International Journal of Operations Management
Volume 3, Issue 2, May 2023, Pages 22-34
Assessing the Impact of Management Practices on Organisational Growth at a Multinational Company in Namibia
DOI: 10.18775/ijom.2757-0509.2020.32.4002
URL: https://doi.org/10.18775/ijom.2757-0509.2020.32.4002Josef Milezi1, Asa Romeo Asa2, Johanna Pangeiko Nautwima3, Bojan Obrenovic41 Faculty of Commerce, Human Sciences and Education, Namibia University of Science and Technology, Windhoek, Namibia
2 Namibia-German Institute for Logistics, Namibia University of Science and Technology, Windhoek, Namibia
3 Namibia Business School, University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia
4 Zagreb School of Economics and Management, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to assess the extent to which management practices impact organisational growth for a multinational company in Namibia in terms of employee motivation, employee productivity, employee engagement, work environment, and career growth. Grounded in the positivism philosophy, the study applied a causal-comparative design and a purely quantitative approach with the data collected using an online structured questionnaire with a sample of 77 employees at a multinational company in Namibia. The study analysed the data using the multiple linear regression analysis in SPSS Version 28 software. In that regard, the results reveal that feeble management practices decline in organisational growth. In that context, the results also reveal positive and statistically significant impacts of employee motivation, employee productivity, employee engagement, work environment, and career growth on organisational growth. On that basis, the study recommends that organisations consider investing resources in enhancing all these dimensions of management practices as they pursue maximised organisational growth. Also, employee satisfaction works hand-in-hand with organisational growth. Thus, the study recommends that employers ensure employee satisfaction is pleasing. Finally, the study suggests future research focus on other business sectors with a broader population coverage to enable the generalisation of the findings across the sector under investigation, which will address the population gaps that emerged from this study.
Keywords: Management practices, organisational growth, employee motivation, employee productivity, employee engagement, work environment, career growth, Namibia
1. Introduction
Modern businesses at different phases of development and business contexts, including well-developed and catching-up economies, adopt numerous management approaches to assist operations, which boosts their competitiveness (Nedelko & Potočan, 2016). Due to global developments, scholars from divergence, universality, convergence, and situational perspectives have explored management practices and activities that affect organisational performance. The divergence viewpoint holds that cultural differences make it difficult for Western management approaches to work in non-Western cultures like developing nations (Kopp et al., 2011). Thus, firms worldwide require a variety of management practices to run smoothly (Ngwangwama et al., 2019). That is because effective management practices boost employee satisfaction, efficiency, and performance, which increase organisational productivity and growth, while poorly managed companies raise questions about why ideal management practices vary (Centobelli et al., 2017; Hanna & Jackson, 2015; Massaro et al., 2016). Nonetheless, political and socio-economic volatility in many African nations has made the application of management practices more strenuous, leading to sub-Saharan Africa scoring poorly in most corporate management assessments (Inkinen, 2016).
In that setting, organisations with managers who exercise poor management practices in their operations have weakly performing, demotivated employees, causing a detrimental effect on the organisation’s financial performance (Massaro et al., 2016; Nizam & Shah, 2015). Such managers tend to be reluctant and do not innovate to improve their management styles, thus leading to poor employee productivity, which reduces the organisation’s competitiveness (Asa et al., 2022). When competitiveness reduces, it impacts the organisation’s vision and mission; as such, the organisation cannot achieve constructive results for the profitability of its growth (Pang & Lu, 2018). Thus, managers around the globe have a role in ensuring that the well-being of employees in an organisation is maintained and that the workplace environment is favourable for its employees to perform their assigned tasks (Joseph & Chinedu, 2022). On that basis, management tends to focus on providing effective tools for motivating employees, a process many organisations disregard (Pang & Lu, 2018). Other supports include employee perks such as incentives, career growth, assurance of employment security and capacity-building programmes to enhance productivity, which can be offered to organisations (Muthama & Odollo, 2020). Thus, scholars (Al-dalahmeh et al., 2018; Obrenovic et al., 2020) assert that management practices play a significant role in employee productivity, making such practices increasingly becoming a concern in business environments in the contemporary world. They ensure that the organisation’s goals are successfully achieved and that its growth is sustained through employee performance (Ngwangwama et al., 2019; Yoshifumi et al., 2017). Thus, managerial competence is vital to ensure that employees perform exceptionally to achieve phenomenal success to galvanise profits for private firms.
This follows the general notion that the ultimate rationale for private organisations’ existence is to make profits through products and services offered to their clients. Hence, private organisations seek to improve employee benefits, which can serve as a motivation to enhance productivity for maximised organisational growth. However, various organisations had declining productivity levels, affecting service levels and target scores, predominantly during COVID-19 {Formatting Citation}. In this perspective, management practices have an essential role in improving employees’ productivity, which can lead to the growth of the organisation (Abdel-Hamid & Mohamed Abdelhaleem, 2022). Conversely, there remain common predicaments in various organisations in the private sector, which lie within the aspects of management practices (Yoshifumi et al., 2017). Hence, if managers do not motivate employees to increase productivity, the performance of an organisation can slack and eventually lead to declining profit levels since employees are vital assets of the organisation that can lead to the failure or success of the company (Hamid et al., 2020). When the management team does not drive the performance of its subordinates with clear goals, it may lead to poor productivity, which could have a deteriorating impact on the organisation’s growth (Nazir et al., 2016).
While there are various studies (John & Bryson, 2018; Nedelko & Potočan, 2016; Ngwangwama et al., 2019) that investigated the impact of management practices on organisational performance, there remains a lack of evidence from the Namibian context, precisely concerning multinational organisations. In that regard, a similar study (Ngwangwama et al., 2019) conducted in Namibia did not specify the nature of the organisations that participated in the study, which signifies a practical knowledge gap, according to the postulation of Miles (2017) on research gaps. Hence, there is a need for this study to assess the impact of management practices on organisational performance for a multinational organisation. The study devolves deeper to examine the impacts of the dimensions of management practices, which include employee motivation, employee productivity, employee engagement, work environment, and career growth on organisational growth, where the significance of the growth of an organisation entails characterisation of a firm to generate both financial and non-financial benefits.
In so doing, the study addresses the empirical gaps in the literature, given scanty evidence of studies that addressed the specific impacts of employee motivation, employee productivity, employee engagement, work environment, and career growth on organisational growth within the Namibian context. The study also addresses the contradictory void gap about the effect of career growth on organisational growth, as some studies (Bai & Liu, 2018; Febrianti et al., 2020; Muthama & Odollo, 2020) demonstrate the positive effect, while Silaban et al. (2021) reveal no positive direct effect. Overall, this study is essential to management aspirants and critical business decision-makers in corporate environments to be more informed when crafting sustainable strategies that can improve the firm’s growth to achieve stated goals and maximised profits.
2. Literature Review
2.1. Contingency Management Theory
Developed by Fiedler in the 1960s, the premise of the theory of contingencies is that there is no one optimal approach for organising an organisation, as the environment in which a firm operates influences its performance (Wang, 2014). Given that different types of organisations are necessary for different types of scenarios, management may use a variety of approaches to perform a variety of duties. A business’s management staff must uphold the process of adapting the organisation to its environment, guiding its principles (Baddar et al., 2014). This is because every circumstance requires a unique leadership strategy, making it the responsibility of a company’s executives to examine a given circumstance and adopt the most successful one. The relevance of this theory to this study centres around the basis that it lays a substantial amount of responsibility on the management team, which is more appropriate to modern firms since it stresses that management styles change as corporations and technology evolve.
2.2. The concept of Management Practices
Generally, management practices are not novel ideas or have a singular definition (Suárez, 2016). Nevertheless, Yoshifumi et al. (2017) assert that management practices are diverse and vital for evaluating the methods to provide the company with a competitive advantage through improved performance. Numerous first-world companies use management strategies to optimise competitive advantage and develop their businesses. The notion is organically employed throughout companies, institutions, businesses, and sectors (Massaro et al., 2016). However, every best practice is established, executed, and understood in line with the organisation’s management, structure, operations, environment, and people (Suárez, 2016). In that view, best management practices are determined by benchmarking others’ achievements and failures, what has and has not worked, and what has made others top performers (Suárez, 2016). Thus, the company identifies and implements best practices to increase efficiency, effectiveness, uniformity, and consistency (Ngwangwama et al., 2019). This calls for a concerted effort towards enhancing leadership, management and governance through capacity development reinforced in the capacity development strategy. In that context, firms use management practices to lead, assist, and inspire employees to fulfil their designated organisational tasks (Massaro et al., 2016).
Given a dearth of empirical evidence in the literature, the link between management techniques and organisational development in Namibia remains rarely explored. Thus, the extent to which developing nations use management practices is one of the most contested questions that attracts scholars (Ngwangwama et al., 2019). In that context, this study investigates how management practices impact organisational performance in a multinational company in Namibia. The study delves into employee motivation, productivity, engagement, work environment, and career development as the determinants of management strategies.
Employee motivation
Employee motivation is essential to organisational success, as the company’s internal strengths reside within employees and encourage them to achieve organisational objectives (Alemu, 2022; Matui, 2017). Thus, organisations need to motivate their employees to perform exceptionally. However, each person is driven to work well and effectively for different causes, such as recognition, salary, and other aspects (Nizam & Shah, 2015). Therefore, it is predominantly imperative for enterprises to be aware of their workers’ motivating aspects to design an efficient employee motivation system to boost productivity through a comprehensive understanding of the goals of the organisation (Muthama & Odollo, 2020; Pang & Lu, 2018)
Employee productivity
Employee productivity measures the volume and quality of work done while accounting for resource costs owing to efficient resource usage (Joseph & Chinedu, 2022). Hence, quantifying employee productivity includes determining how long it takes an average worker to produce a specific output (Nisar et al., 2019). Productivity is essential as it increases the company’s competitive edge.
Employee engagement
Employee engagement is the employee’s passion and alignment with the company’s goals (Mulle et al., 2018). However, employees may only show this caring behaviour if they are recognised, satisfied, and feel supported within the organisation (Al-dalahmeh et al., 2018). Otherwise, dissatisfied workers plan to leave and act out, which lowers service quality and job performance (Nautwima & Asa, 2022b, 2022a). Thus, it encourages workers to work hard, support the company’s aims and values, and contribute to its success (Alam et al., 2018). Hence, leaders must foster trust, honesty, two-way commitment, and employee communication to increase engagement (Shrestha, 2019).
Work environment
Generally, employees’ emotions are affected by their workplace (Alemu, 2022; Fithri et al., 2019; Putri et al., 2019). Thus, a good workplace makes workers feel comfortable and helps them perform well (Badrianto & Ekhsan, 2019). Employee productivity and performance will increase if people appreciate their work environment and feel comfortable and productive, while an unfavourable work environment lowers employee performance (Putra et al., 2020).
Career growth
Career growth has become a priority for human resources and institutional strategic management to ensure performance and growth (Muthama & Odollo, 2020). Professional paths may include one or multiple responsibilities that increase with experience (Febrianti et al., 2020). Therefore, it prepares individuals for self-growth along a specified career route.
2.3. The Concept of Organisational Growth
Organisational growth is the output compared to projected outcomes aligned with the company’s goals and objectives (Kenny S, 2019). It is a multifaceted concept, and its evaluation is essential to organisational leadership since continual progress relies on the ability to examine the organisation’s performance (Nautwima & Asa, 2022c). In that view, Mulle et al. (2018) underscore that prioritising financial success above strategic performance might compromise organisational efficiency. Therefore, organisational growth includes financial and non-financial dimensions, such as competitive advantage, a broader customer base and loyalty, shareholder return performance, technological base, firm scale, and others (Mulle et al., 2018).
2.4. Empirical Evidence and Hypothesis Development
2.4.1. The Impact of Management Practices on Organisational Growth
The degree to which management practices impact organisational growth continues to be a centre of debate among scholars. In that view, Brito and Sauan (2016) found a strong and substantial impact on management practices and organisational growth in Brazil, where bigger companies tend to have greater levels of management practices than smaller ones. These results are similar to the findings of Nedelko and Potočan (2015), which highlight that management practices strengthen customer interactions and satisfaction, which results in organisational growth for firms in Slovenia and Croatia. Moreover, evidence from British companies reveals a positive effect of management practices on organisational growth, with evidence that SMEs are less likely to utilise management practices than large enterprises (John & Bryson, 2018). Finally, Ngwangwama et al. (2019) also demonstrate that management practices positively influence organisational growth in Namibia. In a nutshell, the literature documents that management practises diminish developmental lag, inequality, and high competition, which foster organisational growth. However, the application of such practices varies by the firm’s size. Given that, this investigation hypothesises. Given that, this study hypotheses that:
H1: Management practices have a positive impact on organisational growth
2.4.2. The Impact of Employee Motivation on Organisational Growth
Motivation inspires people to work hard and efficiently to achieve organisational goals. In that view, Nizam and Shah (2015) assessed how employee motivation affects the performance of oil and gas companies in Pakistan, and the results show that employee motivation boosts employee satisfaction and productivity, validating the findings of Manzoor (2011), also in Pakistan. In Taiwan, Pang and Lu (2018) also reveal the positive effect of employee motivation through salary, job achievement, job security, and work environment on organisational growth. From the African perspective, early studies (Abiro, 2013; Emeka et al., 2015; Muogbo, 2013) also demonstrate that employee motivation improves organisational growth, precisely in Nigeria. Briefly, monetary or non-monetary employee motivation stimulates employee engagement and performance, boosting organisational growth. On that basis, this study hypothesises:
H2: Employee motivation has a positive impact on organisational growth.
2.4.3. Impact of Employee Productivity on Organisational Growth
The literature presents limited studies that have examined how employee productivity affects company performance. In that frame of reference, Joseph and Chinedu (2022) reveal that employee productivity positively influences organisational growth for pharmaceutical companies in Nigeria. In the same context, Matui (2017) underscore that employee productivity enhances organisational growth for commercial banks in Kenya, elucidating that employees work well when given the right tools, compensation, and performance-based progression. Therefore, organisations should provide regular feedback to help appraisers determine whether workers are fulfilling management expectations or the company’s goals (Joseph & Chinedu, 2022; Matui, 2017). Given the above, this study hypothesises that:
H3: Employee productivity has a positive impact on organisational performance.
2.3.4. Impact of Employee Engagement on Organisational Growth
Employee engagement is often seen as a powerful tool for competitive advantage (Mulle et al., 2018). In that light, Al-dalahmeh et al. (2018) discovered that employee engagement drives organisational development in Jordanian financial institutions’ IT departments. Similarly, Shrestha (2019) shows that employee involvement improves organisational performance in the Nepalese higher education sector. In South Africa, Mulle et al. (2018) also demonstrate that employee involvement significantly improves organisational performance. In that context, Pillay and Singh (2018) elucidate that low employee engagement inhibits staff commitment, motivation, and development, which hinders organisational growth in an insurance brokerage company in South Africa. As emerged from the literature, it is evident that employee engagement and organisational performance are linked, where engaged employees can examine social cues in coworkers and improve their social skills to fulfil the company goals. Following that, this study hypothesises that:
H4: Employee engagement has a positive impact on organisational growth
2.3.5. Impact of Work Environment on Organisational Growth
In Indonesia, prior studies (Badrianto & Ekhsan, 2019; Pusparani et al., 2021; Putra et al., 2020; Sunarsi, 2020) validate that the work environment positively affects job performance, leading to enhanced organisational growth. In the same view, Alemu (2022) also reveals that employee performance is positively correlated with the work environment, which boosts organisational growth in an Ethiopian university. Also, Agbozo (2017) demonstrates similar findings in Ghana’s banking sector. On that ground, this study hypothesises that:
H5: Work condition has a positive impact on organisational performance.
2.3.6. Impact of Career Growth on Organisational Growth
Febrianti et al. (2020) examined how career growth and motivation affect work satisfaction and organisational progress in Indonesia. The results indicate a positive and statistically significant impact of career growth and motivation on work satisfaction and organisational growth. However, Silaban et al. (2021) reveal that career development has no positive direct impact on organisational growth in Indonesia’s social health insurance sector. Aside from that, Bai and Liu (2018) demonstrate that career growth positively impacts organisational identity and work engagement, which improves organisational growth in China. Similar findings are also observed in Kenyan local non-governmental organisations (NGOs), highlighting that career growth enhances organisational growth (Muthama & Odollo, 2020). Based on literature findings, this research hypothesises:
H6: Career growth has a positive impact on organisational performance.
2.4. Conceptual Model
The conceptual framework shown in Figure 1 guided the research. It displays the quantitative link between the concepts the research sought to assess. As emerged from the literature, prior studies (John & Bryson, 2018; Nedelko & Potočan, 2016; Ngwangwama et al., 2019) demonstrate that management practices positively impact organisational growth. Thus, the model depicts a direct impact of MPs on organisational growth, which the study validated by testing hypothesis 1 (H1). The model also illustrates a direct effect of employee motivation on organisational growth, as informed by the literature (Abiro, 2013; Emeka et al., 2015; Manzoor, 2011a; Muogbo, 2013; Nizam & Shah, 2015; Pang & Lu, 2018), which the study confirmed by testing H2. Also, based on the findings of early studies (Joseph & Chinedu, 2022; Matui, 2017), the model displays a direct influence of employee productivity on organisational growth, as well as the positive impact of employee engagement on organisational growth (Al-dalahmeh et al., 2018; Mulle et al., 2018; Pillay & Singh, 2018; Shrestha, 2019), as emerged from the literature. The study validated these relationships by testing H3 and H4, respectively. Furthermore, evidence in the literature (Agbozo, 2017; Alemu, 2022; Badrianto & Ekhsan, 2019; Pusparani et al., 2021; Putra et al., 2020; Sunarsi, 2020) informed the model to depict a positive effect of work environment on organisational growth, which the study proven by testing H5. Finally, the model relied on the findings of early studies (Bai & Liu, 2018; Febrianti et al., 2020; Muthama & Odollo, 2020) to demonstrate that career growth influences organisational growth directly. The study validated this relationship by testing H6.
Source: Authors’ construction (2023)
3. Methodology
3.1. Research Design
This study relied on the notion of Saunders et al. (2019) to identify observable and measurable variables and show how management practices with reference to employee motivation, productivity, employee engagement, work environment, and career growth affect organisational growth at a multinational company in Namibia. The study followed the epistemological, philosophical assumption. Therefore, the positivist philosophy underpinned this investigation. Moreover, the research examined the causal relationship between management practices and organisational growth. Thus, the study employed a causal-comparative design with a quantitative approach, which are essential in establishing the causative link between the dependent and independent variables (Saunders et al., 2019). To select the sample size, the study used a census survey technique to enumerate the whole population of 110 employees of a multinational company in Namibia, which reduces bias owing to the researcher’s lack of sample selection control (Creswell & Creswell, 2018).
3.2. Data Collection
To collect the data, the study the data employed a structured online questionnaire with closed-ended questions. The questionnaire comprised three main sections. The first section focused on demographic data, covering the participants’ gender and experience. The second section concentrated on management practices. The first part adopted five questions from early studies (Febrianti et al., 2020; Manzoor, 2011a; Nizam & Shah, 2015)to measure employee motivation. The second part relied on prior studies (Joseph & Chinedu, 2022; Kenny S, 2019; Matui, 2017) to measure employee productivity with four questions. The third part measured employee engagement with six questions, as informed by the literature (Al-dalahmeh et al., 2018; Dandona, 2016; Mulle et al., 2018; Ngozi & Edwinah, 2022; Pillay & Singh, 2018). Also, previous studies (Agbozo, 2017; Putra et al., 2020; Putri et al., 2019; Sunarsi, 2020; Zhenjing et al., 2022) informed section four to measure work environment with six questions, while other studies informed section five to measure career growth also, with six questions. Finally, section three focuses on organisational growth, which was measured with questions with reliance on the literature (Ibidunni et al., 2016; Manzoor, 2011a; Nautwima & Asa, 2022c; Pang & Lu, 2018).
3.3. Data Screening and Analysis
Before commencing with the in-depth data analysis, the study screened the data from 79 employees for missing data and unengaged responses using the ‘Countblank’ and the standard deviation of the sample (STDEV.S) functions, respectively, in an Excel Sheet. According to Kline (2011), missing data of less than 20% should addressed by replacing them with either the mean, median, or mode, while responses with missing data exceeding 20% and unengaged responses should be removed from the dataset. In that regard, the study replaced missing data of less than 20% for four responses with the median (3) and removed two unengaged responses, which reduced the sample size from 79 to 77. Subsequently, the study analysed categorical data using the frequency analysis in the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 28. For the inferential statistics, the study employed performed the normality test using the skewness and kurtosis test, which informed the use of the Pearson correlation analysis to measure the extent to which the variables are correlated with each other and the multiple linear regression analysis to establish the causal effects between the variables in SPSS.
3.4. Validity and Reliability
Finally, the study ensured content validity to evaluate whether the questionnaire’s questions were effectively covered (Saunders et al., 2019) and reliability regarding internal consistency using Cronbach’s alpha in SPSS. In that context, Hair et al. (2017) note that only constructs with an alpha coefficient of at least 0.70 indicate internal consistency. Thus, the analyses merely accounted for the constructs with alpha coefficients of at least 0.70.
4. Results and Discussion of Findings
4.1. Description of the Respondents
Table 1 depicts the respondents’ descriptions. In terms of gender, the results show a representation of 53.25% for males and 46.75% for females, demonstrating a balanced gender coverage in the study. This implies that the data are not skewed to a specific gender, indicating unbiased results. In terms of the respondents’ work experience, 64.94% of the respondents have at least five years of experience, including 2.60% of those with over ten years of experience with the company represented in the study. These findings infer that the data were collected from experienced personnel, indicating the accuracy of the data, which enhances the quality and validity of the results.
Table 1: Descriptive of response |
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Profile | Category | Percentage |
Gender (N=77) | Male | 53.25 |
Female | 46.75 | |
Experience (N=77) | 0-4 years | 35.06 |
5-10 years | 62.34 | |
10+ years | 2.60 | |
Source: Authors’ construction (2023) |
4.2. Normality and Reliability Test
Table 2 displays the normality and reliability of the data. In that view, the data are normally distributed when their skewness and kurtosis values are less than 3 in absolute values (Kline, 2011). On that basis, the skewness and kurtosis values are all less than 3/-3, implying that the data follow a normal distribution. In terms of reliability, Cronbach’s alpha of all the constructs exceeds the threshold of 0.7, as detailed by Hair et al. (2017), indicating the presence of internal consistency. Hence, the reliability of the results. Also, the mean values are all clustered around 3, demonstrating the absence of undesirable outliers, as they lead to multicollinearity.
Table 2: Normality and reliability tests |
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N | Mean | Std. Dev | Skewness | Kurtosis | Cronbach’s alpha | |||
Statistic | Std. Error | Statistic | Std. Error | |||||
EM | 77 | 2.862 | 0.696 | -0.163 | 0.274 | -0.827 | 0.541 | 0.873 |
EP | 77 | 2.182 | 0.889 | 0.717 | 0.274 | -0.083 | 0.541 | 0.813 |
EE | 77 | 3.983 | 0.667 | -1.073 | 0.274 | 1.560 | 0.541 | 0.799 |
WE | 77 | 3.818 | 0.615 | -0.402 | 0.274 | 0.811 | 0.541 | 0.833 |
CG | 77 | 2.981 | 0.561 | 0.006 | 0.274 | -0.450 | 0.541 | 0.787 |
OG | 77 | 2.919 | 0.823 | -0.153 | 0.274 | -0.246 | 0.541 | 0.888 |
Source: Authors’ extraction from the analysis (2023)
4.3. Pearson Correlation Analysis
The normality test results suggest that the data have a normal distribution. Therefore, this study measured correlation using the Pearson correlation analysis, which fits well with normally distributed data. This test was necessary for determining the degree of correlation between the variables. As shown in Table 3, the strongest correlation of 0.634 exists between employee engagement and work environment, indicating the absence of an extremely high correlation between the variables, which is undesirable since it results in multiple collinearities when both variables are included in the regression model. Hence, the study incorporated all the variables in the regression model separately to establish the causal effects.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
Employee motivation | 1 | |||||
Employee productivity | -.444** | 1 | ||||
Employee engagement | .427** | -0.204 | 1 | |||
Work environment | .342** | -0.041 | .634** | 1 | ||
Career growth | 0.042 | -0.189 | -0.051 | -0.067 | 1 | |
Organisational growth | .549** | -0.211 | .332** | .386** | 0.080 | 1 |
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). |
Source: Authors’ extraction from the analysis (2023)
4.4. Multiple Linear Regression Analysis
The preceding section on correlation analysis shows proof of correlation between the variables. However, correlation analysis does not measure causality. Thus, the study performed a multiple linear regression analysis to determine the causal relationship between the dependent organisational growth (OG) and the independent variables, which include employee motivation (EM), employee productivity (EP), employee engagement (EE), work environment (WE), and career growth (CG). The use of linear regression analysis is further supported by the findings of the normality test, which suggest that the data have a normal distribution that is compatible with the linear regression model.
4.4.1. Model fit
The study evaluated the regression model’s goodness of fit using the R-squared, the adjusted R-squared, and the P-value. As shown in Table 4.4, the R-squared is 0.728, indicating that the independent variables (employee motivation, employee productivity, employee engagement, work environment, and career growth) explain 72.8% of the variance in the dependent variable (organisational growth) at the sample level. The adjusted R-square of 0.709 indicates that the independent variables explain 70.9% of the variation in organisational growth at the population level. In terms of statistical significance, the results demonstrate that the model is statistically significant at the 5% level, given a P-value of 0.001. Overall, these findings infer that the model fits the data effectively.
Table 4: Regression model fit |
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Model | Sum of Squares | df | Mean Square | F | Sig. | |
1 | Regression | 18.094 | 5 | 3.619 | 17.708 | 0.001 |
Residual | 33.336 | 71 | 0.47 | |||
Total | 51.43 | 76 | ||||
R | 0.853 | |||||
R Square | 0.728 | |||||
Adjusted R Square | 0.709 | |||||
a. Dependent Variable: OG | ||||||
b. Predictors: (Constant), CG, EM, WE, EP, EE |
Source: Authors’ extraction from the analysis (2023)
4.4.2. Regression Coefficient
Table 5 presents the regression coefficients. The results reveal a constant value of -0.239, which signifies feeble management practices regarding employee motivation, employee productivity, employee engagement, work environment, and career growth, reducing organisational growth by 23.9%. Briefly, these results infer that management practices are crucial to the organisation’s growth. The findings support hypothesis 1 (H1), given the t-value of -2.288, which exceeds 1.96 in absolute value and a p-value of 0.003, less than 0.05. Besides that, any improvement in management practices through employee motivation, employee productivity, employee engagement, work environment, and career growth leads to an enhancement in organisational growth. That is, when employee motivation, employee productivity, employee engagement, work environment, and career growth improve by 1%, organisational growth is enhanced by 48.2%, 2.4%, 1.4%, 23.6%, and 7.9%, respectively. The study proves these relationships to be statistically significant given all the t-values exceeding 1.96 in absolute values and p-values all less than 0.05, as depicted in Table 5. Therefore, it supports all the hypotheses (H2 to H6) that validate that employee motivation, employee productivity, employee engagement, work environment, and career growth have positive and statistically significant impacts on organisational growth.
Finally, the study incorporated collinearity diagnostics into the regression analysis to test for multicollinearity in the model using the variance inflation factor (VIF). From this viewpoint, a VIF score below 10 indicates a model with a high tolerance for variation and no multicollinearity, whereas a high score indicates multicollinearity and a poor tolerance for variation (Hair et al., 2017). As depicted in Table 4.5, the diagnostic test results demonstrate that career growth has the lowest VIF score of 1.046, followed by employee productivity, employee motivation, work environment, and employee engagement, with corresponding VIF ratings of 1.330, 1.501, 1.742, and 0.752. These findings imply tolerance for variation of 95.6%, 75.2%, 66.6%, 57.4%, and 53.9% in career growth, employee productivity, employee motivation, work environment, and employee engagement. In a nutshell, collinearity test results demonstrate the absence of multicollinearity in the model. Hence, the accuracy of the findings.
Table 5: Regression coefficients |
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Model | Standardised | Significance | Collinearity Statistics | Hypotheses | ||||
B | Std. Error | t-value | p-value | Tolerance | VIF | |||
1 | C | -0.239 | 0.104 | -2.288 | 0.003 | – | – | H1 Supported |
EM | 0.482 | 0.117 | 4.115 | 0.000 | 0.666 | 1.501 | H2 Supported | |
EP | 0.024 | 0.012 | 1.980 | 0.041 | 0.752 | 1.330 | H3 Supported | |
EE | 0.014 | 0.007 | 1.971 | 0.044 | 0.539 | 1.854 | H4 Supported | |
WE | 0.236 | 0.082 | 2.871 | 0.001 | 0.574 | 1.742 | H5 Supported | |
CG | 0.079 | 0.019 | 4.163 | 0.000 | 0.956 | 1.046 | H6 Supported | |
a. Dependent Variable: Organisational growth |
Source: Authors’ compilation from the analysis (2023)
5. Discussions
This study reveals that management practices are crucial aspects of the business on the basis that they lead to a reduction in organisational growth when they are not effectively implemented. These findings substantiate the discoveries of early research (Brito & Sauan, 2016; John & Bryson, 2018; Nedelko & Potočan, 2016), which underscore that good management practices promote organisational growth in other countries like Brazil, Britain, Slovenia, and Croatia, as well as the findings of Ngwangwama et al. (2019) in Namibia, which addressed the phenomenon qualitatively. Thus, it is essential for companies to effectively implement management practices to lead, assist, and inspire employees to fulfil their designated roles (Massaro et al., 2016). The results also demonstrate that employee motivation positively impacts organisational growth for a multinational company in Namibia. These results conform to the findings from the global perspective (Manzoor, 2011b; Nizam & Shah, 2015; Pang & Lu, 2018), precisely in Pakistan and Taiwan. From the continental perspective, the results support the evidence (Abiro, 2013; Emeka et al., 2015; Muogbo, 2013) from Nigeria, which documents similar findings.
Similarly, the positive effect of employee productivity on organisational growth validates prior findings (Joseph & Chinedu, 2022; Matui, 2017) in Nigeria and Kenya. Moreover, the study found that employee engagement positively influences organisational growth. These results support prior findings (Al-dalahmeh et al., 2018; Shrestha, 2019) from the global perspective, particularly in Jordan and Nepal, as well as those of (Mulle et al., 2018) in South Africa. By the same token, this study also found that the work environment boosts organisational growth, which validates the findings of previous studies (Badrianto & Ekhsan, 2019; Pusparani et al., 2021; Putra et al., 2020; Sunarsi, 2020) in Indonesia, as well as the findings from the African perspective (Agbozo, 2017; Alemu, 2022), precisely in Ghana and Ethiopia. Finally, this study discovered that career growth also positively impacts organisational growth for a multinational company in Namibia. While these results contradict the findings of Silaban et al. (2021), which highlight that career growth does not positively impact organisational growth in Indonesia, they confirm other findings (Bai & Liu, 2018; Febrianti et al., 2020) in China and Indonesia, as well as the findings of Muthama and Odollo (2020) in Kenya. By establishing this relationship, the study addressed the contradictory void gap in the literature.
6. Conclusions and Recommendations
6.1. Conclusions
The study assessed the impact of management practices in terms of employee motivation, employee productivity, employee engagement, work environment, and career growth on organisational growth at a multinational company in Namibia. The study reveals that feeble management practices negatively impact organisational growth, implying the prominence of effective management practices in an organisation to ensure the desired growth through increased efficiency, effectiveness, uniformity, and consistency (Ngwangwama et al., 2019; Yoshifumi et al., 2017). In particular, the study reveals that all the dimensions of management practices (employee motivation, employee productivity, employee engagement, work environment, and career growth) significantly impact organisational growth. Thus, they are essential for the business as they stimulate employee satisfaction for enhanced employee performance, which is critical to organisational growth. In a nutshell, the study concludes that management practices play a vital role in organisations pursuing maximised growth. Therefore, companies need to ensure that they do not procrastinate in implementing management practices, precisely in terms of employee motivation, employee productivity, employee engagement, work environment, and career development, as they pursue maximised growth.
6.2. Recommendations
This section provides policy and practical recommendations based on the study’s findings. In that regard, the results from Pearson correlation analysis reveal no extreme correlation between the dimensions of management practices covered in the study (employee motivation, employee productivity, employee engagement, work environment, and career growth). This is an indication that they are all equally crucial for organisational growth. Thus, the study recommends that organisations consider investing resources in enhancing these dimensions to pursue maximised organisational growth. In that regard, the study also recommends that organisations frequently conduct employee satisfaction surveys to understand the needs of the employees, devise an employee satisfaction strategy, and implement it to ensure that employees are satisfied. This is based on the literature review evidence that employee satisfaction works hand-in-hand with organisational growth. Thus, employers must first ensure that the employee satisfaction level is pleasing.
6.3. Limitations and Directions for Future Studies
This study focused only on one multinational company. Based on the taxonomy of Miles (2017), this leaves an empirical gap concerning other business sectors, as well as a population gap in the view that the results cannot be generalised beyond the multinational company covered in the study. To constrict these gaps, the study suggests that future research focus on other business sectors and a wider population coverage with various businesses to enable the generalisation of the findings across the sector under investigation.
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