THE ROLE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE IN THE SERVICE DELIVERY OF MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES IN NIGERIA

THE ROLE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE IN THE SERVICE DELIVERY OF MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES IN NIGERIA

(A CASE STUDY OF UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC ABA)

ABSTRACT

The business organization operates in an environment and through is the essence of business. The business organization is expected to continually to satisfy it customer hence this work gets to investigate the role of customer service in the operation of multinational fir with particular reference to Unilever Plc Aba. The method applied in this study is a combination of content analysis and survey research, the data were sourced through both primary and secondary sources and the instrument used availed the researcher the opportunity to have a first hand information. The unit of analysis Unilever of Nigeria Plc Aba branch social artifacts, and the data collected from the units are presented in tables and analyzed using chi-square (x²) method. Among the major finding of this research work, including that the dissatisfaction experience by customers is due to the inefficiency of the multinational company staff, there is a relationship between improved service delivery and multinational company efficiency and multinational company profitability. But owing to the limitations encountered, further studies should be carried out to service between two multinational company operating within the country.

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Services outcome, we all know the necessary prerequisites for any meaningful economic development of any nation. This is so because the entire world economy today revolves round finance. Therefore, the significance is the overall development of our economy. It is on this premise that we appreciate the important role played by service delivery most especially the commercial multinational companies whose major functions is to organize, mobilize and making funds available for investment purposes by way of granting credit facilities to individual companies and government.

According to Ronald (2000), multinational companies can be defined as giants private business companies with global organizational characteristics flowing from parent countries to subsidiaries in host countries.
This multinational company marketing has been defined by a Media (1983) as the creation and delivery of service that will satisfy the need of customers at a profit to the multinational companies. From this point definition, it is seen that the customers who is the ultimate target of multinational company marketing must be satisfied.

Multinational companies must learn what satisfaction their customers seek. The work creation and delivery recognizes that marketing is an active creation process involving all the multinational companies staff.

Today, the emergence of commercial multinational firms as well as the role they play has been instrument to the rapid growth and progressive development of the economy. Multinational company as a service delivery industry, must adopt to the changing environment and requirement of the economy and it can be done t hrough effective marketing of its services.

The multinational companying image in the country is considered bad because of the deterioration in the multinational companying service over t he years and the very poor bend in multinational customer relationship which is largely due to poor marketing. The major problem is that existing services are not being provided efficiently. There is a commonly held believe that service rendered to customer is a bestorial of favour and privileges.

Garliand Gilbert (1976) still maintains that the public impression of multinational companies and struggle for the customers to get served. It can take an hour or more to reach the counter and sometimes get the impression that the counter staff is proud of the long lines of people queuing their favours.
Gadzania M. W. (1989) in his chairman’s statement of allied multinational company annual report statted that customers are treated with lack of seriousness by the multi national company staffs. They believe it is right to deliberately delay customers as a result of their non-challant attitude to work. It is always a daily occurrence to hear abuses flowing from customers to multinational companies st aff over the protected delay in competing multinational company’s transactions.

Today, with Nigerians attitude towards the idea of putting their money in the multinational companies as opposed to keeping them at home, multinational company institutes faces:
1. Poor quality
2. Poor quality of goods
3. Poor response to customers complaint
4. Unusual marketing challenges. The level of competition between multinational companies needs the demand for multinational company service experienced an explosion that posed a challenge t o the resources of the multinational companying community.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This research work is aimed at addressing the problems associated with multinational companies which include:
1. To find out if staff training and motivation affect the ratio of services by the staff.
2. To ascertain whether customer dissatisfaction is a function of the inefficiency of the multinational company staff.
3. To determine if there is any relationship between improvement in service delivery of the multinational company and the efficiency of the multinational company and its profitability.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The purposes of the study among other things are stated below:
1. To determine the extent of staff and customer relationship.
2. To determine the extent of customer complaint of non-satisfactory service.
3. To determine the adequacy of available resources both human and material in the multinational company.
4. To ascertain the material in the multinational company.
5. To ascertain the staff customer ratio.
6. To ascertain the courses of long queues on multinational companies.
7. To identify the effect of inefficient service on the multinational companies image and profitability.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What are the importance of staff and customers relationship?
2. What is the importance of customers service?
3. What are the problems of the customer services?
4. What are the expected benefit from developing the customer service?
5. How does it influence to the market production?
6. To what extent is the customers complaint of non-satisfactory service?

1.5 SIGNIFICANT OF THE STUDY

Considering the uniqueness of the problem identified in this research, the findings are expected to be of great importance to satisfaction of customer’s needs through improved quality service. The earlier the problem hindering the effective customer service by multinational company industries are identified, the better for Beta customers and the multinational firms.
In the exposition in multinational firm’s customers relation, Nwankwo (1980) expresses the position of the customers in such relation. The expressed that customers are the main reason of multinational company existence. The multinational companies are not doing any favour to the customers but that customers are doing multinational companies favour by entrusting their hard carried money for safe keeping. It is therefore important that an efficient and continuous service system will be crucial in retaining her customers. Some commercial multinational companies in Nigeria tends to be indifferent to delay suffered by their customers with competition increasing fast in the multinational firm. The problem of delays in multinational companies cannot be over-looked especially if they have to retain their customers.

The knowledge of this study is also to throw more light on some of the course and effects of unsatisfactory counter service in the Nigeria multinational companies. The importance of this study is also to throw more light on some of the course and effects of unsatisfactory counter service in the Nigerians multinational companies. The multinational company management will find the exposition useful and customers will also benefit from the study.

The study will also help to identify the correct form of motivation of the workers in the multinational company. If workers are well motivated, it is likely that they will perform their duties with cheerfulness and more dedication to duty. This is likely to promote a very cordial relationship between the multinational companies and customers

1.6 SCOPE /DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Due to the limitations of time and other resources, the scope of this study was limited to Unilever of Nigeria Plc Aba branch Abia State. Hence data collected and questionnaires distribution was limited to staffs and customers of the multinational company at Aba. Also the management of Unilever Plc Aba was very cooperative.

1.7 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Adequate coverage and study of the research work was constrained by so many factors which include:

Time: Due to the short period of time allowed for carrying out this research work, the researcher was greatly hindered from covering all the branches of Unilever of Nigeria Plc in Aba Abia State.

Finance: This contributes to the problem highlighted above. The researcher was unable to gather enough services operation resources that will help to facilitate and accommodate the running associated with the research work.

Responses: The attitude and behaviour of the respondents affected the effective execution of the research work. Some of the respondents contacted defined their comment or make contribution to the project work while some demanded for gratification before responding to question posed to them.

Distance and Location: Due to the problem of time and finance, the researcher was unable to reach to the remote areas where the multinational companies had some branches. Some roads leading to the multinational companies branch office in the rural areas are not easily accessible. Hence this hindered the research work.

1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS

For the sake of clarity, it is pertinent to give a short and simple explanation of some of the terms used in this project to acquire the reader/use of the meaning of terms as they are used in this context.

Customer Service: This has been defined as connection of activities performed in keeping customer happy.

Effective: This can be defined as a state capable to causing a desired result. Effective customers is thus a state of service capable of causing desired result such as achieving the sport out objectives of the multinational companies.

Expectancy: This is defined as the workers perception of the probability that a particular outcome will result or occur when he or she behaves in a certain way.
Productivity: This means that the dedication of the multinational companies workers to their duties and their prompt attendance to their customers and their problem which are measured by the number of hours out of the total number of work hours per day utilized efficiently by the workers in the performance of their assigned duties.

Performance Appraisal: This is the personnel activity by which the enterprise determines the extent to which the employee is performing the job effectively

Motivation: This refers to goal directed behaviour that is the process of influencing and activating workers energies and full potentials towards the performance of set task and the achievement of organization objectives.

1.9 PLAN OF THE STUDY

A plan of the work will show that the study entails to explain in each chapter. In chapter one, it shows the background of the study, purpose and the usefulness of the study, and some important terms involved.

In chapter two, it consists of the historical background which explains everything about the topic and the role of customer service on the operation of multinational companies in Nigeria.

Chapter three shows the design of the study, the population and analysis of data, respondent characteristics and classification. Finally, in chapter five, the researcher summarizes the findings, conclusion and also his recommendation. It also consists of the limitation and suggestions for further research.