ORGANIZATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS, PRACTICES, AND PERFORMANCE IN NIGERIA.

ABSTRACT
So many variables have been identified in the literature as affecting organizational performance. This fact propels managers and some researchers to seek to identify those factors that positively or negatively affect the particular organization or industry of their interest with the aim of strengthening the positive variables and ameliorating the effect of the negative ones for those organizations and industries to post superior economic performance. Unfortunately, these often repeated studies had neglected the area of the effect of organizational characteristics and practices on performance. This study is intended to fill this identified gap for developing countries such as Nigeria.
In pursuance of this, we constructed a model of the 4-S (the human side of the organization) based on 7-S framework and empirically evaluated it using Nigerian samples. The dependent variable identified in the model was return on total assets. The independent variables were staffing policies and practices, leadership behaviour of the chief executive officer, skills of executive management, and sharedness of organizational values among organization members. To test the 4-S model, we adopted ex-post facto and cross-sectional survey research method in which questionnaires were administered on a sample of the companies listed on the 1st tier of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The data collected for the variables of the model were subjected to the ordinary least square (OLS) regression analysis. The results indicated that: staffing policies and practices were positively related to organizational performance; leadership behaviour of the chief executive officer was positively related to organizational performance; skills of executive management were positively related to organizational performance; sharedness of organizational values among organization members was positively related to organizational performance; and there was a positive relationship between the joint actions of these variables and organizational performance. The study noted, however, that values were not effectively communicated; therefore, the strength of shared values was low. The findings have far reaching policy implications. It was recommended that adequate attention should be given to the training and development of human capital. Leadership behaviour should emphasize and enhance employee concern. Executive management and all cadres of employees should be encouraged to put their individual and collective skills at the disposal of their various organizations. The unwholesome position of Nigeria’s value system makes moral rearmament an imperative for organizational survival and national rebirth. These measures would contribute to the improvement of the economic position of Nigerian organizations and the nation.