CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1  Background of the Study

Policy is a guide that established a parameter for making decision. It is a broad guide to action that set a rational limitation to a manager’s action. As such policies are behavioral guidelines that set boundaries on what managers can and cannot do.

Generally, policies provide managers with criteria to follow in order to achieve the organizational objectives. However, in some cases, major policies guide the execution of primary objectives as well.

Business policy therefore is a statement, either expressed or implied of those principles and roles that are set up by executive leadership as a guide and constraints concerning what should be.

Business policy like most other areas of management brings the benefit of years of distilled experience in strategic decision making to the organization and also the managers. An understanding of business policy implementation on the performance of business enterprises may also lead to an improvement in the performance. Middle level managers are required to understand the linkage between units of an organization and how a particular implementation of managerial function like coordination and communication helps in the avoidance of inter departmental conflicts.

The importance of performance assessment of an enterprise system arising from business policy implementation offers advantage to an executive from the multiple sources including intangible benefits of satisfaction and tangible gains of production; and an understanding of business environment and the organization in which the executive works.

This research aimed at assessing the effect of business policy implementation at different levels of management as generalist and the narrow prospective as specialist.

1.2  Statement of the Problem

Policy is a guideline for action designed to enable an organization to achieve a long term or overall goal.

Policy implementation includes day to day use of policy by the personnel in making managerial, operative and functional decisions. It also helps in various area of management. Statement of policy should be definite, positive, clear and understanding to everybody in an organization who will operate under the policy.

Policy should be many enough to cover necessary conditions prevailing in an organization but not too many to become confusing or meaningless.

Policy should be based on organizational facts, judgment and flexible but with high degree of permanency. Ewurum & Unamka (1995), state that effective operative decision should be related to the objective of the organization in order to achieve a high level of impact on production.

There is no doubt that there is a likeness between firm’s performance and business policy but the problem of identifying the right variables to establish their relationship still exist, previous attempts to measure firm’s performance have igorned some important variables which includes production effectiveness and efficiency (production), clients, employee’s well being and corporate social responsibility (satisfaction).

This study was set to assess the impact of managerial, operative and functional decisions on the following performance variables; production effectiveness and efficiency (production) and client, employee’s wellbeing and corporate social responsibility (satisfaction).

1.3  Objectives of the Study

This study was set to assess the impact of business policy implementation on the performance of business enterprises. The objectives are as follows:

1. To examine the impact of managerial decision on production.
2. To evaluate the impact of operative decision on production.
3. To determine the impact of functional decision on production.
4. To examine the impact of managerial decision on satisfaction
5. To evaluate the impact of operative decision on satisfaction.
6. To determine the impact of functional decision on satisfaction.

1.4  Research Questions

1. What is the level of impact of managerial decision on production?
2. What is the level of impact of operative decision on production?
3. What is the level of impact of functional decision on production?
4. What is the level of impact of managerial decision on satisfaction?
5. What is the level of impact of operative decision on satisfaction?
6. What is the level of impact of functional decision on satisfaction?