Educational Research and Review Vol. 4 (12), pp. 602-615, December, 2009 Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR2 ISSN 1990-3839 © 2009 Academic Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Impact of management style on performance indicators of academic staff S. V. Irtwange1* and S. Orsaah2 1
Department of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Nigeria. 2 Department of Business Management, Benue State University, Makurdi, Nigeria. Accepted 23 October, 2009
The objective of this study is to assess the impact of management style on academic staff performance with University of Agriculture, Makurdi as a case study. The management style of the vice chancellor of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi between the periods, September 3, 1996 to September 3, 2001 was determined using the Ohio State University and University of Michigan Models. Based on a population of 269 academic staff, a sample size of 200 was selected using the purposive and random sampling techniques. Research questionnaire, interview and personal observations were employed as instruments for data collection. Analysis of data indicates that the vice chancellor was rated below desirable limits both on the considerate or employee centered management style (Cronbach alpha =0.978) and on the initiating structure or production centered management style (Cronbach alpha = 0.968). This indicates low concern for production and people, which answers to the impoverished management style of the grid model. Chi-square 2 ( ) test at 5% level of significance showed that there is a relationship between the management style of the vice chancellor of University of Agriculture, Makurdi and academic staff performance. As expected, academic staff of the university were found to have performed poorly on all six performance indicators - qualification, teaching/cognate experience, contribution to university and community, publications, current research and extension and administrative experience. The results of the study further indicate that with good management of men and materials, performance of academic staff in the Nigerian university system will be enhanced if they are appropriately motivated and rewarded. The study recommends that proven ability and capacity to professionally manage men, money and materials to deliver on the core mandates of the various universities in Nigeria should be the most important consideration in appointment of vice chancellors. Key words: Management style, Performance, academic staff. INTRODUCTION A leader coordinates all the resources of an organization through the process of planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting and budgeting in order to attain organization goals. Staff performance appraisal is an important means by which managers and their staff can discuss key work issues in a systematic manner (Nmadu, 1999). The assessment of academic staff in the University of Agriculture, Makurdi (as in other universities in Nigeria) is done in relation to an absolute standard of performance or levels of output in six specific areas: qualification, teaching/ cognate experience, contribution to university and commu-
*Corresponding author. E-mail:
[email protected]. Tel: +234-803-5885567.
nity, publications, current research/extension and administrative experience. It is not therefore subject to the methods and pitfalls of performance appraisal enumerated by Hellriegel and Slocum (1996). With the establishment of Universities of Agriculture at Makurdi, Abeokuta and Umudike, Nigeria is at the verge of a revolutionary beginning in agricultural research, extension and training (UAM, 1998). Whether the revolution will materialize or atrophy depends largely on the translation of declared political intent in creating the universities into sustained political commitment and budgetary support (UAM, 1988). It hardly needs to be emphasized that funding holds the key to the success of Universities of Agriculture. Funding is required for the provision of physical infrastructures, laboratory equipment, agricultural research training and extension services and recruitment, retention
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and performance of world-class academic staff, if the mission and mandate of the universities must be achieved. The choice that must be made is clear: continue with the old past time of exhortations, platitudes and defective existing institutional structures or back up declared political intent in the new approach to agricultural research, training and service with the required funding to make a positively revolutionary difference (Idachaba, 1991). However, funding must go along with good management. This paper is an assessment of the impact of management style of the vice chancellor of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi between the period September 3, 1996 to September 3, 2001 on performance of academic staff of the university. This period is considered strategic as the events that took place as captured by Ayatse (2001), are sufficient for a study of this nature. Moreover, the administration of the period served as a link between the past management (January 1, 1988 to January 1, 1996 and January 1, 1996 to September 3, 1996) and the management at the time of the study (September 6, 2001 to September 5, 2006). The findings of this research work will culminate into success or failure of the management and therefore suggest the style adopted. The study is also significant because this is the first time this type of study is being carried out in the university. It is hoped that the findings will interest incoming vice chancellors whose responsibility it is to reposition and manage the university towards the realization of her core mission and mandate. Similar studies have been carried out in the business and healthcare industries. Parham (1994) conducted an empirical study to examine the effects of the leadership process on organizational performance. The study concluded that strategic leadership has a greater effect on overall firm performance. Al-Mailam (2001) conducted a study to examine the impact of leadership styles on performance of public and private hospitals in Kuwait. The study found that public and private hospital managers and employees in Kuwait perceived that transformational leadership style of the president and heads of departments led to high levels of hospital performance. Gabbert (2005) carried out research to investigate and understand the relationship between the Chief Executive Officer’s (CEO’s) transformational leadership styles and behaviors and high performance in the healthcare industry acute care hospital segment. The two factors were correlated. O’Reagan et al. (2005) indicates that firms strongly emphasizing any of the leadership styles performed better than firms with weak or uncertain leadership styles. Rejas et al. (2006) concluded that certain leadership styles have a positive influence on firm effectiveness in his study to analyze the relationship between leadership styles and firms effectiveness in small firms. Lee (2007) conducted a study on the relationships between Human Resources Management (HRM) practices, leadership style, competitive strategy and business performance in Taiwanese steel industry. The study concluded that transformational leadership has significant influence on business performance; that HRM practices relate to leadership style and three
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out of six HRM practices (training and development, compensation/incentives and human re-source planning) influenced business performance. The study further states that HRM practices significantly relate to competitive strategy (cost reduction, innovation and quality enhancement) and that these competitive strategies have significant influence on business performance. Finally, the study notes that improper performance appraisal may decrease business performance. The purpose of the study includes: (a) To determine the management style of the vice chancellor of University of Agriculture, Makurdi between the period September 3, 1996 to September 3, 2001. (b) To determine whether there is a relationship between the management style of the vice chancellor of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi and performance of academic staff. (c) To assess the extent of the impact of the management style adopted on academic staff performance indicators. (d) To determine whether the performance of academic staff of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi will be enhanced if appropriately motivated and rewarded. Management styles have been shown to influence group and organizational effectiveness (Lowe et al., 1996; Yukl, 1998). There is also a close relationship between management style and HRM practices such as promotion, information sharing, comprehensive training, performance compensation and equitable reward (Laka-Mathebula, 2004). However, there are rare studies related to the relationship between management style and academic performance in a tertiary institution. This study therefore proposes the following hypotheses: (a) There is no relationship between the management style of the vice chancellor of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi between the period September 3, 1996 to September 3, 2001 and performance of academic staff. (b) The performance of academic staff of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi will not be enhanced if appropriately motivated and rewarded. METHODOLOGY The methodology followed in the collection of research data to enhance the study includes area of the study, population of the study, sample size, sampling procedure, sources of data, methods of collecting the required data, data presentation, processing and analysis and the strengths and weaknesses of the research procedure. Area of study The Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Nigeria forms the area of the study. The university which was established on January 1, 1988
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has the tripartite mandate of “teaching, research and extension services”. Through this mandate, the university is supposed to among other things train manpower that is consistent with the requirements of an integrated research extension system. The university runs undergraduates and postgraduates. Sampling design The academic staff of the university of Agriculture, Makurdi makes up the population for this study. The academic staff strength stands at 269 made up of 70 graduate assistants, 37 assistant lecturers, 52 lecturers II, 44 lecturers I, 44 senior lecturers, 5 associate professors and 17 professors spread across eight colleges with twenty two departments, two centers and the university library as at August 2002. A sampling plan was developed to ensure that appropriate respondents are included in this study. This study applied the formula suggested by Bowerman et al. (2004) to calculate the sample size:
Z N = p (1 − p ) x α /2 B
2
where N equals sample size, Za/2 equals the confidence level, and B equals the tolerance. For this study, p = 0.5 as what Bowerman et al. (2004) suggested to achieve a normal distribution, Za/2 = 1.96 by setting confidence to be 0.05, and error tolerance = 0.07. Therefore, the sample size is determined to be 196. For the purpose of this study, the sample size of 200 was therefore considered adequate. The nonprobability purposive sampling technique was used to screen out those academics that joined University of Agriculture, Makurdi after the tenure of the administration being studied. Thereafter, the random sampling technique was used, after stratification of the population according to departments to ensure that all departments are represented in the sample. In the university, even though responses may be affected by personal biases, beliefs and values based on race, tribe, religion, age, sex, academic status, political inclinations etc., there was no need for stratification along those lines. Stratified random sampling here simply connotes careful and methodical selection from the population to ensure probability for equal chance and reduce possibility of bias entering selection of the sample. Construct measurement In this study, there are two major constructs: Management style and academic staff performance. The research questionnaire used in this study to measure the considerate or employee centered management style and the initiating structure or production centered management style was based on Ohio State University and University of Michigan Models. The instrument used has 22 questions arranged in 5-point Likert-type scales. Responses were made on a scale ranging from 1 (Never), 2 (Seldom), 3 (Sometimes), 4 (Often) and 5 (Always). The responses of the academic staff provided a measure of the vice chancellor’s considerate or initiating structure management style. To measure the considerate management style, 12 questionnaire items were adopted: CS1 He took time to explain how a job should be carried out CS2 He explained the part that members were to play in the team CS3 He made clear the rules and the procedures for others to follow in detail CS4 He organized his own work activities CS5 He let people know how well they were doing CS6 He let people know what was expected of them
CS7 He encouraged the use of uniform procedures to getting things accomplished CS8 He made his attitudes clear to others CS9 He assigned others to particular tasks CS10 He made sure that others understood their part in the group CS11 He scheduled the work that he wanted others to do CS12 He asked that others follow standard rules and regulations To measure the initiating structure management style, 10-questionnaire items were adopted which provided a measure of the management style by academic staff: IS1 He made working on the job more pleasant IS2 He got out of his way to be helpful to others IS3 He respected others’ feelings and opinions IS4 He was thoughtful and considerate of others IS5 He maintained a friendly atmosphere in the team IS6 He did little things to make it pleasant for others to be a member of the team IS7 He treated others as equals IS8 He gave others advance notice of change and explained how it will affect them IS9 He looked out for others’ personal welfare IS10 He was approachable and friendly towards others The measurement of academics staff performance was based on approved criteria for assessment and weighting of academic staff for promotion and appointment (Table 1) which spans six areas: 1 2 3 4 5 6
Qualification Teaching/cognate experience Contribution to university and community Publications Current research and extension and Administrative experience
The sources of data were from both primary and secondary. The survey approach was adopted in this study (Osuala, 1993). The main instruments used were a combination of close-ended or structured form and open-ended or unstructured form of research questionnaire, personal or participant observation and unstructured type of interviews where reliable and valid information in the form of verbal responses was required to further throw more light on responses. The questionnaire was designed to ensure that it was capable of bringing out the required information for the study. Whereas some of the responses were dichotonomous, checklist, ranking, scaling or multiple choice responses, the respondents were required to supply the words in response to other questions put forward by the researchers. Data analysis Data were analyzed by arranging the responses obtained from the questionnaires against each research question. All the responses were analyzed, processed and presented, using research tables and simple percentages that gave valid results of the population that was studied (Irtwange, 2002). The Likert interval scale used permitted respondents to express their preference or choice from a continuum of options and being an interval scale permitted some arithmetical manipulations. Cronbach alpha (a) which is a measure of squared correlation between observed scores and true scores is a measure of reliability in terms of ratio of true score variance to observed score variance. It tests the internal consistency of each management style. According to Robinson and Shaver (1973), if a is greater than 0.7, it means that it has high reliability and if a is smaller than 0.3, then it implies that it has low
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Table 1. Criteria for assessment and weighting of academic staff for appointments and promotions.
Criteria Qualifications (maximum scorable 15 points)
Teaching and Cognate Experience (maximum scorable 25 points) Special Contribution or Service to University/Community (maximum scorable: 10 points) Publications/Creative Scientific Works/Joint Authorship
Current Research (maximum scorable: 10 points)
Weighting Bachelor’s Degree o 1st class (Hons) 7-0 points o 2nd class (Hons) (upper)n6-0 points o 2nd class (Hons) (lower) 6-0 points • Master’s Degree without Thesis 8-0 points • Master’s Degree with Thesis 10-0 points • Special Master’s Degree 12-0 points • Doctoral Degree (Ph.D) including M.D 15-0 points • Professional beyond 1st Degree by examination/dissertation 3-0 points 2 points per year of teaching/supervision( to maximum of 25 points) •
• 1 point per year of training/research Special contribution or service to university community ; 0 - 10 points
• Books: 1-3 authors = 0-7 points; 4 or more authors: 0-4 points • Chapters in Referred Book: 2 points each up to maximum of two chapters • Articles in Learned Journals and Referred Proceedings: o 2 points each up to maximum of 3 authors; o 1 point each up to maximum of 3 authors • Monographs: 3 points • Creative Scientific Works and Genetic Materials, Design and Breeds: o Patented 0 - 7 points; o Unpatented 0 - 7 points • Bibliographies: o Journals -unannotated: 1 point; annotated: 2 points o Monographs - unannotated: 1 point; annotated: 2 points o Books - unannotated: 1 point; annotated: 2 points • Edited Books; 0- 3 points • Current Research/ Extension: 0-10 points •
Administrative Experience (maximum scorable 10 points)
•
Aggregate minimum scores for promotion to various academic staff positions •
Aggregate minimum publication points for promotion to various academic staff positions
1 point for each year of relevant experience. Professor/Research Professor - 70 points
• Associate Professor - 65 points Senior Lecturer/Senior Research Fellow -55 points • Lecturer I/Research Fellow I -45 points Lecturer II/Research Fellow II -2 points • Professor - 22 points • Reader - 18 points • Senior Lecturer - 11 points Lecturer I - 2 points
reliability. To test the research hypotheses, Chi-square ( 2) technique was used. Microsoft Excel 2007 was used for descriptive statistics of questionnaire items for determination of management style while SPSS 16.0 for Windows was employed for reliability measurements. The weakness and strength of the research procedure and instruments relates to the fact that whereas management style was based on the perception of academic staff, real data on academic performance were used.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS The data collected from the population sample through the data collection instruments were presented, analyzed and discussed under the following subheadings: Classification of Respondents, Determination of Management Style of the Vice Chancellor, Impact of Management Style on Perfor-
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Table 2a. Characteristics of respondents (200 respondents).
Characteristics Gender Age
Marital Status
Highest Educational Qualification Employment Period
Academic Status
Categories Male Female 20-30 years 31-40 years 41-50 years 51-60 years 61 years Married Single Others Bachelors degree Masters degree Doctorate degree Before September 3, 1996 After September 3, 1996 After September 3, 2001 Professor/Librarian/Research Professor Associate Professor, Deputy Librarian/Principal Research Fellow Senior Lecturer/Principal Librarian/Senior Research Fellow Lecturer I/Senior Librarian/Research Fellow I Lecturer II/Librarian I/Research Fellow II Assistant Lecturer/Librarian II/ Research Assistant Graduate Assistant/Assistant Librarian/Graduate Assistant
mance Indicators of Academic Staff, Promotion and Motivation/Reward of Staff and Test of Hypotheses. The processed data have been presented in form of percentages and relevant information computed so as to easily compare, contrast and evaluate the data in order to reject or accept the formulated research hypotheses and draw conclusions. Classification of respondents The classification of respondents is shown in Tables 2a, b. The gender analysis shows that 81.5% of the 200 respondents were male while 18.5% were female. This seems to be consistent with the dominance status of male academics in the Nigerian university system. Age distribution analysis of academics in the University of Agriculture, Makurdi shows that out of 200 respondents, 4.5% were 30 years, 39% between 31-40 years, 41.5% between 41-50 years and 14.5% between 51-60 years. Only 0.5% fell within the age bracket of ∃61 years. Considering the retirement age of 65 years for academics, this age distribution is one of the major strengths of the university
Frequency 163 37 19 78 83 29 1 174 23 3 32 99 69 134 66 0 9 3
Percentage (%) 81.5 18.5 4.5 39 41.5 14.5 0.5 87 11.5 1.5 16 49.5 34.5 67 33 0 4.5 1.5
37
18.5
45 44 29 33
22.5 22 14.5 16.5
and should be of interest to management. The analysis of the marital status of the respondents indicates that 174 or 87% of the respondents were married while 23 or 11.5% were single. The widows and divorcees considered as others constituted a mere 1.5% of the population sample. However, how well these academics manage their families cannot be determined but being managers of some sort, are well able to assess an individual’s management style. Of the 200 respondents, 16% had Bachelors degrees, 49.5% had Masters degrees while 34.5% were Doctorate degree holders. Information such as this is very important to a manager in planning staff development programmes. The purpose of determining the period respondents joined the services of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi was to ensure the effectiveness of the non-probability sampling technique initially adopted. However, since the researchers had a comprehensive list of all the academics in the university with information on date of appointment, no such error was committed. The analysis therefore shows that 67% or 134 of the 200 respondents were employed before the commencement of the administration being assessed while 33% or 66 were employed by the administration being assessed. It is the opinion of the researchers that those who
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Table 2b. Characteristics of respondents (200 respondents).
Characteristics Department
Tribe
Categories Crop Production Soil Science Agricultural Extension and Communication Agricultural Economics Forestry Production and Utilization Social and Environmental Forestry Wildlife and Range Management Fisheries and Aquaculture Animal Production Food Science and Technology Home Economics Agricultural Engineering Civil Engineering Electrical and Electronics Engineering Mechanical Engineering Biological Sciences Chemistry Physics Agricultural and Science Education Maths/Statistics/Computer Science Remedial and General Studies Veterinary Medicine Seed Technology Centre University Library Centre for Food and Agricultural Strategy Yoruba Igbo Igala Tiv Idoma Igede Others
were massively employed towards the end of that Administration and who actually reported after its expiration were not qualified to comment on the management style of the vice chancellor between September 3, 1996 and September 3, 2001. Most staff of the College of Veterinary Medicine, which was established shortly before the exit of the vice chancellor (himself a Professor of Veterinary Medicine) fell under this category. The detailed analysis of the academic status shows that of the 200 respondents, 4.5% were Professors or their equivalent, 1.5% were Associate Professors or their equivalent, 18.5% were Senior Lecturers or their equivalent, 22.5% were Lecturers I or their equivalent, 14.5% were Lecturers II or their equivalent while 16.5% were Graduate Assistants or their equivalent. The academic status of the 200 respondents was heaviest in the middle with 44.5%
Frequency 16 8 7 13 4 2 7 7 17 9 7 16 8 6 12 8 7 7 9 10 7 2 1 6 4 19 35 18 61 34 13 20
Percentage (%) 8 4 3.5 6.5 2 1 3.5 3.5 8.5 4.5 3.5 8 4 3 6 4 3.5 3.5 4.5 5 3.5 1 0.5 3 2 9.5 17.5 9 30.5 17 6.5 10
(Lecturers I and II), followed by the bottom with 31% (Graduate Assistants and Assistant Lecturers) and lastly the top with 24.5% (Senior Lecturers, Associate Professors and Professors). This information is important to management in terms of recruitment and promotion of academic staff in the university. The department-wise distribution of respondents shows that out of the 200 respondents, 8.5% were from the Department of Animal Production, 8% each from the Departments of Crop Production and Agricultural Engineering, 6.5% from Agricultural Economics, 6% from Mechanical Engineering, 5% from Maths/Statistics/Computer Science, 4.5% each from Food science and Technology and Agricultural and Science Education. Others were 4% each from Soil Science, Civil Engineering, Biological Sciences, 3.5% each from Agricultural Extension and Communication, Wildlife and Range Management, Fisheries and Aquacul-
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ture, Home Economics, Chemistry, Physics and Remedial and General Studies, 3% from Electrical and Electronics Engineering and university Library, 2% each from Forestry Production and Utilization and Centre for Food and Agricultural Strategy (CEFAS), 1% each from Social and Environmental Forestry and Veterinary Medicine while respondents from Seed Technology Centre (STC) constituted 0.5%. When viewed side by side the total academic staff population of 269, the respondents constitute 74.35% of the population. The researchers strived to attain the same percentage across all the departments apart from College of Veterinary Medicine, majority of whose staff assumed duty after September 3, 2001. An important factor in management is culture. A university is supposed to be an international community of scholars where you find people from various parts of the world. A good manager must have information on the different cultures represented by the different tribes in the university environment. The distribution of respondents on the basis of tribal affiliations shows that of the 200 respondents, 30.5% were Tiv, followed by the Igbo=s who constituted rd th 17.5%. The Idomas came 3 with 17%, the Yorubas 4 with th th 9.5%, the Igalas 5 with 9%, the Igedes 6 with 6.5% while other tribes made up 10%. It is interesting to know that the Hausas were classified as others as there was only one contract staff of Hausa extraction in the nniversity of 269 academic staff strength. In managing University of Agriculture, Makurdi, a reflection of federal character in appointments may ensure stability in the system. This also shows that the Nigerian universities are fast ceasing to be universal in terms of global distribution of staff due to poor funding and remuneration as Benue State alone (Tiv, Idoma and Igede) constituted 54% of the respondents. No wonder the term “localversities” is now being used to describe a typical Nigerian university. Determination of management style of the vice chancellor The assessment of respondents on the initiating structure management style scale based on grouped scores frequency distribution was as follows: 12-20 (11%), 21-28 (21.5%), 29-36 (46.5%), 37-44 (13%), 45-52 (7%) and 5360 (1%). A score of ∃47 would indicate that the management style of the vice chancellor can be described as high on initiating structure. This means that the vice chancellor was able to plan, organize, direct and control the work of others. However, a further analysis of the results shows that only 2% of the respondents scored the vice chancellor within desirable limits on initiating structure while 98% returned scores below 47 on the 60 point scale. The reliability test using Cronbach alpha gave 0.968 for 183 items as 17 of the component variables had zero variance and were removed from the scale. Generally, if a is greater than 0.7, it means that the construct has high reliability. Wu (2005) states that the generally accepted guideline is 0.6,
which further confirms the reliability of the measurement items. The assessment of respondents on the considerate management style scale based on grouped frequency distribution analysis was as follows: 10-18 (39.5%), 19-26 (36.5%), 27-34 (16%), 35-42 (7%) and 43-50 (1%). The analysis shows that 76% of respondents scored the vice chancellor between 10-26 on a 50 point scale. A score of ∃40 would indicate that the vice chancellor was a considerate leader. A considerate leader is one who is concerned with the comfort, well-being and contributions of others. A further analysis of the results shows that only 1.5% of the respondents scored the vice chancellor ∃40 on considerate management style while 98.5% scored him below 40 on the 50 point scale. The reliability test using Cronbach alpha gave 0.978 for 198 items as 2 of the component variables had zero variance and were removed from the scale. Generally, managers rated ∃47 on initiating structure management style and ∃40 on considerate management style tended to be in charge of higher producing groups than those whose management style is the reverse. In the case of the vice chancellor of the University of Agriculture between the period September 3, 1996 to September 3, 2001, the verdict of academics in the university is that he was unable to plan, organize, direct and control the work of others, which are the major functions of management; neither was he concerned with the comfort, well-being and contributions of others. This means no concern for production and no concern for people. Table 3 shows the descriptive statistics of questionnaire constructs for determination of management style. The mean, also called average, is the most commonly used measure of central tendency and is as the sum of all the scores divided by the total number of scores. The standard deviation is the square root of the variance; it represents an average measure of the amount each score deviates from the mean. Smaller standard deviation means the distribution of scores are clustered close to the mean and the mean has less error. Skewness characterizes the degree of symmetry of a distribution around its mean. Positive skewness indicates a distribution with an asymetric tail extending towards more positive values (skewed to the right). Negative skewness indicates a distribution with an asymetric tail extending towards more negative values (skewed to the left). Zero values indicate symmetrical distribution. Kurtosis characterizes the relative peakedness or flatness of a distribution compared to the normal distribution. Positive kurtosis indicates leptokurtic distribution. Negative kurtosis indicates platykurtic distribution. Zero values indicate normal or mesokurtic distribution. Relationship between management style and academic staff performance The results of the study show that 96% of the respondents
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Table 3. Descriptive statistics of questionnaire items for determination of management style (n=200).
Constructs Considerate structure management style
Initiating structure management style
Items CS1 CS2 CS3 CS4 CS5 CS6 CS7 CS8 CS9 CS10 CS11 CS12 IS1 IS2 1S3 1S4 IS5 IS6 IS7 IS8 IS9 IS10
Mean 2.595 2.66 2.305 3.085 2.11 2.725 1.975 2.595 3.365 2.38 2.94 2.995 1.855 2.24 2.085 2.33 2.33 2.49 1.515 1.895 2.095 2.415
were of the view that there is a relationship between the management style of the vice chancellor of University of Agriculture, Makurdi and academic staff performance while 4% said there is no relationship. In the course of interview with some of the respondents, they felt that in universities, where the committee system operates under well defined rules and guidelines, there should be no relationship between the management style of the vice chancellor and academic staff performance. They were of the view that in some other universities, some academic staff do not even know their vice chancellors and they do not have to know him before their training, research and teaching requirements, which are
critical to their performance. In University of Agriculture, Makurdi where the committee system was not operational, the management style of the vice chancellor had a direct relationship to academic staff performance. The implication is that with good management, the performance of academic staff will be positively affected while with bad management, the performance of academic staff will be negatively affected. The research variables used for the test of the hypothesis were management style and one of the performance
indicators,that is research and training. Whereas 192 respondents said that there is a relationship between management style and academic staff performance, 8 said there is no relationship. While whereas 4 respondents said they benefitted from research/ training, 196 said they did not benefit. Using the Chi-square
table, the critical value at 0.05 level of significance and 1
Standard deviation 0.946 0.999 1.099 1.168 0.966 1.107 1.029 1.117 1.085 0.938 1.054 1.286 0.958 1.095 1.129 1.061 1.085 1.178 0.839 1.053 0.970 1.033
Kurtosis 0.285 -0.532 0.156 -0.869 -0.328 -0.412 -0.286 -0.699 -0.882 -0.078 -0.491 -1.104 0.346 -0.651 0.202 -0.174 0.401 -0.239 2.332 -0.436 -0.928 -0.694
Skewness 0.065 0.207 0.793 0.063 0.386 0.383 0.748 0.327 0.018 0.390 -0.061 -0.019 0.883 0.462 0.932 0.402 0.815 0.705 1.682 0.785 0.309 0.120
2
degree of freedom is 3.841. That is, tab. = 3.841. Whereas 2 2 cal. = 353.5816 > tab. = 3.841, the decision therefore is to reject the null hypothesis that there is no relationship between the management style of the vice chancellor of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi and performance of academic staff. Since the null hypothesis has been rejected, it means that the alternate hypothesis which states that there is a relationship between the management style of the vice chancellor of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi and performance of academic staff is hereby accepted Impact of management style on performance indicators of academic staff Performance appraisal is an assessment of individual job performance for a specific period (Cole, 1995) and in the case of University of Agriculture, Makurdi for the preceding twelve months (October 1 - September 30). Qualification One of the performance indicators of academic staff is ability to acquire higher degrees. To enhance performance of staff therefore, the institutions training policy has to be very sound. An assessment of the training policy of ma-
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nagement was as follows: 67.5% poor, 24% fair, 7% good and 1.5% very good. Interview with some of the respondents indicated that those who benefitted from training tended to rate the training policy of the Administration as Agood@ and Avery good@. During this period, oversea training of academics was discouraged by management because staff were alleged to abscond after such training. The policy was to train staff within the country, which was in trickles. Some respondents pointed out that some staff members in the College of Science, Agriculture and Science Education were denied training because their areas of study were not seen as being relevant to the mission and mandate of a University of Agriculture. The fate of such staff who were handling service courses therefore continued to hang in the balance as questions of career advancement for an English Language major servicing General Studies (GS) courses in a University of Agriculture arose during this period with no clear policy directives. On the number of respondents who benefitted from either Masters or Doctorate degree training leave during the five year period under study, of the 200 respondents, 22.5% or 45 had obtained their Doctorate degrees before September 3, 1996. Of the remaining, 64.5% or 129 said they did not benefit while 13% or 26 said they did. It could be observed that most staff of trainable cadres during this period were saddled with responsibilities such as Ag. Head of Departments in preference to their most senior colleagues and were unable to seek admission for higher studies. There were alleged cases of outright denials of award of training leave to the point that some staff members decided to embark on self training. Of the 26 respondents who were awarded training leave by the Administration, 10 or 38.46% were for Masters degree while 16 of 61.54% were for Doctorate degrees. Teaching/cognate experience In this wise, departments and colleges are usually funded so that they can provide the basic teaching materials. The response to the question whether the departments and colleges were adequately funded to carry out teaching, laboratory, workshop and fieldwork activities during the period indicated that 0.5% said Yes while 99.5% said No. During this period, respondents alleged that the vote books and departmental budgets ceased to operate. This therefore seriously affected the output of staff in terms of teaching as was reflected in the low grades scored by students in examinations and the subsequent problems that arose with the implementation of pre-requisite policy in the University. A further analysis of what respondents felt was responsible for the lack of facilities shows that of the 199 or 99.5% respondents, 19.1% blamed the lack of funding of the departments and colleges on poor funding from the Federal Government. However, 52.8% felt that since Apoor funding@ did not mean Ano funding@, the problem had to do
with non release of funds to departments and colleges by the vice chancellor. The analysis also indicated that 38.7% blamed the problem on arbitrariness in budgeting and budget implementation by Administration, 84.9% blamed it on misapplication of funds by university administration while 4.5% attributed the problem to mismanagement of funds by head of departments and dean of colleges. This group of respondents felt that this was the reason that first of all led to centralization of departmental and college expenditures by the vice chancellor. Apart from the possible reasons above, a further 9% made comments as to the reasons responsible for the lack of facilities such as looting of the treasury through inflated contracts and deliberate nonrelease of funds to the departments and colleges so as to subdue and extract allegiance. Of all the reasons, misapplication of funds by university administration had the highest percentage. There were allegations that funds were diverted to purchase of stationeries, vim, omo, toilet rolls, stencils, duplicating ink, morigald and other such materials in quantum. It was a common site in most offices of head of departments and dean of colleges to see piles of duplicating and photocopying paper up to the ceiling - an estimated stationery requirement for 5 years. Some of the materials expired with time and hence the rationale for such expenditures to the neglect of key areas of academic development. Contribution to university/community On whether this parameter can be measured in absolute terms, out of the 200 respondents, 7.5% were of the opinion that the parameter can be measured in absolute terms while 92.5% said it cannot. It is believed that since all the other parameters can be measured absolutely, that of contribution to university/community is usually used to reasonably make up the required aggregate minimum scores individuals need for promotion to the various academic staff positions. This gesture was a function of the degree of loyalty. Publications The performance in terms of publications by respondents during the five year period was analyzed and presented in Table 4. Cumulatively, more than 15 books of 1-3 authors were published by 10 respondents during the period. Also on a cumulative basis, 13 respondents published more than 30 chapters in refereed books; a total number of more than 221 articles in learned journals were published by 82 respondents within the five year period. A total of 92 respondents published more that 197 articles in refereed proceedings during the five year period while a total of more than 32 monographs were published by 11 respondents during the period of the study. Whereas 5 or 2.5% of the respondents were responsible for the creation of six scien-
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Table 4. Publications by academic staff between the period September 3, 1996 to September 3, 2001 (Percentage in Parenthesis).
Type of Publications Books:1-3 authors Chapters in Refereed Book Articles in learned journals Articles in referred proceedings Monographs Creative scientific works and genetic materials, design and breeds (patented/unpatented) Bibliographies in journals, monographs and brooks (annotated/unannotated) Edited Books
Number 0 190(95%) 187(93.5%) 118(59%) 108(54%) 189(94.5%) 195(97.5%)
1 6(3%) 5(2.5%) 22(11%) 34(17%) 4(2%) 4(2%)
2 2(1%) 3(1.5%) 21(10.5%) 28(14%) 0(0%) 1(0.5%)
3 1(0.5%) 3(1.5%) 15(7.5%) 18(9%) 3(1.5%) 0(0%)
4 0(0%) 0(0%) 8(4%) 7(3.5%) 1(0.5%) 0(0%)
5 1(0.5%) 2(1%) 16(8%) 5(2.5%) 3(1.5%) 0(0%)
200(100%)
0(0%)
0(0%)
0(0%)
0(0%)
0(0%)
198(99%)
1(0.5%)
1(0.5%)
0(0%0
0(0%)
0(0%)
Source: Research Survey, 2002 (Irtwange, 2002).
tific works and genetic materials, design and breed (patented and unpatented), no respondent laid claim to bibliographies in journals, monographs and books (annotated/unannotated). However, 2 or 1% of the respondents published between them three edited books. The analysis shows a not too impressive performance in terms of publications but when viewed relative to research development efforts and conference attendance/sponsorship of the management during the period, one would wonder how possible it was to publish under the prevailing circumstances. Interviews with respondents indicated that most of the academics funded their research activities through their monthly salaries while some depended on their undergraduate and postgraduate supervision activities for their publications. Considering a healthy publication rate of 2 per year, it was expected that during the 5 year period, the 200 academic staff respondents would have had 2,000 publications instead of the 504 recorded during the period. Current research/extension The assessment of the research development efforts of management between September 3, 1996 to September 3, 2001 was as follows: 70.5% poor, 27% fair and 2.5% good. Whereas under academic staff training policy, 1.5% of the respondents rated the performance of Administration as Avery good@ and 0% as Aexcellent@, the rating of 0% was returned for Avery good@ and Aexcellent@ in case of research development efforts. During the period, 2% of the respondents received research/training grant while 98% of the respondents did not benefit from the facility. This was in sharp contrast to academic staff training where 13% benefitted. One of the performance indicators in assessment of academic staff is current research. With the very low level of research development efforts during the period, the performance of academic staff would have been
affected negatively. An analysis of local and international conference attendance by academic staff during the period shows that 45% of respondents did not attend any conference throughout the five year period. Whereas 17% attended one conference during the period, 15% attended two, 13% attended three, 6% attended four and 4% attended five and above. In academic circles, conference attendance is an indicator of productivity in terms of fruits of research development efforts and willingness to share such results with colleagues. In summary, of the 200 respondents, 110 attended more than 260 conferences during the five year period. It is expected that at the rate of one conference per year, the 200 respondents would have attended 1000 conferences during the 5 year period. On sponsorship by Administration to local and international conferences during the period, the results show that 66.5% of respondents did not benefit from any sponsorship to conference throughout the five year period. Whereas 21.5% benefitted from one sponsorship during the period, 6.5% benefitted from two, 2.5% benefitted from three, 2% benefitted from four and 1% benefitted from five and above. Sponsorship to learned conferences is one of the agreements between the Federal Government and Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and it is being funded by the Federal Government. A further analysis shows that since 45% of the respondents did not attend any conference at all, it therefore means that only 43 or 21.5% of the respondents attended but did not enjoy sponsorship. As it was alleged, sponsorship to conferences was based on display of loyalty to Administration. In summary, of the 200 respondents, 67 benefitted from more than 110 sponsorships during the five year period. An expression of the opinions of respondents to whether the university library was able to meet their teaching and research needs in terms of current books, journals and
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management information systems during the period indicated that 9 or 4.5% of respondents said Yes while 191 or 95.5% said No. It is therefore likely that most academics in the university were unaware of current developments in their fields of study. This type of scenario led to a situation where it became very difficult for academics in the university to publish their papers in international journals. It also affected the students being trained, as “oxidized lecture notes” were not updated to meet with current trends and developments. Administrative experience In University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Deanship is by election while appointment of head of department and membership of university committees is by the vice chancellor. In assessing staff under this indicator, the guidelines stipulate deans, heads of department and membership of university committees. An analysis of what the respondents felt was mostly the driving force behind appointments into administrative positions in the university was as follows: 155 or 77.5% felt that appointments were mostly on the basis of loyalty to administration, 23 or 11.5% endorsed merit and seniority, 13 or 6.5% felt that religious considerations were the overriding factor while 4.5% attributed appointments to local government considerations. From the foregoing therefore, there are some academics who may never be appointed into administrative positions because they hold differing viewpoints on issues, they do not attend the same church with the vice chancellor and they do not come from the same Local Government Area (LGA) with him. If the basis of appointment is on merit and seniority, the younger lecturers question why they should be assessed for administrative experience when they do not fall into the category of those to be appointed. It is important to note here that in order to assist the lower level lecturers in this regard, some departments created positions such as examination officers, time table officers, course coordinators, etc the basis of which they are scored for administrative experience. Even though this was practiced, it did not form part of the officially approved guidelines. The considerations used by head of departments in appointing staff into these so-called administrative positions were also questionable. Promotion and motivation/reward of staff The sum total of performance assessment of academic staff is promotion. An analysis of whether promotion guidelines were strictly followed by management in all cases, out of the 200 respondents, 4.5% opined that the guidelines were strictly followed by management in all cases while 95.5% said they were not. There were reported cases where guidelines were changed to either make things easy or difficult for some candidates, leading to arbitrariness in
application. An analysis of the effect of appropriate motivation and reward on academic staff performance indicates that out of the 200 respondents, 198 or 99% believe that performance of academic staff of the university would have been enhanced if appropriately motivated and rewarded while 2 or 1% felt that motivation and reward will not enhance performance. It is the opinion of the majority of the respondents that if academic staff are provided conducive offices, official vehicles are repaired and made available to deserving university functionaries, staff quarters are properly maintained, promotion issues are handled according to laid down guidelines, salaries, allowances, claims are paid and loans are disbursed as at when due, research grants and conference fees are made available to academics, teaching and research materials are provided, a sound training programme and incentives are put in place etc, the performance of staff in terms of qualification, teaching/cognate experience, contribution to university and community, publications, current research/extension and administrative experience will be greatly enhanced. The research variables used for the test of the hypothesis were motivation/reward and promotion of staff. Whereas 198 respondents said that performance of academic staff will be enhanced if they are appropriately rewarded or motivated, 2 said it will not. While whereas 9 respondents said the promotion guidelines were strictly applied in all cases, 191 said they were not. Using the Chi-square table, the critical value at 0.05 level of significance and 1 degree of freedom is 3.841. That is, 2tab. = 3.841. Whereas 2cal. = 357.6482 > 2tab. = 3.841, the decision therefore is to reject the null hypothesis that there is no relationship between the management style of the vice chancellor of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi and performance of academic staff. Since the null hypothesis has been rejected, it means that the alternate hypothesis which states that there is a relationship between the management style of the Vice Chancellor of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi and performance of academic staff is hereby accepted. The vice chancellor reports To conclude discussion on this study, it becomes important to capture some aspects of the vice chancellor’s report that are related to the study (UAM, 2001) as follows: Academic Staff Development: I soon realized that as a specialized university whose mandate revolves around teaching, research and extension for agricultural and rural transformation, there were obvious shortcomings and inadequacies which needed to be addressed immediately. The shortcomings included shortage of staff in specialized fields such as Engineering, Food Technology, Mathematical Sciences, Forestry and Agricultural Economics and Extension. Indeed, the few academic staff in these areas could hardly cope with the ever increasing number of students
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Table 5. Improvement of staff in departments and units in UAM (1996-2000) for teaching, research and extension.
College/Centre/Unit Agronomy: Crop Production Soil Science Forestry and Fisheries: Forestry Production Soil and Environmental Forestry Wildlife and Management Fisheries and Aquaculture Agricultural Economics and Extension: Agric. Ext. and Communication Agric. Economics Animal Science: Animal Production Food Technology Food Science and Technology Home Economics Engineering Technology: Agricultural Engineering Civil Engineering Electrical and Electronics Mechanical Engineering Science and Agric. Science Education: Agricultural Science Biological Science Chemistry Mathematics/Computer/Statistics Physics Remedial and General Studies Centre for Extension and Coperative (Extension Staff): Seed Technology University Farm (Technical Officers) Total
Total
1996-2000
% Improvement
16 7 23
2 2 4
13 29 17
7 3 6 10 26
5 3 2 3 13
71 100 33 30 50
9 12 21
6 7 13
67 58 62
16
4
25
11 8 19
5 2 7
45 25 37
14 9 7 12 42
2 5 3 3 13
14 56 43 25 31
12 9 8 10 8 8 55
3 1 1 6 1 3 15
25 11 13 60 13 38 27
7 10 17 232
6 6 12 89
86 60 71 38
Source: UAM, 2001.
admitted into the departments. In the early life of the university, it received considerable support for staff Unfortunately it may have not been well co-ordinated as most beneficiaries were in area of natural sciences and not in agriculture. This is more worrisome as our College of Science is only a supporting programme, whose future as a
development; staff development appears to have been pursued with vigor both at local and international level. degree awarding outfit is very much in doubt. When this Administration was settling down, the period coincided with the period Nigeria was becoming increasingly more isolated internationally and funds for foreign training had dried. Also
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Table 6. Staff training in University of Agriculture, Makurdi (19881999).
Status Completed and resumed duties Resumed but yet to complete course Still on study leave Unable to complete (appointment terminated) Abandoned course Absconded and dismissed Total
Number 85 18 34 9 1 12 160
Source: UAM, 2001.
Table 7. Breakdown of staff training in University of Agriculture, Makurdi (1988-1999).
Breakdown 1988-1995 Trained Overseas Trained Locally 1996-1999 Trained at University of Agriculture, Makurdi Postgraduate School Other Universities in Nigeria Total
Academic
Non-academic
15 61
35
18
1
27
3
121
39
Source: UAM, 2001.
the funds coming into the university for staff training were badly cut, and many who were trained in the past failed to return to University of Agriculture, Makurdi. These were some of the reasons that informed the establishment of our Postgraduate School very early in the life of the Administration. However, due to importance of staff development in the life of a university, we still continued with staff training the best we could as can be seen from the table attached (see Tables 5-7). The report of the vice chancellor corroborates the findings of this study as it relates to academic staff development. From the results of this study, there are managerial implications for managers of tertiary institutions: if they adopt certain management styles, they will help improve performance of academic staff. This is in agreement with studies carried out in business industries (O’Reagan et al. 2005; Rejas et al. 2006; Lee 2007) and healthcare industries (Al-Mailam, 2001; Gabbert, 2005). CONCLUSIONS AND POLICY RECOMMENDATION In the course of the study, it has been found that: (a) The management style of the Vice Chancellor of University of Agriculture, Makurdi between the period September 3, 1996 to September 3, 2001 was characterized by “no concern for production” and “no concern for people”. (b) There is a relationship between the management style of the Vice Chancellor of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi and performance of academic staff. (c) The impoverished style of management affected the performance of academic staff negatively on all performance indicators. (d) The performance of academic staff of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi would be enhanced if appropriately motivated and rewarded. It is therefore recommended that appointment of vice chancellors in Nigeria should, in addition to political and
professorial considerations, include proven ability and capacity to professionally manage men, money and materials to deliver on the core mandates of the various universities. The findings of this study imply that being a professor from the catchment area from where a university is located without management training is not enough qualifications to be appointed a vice chancellor. REFERENCES Al-Mailam FF ( 2001). The effects of leadership on hospital performance in public and private hospitals in Kuwait. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. University of La Verne, California, United States. Ayatse JOI (2001). Speech delivered by the Vice Chancellor at the interactive session with the congress of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Agriculture, Makurdi Branch. 17th October. Bowerman BL, O’Connell RT, Orris, JB (2004). Essentials of business statistics. North America:McGraw-Hall. Cole GA (1995). Management-theory and practice. Educational low-priced books scheme funded by the British Government. 4th edition. ELBS with DP publications. Gabbert CC (2005). The relationship between chief executive transformational leadership and hospital performance. Capella University. Hellriegel D, Slocum JW (1996). Management. 7th edition. South - Western College Publishing. USA. Irtwange SV (2002). Impact of management style on academic staff performance: case study of University of Agriculture, Makurdi. An unpublished MBA project. Department of Business Management, Benue State University, Makurdi - Nigeria. Idachaba FS (1991). Convocation address at the inaugural convocation of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi. 9th March. Onaivi Printing and Publishing Co. Ltd., Makurdi. Laka-Mathebula MR (2004). Modeling the relationship between organizational commitment, leadership style, human resources management practices and organizational trust. University of Pretoria, South Africa. Lee F (2007).The relationships between HRM practices, leadership style, competitive strategy and business performance in Taiwanese steel industry. International Master of Business Administration Program Master’s Thesis. National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan, Republic of China. Lowe KB, Kroeck KG, Sivasubramanian N (1996). Effectiveness of correlates of transformational and transactional leadership: a meta-
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analytic review of the MLQ literature. Leadership Quarterly (7):489-508. Nmadu TM (1999). Human resources management: an introduction. Jofegan Associates Publishers, Nigeria. O’Reagan N, Ghobadian A, Sims M (2005). The link between leadership, strategy, and performance in manufacturing SMEs. J. Small Bus. Strategy, 15(2): 45-57. Osuala EE (1993). Introduction to research methodology. Africana FEP Publishers, Nigeria. Parham JB (1994). The effects of the leadership process on organizational performance: an empirical analysis. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan, United States of America. Rejas LP, Ponce ER, Ponce JR (2006). Leadership styles and effectiveness: a study of small firms in Chile. J. Interciencia 31(7): 499-504. Robinson JP, Shaver PR (1973). Measures of psychological attitudes. Ann Arbor, MI: Survey Research Center Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan.
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UAM (1988). Mission and mandate. University information series 1. University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Nigeria. 22nd November. UAM (1998). UAM at 10: A successful journey so far. Programme of the 10th anniversary of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria. December 18-19. UAM (2001). The vice chancellor Professor E. O. Gyang reports. September 1996 - September 2001. Information and publications unit. University of Agriculture, Makurdi. Wu WY (2005). Business research methods (2nd ed.) Taiwan: Hwa Tai Publishing. Yukl GA (1998). Leadership in organizations (4th ed.) Englwood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
