HUMAN CAPABILITY AND ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE OF SELECTED FOOD AND BEVERAGE COMPANIES IN SOUTHWEST NIGERIA

Abstract

Organisational performance in Nigeria's food and beverage manufacturing sector remains constrained by declining profitability, operational inefficiency, and weak employee engagement, despite the sector contributing 5.7% to the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2023. This paper argues that these challenges are associated with deficiencies in human capability, particularly employees' knowledge, access to information, and developmental support, and proposes an integrated framework for examining this relationship in Southwest Nigeria. Drawing on Stakeholder Theory, Social Cognitive Theory, and Institutional Theory, the study conceptualises human capability through three dimensions: human knowledge, access to information, and human capability development. Organisational performance is similarly conceptualised using three dimensions: financial performance, operational efficiency, and employee engagement. A descriptive survey research design is proposed, targeting management and middle-level staff across the 26 food and beverage manufacturing firms listed on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX). Using a two-stage stratified sampling technique, 21 firms and 384 respondents will be selected based on Taro Yamane's and Cochran's sample size determination formulae. Data will be collected using a structured Likert-scale questionnaire and analysed with descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis to test three null hypotheses examining the relationships between human knowledge and financial performance, access to information and operational efficiency, and the combined dimensions of human capability and overall organisational performance. The study is expected to contribute a contextually grounded framework for understanding human capability and organisational performance in African manufacturing environments, where infrastructural and institutional constraints differ significantly from those in developed economies. It also offers practical implications for human resource practitioners, training institutions, and policymakers seeking to strengthen workforce capability and enhance organisational performance through improved access to knowledge, information, and employee development opportunities.