PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT AND INVESTMENT DECISIONS IN COMMERCIAL BANKS IN NIGERIA (A CASE STUDY OF FIRST BANK PLC)

 CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1   BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Researchers all over the world has advocated the need for manager or consultant to constantly examines and evaluates an employee's work behavior and productivity by comparing it with preset standards, document the results of the comparison, and use the results to provide feedback to the employee to show where improvements are needed and why (Miles, 2002). This therefore enables managers to know the areas to invest in for optimal performance.

Performance assessment is employed to determine who needs what training, and who will be promoted, demoted, retained, or fired. It also determines which section of the organization needs maintenance and upgrading. Investment decisions involve the thought process of selecting a logical choice from the available options. When trying to make a good decision, the decision maker must weigh the positives and negatives of each option, and consider all the alternatives. For effective decision making, a person must be able to forecast the outcome of each option as well, and based on all these items, determine which option is the best for that particular situation most importantly the previous performance will be a proper guide in the choice of where to invest (Child, 2002).

 Dean and Sharfman (2006) observe, the following two assumptions must hold to prove a link between investment decision process and performance assessment.  Firstly, it must be assumed that investment decision processes are related to choices determine by previous achievements; or, more specifically, that the investment decision process was influenced by the quest for better performance and productivity.  Although this assumption appears intuitively obvious, many academics have argued that the operating environment shapes organizational and individual choices (for example, Aldrich, 2009; Pfeffer and Salancik, 2008).  Others, however, claim that despite the existence of these external factors, managers retain a substantial degree of control over choices (for example, Miles, 2002; Child, 2002).  One argument made in favour of this position by Dean and Sharfman (2006) is that some managers make very poor choices with devastating consequences for their firms, while others in very similar circumstances make much better choices (for example, Bourgeois, 2004).  Such variation, the authors assert, could not exist if performance assessment has been the driving force for such investment decisions.  Hence, Dean and Sharfman (2006) conclude that it appears likely that viable outcomes are a product of the decision process used.  Leading on from this, the second assumption is that choices relate to outcomes, and that all outcomes are not equally good.  Once again there can be very little doubt that external forces also influence decision effectiveness (Hitt and Tyler, 2001; Pfeffer and Salancik, 2008).  However,

Dean and Sharfman (2006) note that it is unlikely that the influence of such forces as performance assessment eliminates the impact of choice on decision effectiveness as it is hard to imagine a decision in which all potential choices will be equally successful or unsuccessful. The researcher seeks to examine the influence of performance assessment on investment focusing on First bank of Nigeria Plc.

First Bank of Nigeria Limited (First Bank) is Nigeria’s largest financial services institution by total assets and gross earnings. With more than 10 million customer accounts, First Bank has over 750 branches providing a comprehensive range of retail and corporate financial services. The Bank has international presence through its subsidiaries, FBN Bank (UK) Limited in London and Paris, FBN Bank DRC, FBN Bank Ghana, FBN Bank Gambia, FBN Bank Guinea, FBN Bank Sierra-Leone and FBN Bank Senegal, as well as its Representative Offices in Johannesburg, Beijing and Abu Dhabi.

Since its establishment in 1894, First Bank has consistently built relationships with customers focusing on the fundamentals of good corporate governance, strong liquidity, risk management and leadership. Over the years, the Bank has led the financing of private investment in infrastructure development in the Nigerian economy by playing key roles in the Federal Government’s privatization and commercialization schemes. With its global reach, First Bank provides prospective investors wishing to explore the vast business opportunities that are available in Nigeria, an internationally competitive world-class brand and a credible financial partner.
The Bank has been named “The Best Bank Brand in Nigeria” four times in a row – 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 – by the globally renowned “The Banker Magazine” of the Financial Times Group; and “Most Innovative Bank in Africa” in the EMEA Finance African Banking Awards 2014. First Bank’s brand purpose is to always put its customers, partners and all stakeholders at the heart of its business, even as it is poised to standardize customer experience and excellence in financial solutions across Sub Saharan Africa, in consonance with its brand vision “To be the partner of first choice in building your future”.

1.2   STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Many empirical studies have investigated the existence of a relationship between the performance evaluation or assessment and investment decision.  None have concentrated on the use of decision analysis in the investment decision-making processes of organisations.  However, several have explored the effects of comprehensiveness, rationality, formality and consensus in the decision-making process on organisational performance. 
Advocates of performance assessments maintain that every task must have performance criteria for at least two reasons:

  1. The criteria define for performance and others the type of behavior or attributes of a product which are expected, and
  2. A well-defined scoring system allows the managers, the employees, and others to evaluate a performance or product as objectively as possible. If performance criteria are well defined, another person acting independently will award an employee essentially the same score.

Furthermore, well-written performance criteria will allow the managers to be consistent in scoring over time which will definitely reshape the decision making process of the management. However, the researcher is examining the relationship between performance assessment and decision making in First bank of Nigeria Limited

1.3   OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The general objective of this study is to analyze the relationship between performance assessment and investment decision in First bank of Nigeria Limited and the following the specific objectives:

  1. To examine the relationship between performance assessment and investment decision in First bank of Nigeria Limited.
  2. To investigate strategies that can be adopted in conducting an effective performance assessment.
  3. To find out the factors that can influence investment decisions.

1.4   RESEARCH QUESTIONS

  1. What is the relationship between performance assessment and investment decision in First bank of Nigeria Limited?
  2. What are the strategies that can be adopted in conducting an effective performance assessment?
  3. What are the factors that can influence investment decisions?

1.5   HYPOTHESIS
HO: There is no significant relationship between performance assessment and investment decision in First bank of Nigeria Limited
HA: There is significant relationship between performance assessment and investment decision in First bank of Nigeria Limited

1.6   SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The following are the significance of this study:

  1. This study will educate the stakeholders and management of banks in Nigeria on the need for performance assessment as a guide to investment related decision making.
  2. This research will be a contribution to the body of literature in the area of the relationship between performance assessment and investment decision, thereby constituting the empirical literature for future research in the subject area.

1.7   SCOPE/LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
This study on the relationship between performance assessment and investment decision will cover all the banks and corporate organization in Nigeria by carefully examining the influence of  performance assessment on investment decision in an organization with a view to attain the organizational goal. The study will also cover an overview of the strategies that can be adopted in conducting an effective performance assessment.
LIMITATION OF STUDY
Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
Time constraint- The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.
1.8   DEFINITION OF TERMS
Performance: The accomplishment of a given task measured against preset known standards of accuracy, completeness, cost, and speed. In a contract, performance is deemed to be the fulfillment of an obligation, in a manner that releases the performer from all liabilities under the contract.
Organization: A social unit of people that is structured and managed to meet a need or to pursue collective goals. All organizations have a management structure that determines relationships between the different activities and the members, and subdivides and assigns roles, responsibilities, and authority to carry out different tasks. Organizations are open systems--they affect and are affected by their environment.
Investment: Money committed or property acquired for future income.
Decision: A choice made between alternative courses of action in a situation of uncertainty.
REFERENCES
Aldrich, H.E., 2009, Organisations and environments, Englewood Cliffs, Prentice Hall, New Jersey
Bourgeois, L.J., III, 2004, Strategic management and determinism, Academy of Management Review, 9, pp586-596
Child, J., 2002, Organisational structure, environment, and performance: the role of strategic choice, Sociology, 6, pp2-21
Dean, J.W. and Sharfman, M.P., 2006, Does decision process matter? A study of strategic decision-making effectiveness, Academy of Management Journal, April, volume 39, number 2, pp368-97
Hitt, M.A. and Tyler, B.B., 2001, Strategic decision models: Integrating different perspectives, Strategic Management Journal, 6, pp171-180
Miles, R.H., 2002, Coffin nails and corporate strategies, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Prentice Hall
Pfeffer, J., and Salancik, G.R., 2008, The external control of organisations: A resource dependence perspective, Harper and Row, New York