MAINTENANCE CULTURE AND ITS EFFECTS ON ORGANISATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY IN SMALL AND MEDIUM SCALE ENTERPRISES IN GHANA

Kofi Poku
Deborah Ivy Lamptey
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
Business enterprises use various equipment and facilities to deliver products and services to their customers. The failure of these facilities and equipment can cause serious social and economic consequences for their operations. Though good maintenance culture has been recognized as the sure way to enhancing longevity and performance of equipment, it has not been given much attention in Ghanaian businesses, especially in SMEs. The purpose of the study was to investigate the nature of maintenance culture of SMEs in the Kumasi metropolis and to ascertain the relationship between maintenance culture and productivity.

Based on the analysis of responses from the owners of the selected SMEs, the results indicated that: (1) most of the SMEs undertake maintenance only when there is a breakdown; (2) Maintenance culture, as measured by training; management involvement; resource availability; and worker awareness, has a significant positive effect on organizational productivity; and (3) key drivers of maintenance culture are productivity, safety and reliability. The recommendation of the study is that SMEs should adopt preventive maintenance culture by changing the mindsets, attitudes and skills of workers.