1.1BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY.
In the past years, organizations, especially in Africa, have been hit with the undisputable fact of mismanagement of resources in the workplace. Not only does it threaten the reputation of the affected organizations, but also has a devastating effect on the organizations’ ability to render quality services to its customers and other stakeholders. Mismanagement of resources is having a negative effect on the carrying capacity of other species in the health sector.
It undermines and harms human relations. (Kaptein, 2011; Treviño, Weaver, & Reynhe states that problems of Africa continues to grow and its solution is not clear or well-articulated. One of the greatest challenges facing any organization is, therefore, the mismanagement of its resources. If employees, for example, steal or misappropriate organizational assets, then this can severely strain the relationship between the organization and its financiers, and this can damage the financial reputation of the organization (Mazzola, Ravasi, & Gabbioneta, 2006).
Merriam-Webster dictionary define impact as having a strong and often bad effect on (something or someone).Resource mismanagement is the inefficient and ineffective development of an organization’s resources when they are needed. Such resources may include financial resources, inventory, human skills, production resources, or information technology (IT). Business ethics comprise rules, standards, principles, or codes providing guidelines for morally sound behavior (Singh & Twalo, 2014), and mismanagement implies the violation of these moral norms (Kaptein, 2008). This research, therefore, provides further insight into the need for organizations to develop effective management strategies as part in order to prevent, detect, and respond forcefully to stamp out mismanagement of its resources. The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of mismanagement of resources on organizational performance of 3 Hospitals in the Greater Accra region.
1.1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The resource has made significant inroads into the Ghanaian corporate world. It is common to see large organizations in Ghana set up a whole department for the sole purpose of managing resources in an organization. The enormous benefits of properly managing resources cannot be overemphasized. However, the majority of the hospitals in Ghana are yet to catch the „The proper management of resources cold‟. Inappropriate management policies and practices of some of these hospitals can be attributed to the non-existence of resources specialists or HRM departments. Research has established significantly a positive relationship between an organization’s resource practices and performance. Most of these hospitals do not realize the impact of properly managing its resources and therefore leave policies in the hands of line managers and board of directors who are non-resource experts to implement or enforce strategies, policies, processes, programmes, and practices. The value of properly managing resources is lost to such hospitals. Resource Management is extremely important for hospitals, especially because health industry is a service industry. Management of people and management of the sick are two key challenges facing hospitals. How you manage the people and how you manage the risks determines your success in the health servicing business. Efficient risk management may not be possible without efficient and skilled manpower.
Though pricing is important, there may be other valid reasons why people select and stay with a particular hospital. Hospitals must try to distinguish themselves by creating their own niches or images, especially in transparent situations with a high level of competitiveness. In coming times, the very survival of hospitals would depend on customer satisfaction. Those who do not meet the customer expectations will find survival difficult. Hospitals must articulate and emphasize the core values to attract and retain certain customer segments. Values such as “sound”, “reliable”, “innovative”, “close”, “lifesaving responsible”, “Ghanaian”, etc. need to be emphasized through concrete actions on the ground and it would be the hospital’s resource that would deliver this. Resources have sunk into oblivion to most of the hospitals in the Greater Accra region and it is about time hospitals saw the role and impact of resources on performance and worked towards properly managing their manpower. It is in the face of this existing state that we wish to establish the impact of resources on organizational performance and how hospitals can, through appropriate resource practices improve performance.
1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The health industry has changed from who runs the best health facility, has an international status, is prestigious, or has the finest health facilities, manages risks, is IT friendly, has great customer relationship management and keeps the customer coming back.
Hospitals will need employees with special skills and abilities, right attitudes and behaviors to make these happen. Organizational performance culminating in effectiveness, efficiency, success and development depend on the optimal utilization of human and capital resources. Notwithstanding the level of technology, health is primarily a labor and technological intensive service sector. Hence it will not be possible for the hospitals to sustain performance unless resource management is given prime importance because the technology is only an aid to human effort and not a substitution thereof. Hospitals will need to create a competitive advantage for their employees. Because no meaningful change is possible without the proper management of both human and capital resources, organizations would have to now an emphasis on using resources to differentiate in the competitive environment. Therefore a study of this nature will help the selected hospitals to appreciate the impact of resource management on organizational performance. This study will propose appropriate resource strategies, policies, processes, programs and practices and the possible outcomes in the health sector settings. It will also provide insights into adopting the “best fit” practices as a strategic response for the health sector in the near future. The larger community stands to benefit from the improved performance of health service will enhance the living standard of health concerns and contribute significantly to the growth of the Ghanaian health service delivery. This study will prompt policy makers and implementers to pay due attention to effective management resource practices and the role of resources strategies in achieving organizational goals. The academic significance of this work is to add to existing theories on both human and capital resources, serve as a reference to those engaged in other related studies and create the leeway for another to further research into the impact of mismanagement on organizational performance. The findings and recommendations will provide a solid basis for hospitals to properly manage their human, capital resources and serve as an opportunity for the selected hospitals to improve performance with existing workforce. The study is also to add to the knowledge of resources concepts in the Ghanaian corporate world and will serve as a reference for future studies.
1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the management of resources towards the achievement of organizational goals.
1.5 General Objectives
The general objective of this study is to explore the mismanagement of resources and its effects on organizational performance.
1.6 Specific objectives are to:
1. Examine the general mismanagement practices, policies, and programmes of these hospitals in the Greater region.
2. Evaluate the perceptions of employees on mismanagement practices, policies, and programmes of these hospitals.
3. Assess the level of productivity in these selected hospitals.
4. Establish the impact of properly managing human and capital resources on the organizational performance of the selected hospitals.
1.7 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What are the general mismanagement practices existing in the selected hospitals?
2. What are the perceptions of employees and managers about mismanagement practices of the selected hospitals?
3. To what extent do these mismanagement practices affect the achievement of organizational goals?
4. What practices can ensure proper management of human, capital resource and its impact on the organizational performance of these selected hospitals?
1.8 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The study is intended to find out the impact of mismanagement of resources livelihoods of the affected organizations. A research would, therefore, be carried out using the hospitals that have gone through mismanagement recently (four years back) including employees who have been retrenched from such hospitals. This calls for selecting hospitals like Korle Bu teaching hospital, 37 military hospitals, and Ridge hospital which have recently been mismanaged.
1.9 BRIEF METHODOLOGY
The purpose of the study is to examine the impact of mismanagement of resources on organizational performance of these selected hospitals in the Greater Accra region. The target population for the study is mismanagement of resources of three hospitals namely Korle Bu teaching hospital, 37 military hospitals, and Ridge hospital in the Greater Accra region. A preliminary investigation carried out revealed that this study have a population size of not less than one hundred and fifty (150) people and this served as the sample size for the study. This study will collect data from two main sources; primary and secondary data sources. The primary data are those that will be collected and analyzed by us from the field mainly through responses obtained from the respondents to questionnaires and interviews. We will also rely on secondary data which are data which will be collected for some other purpose by another person other than us. The sources include hospitals handbook, employment policies, and annual financial reports. Quantitative and qualitative research methods will be used to help back up each set of findings with different methodologies. To elicit for relevant information for this study, two sets of the questionnaire will be designed and administer personally to the hospital’s employees and managers. This is because the diverse opinions of both employees and managers on resources issues are what we sought for. There will be, in all 70 items in the questionnaire for employees and 63 items in that of managers. Moreover, a semi-structured interviewing schedule solely for managers would be developed and administer with a mixture of close and open-ended questions on existing resource strategies, policies, programmes and practices and the perceived outcome that affect organizational performance.
1.10 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The following are the limitations even though work has not started. Time constraints, locating a good number of retrenched employees and managers for data collection; having access to detailed information from the hospitals. Other limitations that may arise from the actual work will be recorded later.
1.11 ORGANISATION OF THE STUDY
This work will be organized into five chapters. The first chapter will be the introductory chapter and it will comprise; background to the study, statement of the problem, research questions which raise research objectives. It will also cover the significance of the study and the sequential arrangement of the study. Chapter two will provide a broad background to the subsequent chapters and an extensive review of existing research works on the concepts and theories which will give a better understanding of the subject matter. Chapter three will encompass the methodology of the study. It provides for research design; procedure and method, population to be covered by the study, description of the study area, sampling techniques, instruments, data collection procedure and analysis. A review of the methodology will be provided under this chapter. Chapter four will focus on data analysis and interpretation of the results and discussions whiles Chapter five will embody the conclusion drawn a base on the findings of the study upon which recommendations will be made as well as directions for future research on the subject matter.
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