Influence of work automation on the performance of nigerian ports

Abstract

The study examined the influence of work automation on the performance of Nigeria ports. The study population was the entire sea-ports in Nigeria. In line with the purpose of study, the study adopted the survey/cross sectional approach. The major research instrument used collect data was the questionnaire. Thirty (30) copies of questionnaire were distributed to the respondents from the six major sea-ports in Nigeria. The respondents were department heads and senior port managers. Work automation was used as the independent variable of the study and measures of port performances were productivity and the throughput level of the sea-port. Two hypotheses were developed and tested to determine the extent of the relationship between the study variables. Pearson product moment analysis was used to test the stated hypotheses with the aid of statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS 22.0). The findings of the study revealed that to a very large extent, work automations are often used as key performance indicators (KPI) in Nigeria port. This is true of the system of administration of all port management authority in Nigeria. To a very large extent, the study observed that ports give room for the assessment of work automations. To a very large extent, the respondents were allowed to make variety of inputs on work automations in their various sea-ports. Staff of the ports have the requisite skills to give critical assessment on the issues of work automations. Conclusively, it is evident from the study that there is significant relationship between work automations and productivity in Nigerian ports and there is significant relationship between work automations and cargo throughputs in Nigerian ports. Therefore, port managers should improve on the service quality of their port by recommending improve work automation of the port activities in such a manner that will aid the effective performances of the port operations.