CHAPTER ONEIntroduction 1.1 Background of the Study

Time is the period during which actions or processes take place (Healtheir, 2005) defined time management as a scare resources which must be properly managed otherwise nothing can be managed.Time management consists of tools and activities that help an individual effectively manage and strategize his time. Through effective time management one can increase individual or group productivity and experience large profit that will lead to a more satisfying over all work and life experience. Setting goals, delegation, decision making and delega5tion are key elements to perfecting time management.1.1 Background of the StudyTime management and corporate survival is an essential resource every manager needs to achieve the goals and objectives of an organization. It is so dedicate that it cannot be saved but can only be spent and once misused it can never be regained. Every manager is looking for always to improve time management and corporate survival.Barling, Cheung & Keloway (1999) defined time management as a factor of job performance that can contribute to an organization’s profitability, engaging in time management, particularly planning behaviours can also contribute positively to group performance.Amstrong .M. (2006) defined time management as behaviours that aim at achieving an effective use f time while performing certain goals-directed activities.Many of today’s time management books still emphasize efficiency and increasing productivity with little emphasize on effectiveness and life balance. Although, time management is greater than ever, as the pace of life increasing the perception of time changes. due to increasing level of specialization people concentrate on a single task at a time or a few single task, this is because they attend more on rumours than work and become bored sometimes.According to (Oso & Olaniyan 2008, 127-133), the following are the attributes of time management:i. Time management is a unique resource.ii. It is the scarcest resource in the universe.iii. Time management cannot be replaced by man.iv. It cannot be accumulated like money.v. It cannot be turned on and off like machine.Therefore, time management needs to be taken into account that the implementation of corporate survival needs to be aligned with time management that needs to be adopted and linked to company’s specific branch.Operational and strategic goals, current and future financial situation. As a manager, time management is an important factor needed to enhance various corporate survival i.e the way is being managed in an organization will reflect on its performance either positively or negatively. According to Joshua (2008), the survival ofg an organization is evaluated in terms of the degree of achievement of the organizational goals and objectives at what monetary costs and efficiency. Effective time management is a major challenge managers in Nigeria are facing today as they have a lot of duties to perform within a limited time.According to Lakein (1973) defined time management as the use of a particular techniques such as to do lists or deliberately planning activities, or to participate in training with the purpose of learning how to master and use such as technique.According to Allen (2001) “time management is defined as practices individuals follow to make better use of their time, it also refers to principles and systems that individuals use to make conscious decisions about the activities that occupy their time.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Time is a necessity for every firm in achieving its goals and objectives. The attempt to accomplish the desired goal poses a great threat to the organization. The company faces a number of problems and challenges centering on inefficiencies in its time management. These could be stated as follow:a) Lack of job security and poor working conditions of employees.b) Lack of adequate maintenance of human resource policy.c) Lack of proper structuring of the organization which is required to have a new trend that would enhance its efficiency and make it feasible.d) Poor team building.e) Lack of self discipline.Therefore, the research problem is study of Time Management and Corporate Survival (A Case of Selected Exploratory Oil Firms in Rivers State).

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The purpose of this research was to ascertain Time Management and Corporate Survival.i. To investigate the nature of time management in an organization.ii. To define the importance of time management and corporate survival.iii. To provide solutions to the problem of time wasting in Nigeria.

1.4 Significance of the Study

This research aimed at creating awareness and assessing Time Management and Corporate Survival in the Firm. Therefore, the study is expected to be of much value to the number of as people as follows; Members of the firm will be informed on importance of Time Management and Corporate Survival. Also, it will help decision makers to formulate difference strategies which will help the implementation of Time Management and Corporate Survival. The researchers will be benefited by identifying variable areas for further research, and will be used as an additional reference to researchers on Time Management and Corporate Survival.

1.5 Research Questions

What are the effectiveness and efficiency of Time Management and Corporate Survival?i. Are the employees aware about Time Management and Corporate Survival?ii. What are the effects of Time Management and Corporate Survival in ensuring timely completion of assigned duties?iii. What is the effectiveness of Time Management and Corporate Survival in service delivery in Oil Firms?iv. What are the challenges facing oil firms in implementing Time Management and Corporate Survival?

1.6 Statement of Hypothesis

This research is geared towards testing the following hypothesis;1. H0: There is no significant relationship between time management and corporate survival.H1: there is a significant relationship between time management and corporate survival.2. H0: Time management is not related to employee efficiency and effectiveness in the oil firms.H1: Time management is related to employee efficiency and effectiveness in the oil firms.3. H0: Time management is not related to public service delivery.H1: Time management is related to public services delivery4. H0: There is no significant relationship between time management and corporate survival.H1: There is a significant relationship between time management and corporate survival.

1.7 Scope and Limitation of the Study1.7.1 Scope of the Study

This study is been stated on time management and corporate survival. The geographical scope of the study is a survey of selected exploratory oil firms in Rivers State.

1.7.2 Limitation of the Study

The most limiting factor encountered in course of carrying out this research work was lack of fund. Also, the time duration require for the completion was too short, hence not encouraging. Sourcing of materials was a different task due to the factor that some materials were not available at the time of writing. Despite all these constraints, the research will still be reliable for users.

1.8 Definition of Related Terms

Time: Time is the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present and future regarded as a whole.Management: Management consists of the interlocking functions of creating corporate policy and organizing planning, controlling and directing on organization’s resources in order to achieve the objectives of the policy.Corporate: Corporate is seen as having qualities (such as commercialism or lack of originality) associated with large firms or attributed to their influence or control.Survival: Survival is the state or fact of continuing to live or exist, typically in spite of an accident, or deal, or difficult circumstance.