The Effect of Training on Product Quality in Selected Beverage Companies in Southeast Nigeria

Abstract

The impact of training on product quality in some beverage firms in Southeast Nigeria was studied. The study was conducted among Nigerian Breweries Plc, Seven-Up Bottling Company Plc and Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited. The study was conducted with a target population of 1500 managers, supervisors and operational staff while a sample of 500 was obtained through a multi-stage sampling process. Descriptive survey research design was used. 500 questionnaires were sent out of which 488 were usable for analysis. Descriptive statistics and simple linear regression were used to analyze the data. The results showed that training was perceived relevant to the work functions because of the improvement in technical competence, the reduction of production errors, and the improvement of product quality. The co-efficient of correlation (R = 0.689) and coefficient of determination (R² = 0.475) for the regression analysis revealed that 47.5% of the variance in product quality was explained by training with a significant positive relationship (B = 0.667, t = 14.29, p = 0.000). The study finds that on-going role-specific training has a significant effect in enhancing product quality through reinforcing employee. It suggests that companies in the beverage industry establish a competency-based training process to maintain product quality and improve organizational performance.