THE IMPORTANCE OF ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE IN EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT A CASE STUDY OF GENERAL COTTON MILL ONITSHA
ANAMBRA STATE

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title i
Approval ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgement iv
Table of contents vi
Abstracts ix

Abstract

The aim of this work is to examine the importance of organizational structure in effective management of general cotton mill Onitsha on issue affecting the management and employees. To uncover the trend of events in the scene, a review of related literature was carried out. As a method of gathering data a structured and closed-ended questionnaire was designed, validated, reproduced and administered on a sample of 50 out of which 40 were retrieved while 12 were lost due to logistic problems. Data based on these were presented and analyzed. It was discovered among other things that, communication, workflows, authority and responsibility are all valid relationships that exist between different dimensions of organizational structure that can affect managerial efficiency. It was concluded that the manner in which an organization is structured is evident in the effectiveness of the management of such organization and also there only a low degree of difference existing between the structural designs of the department within the organization. The following recommendation are made by the researcher based on the organizations generally and general cotton Mill Onitsha must review there organizational structure with the intention of adopting or creating one that will be completely free from communication hitches and hiccups so that cohesiveness will rule in such organizations and better understanding of tasks, expectations etc. can be upheld at all time.        

 

 

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1   BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Every organization have objectives which has always been to achieve a goal. These objectives are identified through planning. This is simply because through planning, management of organization establish means of achieving objectives invariably, establishing a means for achieving these objectives becomes the prior occupation for management. This brings theme face to face with a major management function which is organization. The organization process is mainly aimed to achieve co-ordination through the design of structure of task, authority and relationships. Meanwhile, the level of objective attainment generally determines the extent of management effectiveness. On the other hand, structure being a direct result of management function of organizing is the framework through which an organization accomplished the task and responsibilities needed to attain its objectives. This may be why Donnelly et al (2004) stated that “structure is a means for achieving the goal established in planning. Coming to task that structure in the present day organization presents, the need for people to organize their efforts in order to attain certain objectives becomes more and more imperative. Hence organization structure defined the format for allocation of work roles to identify the members of the organization. It establishes the line of authority for integration and co-ordination activities. According to Gabraith and Nathanson, (2009) organizational structure means “the organization of work into roles such as production, financial, marketing and so on. The combining of roles into departments or divisions all in an effort to achieve set objectives. We can therefore describe the functional structure in terms of dividing tasks, jobs and delegating authorities thus, this provides some aspects of major challenges faced by management, management in expected to make the appropriate analysis that will help in designing an effective organizational structure.

A sound organizational structure will aid directing, co-ordinating and control, in the overall outset of an organization and its members. Therefore it becomes a network of interaction and relationships between positions, therefore functions and occupants and also a means through which management attempt to achieve organizational goals. The foregoing emphasizes the fact that structure is the result from organizational design. It could therefore be regarded as a guide without which a managerial team will not function effectively. Thus, it is far from surprise that it has been the subject of intensive study which has been adopted in trying to design effective organization structure. Firstly       it was the classical theorists who passed the ideal of “one best way for structuring effective organization. Unfortunately the answer provided by the decades of systematic research has proved this notion wrong. Organizations face a wide range of internal and external conditions that there cannot be a single structure or design that will prove successful in all. Thompson (2007), has confirmed that idea by stating that, the best organizational structure is one that can adjust to tackle any situation at hand. At this basic fact has become increasingly apparent, a new prospective on organizational design known as the contingency approach has taken form. Supports of this approach reason that there is, in fact not best single structure. People and environment in the above factor function with the key dimensions of organization structure, which include departmentation, chain of commands, span of control, centralization, conversion staff complexity. The above facts, present a lot of challenges for modern managers. Prescribing a successful organizational structure that agree adjusts to agree with both internal and external environment. Unless, researches are therefore carried out inorder to involve radiated recommendations, they will not be effective in practice.

Brief History of General Cotton Mill Onitsha               

The company was incorporated in 1964 as a private company under the companies ordinance (AP 37 to manufacture printed cloths. It came into full operations in 1973 after new equipment were acquired for the spinning/weaving mills to complement the printing process thus becoming a full integrated textile factory. General cotton mill Limited facilitates include 39640 spindles, 1,238 looms and finishing plant for bleaching, drying and printing which include 2 rotary printing machines. The company since its inception maintains two service agreement. It is technically supported by Texas cotton mill limited of Hong Kong and by UAC of Nigeria Plc, for it commercial services. They supply prudent management resources sustain over the years. The authorized share capital of the company is N400,000 share of 50 kobo each i.e. N200,000 only N189,583,330 share are issued and fully paid.

 

1.2   STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Overtime, organizational structure has been proven to be of basic importance to every organizations existence. Authorities and responsibilities will be clearly defined, every task assigned to a person and the person held responsible for how well or badly he or she performs the job. Duties and tasks are shared into departments and units with a manager overseeing the affairs of such departments and units. These departments must all work harmoniously towards the achievement of set objectives (Udoye, 2011). The problems that are encountered therefore, are problems of duplication of tasks and repetition of process. The importance of organizational structure in management effectiveness cannot be utilized if the best organizational structure is not adopted. Most cases haphazard and unobjective structures are due to management neglect of the importance of organizational structure. The study therefore will seek to highlight deeply, the importance of organizational structure in order to draw the attention of management to it. The study will also identify different patterns of organizational structure and their characteristics so that management can be well informed towards choosing the bets structure that will suit the operations of general cotton mill, Onitsha.

 

1.3   PURPOSE OF THE STUDY       

This study is to examine the relationship among some element of organizational structure and managerial effectiveness in Nigeria business organization. Therefore it will seek to:

1. Identify factors in the organizational structure that could affect managerial effectiveness.
2. To determine whether there is problem in the structural design of any department within the organization.
3. To find out if the level of education of subordinate influence the way a manager structures his department.
4. To identify the links between the above variable and the managers degree of effectiveness in meeting up to the objectives he is expected to achieve.
5. Determine whether those variables have the same or different effects on managerial effectiveness in the different departments.

 

1.4   SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Proper organizational structure in the organization will reduce role conflicts and avoid stress to manager, it will also specify span of control. The study will help many corporate organizations that will go through the work in adopting a sound or proper organizational structure, which will enable them achieve their set objectives. It will also specify the roles the work flows and flow of authority or responsibility from top to the bottom of the organization, which reduces stress and job dissatisfaction among some employee. It will encourage, easy job analysis in the organization. This research will also help top management during job evaluation and performance appraisal.

 

1.5   RESEARCH QUESTIONS

        In order to further guide this research work, the following questions have been advanced.

1. What relationship exists between different dimensions of organizational structure that can affect managerial efficiency?
2. What is the degree of difference existing between the structural designs of the department within the organization?
3. Does the level of education of the subordinates affects or influence the way a manager structure his department?
4. What are the lines between the above variables and managerial degree of effectiveness in meeting up to the objectives he is to achieve?
5. Does the same variable have some or different effects on managerial effectiveness of other organizations?

 

1.6   SCOPE/DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Due to the nature of this research, it will not be feasible to study the influence of all the structural variable that could affect managerial effectiveness hence, only some of them will be covered in this study. The scope of this study will be limited to General Cotton Mill Onitsha, due to time and financial constraints.    

• DEFINITION OF TERMS

Organizational Structure: Refers to the setting through which an organization accomplished the task and responsibility needed to attain its objectives and goal.

Organization design: Concerned with identifying basic principles that determine the organizational structure of any business organization in relations to the demand of technology and environmental forces.

Technology: This is the conversion process used by an organization to transform inputs into outputs.

Environment: Refers to those elements, institution, organization etc whose activities affects the performance of an organization and are not subject to the organizations control. Hence, the organization must adopt or adjust to their demand or only try to have some level of influence on them.

Centralization: Refers to the degree authority and responsibility are concentrated to key persons in the organization.

Co-ordination: The process of creating an effective links between the components parts of organizational structure which results from departmentalization.

Authority: Is the right to act, it is power vested in a particular person or position and accepted as appropriate and recognized as legitimate not only by the power wielder but also by those over whom he holds such power.

Strategy: The basic goals and objectives and means of achieving them.

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study 1
1.2 Statement of the problem 6
1.3 Purpose of the study 8
1.4 Significance of the study 9
1.5 Research questions 10
1.6 Scope/delimitation of the study 11
1.7 Definition of terms 12
CHAPTER 2
RELATED LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 The meaning of organizational structure 14
2.2 Structure 15
2.3 The traditional early perspective 17
2.3.1 Environment and structure 25
2.3.2 Division of labour 27
2.4 Departmentation 31
2.2.1 Types of structure 34
2.5 Authority and delegation 36
CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Design of the study 38
3.2 Area of the study 38
3.3 Population of the study 39
3.4 Sample of the study 39
3.5 Instrument for data collection 40
3.6 Validation of the Instrument 41
3.7 Distribution and retrieval of instrument 42
3.8 Method of data analysis 42
CHAPTER 4
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS 43
4.1 List of findings 48
4.2 Discussion of findings 49
CHAPTER 5
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 Summary of findings 51
5.2 Conclusion 52
5.3 Recommendations 53
5.4 Limitations of the study 55
5.5 Suggestions for further research 56
Reference 57
Appendix 59
Questionnaire 60

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GLOBALISATION: THE ROLE OF MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

This research work titled “Globalisation: The Role of Multinational Corporations in Nigeria” was necessitated by the controversy about the role of multinational corporations in Nigeria. Hence, this study will attempt to resolve this controversy by determining their contributions to the econ9omic and technological development of the country.

The research work is divided into five chapters. Chapter one introduces the topic under discussion. Here effort was made at giving a brief but general history of globalization, the activities, operations and roles of MNCs in Nigeria. The problem of the study was stated as well as the objectives. Also in this chapter, the research questions were formulated and terms defined.

Chapter two reviews some literature of relevance to the study. Chapter three discusses research methodology, where the procedure for data collection and analysis were stated.

The data collected from the field were presented, analysed and interpreted in chapter four.

Chapter five is the concluding chapter. Here, the findings of the study were highlighted and discussed. A summary of the study was given, recommendation was made and a conclusion of the findings drawn. The suggestions for areas of further study/research was made.Download Full Material-N5000

SERVICE DELIVERY AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN TRANSPORT BUSINESS

ABSTRACT

This study is set out to examine the nature of service delivery and customer satisfaction in transport businesses. The purpose of this study is to ascertain passengers’ rating of service delivery of transport businesses and the level of satisfaction derived from patronizing them In order to obtain necessary information for this study, both primary and secondary data were used, primary data were obtained from field survey with the use of questionnaire as instrument of data collection. 90 questionnaires were administered to respondents, which were retrieved and used. The data collected from the field work were analyzed using chi -square technique and simple percentage. Information from the library, internet, FRSC formed the major source of secondary data. The major findings were that passengers are to a large extent satisfied with the level of services they receive from transport companies. The study also shows that differences exist between the service provided by private and public transport companies as private companies are seen to the more consumer-oriented. Based on the findings, it is recommended that transport companies should continuously pay close attention to drivers, which are seen as the line personnel that provide the core business of carrying passengers to their respective destination. 

CHAPTER ONE/INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

From time immemorial, people have being moving from one place to another in carrying out their daily activities. This simply refers to transportation and to say what transport industry of’ any country is an integral part of the structure of an economy cannot be overemphasized. The rendering of quality service to customer (passengers) is no doubt one of the most significant and a very important issue in the transport industry. Transportation which can be seen as activity that provide for the movement of goods and individual from one place to another, creating place utility fall under the service sector of the economy.

A service has been define as an intangible benefit provided to individual, business,government establishment of activity or the provision of physical facility, product or activity for another’s (Inegbenebor, 2008). The service sector covers a carried range of industries. The government provides a major array of service in most countries including Nigeria. These services include education, health, legal, military, and social,transportation and information services. Private sector services include profit-oriented business such as transport business, banks, insurance, and solicitors among others.

Managing services raise special issues. These Arise from the characteristics of most services, the intangibility of offering the inseparability of production and consumption, the difficulty of achieving standardization and perishable nature of the service such feature prioritize three management concern not normally centre stage in marketing. These are quality, control problem concerned with the productivity of the operations and the management of human resources.

The general myopic view held by most of the transport business operation seems be that of providing quality. Service and crowning the customers as ‘number one” is necessary only because of the need for a large market share or increased customer patronage. Their traditional way of thinking is that passengers will always be there. Those views tend to ignore the fact that customers wants, need and satisfaction should be taken into consideration and that organization’s focus should be on the customers.

The study of customer’s satisfaction in relation to transport businesses is base on the conviction that the customers (passengers) in any service system are the only true judge of the service worth. In many cases, it is easier to access in quantitative terms business operators than in qualitative terms. The fact that, it is difficult to measure service delivery does not make it impossible to achieve. In the line of the foregoing this research work intends to investigate passengers’ satisfaction with various services they receive from transport service providers.

1.2 Statement of Problem

Over the years, passengers of transport businesses have been complaining about the type of service they receive from their respective providers. As a result of this, this researcher will examine and analyze the quality of services rendered and satisfaction derived by the passengers.

1.3 Research Questions

In view of the above, one would want to find answers to the following question.

(1) To what extent have transport businesses been satisfying their customers (passengers)?

(2) Is there any significant difference between services provided by private transport businesses and their public counterpart?

(3) What degree of cordial relationship exists between passengers and service providers?

1.4 Objectives of the Study

The main objective of this study is to ascertain passengers’ rating of service delivery of transport businesses and the level of satisfaction derived from patronizing them.

Specifically, this study will seek among other things to:

Examine the extent to which passengers are satisfied with the level of service they receive from the transport service providers;

(2) Determine whether difference exist between service provided by private transport businesses and their public counter parts;

(3) Find out the extent of cordial relationship existing between customers and service providers.

(4) Ascertain passengers’ complaints and how such complaints are handled;

(5) Examine how passengers seek redress in the face of service failure.

1.5 Statement of Hypotheses

In order to be able to deal with this topic, some research hypotheses that are going to guide in the research process are as follows:

(1) There is no significant difference between service provided by private transport businesses and their public counterparts.

(2) Customers are not always satisfied with the kind of services rendered by transport businesses.

(3) There is no cordial relationship that exist between passengers and service providers

1.6 Scope of the Study

The scope of this study is restricted to service delivery and customers’ satisfaction in transport businesses in Nigeria using some selected private and public transport service providers in Delta State as case study. The emphasis in this research work is on road transport with particular reference to the bus transit system.

1.7 Significance of the Study

The study is relevant in the sense that it will enable the management of transport businesses to find out how sensitive they are to their customers’ needs and hence, the extent to which they are applying their marketing concept. Also, planners and executors of essential services whether transport in nature or not, will learn a lesson or two from this study as a useful guide towards customers’ satisfaction and delight. Above all, the study is a further attempt to apply the marketing concept to the Nigerian situation and to that extent; it is contribution towards sustaining academic debate in this area of marketing services.

1.8 Limitations of the Study

As expected, every study is bound to have a limitation(s). The limitations ofthisstudy come from the following areas: smallness of sample size; this limitation is due to the fact that although the study is meant to cover all organizations in transports businesses in Nigeria, only few of such organizations in Delta State were studied.

The unwillingness of some respondents (passengers) to fill and submit the questionnaire that were administered to them, the level of the questionnaire that were administered appeared to be too high for some respondents especially for those of them that were uneducated.

1.9 Operational Definition of Terms

The keywords used in the course of this study shall be defined in order to make it as simple as possible for any interested reader who may not have verse knowledge in the field of rendering services.

Service: intangible benefits provided to individuals, businesses, government establishments and other organizations through the performance of a variety of activities.
Intangible: things of value but do not exist physically. And mostly used in businesses.
Inseparable: things that are always together, very friendly. People who are inseparable; are always together and are very friendly with each other.
Transportation: a means of moving from one place to another in carrying out activities.

Service Provider: individuals and organizations that renders services to people in need of it.Download Full Material-N5000