A Universal Model for Managing the Marketing Executives in Nigerian Banks

Abstract

This study was an attempt to synthesize some theories because, seeing them in their individual forms, they could sometimes appear contradictory and confusing and may not help the managers of Nigerian banks to easily perceive what to do to motivate their marketing executives for appropriate organizational performance and job satisfaction in the industry. It is assumed that a universal theory of motivation would be more practical and understandable for meaningful use by bank managers. A sample of 303 was determined using the finite multiplier. The result obtained gives a chi-square value of 8.845 (based on Friedman Test), which is greater than the critical chi-square value of 5.991 (ie X²cal = 8.845 > X² critical = 5.991) and is significant as P < 0.05. Hence, the null hypothesis is rejected, indicating that managers in Nigerian banks will motivate their marketing executives effectively, if they take cognizance of the individual characteristics in terms of his needs, provide targets that are believed to be attainable yet provide a challenge to the marketing executives. The emerged model of this study would seem to be suggesting that the managers in Nigerian banks will make motivation of marketing executives effective if they take cognizance of the individual’s characteristics in terms of his needs, create assignments that are challenging to the individual, according to their abilities; all to provide job satisfaction to them. To make marketing jobs more challenging in the banks,  managers should continually seek ways to generating motivation through job design (job environment) and make jobs to: (i) have a clear meaning and purpose in relation to the objectives of the bank, (ii) be as self-contained as possible, so that the marketing executive will be doing ‘complete’ jobs;  (iii) provide opportunities for purposeful two-way communication for possible participation in decisions which affect their works and targets; (iv) provide a regular feedback of information to the marketing executives about their performances. This shows that the confusion faced by managers in Nigerian banks on the question of motivation of marketing executives is the mix-up by the behavioral scientists of managerial organizing factors with those of motivation. It is this that seems to create the difficulty for Nigerian managers in clearly determining what to do in their motivation efforts. Perhaps, it is the  inexplicit of all these that seems to cause Nigerians to think that the theories developed in the Western World are not applicable to Nigeria. The effectiveness of a motivation system is the function of the management philosophy. This is the point Nigerian managers need to seriously recognize in looking for factors that condition the effectiveness of managerial motivation of marketing executives in Nigerian banks. It is important also to appreciate from this study that whether in advanced countries or in Nigerian banks, managerial action to motivate is a question of art of management applied contingently.

Keywords:Universal Models, Marketing Executives, Nigerian Banks, Friedman Test, Marketing Goals, Two-Way Communication, Feedback of Information.