ABSTRACT

The study investigated organizational development techniques and the effectiveness of manufacturing firms in Nigeria. The study was conducted to investigate the relationship between quality circle and productivity; quality circle and profitability; sensitivity training and productivity; sensitivity training and profitability; team building and productivity; team building and profitability; quality of work life (QWL) and productivity; quality of work life (QWL) and profitability. The researcher employed the survey research design in the study. A structured Likert Scale questionnaire was the major instrument for data collection. The study employed descriptive statistics of percentages, mean and standard deviation for analysis of data obtained by way of questionnaire administration. Testing of hypotheses was committed to correlation analysis. The analysis was done with SPSS software. The findings showed that there was a positive relationship between quality circle and productivity; quality circle positively enhanced profitability; sensitivity training positively beefed productivity; sensitivity training positively influenced profitability; team building positively boosted productivity; team building positively enhanced profitability; quality of work life (QWL) positively affected productivity; and quality of work life (QWL) significantly improved profitability. The researcher concluded that organizational development techniques improved the indices of effectiveness of manufacturing firms in Nigeria. It was recommended that management of manufacturing firms should improve the standard of quality circles in the enterprises with a view to consistently improving output quality, output quantity and capacity utilization in the organizations. The study suggests among others that future researchers should work on effect of sensitivity training on customer retention in insurance firms in South-South Nigeria.