ABSTRACT

This research work entitled Effects of Managerial competencies on the Performance of the hospitality industry in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The study had a total of twenty-one organizations under study. The broad objective of the study was to examine how the competencies of managers affect organizational performance while the specific objectives were to; ascertain the relationship between customer focus competency of managers  and customer retention of the hospitality industry in Akwa Ibom State; examine how communication competency of managers influences the competitive advantage of the hospitality industry in Akwa Ibom State; determine how team focus competency of managers enhances productivity of the hospitality industry in Akwa Ibom State; investigate the influence of Leadership competency of managers on profitability of the hospitality industry in Akwa Ibom State. The study adopted the survey research design. Primary and secondary data were used for the study; the primary data was gotten form the distribution of questionnaire and the secondary data was gotten from the existing publications. The studied organizations had a population of comprising of 752 made up of both management and non-management staff of the selected organizations. Taro Yamane techniques was used to determine the sample size of 261, to whom questionnaire was administered. The collated the data was analyzed using percentages, mean and standard deviation while the hypotheses formulated were tested using Pearson product moment correlation analysis of SPSS 22 version. The study found out that customer/quality focus competency of managers had an effect on organizational performance; communication competency of managers had an effect on competitive advantage; team focus competency of managers has an effect on organizational productivity and leadership competency of managers also has an effect on organizational profitability. The study therefore recommends that Managers of business organizations should at all times be conscious of the fact that the performance of the organizations; they adopt the practice of customer focus as it would help them get their customers closer to their operations, giving them ample opportunity to satisfy them better and earn their loyalty; business organizations should also design extensive programs to develop the essential needed competencies that will help their performance level rise to further level; finally, managers should also pay attention to their team focus competencies, communication competencies as well as leadership competencies as a proper application of these competencies in real work situations to drive the affairs of the organization