VIRTUAL COLLABORATION TOOLS BACKUP AND WORK OUTPUT OF ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF IN OIL AND GAS COMPANIES IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA.

Abstract

The administrative performance has gained more and more relevance in the contemporary organizations as digital technologies and collaboration applications influence the organization of work and its implementation. This paper has explored the linkage between the virtual collaboration tools backup and the work output of the administrative staff working in the oil and gas companies in Rivers state in Nigeria and the technological infrastructure as a moderating factor. The study based its conceptualization on the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework and viewed virtual collaboration tools backup as a necessary technological capability manifested in backup automation, system redundancy, and data recovery capability, and work output in terms of task productivity, work quality and timeliness. The research design adopted was a cross-sectional survey research. A sample of 120 administrative personnel who were selected in the oil and gas firms located in Rivers State were used to gather data, 110 of which were validated and returned to the researcher constituting a response rate of 92%. The tool showed a good level of reliability with a Cronbachs Alpha coefficient of 0.82. Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) at the 0.05 level of significance was used to analyse the data. The results indicated that there was a moderate positive correlation between backup automation and task productivity (r = 0.590, p = 0.002), moderate positive correlation between system redundancy and work quality (r = 0.552, p = 0.000), and strong positive correlation between data recovery capability and timeliness (r = 0.651, p = 0.000 Besides, the research study established a good positive moderating effect between technological infrastructure and the connection between virtual collaboration tools backup and work output (r = 0.643, p = 0.000). This implies that backup systems are more effective in improving the performance of administrative employees with the presence of sound technological infrastructure. The findings demonstrate that efficient backup systems pay off in improving efficiency, accuracy and timeliness of administrative processes in oil and gas organizations. The research finds that backup systems of reliable virtual collaboration tools, backed by sufficient technological infrastructure, come out as essential organizational resources that enhance the output of administrative work and continuity of operations. Some of the recommendations the study offers include the fact that oil and gas companies ought to upgrade automated backup systems to boost the work output of administrative personnel.