1.0 INTRODUCTION Increasing competition is continually pushing businesses towards more efficient processes, and slimmer margins. Highly capitalized industries have to ensure that their resources are used most effectively. Yet at the same time, businesses must adjust to rapidly changing customer requirements and supply chain conditions. The key to achieving operational excellence, therefore, is in the effective and flexible management of resources, and this means optimizing and scheduling people, processes, vehicles, equipment, and materials so that utilization is maximized while business goals are met. Rowden (1995) define resources management as theprocess of using a company’sresources in the most efficient way possible. These resources can include tangible resources such as goods and equipment,financial resources and labor resources such as employees. Resource management can include ideas such as making sure one has enough physical resources for one’s business but not an overabundance so that products won’t get used, or making sure that people are assigned to tasks that will keep them busy and not have too much downtime. The wealth of any organization is to a very great extent determined by its human resources. The place and value of human effort as a resource for any organizational productivity, efficiency and effectiveness in operation cannot be over emphasized. This capacity building developing and maintaining well trained, skilled experienced and quality human resources that will carry out the various task of the organization becomes an issue of importance.

Thesis Abstract

Recent and continuous global events involving major corporate and business failures continue to reverberate the importance of good corporate governance as a catch phrase necessary for ensuring the financial health and viability of business entities so that the interests of all stakeholders are protected and to prevent the unfair dominance of the interests of any stakeholder over those of the others. Studies on Corporate governance have mainly focused on private firms. Inefficiency, financial impropriety and mismanagement have characterized most public sector financial management. Therefore, corporate governance needs to be emphasized as a means of revitalizing government’s investment and increasing profitability of parastatals. This study sought to establish the relationship between corporate governance and financial performance of parastatals in Nigeria. The financial performance parameter used for the study was return on asset while four attributes of corporate governance practice were used, namely, board size, board structure, multiple directorship and audit committee. The study used descriptive research design. The population was 127 parastatals and a sample of 30 was chosen for the study. Data were obtained from 27 of the 30 selected parastatals and analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis between April 2012 and July 31, 2012. In general, the study found that there exists a positive relationship between corporate governance and return on asset. This implies that good corporate governance practices enhance financial performance of parastatals. Therefore, policy makers and management of parastatals must ensure that tenets of good corporate governance should be applied to the latter to enhance performance.