STRIKE AS A TOOL FOR RESOLVING EMPLOYEE DISSATISFACTION A CASE STUDY OF KOMFO ANOKYE TEACHING HOSPITAL (KATH) By MATILDA PETERS ADDISON MATILDA PETERS ADDISON MBA. Human Resource Management © 2014 Department of Managerial Science A thesis submitted to the Department of Managerial Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF BUSINESS ADIMISTRATION (HRM OPTION) School of Business, KNUST i DECLARATION I hereby declare that this submission is my own work towards the Master of Business Administration (Human Resource management Option) and that, to the best of my knowledge, it contains no material previously published by another person nor material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree of the university except where due acknowledgement has been made in the text. Matilda Peters Addison …………………… ……………….... (Student) Signature Date Certified by: J. K. Turkson …………………… ………………… (Supervisor) Signature Date Certified by: J. K. Turkson …..……………… ………………. (Head of Department) Signature Date i ABSTRACT Employee dissatisfaction arises due to issues affecting employees which are not properly addressed by management, or unfavorable management practices within an organization. When employees are dissatisfied they either leave their jobs for better opportunities, or may choose to stay and adopt certain measures to rectify their dissatisfaction. Employees with low job satisfaction can negatively affect the performance of an organization, because they clearly lack motivation, perform poorly, and pose negative attitudes. Management is usually required to find out and understand the reasons for employee dissatisfaction, and promptly find the right solutions to address them. The ripple effect on the health sector is very serious since it can lead to loss of life. The present study is therefore aimed at identifying and addressing the causes of employee dissatisfaction using Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) as a case study. The general objective of this study is to identify the causes of employee dissatisfaction and assess whether the use of strike is the best approach to be used by employees in resolving their dissatisfaction at KATH. Two hundred of both management and staff of KATH were used as the population for the study. The study relied on both primary and secondary data. Data were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively using Statistical Package for Social Sciences(SPSS) and Microsoft Excel. The study revealed that, there were many causes of employee dissatisfaction in KATH. Remarkable among them was the inability of management of the hospital to ensure that employees have good remuneration and refusal of Managers in the organisation were not actively planning for good working conditions for staff of since workers at KATH ii were not satisfied with their current working conditions and that about 120(80%) of the workers were dissatisfied. From the above it was deduced that the employees of KATH would be satisfied if proper compensation schemes like additional duty allowances, bonuses and or fuel allowances be given to them and also on time. Majority 90(47.4%) of the employee agreed that if the above compensation schemes are implemented it would prevent employee dissatisfaction at KATH. Therefore the study recommends that effort should be put in place to resolve the employee dissatisfaction issues in KATH. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Glory be to God for great things He has done and what He is to do. If not for His grace I would not have been able to complete this work. I thank my supervisor, Mr. J.K. Turkson for his immense contribution, guidance and dedication to making this work become a success. I also wish to express my profound gratitude to my husband, Mr. Kwesi Addison. In fact, his contribution to my education generally and the moral support he continually gave till this day, is greatly appreciated. Thanks to the entire staff and management at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital. iv DEDICATION This thesis is entirely dedicated to my beloved husband, Kwesi Addison and my four sons. v TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION .............................................................................................................. i ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................. iv DEDICATION ................................................................................................................. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................... vi CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1 1.0 Background of the study ............................................................................................ 1 1.1 Problem statement ...................................................................................................... 5 1.2 Objectives of the Study .............................................................................................. 7 1.2.1 General objective ..................................................................................................... 7 1.2.2 Specific objectives ................................................................................................... 7 1.3 Research questions ...................................................................................................... 8 1.4 Significance of the Study .......................................................................................... 8 1.5 Brief methodology ..................................................................................................... 9 1.6 Scope of the Study .................................................................................................... 10 1.7 Limitations of the Study ............................................................................................ 11 1.8 Organization of the Study ......................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER TWO .......................................................................................................... 12 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................. 12 2.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 12 2.1 Definition of Strike? ................................................................................................. 12 2.2 Types of Strike .......................................................................................................... 14 2.3.1 General Strike......................................................................................................... 14 2.3.2 Work Bans .............................................................................................................. 14 2.3.3 Sit-down Strike ...................................................................................................... 15 2.3.4 Slow-down strike ................................................................................................... 15 2.3.5 Sick-out (or sick-in) ............................................................................................... 15 vi 2.3.6 Wild cat Strikes ...................................................................................................... 16 2.3.7 Economic Strikes ................................................................................................... 16 2.3.8 Picketing ................................................................................................................. 16 2.3 Reasons for Strike .................................................................................................... 17 2.4 Methods Adopted by Organizations to Deal with Strikes ........................................ 18 2.5 Employee Dissatisfaction ......................................................................................... 19 2.6 Causes of Employee Dissatisfaction. ........................................................................ 25 2.7 Consequences of Employee Dissatisfaction............................................................. 33 2.8.1 Reduction in Customer Retention and Loyalty ...................................................... 33 2.8.2 Low Workforce Productivity ................................................................................. 34 2.8.3 Loss of Business Reputation .................................................................................. 34 2.8.4 High Employee Turnover ....................................................................................... 35 2.8.5 Poor Overall Morale ............................................................................................... 35 2.9 Ways of Preventing and Managing of Employee Dissatisfaction. ............................ 35 2.9.1 Good Communication ............................................................................................ 36 2.9.2 Promotion and Career Development/Growth......................................................... 37 2.9.3 Fair Compensation and Benefit/Rewards............................................................... 38 2.9.4 Enhanced Working Environment and Conditions ................................................. 38 2.8 Why Workers Resort to Strike As a Means of Resolving Dissatisfaction .............. 41 CHAPTER THREE ...................................................................................................... 43 METHODOLOGY AND ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE .................................... 43 3.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 43 3.1 Research Design ........................................................................................................ 44 3.2 Sources of data .......................................................................................................... 44 3.2.1 Primary Data .......................................................................................................... 45 3.2.2 Secondary Data ...................................................................................................... 45 3.3 The Population for the study ..................................................................................... 45 3.4 Sampling procedures for data collection ................................................................... 46 3.5 Data Collection Methods .......................................................................................... 48 3.5.1 Questionnaires ........................................................................................................ 48 vii 3.5.2 Interviews ............................................................................................................... 48 3.6 Data Collection Process ............................................................................................ 49 3.8 Methods of Data Analysis ......................................................................................... 50 3.9 Profile of KATH ...................................................................................................... 50 CHAPTER FOUR ....................................................................................................... 55 DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION.................................... 55 4.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 55 4.1 Demograpic information of respondents ................................................................... 55 4.1.1 Rank of respondents ............................................................................................... 56 4.1.2 Sex of respondents ................................................................................................. 57 4.1.3 Age of respondents ................................................................................................. 58 4.1.4 Academic level of respondents .............................................................................. 59 4.1.5 Respondents’ Functional area of work ................................................................... 60 4.1.6 Respondents’ length of service .............................................................................. 62 4.2 Causes of Employees Dissatisfaction in KATH ....................................................... 63 4.2.1 Proportion of respondents’ views on the effect of employee dissatisfaction on job performance at KATH..................................................................................................... 69 4.2.2 Respondents’ view why employee dissatisfaction affect job performance at KATH. ............................................................................................................................. 70 4.2.3 Proportion of Respondents Views on Whether Dissatisfaction at Times Cause Loss of Lives ................................................................................................................... 72 4.2.4 Respondents’ view on how employee dissatisfaction at times causes loss of lives at KATH .............................................................................................................................. 73 4.2.5 Proportion of respondents views on whether dissatisfaction breeds corrupt attitude among employees at KATH. ……………………………………………………….…..74 4.2.5 Respondents’ view on how employee dissatisfaction breeds corrupt attitude among employees at KATH. ....................................................................................................... 75 4.3 How to Manage or Prevent Employee Dissatisfaction ............................................. 75 4.2.5 Respondents’ view on why employees at KATH always resort to strike as a tool of resolving their dissatisfaction…………………………………………………………..77 viii 4.5 Issues that can lead to strike at KATH .................................................................. 77 CHAPTER FIVE ........................................................................................................... 79 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 79 5.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 79 5.1 The following were the summary of findings ........................................................... 79 5.1.1 The causes of employee dissatisfaction in KATH. ............................................... 80 5.1.2 The consequence of employee dissatisfaction in KATH ....................................... 80 5.1.3 Ways of preventing and managing employee dissatisfaction in KATH. ............... 81 5.1.4 Why employees resort to strike as a tool for resolving their dissatisfaction at KATH. ............................................................................................................................. 82 5.2 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 82 5.3 Recommendations ..................................................................................................... 83 5.3.1 compensation schemes ........................................................................................... 83 5.3.2 Study leave with pay ............................................................................................ 83 5.3.3 Working Environment and Conditions .............................................................. 84 5. 3.4 Address the Situation .......................................................................................... 84 5.3.5 Proper Retention Strategies in KATH ................................................................... 84 5.3.6 Guaranteed Job Security ........................................................................................ 85 REFERENCE ................................................................................................................ 86 QUESTIONNAIRE ....................................................................................................... 89 ix