Evaluating Communication Features of Human Resource Management Practices: The Construction Industry in Lagos State, Nigeria

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Introduction

Various studies have been conducted on these concepts, what is new in this study?

Explain the gaps and justify the objectives of the study

Explain the core issues and the evidence especially statistics and with current literatures to support the issues of this study

Any recent statistics from the officials to support the issue or arguments

Identify the research problem -- as with any academic study, you must state clearly and concisely the research problem that is being investigated.

Appropriate background information has not been provided with special terms and concepts defined.

Lacks research topic or problem not clearly stated shown to be worth investigating as there were many studies conducted, and therefore need to highlight the extension of this study from previous studies

Introduce the topic, explain its relevance to the audience, state the purpose, and outline the main points.

 

Literature Review

Need to strengthen the literature review

Places each source in the context of its contribution to the understanding of the specific issue, area of research, or theory under review.

Describes the relationship of each source to the others that you have selected (IVs & DV)

Identifies new ways to interpret, and shed light on any gaps in, previous research

Review scholarship on the topic, synthesizing key themes, and, if necessary, noting studies that have used similar methods of inquiry and analysis.

Note where key gaps exist and how your study helps to fill these gaps or clarifies existing knowledge.

The author should have discussed the issues in detail and how the issues were not resolved or partially resolved by previous studies.

Discuss the important recent extensions that have been made to the model to make it more realistic, and give a brief overview of some of the older and more recent empirical studies that have fitted the model. Such contributions add up the value of the paper

Independent variables and dependent variables were not discussed through and the relationship. Any relationship between the variables and theories also need to be discussed

Literature review is lacking the in-depth of the study

Separate the paragraphs according to the variables of the study and provide the detail explanation with the gaps

Extensive explanation of IVs & DV is required to justify the importance of the variables of the study and to sync with the items in questionnaire. Some of the questions does not match the explanation in literature review

Explain all the variables thoroughly in literature review and how these variables are related to the study and able to resolve the problems and achieve the objectives of the study

No theory to support the variables of study, what is the underpinning theory that explains the logic of the variables, The variables need to be explained in detail in literature review and explain the relationship and relate it to the relevant theories that supports the study

 

Methodology

State clearly in research method on how data has been extracted through surveys and interviews

What is the rationale of sample size

Is the population known or unknown for sampling strategies  

If population known, state the number and do the samples calculation

What scales has been utilised such as ordinal, nominal interval etc

Why pilot test has not been conducted to analyse reliability of the variables and was the questionnaire adopted or adapted

What measurement has been taken to ensure validity of the data

Was the questionnaire adopted or adapted to justify EFA

Justify why probability sampling of simple random sampling technique was utilised

If the study has mentioned about the relationships, why was hypothesis not stated to show the relationship between the variables

How many questionnaires has been distributed and response received and what is the response rate

What software has been used to analyse the data

Lack of evidence of care and accuracy in the data process

Unable to reveal the research methods fully described of the advantages and disadvantages of chosen methods that was discussed.

 

 

 

Analysis

The organization and discussion could be improved quite a bit, to make it clearer in some places to demonstrate symbolic role

Many test missing to analyse the data

·        Cronbach alpha

·        Descriptive statistics

·        Corelation

·        T test of f statistics – depends on grouping

·        Anova

·        Chi square

·        Multiple regression

·        Coefficients

·        Etc etc

 

Important – need to append the SEM software model as appendix to substantiate all the explanation in analysis part

Lack of detailed analysis which does not answer the objectives which was not clearly mentioned

Need more explanation of the analysis to support the hypothesis

Discussion

Discussion is lacking  

The finding of the research needs to be compared and contrasted with findings, theories, models and concepts derived from the literature review.

The relevance of the conclusions for stakeholders has not been discussed thoroughly

Comment on whether or not the results were expected for each set of findings; go into greater depth to explain findings that were unexpected or especially profound. If appropriate, note any unusual or unanticipated patterns or trends that emerged from your results and explain their meaning in relation to the research problem.

Either compare your results with the findings from other studies or use the studies to support a claim. This can include re-visiting key sources already cited in your literature review section

Describe the patterns, principles, and relationships shown by each major findings and place them in proper perspective. The sequence of this information is important; first state the answer, then the relevant results, then cite the work of others. If appropriate, provide figure or table to help enhance the interpretation of the data

Good discussion section includes analysis of any unexpected findings.

This part of the discussion should begin with a description of the unanticipated finding, followed by a brief interpretation as to why you believe it appeared and, if necessary, its possible significance in relation to the overall study.

The discussion section should end with a concise summary of the principal implications of the findings regardless of their significance.

Give a brief explanation about why you believe the findings and conclusions of your study are important and how they support broader knowledge or understanding of the research problem.

Conclusion

The main research question has not been concisely answered.

The overall argument has not been summarized.

The reflection on the aims, methods, and results of the research is lacking

Relevant recommendations have not been discussed.

What are your recommendations to the stakeholders

The contributions of the research have not been clearly explained.

Conclusions and recommendations discussed in the context which are not widely applicable

Need current academic references to support the current situation

Author Response

We sincerely appreciate and acknowledge your comments. Both the revised manuscript and response to reviewer's comments are uploaded. 

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Thank you to all authors for this research which has a definite managerial implication. The research method and analysis are comprehensive contributing to the overall rigor of the manuscript. The framework and hypotheses are based on research gaps as well as intending to resolve industry issues. However, the paper is reasonably weak in terms of its positioning, literature review, and defining scope/limitations.

Positioning – the problem statement is not very clear and various dots related to the same are connected by my own understanding as a reader. Although industry issues are highlighted, several aspects are not supported by the literature. E.g., ‘The Construction industry’ largely depends on the communication effectiveness.’ – this claim needs to be supported. Construction industry statistics are presented by Dillman (2000) and Weaver (2006) which is many years back. The author (s) is recommended to state the data collection period. A proper research question has been raised and the author attempted to answer the research gap.  Next, any studies related to the construction industry are tricky in terms of their positioning as the core aspects of communication impacts are directly related to organizational success. In this context, justification of why effective communication is required in operation scape or environment of understanding through communications is important and needs stronger justification rather than just emphasizing competitive advantage.

Literature review – The literature review seems adequate, but I have the following comments: Many of the paragraphs that appear there are very long, so I suggest splitting them up, as it is tiring and tedious to read more than 20 lines long. I suggest that your paragraphs be no longer than eight lines, short, brief, and concise. Likewise, it is noted that some of the references are a bit old; I wish they could be updated. I am not saying that the references are not adequate, but that they can be updated. I propose that each of the latent variables you use in your model is expressed in italics, as it helps to understand what a variable is. To facilitate easy reading the Authors should minimize the length of paragraphs: the longer ones must be broken up. Only one key theory is highlighted. The definition of terms is mixed with hypotheses and exclusive efforts of state research gaps are narrow. There is a scope for improvement in this context. However, it is up to the author(s) discretion.

Method / Analysis / Findings – The paper has a leading edge here. The author (s) can rethink including some sentences. As the purpose is just to highlight demographics rather than assumptions out of the scope of the study.

Scope/ limitations / future studies - There are several dimensions of the Construction Industry communication factor such as other professions related to the same industry's way of conveying messages. qualifications, demographic preference, local accent influence, country of origin, conditional aspects such as emergency, HRM recommendation, etc. although the scope is clearly stated in the aim, it is advised to also emphasize what is left out and so can be part of future research avenues. If possible, may address various other factors resulting in operational costs, and changes in priorities which can be highlighted. Some of the points highlighted in future avenues are quite general.

There are minor typesetting issues such as paragraph indentation and spacing which can be left for the editorial team to handle.

To conclude, the research issue is very significant and relevant to this current context. The research literature, methodology, and results are well explained and ended with good conclusions. It is publishable with addressing the amendments. However, after revision, it may be considered for another evaluation.

All the best for the publication and future research.

Author Response

We sincerely appreciate and acknowledge your comments. Both the revised manuscript and response to reviewer's comments are uploaded.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf