Technological Advancement and Employee Commitment of Foods, Beverages and Tobacco Companies in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

ABSTRACT: Organizations are made up of ordered task arrangements and relationships geared towards theachievement of specified objectives. The successes these organizations are centered on the commitment ofemployees towards the set goals and objectives of the organization. It was argued that technologicaladvancement creates a committed workforce in an organization. This gave rise to the formulation of the sixhypotheses in relation to technological advancement and employee commitment. Selected foods, beverages andtobacco companies in Port Harcourt were examined and structured questionnaire sent. A sample size of sixty(60) workers from the production and administration departments. 15 workers from each of the four companiesselected were examined. One way an organization can achieve a committed workforce is through technologicaladvancement which entails the practice of information technology, electronic business and automation as ameans of adapting to situations and the expectations of employees. From the reviewed literature, and theanswered field structured research questionnaire, it was found that technological advancement enablesemployees’ commitment. In conclusion we found that technological advancement affords employees leadershipa more flexible platform to be committed. The study recommends that information technology should be appliedin organizations to help increase the organization’s employees’ motivation which will result in increasedcommitment.

Keywords: Affective Commitment, Continuance Commitment, Electronic Business, Employee Commitment,Information Technology, Normative Commitment, Technological Advancement