TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE OF OIL AND GAS FIRMS IN RIVERS STATE.

Abstract

 This study examines the relationship between Total quality management practices and operational performance of oil and gas firms in Rivers State. The study was operationalized by total quality management practices as the predictor variable with dimensions of customers focus, continuous improvement and process management while the criterion variable operational performance has measures of efficiency, cost minimization, effectiveness. 3 research questions and 3 hypotheses were raised to guide the study. Cross sectional survey design was adopted for this study. The population of this study is twenty (20) listed oil and gas firms as retrieved  from National Bureau of Statistics, Federal Republic of Nigeria report (2022).The  study adopted the  census techniques.  Three key managers (production manager, marketing manager and logistics manager) were chosen as respondents from each, of the thirty two firms is the sample. This gave us a total of sixty   (60) respondents for the study. Structured questionnaire was adopted for the study. The result of the Cronbach's Alpha reliability test indicates .800 which implies that the items are reliable. The research questions were analysis with the aid of descriptive statistics using mean and standard deviation while hypotheses were tested using Pearson product moment correlation on SPSS. The study revealed that there is a significant relationship between Customer Focus and operational performance of oil and gas firms in Rivers state. There is a relationship between continuous improvement and operational performance of oil and gas firms in Rivers state. There is a relationship between process management and operational performance of oil and gas firms in Rivers state. The study concluded that there is a positive relationship between Total Quality Management practices and operational performance of oil and gas firms in Rivers state. The study recommended among others that oil and gas firm should establish a culture of quality throughout the organization focusing on customers need and preferences