DECISION MAKING AFFORDANCES AND SENSE MAKING IN HUMAN RESOURCE ANALYTICS IN HIGH RELIABILITY ORGANIZATIONS (FAST FOOD COMPANIES) IN PORT HARCOURT, NIGERIA

Authors: Biriowu, C. S., Ph.D. & J. A. Okwakpam, Ph.D.

ABSTRACT

The interest, understanding, and application of Human Resource (HR) Analytics continue to increase as it affords businesses with research and practical potentials that enable them effectively support their decision-making such that they are able to make plausible and efficient decisions regarding the people side of the business. Not many studies have, however, been able to decipher the mechanism through which Human Resource Analytics has been able to support strategic decision-making as well as business performance. Using the purview of hi-tech capability, data mining tools, and supportive work culture as dimensions of decision-making affordances, this paper aims at examining the relationship between decision-making affordances and sense-making in the application of Human Resource Analytics in Fast Food Companies in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. It is a correlational study that adopted a quantitative approach. Data was gathered through the use of a structured five-scale Likert-style questionnaire distributed to twenty employees of ten major fast food companies representing highly reliable organizations in Port Harcourt. The validity of the instrument was ascertained from a pilot survey carried out on 5 employees of major fast food companies. With the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 23.0, the data went through two levels of analysis namely the univariate analysis, which measured the mean score of the variables as manifested in the companies, and the bivariate analysis which measured the Pearson Moment Correlation Coefficient between the three dimensions of decision making affordances and sense-making in Human Resource Analytics. On one part, the result of the analyses showed a substantive manifestation of the three dimensions of decision-making affordances and sense-making in HR analytics in companies. In the second part, it showed that with data mining tools having the strongest relationship among others, the three dimensions of decision-making affordances all related positively to sense-making in Human Resource Analytics. In addition, the analyses revealed that all three positive relationships were significant. The paper concludes that the more companies build on their Hi-tech capability, use data mining tools, and maintain supportive work culture, the more effective their sense-making and use of HR analytics and ultimately, the better their decision outcomes. It, therefore, recommends that organizations need to continue to leverage on the potential of hi-tech and data mining tools, and supportive work culture to benefit from the sense-making process of HR analytics. It contributes to improving the decisions on the people side of business and tools used for identifying and developing sense-making.

Keywords: Data Mining Tools, Decision-Making Affordances, Hi-Tech Capability, High-Reliability Organizations, Human Resource Analytics, Sense-making, Supportive Work Culture

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