow for less stringency in supervision so that workers can express themselves in proactive ways; management should be more attuned towards the potentials and creative capabilities of the subordinates and organizational systems can be patterned to link actions with implications for workers in such a manner that workers are motivated to be cautious but yet willing and open to risk taking such that could benefit and advance their position within the organization and also contribute to an overall advantage for the organization. Keywords: Adaptability, Management of Vulnerabilities, Pro-activeness, Organization, Nigeria