Housing is no longer just about location, location, location. The conversation is rapidly shifting towards sustainability and how eco-friendly a house can be. As the awareness of our carbon footprints grows, so does the demand for eco-friendly homes. The real estate industry is taking note of this global trend. Let’s explore how this green wave is revolutionizing the property sector.

1. The Rise of Green Real Estate

 As stated by Green Builder Media, the global market for green building materials is anticipated to skyrocket to a staggering $1.2 trillion by 2027. Notably, in the United States, there has been a 500% increase in LEED-certified buildings within the past ten years. This upward trend highlights an increasing consumer consciousness towards the environmental repercussions of their homes and an eager willingness to minimize their carbon footprints.

Quick Fact: In 2022, the National Association of Realtors revealed that 61% of home buyers were hunting for houses with green features. The Millennials are leading this charge, with 68% prioritizing eco-friendly characteristics.

2. Popular Green Features in Modern Homes

Eco-friendly housing isn’t merely a buzzword; it’s a broad spectrum of features and designs that homeowners now expect in their future homes. According to the 2023 National Association of Realtors report, leading the green wish list are:

• Energy-efficient appliances (53%)
• Energy-efficient windows (48%)
• Solar panels (46%)

Yet, the innovations continue. Forbes listed the top eco-friendly housing trends in 2023, which include:

• Net-zero energy homes: Designed to balance the energy consumed with the energy produced.
• Sustainable building materials: Crafted from renewable or recycled sources.
• Smart home technology: A digital touch to reduce energy consumption and water wastage.
• Green roofs: Offering a dual benefit of reducing stormwater runoff and elevating air quality.
• Community gardens: Fostering community spirit while offering a sustainable food source.

3. The Real Estate Market Responds

Incorporating green features lowers utility bills, reduces environmental impact, and has a tangible monetary advantage when selling a property. As stated by the Journal of Real Estate Research, homes with eco-friendly attributes were found to sell at a premium of 4.5% over traditional houses. This stat serves as a potent reminder to buyers and sellers: sustainability is not just a passion but an investment.

A pertinent question often arises: can you buy a house before selling your own? The answer is yes, although it comes with challenges. However, in the competitive housing market, especially where green homes are concerned, making a quick purchase might be an intelligent strategy. Let’s explore how this green real estate wave is revolutionizing the property sector”

4. Steps Toward a Greener Home

Not all homes come eco-friendly, but they can be upgraded. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)encourages homeowners to embark on the green journey. Their top recommendations include:

• Conducting an energy audit to detect energy drains.
• Implementing basic fixes like swapping to energy-efficient bulbs and sealing any air leaks.
• Investing in more extensive energy-saving tactics like insulating homes or switching to green appliances.

Eco-friendly housing isn’t a fleeting trend; it’s the future of real estate. With more buyers prioritizing green features, it’s evident that sustainability, both in construction and living, is driving the real estate landscape. Whether you’re looking to buy, sell, or upgrade, now is the time to think green and invest wisely in the future of our planet.

¹Nwogbo Mercy Obianuju

²Chukwu, Regina Nwamaka

³Ofozoba, Chinonso Anthony (PhD)

⁴Ikedimma, Ifeanyi Francis

^{1, 2&4}Department of Educational Management and Policy, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.

³Department of Arts and Social Science Education, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbarim.

Abstract

The study examined the influence of effective classroom control and management on the academic performance of secondary school students in Enugu East LGA. The study was guided by one specific purpose and one research question. From a population of 36,711 a sample size of 335, were drawn using simple random sampling technique. A structured questionnaire which was validated by experts was used to collect data for the study. The reliability of the instrument was carried out using Cronbach’s Alpha and this yielded a reliability index of 0.75. The data collected was analyzed using mean score. The result showed that use of the right teaching methods and adequate use of instructional material helps in improving classroom management and control in secondary schools. The researchers recommended that workshops/seminars should be organized for teachers on the importance of instructional materials in teaching and learning process so as to improve their classroom management.

Keywords: Classroom Management, Classroom Control, and Academic Performance

Introduction

Classroom management has been highlighted across numerous research studies as a major variable that affects students’ academic performance. The most obvious reason for this assertion is that, effective classroom management sets the stage for teaching and learning. It sets a tone in the classroom that captures students’ attention – as a necessity for effective teaching and learning (Onyali, 2020). This statement is obvious since a classroom which is chaotic and disorganized as a result of poor classroom management is highly unlikely to enhance expansive learning and students’ academic performance and might, indeed, inhibit it. In chaos, according to Ononye (2020), very little academic learning can take place. According to Walter (2012), classroom management differs from one teacher to another because of the teacher’s personality, teaching style, preparedness, and number of students in the classroom. According to Oguejiofor (2020), the concept of classroom management is broader than the notion of student control and discipline, it includes all the things teachers must do in the classroom to foster students’ academic involvement and cooperation in classroom activities to create conducive learning environment.

Nwankwo (2022), relates that classroom management involves curtailing learner’s disruptive behaviors such as fighting and noise making, close observation, arrangement of classroom learning materials, and response to students who suffer from poor sight (vision), poor hea3etb ring, poor reading, poor writing, poor spelling, shame, dullness, hyperactivity and poor study habits. When classroom management is viewed in a more wider and holistic sense, incorporating every element of the classroom from lesson delivery to classroom environment becomes important (‘Obiakor’ 2022). According to Nicholas, this includes creating organized and orderly classroom, establishing expectations, inducing students’ cooperation in learning tasks, and dealing with the procedural demands of the classroom. This view of classroom management contrasts to a more narrow view of classroom management as it deals with just discipline and control. According to Bassey (2012), the wider view of classroom management shows increased engagement, reduction in inappropriate and disruptive behaviors, promotion of student responsibility for academic work, and improved academic performance of students. In effect, discipline, control and the consequences become authoritative or punitive approaches to classroom management. These have become much smaller part of the term classroom management. Thus, classroom management denotes much more than any of these words (Charlie, 2016). 

In the view of Williams (2014), classroom management involves how the teacher works, how the class works, how the teacher and students work together and how teaching and learning takes place. An analyses of the past 50 years of classroom management research identified classroom management as the most important factor, even above students’ aptitude, affecting students’ learning and academic performance (Akubilo, 2019). Contrary to popular belief held by Obi and Obiakor (2021), classroom management is not a gift bestowed upon some teachers. While it is true that some teachers adapt to classroom management easily, making it felt by their colleagues as if they possess some innate talents. Classroom management is a skill that can be acquired like any other profession. It is a skill that must be practiced to achieve proficiency. Classroom management thus requires specific skills such as planning organizing, as well as an aptitude for team work. It requires a great deal of commitment, initiatives, teachers’ willingness to adjust, creative thinking and actions (Abel, 2011)

Ofojebe and Obiakor (2022) observes that improved teacher training in classroom management is a critical part in improving academic performance in a particular subject. Factors contributing to effective classroom management include: teaching methodology, lesson planning and preparation, interpersonal relationships and student motivation (Gaston, Lee and MacArthur 2010). Ezenwagu and Obiakor (2021) observed that structuring a classroom so that it supports positive student behavior requires prior planning. The structure of the classroom environment should decrease the likelihood of inappropriate student behavior and increases desirable student interactions and consequently improves academic performance. A classroom environment would enable learners to study in a way that is interesting, enjoyable and purposeful. Among models to restructure a good classroom environment include: use of a variety of teaching methods and involving students to numerous learning activities, physical class arrangement that allows a teacher to access students, efficient use of class time and ensuring that students interact positively during cooperative learning activities (Obiakor and Oguejofor,2021).  Kerr and Nelson (2012) assert that the use of rules is a “powerful, preventive component of classroom organization and management plans.” Rules are aimed at establishing the expected behaviors, what to be reinforced and the consequences for inappropriate behavior. Thus emphasis of effective class discipline helps to cut down on discipline problems and leave the classroom with fewer interruptions and disruptions. Wong (2009) believes that student performance is influenced by how well the procedures are laid out and taught to them.

To instill class discipline, teachers should introduce class rules early enough when the year is beginning and make sure they are understood by all. The teacher should be fair and impartial across all the students. In case of disruption within a lesson, the teacher should deal with the interruption with as little distraction as possible. Teachers should consider over planning as a recipe to avoid giving students free-time within the lesson. The teacher should be consistent in that they cannot afford to ignore negative behavior. Collins (2012) advocates for “cooperative discipline” where the teacher and students work together to make decisions. To him teachers should come up with a code of conduct that shows how students should behave and not how they should not behave. This instills discipline in a child as they know what is expected of them. Glenn (2013) emphasized the need for teachers to hold class meetings severally. Class meetings encourage respect among teacher and students. According to Barbara Coloroso theory of Inner self control, students should be given an opportunity to develop their self-control and that classrooms are the ideal places for this opportunities.

Thus class discipline can be identified through the use of lesson plans, learning activities, a code of conduct (rules and routines), communicating to parents and through group works (Collins 2012). Consequently there are strategies that promote good use of routines such as: praising, giving a token and signing behavior contracts with students with behavior problems (Emmer and Stough 2011). In South Africa: school Act of 1996 encouraged the need for positive disciplinary strategies as opposed to corporal punishment. Mabeba and Prinsobo (2010) asserts that positive discipline builds a learners’ self-esteem and enables them to cooperate and participate in the classroom and consequently assume responsibility for what happens. A research carried out by Nelson (2012) in Nigeria shows that teachers who assist students to set high expectations and engage them in self-evaluation of their performance get better grades as compared to student with poor self-efficacy.

Kerr and Nelson (2012) encourage the use of humor as a way to engage students and activate their learning. To them, when teachers share a laugh or a smile with students, they help students feel more comfortable and open to learning. Moreover, humor brings enthusiasm, positive feelings, and optimism to the classroom. Teachers are expected to conduct a needs analysis to identify the needs of students so as to capture their attention during learning process. Students need to be taught respect for self and others so that they can be able to function healthily in the society (Rogers, 2009). In Nigeria, as a behavior adjustment strategy, guiding and counseling department has been introduced in educational institutions as opposed to corporal punishment used in many African countries. Thus a good classroom environment should promote independent learning (Kireria 2014). Students should be exposed to numerous learning activities so that they can take pride in their accomplishments and instill a desire for knowledge.

The quality of education has been reflected not only in the subjects taught and achievement levels reached, but also in the learning environment. The environment has both reflected and influenced the behavior of students, and it has been affected by events within and outside of the school (Condition of Education, 2014). Most educators and researchers have agreed that the total environment should be comfortable, pleasant, and psychologically uplifting; should provide a physical setting that students find educationally stimulating; should produce a feeling of well-being among its occupants; and should support the academic process. One major aspect of the classroom climate that has fallen under the control of the teacher is that of classroom management and discipline. As might be expected classroom climate which motivated learning and afforded the students the opportunity to be actively and meaningfully engaged in academic activities influenced the positive rating of teacher’s classroom management hence the relation to their performance in physics.

Classroom management has referred to all the planned or spontaneous activities and interactions that have occurred within a classroom. In recent years, a growing interest has emerged in the area of classroom management. The classroom environment is a large part of classroom management that will either encourage students to succeed, or hamper their abilities and cause more failures. The classroom environment is different than the classroom management because it deals with how the students feel in the classroom. While classroom management focuses on procedures, routines, and expectations, the classroom environment focuses on the relationships between students and teachers, as well as how the students feel amongst their peers in the classroom (Stepanek, 2011). Classroom management is the heart of teaching and learning in school setting. A well-managed classroom can provide an exciting and dynamic experience for everyone involved. Unfortunately, student behavior can often with this process. Good classroom management implies not only that the teacher has elicited the cooperation of the student s in minimizing misconduct and can intervene effectively when misconduct occurs, but also that worthwhile academic activities are occurring more or less continuously and that the classroom management system as a whole is designed to maximize student engagement in those activities, not merely to minimize misconduct. Many times, by encouraging behavior that is more positive and uplifting in one classroom, the behavior will carry on into other classrooms, taking the safe environment further than one classroom. Student achievement, as well as emotional and social outcomes, can all be positively affected by a safe, positive learning environment (Stepanek, 2011). When teachers do not tolerate disrespect both among students and between the students and teacher, they set the standard for their classroom and students feel more encouraged to participate and take risks in the classroom. Because of this, setting the classroom environment is often just as important as establishing classroom management strategies.

Teachers have entered a new age of classroom management. Faced with new challenges during the first part of the twenty first century teachers, teacher educators and school administrators have searched for alternative ways to manage classrooms. However, finding answers to classroom management situations is difficult because there is disagreement about what constitutes effective classroom management approaches.

Some administrators and teachers think of classroom management and discipline as being synonymous terms. Vasa (2014) describe classroom management as behaviors related to maintenance of on-task student behaviors and the reduction off-task or disruptive behaviors. Those who share his view define effective classroom management as a way of preparing students for life. They focus not on controlling students‟ behavior today but on preparing students for the world they live in tomorrow. Teachers and administrators who approach classroom management from this perspective define effective classroom management as the process of creating a positive social and emotional climate in the classroom (Morris, 2016). One of the most important skills possessed by effective teachers is that of classroom management. These skills are considered by Lang (2012) as by far the most important aspect of a teachers training and they state that effective classroom management is largely concerned with disruptive strategies, but other aspects are also of vital importance. Aspects are also of vital importance. The definitions developed by Conrath (2011) for classroom management includes the organization and planning of students’ space, time and materials so that instruction and learning actives can take place effectively.

Alternatively, effective classroom management was divided into four main categories in the studies of Evertson & Emmer (2012) and Sanford (2014). These four categories are: classroom procedures and rules, student work procedures, managing student behavior and organizing instruction. It is clear from these examples that classroom management is much more than a collection of strategies for discipline and involves many aspects of a teacher’s professional expertise. Teacher’s varying approaches to classroom management are reflected in differing levels of effectiveness. For example, a well-prepared teacher has a much greater chance of achieving effective lesson management. In the discussion of Lang (2012), different approaches to discipline are said to range from intimidation to total permissiveness. They advise that such extremes should include monitoring and enforcing reasonable classroom rules, procedures and routines. Effective teaching is more than discipline alone and classroom management has been closely linked to the achievement and engagement of high school science students (McGarity & Butts, 2010). Both this study and the discussion of Lang indicate that teachers should strive to develop effective classroom management techniques and that this will have a significant impact on their educational effectiveness. An analysis of the past fifty years of educational research as noted by (Wang, Haertel, and Walberg 2011) revealed that effective classroom management increases student engagement, decreases disruptive behaviors, and makes good use of instructional time.

A teacher is a person who possess specified knowledge and skills from an institution of higher education and have fulfilled requirements for certification (McNergney and Herbert 2011). Teacher qualifications include attaining a post graduate certificate in education (PGCE), Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) and Bachelor of Education. Telia (2013) defined teacher qualification as the highest educational certificate possessed by a particular teacher. Whitehurst (2009), views teacher qualification indicators as; teacher’s academic ability, teacher’s certification status, teacher’s instructional practice in the classroom, teacher’s subject matter expertise and experience. In the study area, teacher preparation takes the form of undergraduate training with a period of teaching practice designed to provide opportunities to practice in the classroom. During teaching practice, the trainee is required to maintain a record about students’ needs and abilities, classroom rules and routines and the flow of instructional activities. At the same time, the trainee is expected to conduct tutoring sessions in the classroom or/and assist the teacher with classroom activities. It is after successful completion of the five year undergraduate course that a teacher is awarded a certificate or licensed if they meet the basic requirements and standards of a particular state.

Moreover, the certification is a way of preventing harmful teaching practice. Thus the certified teacher needs to continually attend seminars organized in colleges and university campus to discuss issues of teaching and share ideas about more and less effective teaching strategies. In a research carried out by Moreau (2017), asserts that extra training of teachers influences pupil learning outcomes positively. Extra training improves teacher performance by sharpening both their technical skills and their instructional competence.

This is confirmed by the fact that many state governments in Nigeria have increased the requirements for one to qualify for certification (MacPhialWilcox and King 2012). At the same time, it was noted that possession of master’s degree or teacher education at graduate level did not have an impact on pupil learning. However, Bidwell and Kasadra (2009) asserted that teacher qualification is closely tied to teaching skills that is the nature of instruction and concluded that teacher retention in the profession was of significant importance in influencing the level of student performance. Goldhaber and Brewer (2010) noted significant achievement on high school students handled by teachers with standard, probationary or emergency certification as compared to those students handled by teachers who are not certified and those who held private school certification. Similarly, Fetler (2009) found that students of fully certified teachers did better than those of emergency certified teachers. In India there are two groups of teachers; teachers with formal Education (TFEs) and subject specialist teachers. The TFEs are teachers with minimum qualification in Bachelor of Education degree or Masters in Education but they are not subject specialists. Specialist teachers include teachers with at least a Master’s degree in a particular subject. 

In conclusion, teacher training should provide appropriate field experience. The trainees should practice with experienced teachers in their subject field (Emmer and Stough, 2011). They recommend that teacher training programs should provide content and supervised experience related to classroom organization and behavior management.

Poorly managed classrooms are usually characterized by disruptive behaviors such as sleeping, late coming, noise making, miscopying of notes, eating, calling of nicknames, verbal or physical threat to fellow students or the teacher (Ekere, 2013). These disruptive behaviors disorganize learning processes and hamper academic performance of students. Effiong (2012) suggests that teachers can deal with these disruptive behaviors in the classroom and reduce them to the minimum through effective classroom management so that effective learning can take place. Once teachers are able to effectively reduce or eliminate disruptive behaviors in the classroom, there would be increased academic attentiveness and engagement which would pave way for better academic performance by students. The use of verbal instruction is one of the techniques for effective classroom management that can be adopted by teachers. According to Good (2014), clear instruction on what should be done gives the students concrete direction to compliance. In this approach, teachers try to be consistent in enforcing the verbal instruction so that it produces the desired results. Until recently, corporal punishments were used widely as an effective classroom management technique to curb disruptive behaviors in the classroom. It is now not commonly applicable through it is still practiced in some schools as an effective classroom management technique.   

Instructional supervision is another technique of effective classroom management adopted by teachers in the classroom. According to Obot (2010), instructional supervision involves moving around the classroom to observe students closely, engaging students in academic activities, asking questions and employing both verbal and non‐verbal teaching methods to ensure that students are paying undivided attention and taking more from the lesson than simple facts. Delegation of authority to learners is still another technique of effective classroom management where the teacher delegates his/her authority to deserving students and assign them duties such as cleaning chalk board, time keeping, controlling noisemakers, managing learning materials, collecting assignment from students, copying lesson notes on the chalk board, class representatives on behalf of the class (Nima, 2014). These contribute a great deal to making the classroom a conducive place since cooperation between students and teachers in the classroom is fostered. Classroom management techniques are aimed at producing conducive learning environment where students can learn with ease and perform better academically. All of these techniques can be adopted in the classroom depending on the nature of the problem at hand.

This study is aimed at examining the influence of effective classroom control and management on the academic performance of secondary school students in economics in Enugu East LGA.

Statement of the Problems

Unconducive learning environment in the public schools has posed serious problems to students’ academic performance over many decades ago. This trend has been on the increase on daily basis. Its prevalence has attracted the concern of the teachers, parents, the guidance counselors and many researchers. Effective classroom management has been discussed extensively at educational seminars and workshops, with efforts aimed at bringing lasting solution to the problem of students’ poor academic performance encountered in secondary schools. In most cases, classroom teachers become tired of using verbal instruction in attempts to establish effective classroom management, but this method alone does not produce desired results. Many teachers use corporal punishment to instill fear and discipline in the classroom yet there are prevalence of disruptive behaviors in the classroom. A lot of teachers waste time and energy in intensive classroom supervision so that the classroom climate could be conducive for lessons. Some classroom teachers delegates authority to deserving prefects such as time – keeper, noise prefects, class prefects, etc. to share in the responsibility of ensuring a conducive learning atmosphere in the classroom. These methods are adopted by teachers to enable the classroom become conducive enough for effective teaching – learning process and to facilitate higher academic performance of the students and it seems not to be yielding any result hence this study.

Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of the study is to examine the influence of effective classroom control and management on the academic performance of secondary school students in economics in Enugu East LGA of Enugu State.

Research Question

How does the environment influence classroom management and control in secondary schools?

Methods

A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study which was carried out in public secondary schools in Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu State. One research question guided the study. From a population of 38,077 respondents, a sample of 335 was drawn using a multistage sampling procedure. A researchers’ developed instrument titled “Classroom Management and Control Questionnaire” (CMCQ) which was validated by three experts was used for data collection. The questionnaire was structured on a four point scale of Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A) Disagree (D) and Strongly Disagreed (SD) weighted 4, 3, 2 and 1. The internal consistency of the instrument was ascertained using Cronbach’s Alpha and this yielded reliability coefficient of 0.75. The instrument was considered reliable in line with Nworgu (2015), who stated that if the co-efficient obtained for an instrument is up to 0.70 and above, the instrument should be considered good enough to be used for a study. The direct administration and retrieval method was used for data collection. Mean was used to answer the research questions.

Results

Table 1: Mean responses of respondents on how environment influences classroom management and control in secondary schools

According to the table above, the respondents agree that all seven items are factors that influence classroom management and control in secondary schools in Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu State. The mean ratings for the seven items ranged from 2.50 to 2.86.

Discussion

The finding of the study showed that unfriendly school atmosphere, inadequate infrastructure, influence of peer groups and lack of teacher’s attention in the school are some of the environmental influences on classroom management and control in secondary schools. This was in line with the findings of Johnson (2013) who noted that unconducive learning environment and non-availability of the teaching materials can make the teaching/learning environment boring and unbearable. Also, the finding Ngwangwa (2012) is in line with the findings of the present study. His study showed that environmental influences impacts on teachers’ classroom management and control.

Conclusion 

Based on the findings of the study, the researcher concluded that unfriendly school atmosphere, lack of teacher’s attention in the school, peer group influence and inadequate infrastructure influences classroom management and control in secondary schools.

Recommendations

Based on the findings of the study, the researcher recommended that;

1. Schools should endeavor to provide the necessary learning facilities that will enhance classroom management and control.
2. Teachers should be advised to use the available instructional material in teaching as it will enhance their classroom management

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Ermiyas Abate¹ &Yared Negussie

Manufacturing Technology and Engineering Industry R& D Center, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (Msc)

Lijalem Gebrehiwet ²

Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (Msc)

Abstract

Semi-Knock-Down (SKD) and Complete-Knock-Down (CKD) solutions have been widely accepted worldwide for export and import goods especially for automotive industry. The CKD kit ensures trade benefits and boosts technological capability for import substitutions. Duty at customs is high for products which are in the state of ready to use conditions where as the duty on SKD or CKD products imported from another country is lesser. Most domestic companies where the assembly cost is low and import cost is high prefer to buy product in SKD or CKD kits where as Complete-Built-Up (CBU) are not preferred technically and economically. This study focuses primarily on the basic concepts of assembly kit in Ethiopia, their benefits in tariff considerations, import substitution, technological transfer and other economic advantages. Secondly to analyzes basic problems on the understanding of these concepts to develop vehicle standard SKD and CKD in Ethiopia. In addition to this to highlight the automotive industry stage of development. The implementation of these concepts has great benefits in the size of job creation and import substitution rates which have impact on the economy. The investment for CKD in automotive industry requires greater finance when to compare machineries and equipment.

Keywords: Automotive, SKD, CKD, Tariff, Manufacturing, Assembly kit.

1. Introduction

          The automotive sector is vast in terms of commercial and technical factors which require different types of assembling and vehicle body manufacturing facilities to produce finished products (White, 1979). Ethiopia is transforming from total car importer to domestic assembler to some extent and its automotive stage of development is compared and contrasted in Figure 1 in which Kenya and Myanmar are a little ahead of Ethiopia (Ohno, 2019). Information of products, suppliers, international quality service links and technology is still lagging behind which still gives space for CBU second hand cars in Ethiopia. The main problems in SKD and CKD shipments are related to tariff issues in a particular country and it should promote manufacturers over importers (Ohno, 2019).

Figure:01 Automotive industry development

           According to Rob (2016), there are differences and inconsistencies in SKD and CKD definitions and standards worldwide as a result different countries may have different standards for these particular kits. The basic definition for these kits is provided by the Japan Automobile Manufacturing Association (JAMA) as shown in Figure 2 (Kim, 2013).

Figure:02 Definition of SKD,CKD and CBU by JAMA

           The vehicle production for assembling of manufactured and inspected parts is referred to as SKD where as in CKD kit there are car body related tasks including interior parts assembly, welding and painting works (Hofmann, Neukart & Bäck, 2017). According to Tomiyama (2014) & Sherry (2015), CKD is more sophisticated than a SKD. The main objective of this study is to standardize different products in SKD and CKD kits. Secondly assessing their tariff system and impact on the domestic trade and labour. Finally standardize the binding rules for national SKD and CKD concepts in automotive industry. At the end we should identify the stage of SKD & CKD development in Ethiopia from different manufacturers’ point of view.

• Literature Review

2.1  CBU, SKD and CKD Conditions

          The use of any form of kit has a direct impact on the total cost of the chain of supply. CBU, SKD and CKD logistics have great impact to the imported country. Motorcycles, trucks, buses, and tractors occasionally need to be imported in CKD, which accounts for greater market share as viewed by Libor and Alan (2008). Saberi (2018) described that CKD forms are exported to countries where automotive industry is at high development stage from developed countries which require high capital investment. Knocked down strategy for a company should be carefully evaluated in order to decide with any kind of deal and the formula used to calculate the overall logistics cost of CKD is shown below (Malavolti, 2019) ;                                                                                     

Cost of CKD = Cost of stock + Cost of warehouse + Cost of customer clearance + Cost of Shipping + Cost of customer clearance (Supplier) + Cost of stock (Supplier) + Cost of packing (supplier) + Cost of unpacking…………………………………………………(1)

           The finished bodywork is assembled in the country of destination and they are exported where complete disassembled of parts not required (Libor & Alan, 2008). According to the definition of Toni (2022), kit is not totally knocked down and SKD often refers to subassemblies that can be quickly and readily put together partially in another nation. CBU vehicles are those that arrive in a country ready to use with completely build. In the research paper of Yongwook (1987) and Tulder & Ruigrok (1998) each model change requires production line changes, re-tooling, and constant technological change. Some companies in Malaysia issued supplier development and localization program as well as locally produced parts initiated by the company with listed parts in different category (Abdullah, Lall, & Tatsuo, 2008). In conclusion, the common definitions of the three terms can be illustrated as shown below (Chemendy, 2018).

                  Figure:03 Automobile model kits

2.2  Automotive Manufacturing Processes

           Automotive integrated manufacturing facilities consist of different shops or departments each with a special function with input resource delivered from outside suppliers. The body shop, paint shop, assembly shop and material logistics department are the five key departments that make up the general organisation of the assembly plant (Oumer, Atnaw, Cheng, and Singh, 2016). According to the paper by Sherry (2015) Mortimer (1987), KD parts are delivered to the production site by the car manufacturer or independent contract suppliers.

2.2.1      Chassis Fabrication

      Generally there are different types of chassis according to the fitting of engine namely, Conventional chassis, Non-Conventional chassis, Full forward, Semi forward, Bus chassis, Engine in front and Engine at the center. Conventional type is also known as a non-load-carrying frame where as the non-conventional chassis is known as frameless chassis or unibody chassis (Abernathy, 2012), (Brünger, Engler, & Hirsch, 2006) and (Selvamanikandan &Venkatesan, 2019).

Figure:04 Conventional and Non-conventional chassis

According to Bhise, (2012) and Hryciów, Wiśniewski, Rybak & Tarnożek, (2021), the bus chassis provides an increased floor space in the vehicle. Harr, (2018) described the automobile frame moves to component assembly areas where complete front, rear suspensions, different components and accessories are sequentially installed. Chassis is mostly imported from OEM in different forms. Every assembly task on chassis has provided assembly workers with the safest and most efficient tools available (Anazawa, 2021 and Aswicahyono & Kartika, 2010). 

2.2.2      Stamping Process

          Metal stamping is a sophisticated industrial process that uses a variety of metal shaping techniques to transform flat metal sheets into precise forms which is also known as pressing. The term “Body in White” (BIW) describes the parts of the car that have been welded together using various types of connecting methods. The parts included in the BIW are the cover, body, floor, and encon (Mortimer, 1987), (Selvamanikandan &Venkatesan, 2019), (Cooper, Rossie, & Gutowski, 2016), (Fu, Guang-Hong, Yang, Ma, Chen, & Zhu, 2022) and (Awatiger, 2020).

Figure: 05 BIW stamped parts (Yu-Kai Fu and et al, 2022)

           The required shape is obtained by shaping the metal using different stamping techniques and model BIW stamped parts is shown in Figure 5  (Mortimer, 1987), (Cooper, Rossie, & Gutowski, 2016), (Fu, Guang-Hong, Yang, Ma, Chen, & Zhu, 2022) and (Asnafi, Shams, Aspenberg, & Öberg, 2019). Stamping is a common choice in the automotive sector due to its high productivity, affordable, capacity to provide exceptional strength, and cost-effectiveness at high production volumes (Cao, Kinsey, Yao, Viswanathan, & Song, 2001). Technically stamping is considered to be a net shaping process (Mortimer, 1987) and (Brünger, Engler, & Hirsch, 2006). The body of a vehicle is made up of several hundreds of stamped components which are joined together by spot welding and accurate production of the car body (BIW) is essential (Thiruvengadam, 2010) and (Chaturvedi & Kumar, 2019).

2.2.3      Body Fabrication

          The process of fabricating bodies is extremely mechanized and most popular tools are used to create unibody chassis assemblies. The largest body component to which a multitude of panels and braces will subsequently be either welded or bolted together as it moves down the assembly line (Almeida, Diasa, Goncalvesa, Peschlb, & Hoffmeisterc, 2011). According to Sherry (2015), manually operated welding equipment is also used in less automated manufacturing facilities.  The front and rear door pillars, roof, body and side panels are assembled in the same fashion with a high number of weld operations with a degree of great accuracy (Mortimer, 1987) and (Brünger, Engler, & Hirsch, 2006). Fully assembled parts are subsequently installed using pneumatically assisted tools (Almeida, Diasa, Goncalvesa, Peschlb, & Hoffmeisterc, 2011).

Figure:06 Car body fabrication

2.2.4      Vehicle Painting and Curing Ovens

           Vehicles move into the paint shop after final body assembly. According to research paper of Pendar, Rodrigues, Carlos Pascoa, & Lima, (2022), the paint shop provides corrosion protection and attractive appearance to the BIW vehicle body. Primer coating operations in an automobile assembly plant are usually implemented in three stages (M. Mahajan, Varade, P. Mahajan & Patil, 2019).

Figure: 07 Layers in primer coating

            The exterior body parts are thoroughly cleaned and inspected as it moves through a brilliantly illuminated white chamber to see any flaws (Pendar, Rodrigues, Carlos Pascoa, & Lima, 2022). The main purpose of painting is to prevent the BIW from corrosion and to provide desired shapes in style, texture and color. Different countries have their own vehicle painting standards and processes (Lovell, Higgs, & Deshmukh, 2006). Paints usage should be free of environmental hazard and most eco-friendly painting process should be used (Meschievitz T., Rahangdale Y., & Pearson R., 1995)

           Curing ovens are directly or indirectly heated by various types of fuels and they are applied after the primer coat, base coat and the clear coats. Ovens are divided into multiple zones with the radiated heat dries the outer layer of the paint (Sherry, 2015) and (Akafuah, Poozesh, Salaimeh, Patrick, Lawle, & Saito, 2016).

Figure:08 Flowchart of car painting process

2.2.5      Vehicle Interior Assembly and Car Mating

           The painted body travels through the process where parts like instrumentation, wiring systems, dash panels, interior lights, seats, door and trim panels, headliners, radios, speakers, all glass (except the automobile windshield), steering column, wheel, body weather strips, brake and gas pedals, carpeting, bumpers and fascias are assembled. The automated lines facilitates a continuous process with a moderate speed which enables human operators to perform interior and door assembly tasks with the required level of safety (Mortimer, 1987) and (Brünger, Engler, & Hirsch, 2006). During mating the chassis assembly and body shell conveyor meet at final stage of production in which the shell is lifted from its conveyor fixtures and placed onto the frame to be bolted by assembly workers. The automobile travels down the assembly line to receive final trim components after auto mating of body shell and chassis White (1979) and (Brünger, Engler, & Hirsch, 2006). The majority of modern automobiles has a unibody construction in the middle of the vehicle and supports various components in a half-frame configuration (Mortimer, 1987) and (Brünger, Engler, & Hirsch, 2006).

3.    Material and Methods

3.1  Kit Production Network

           The kit concepts mainly differ in terms of the degree of disassembly, partition, number of kits and the value addition. The automotive global production network clearly put the production strategy that determines the type of assembly sections established at the local production facility as well as in the sales country as shown in Figure 9 (Börold, Teucke, Rust, & Freitag, 2020) and (Schwede C., Song Y., Sieben B., Hellingrath B. & Wagenitz A., 2009). 

Figure: 09 Strategies in global automotive production network

            In SKD process description, the exporter collects and packs the parts in the SKD warehouse but the importer repacks the products in the local OEM factory. This process can be referred as SKD-packing-and-SKD-unpacking process (Börold, Teucke, Rust, & Freitag, 2020) and (Schwede C., Song Y., Sieben B., Hellingrath B. & Wagenitz A., 2009). Similarly under the CKD mode, the exporter has the control of technology, the factory organizational structure and information flow. The operation point of view all CKD parts are subject to the CKD-packing before export in the exporter warehouse. The CKD kits are subject to the CKD unpacking before the assembly in the importer plant (Börold, Teucke, Rust, & Freitag, 2020) and (Schwede C., Song Y., Sieben B., Hellingrath B. & Wagenitz A., 2009).

3.2  CBU/SKD and CKD Tariff Conditions

            Ethiopia is known for its high automotive tax rates which require various policies and amendments for car assembly from the CBU to SKD and then to CKD stage. Nigeria raised CBU tariffs to 70% for passenger cars and 35% for commercial vehicles while SKD tariff is 10%. CBU is taxed at higher than CKD which gives sufficient incentive for domestic assemblers. There is no distinction between passenger cars and commercial vehicles in Kenya’s tax structure as shown in the Figure 10 (Ohno, 2020) and (K.Ohno, I. Ohno, & Nagashima, 2018).

Figure: 10 Kenya’s automotive tax structure until 2019 (Ohno, 2020)

           According to Ohno, (2020) and K. Ohno et al (2018), positive rates are applied for designated 17 automotive components but Kenya did not have an SKD definition as of 2019. The smaller tax gap is not economical to cover production cost and Japanese producers need at least 20-30% advantage in favor of SKD/CKD over CBU (Ohno, 2019), (Nogimori, 2020) and JETRO (2018). The duty rate for different automotive products and tariff code is tabulated from Ethiopian custom commission in accordance with different references from the Ethiopia Custom Guide, (2017), Ethiopian Customs proclamation, (No. 859/2014), Ethiopian Customs Tariff Book, (HS 2017) and Ethiopian HS Code Import Data. The tariff system for parts and accessories is seen clearly from Ethiopia’s automotive tariff structure as shown in the Table 1.

Table 1

HS code chapter 87 tariff description

3.3  Definitions and ambiguity

           The main ambiguity for vehicle SKD/CKD kits arose due to the fact that all components are available in different chapters of the harmonized system and HS code. Most of the parts are found in Chapters 40, 68, 70, 73, 83, 84, 85, 90, 91 and 94.  Concerns on Chapter 87 is that motor chassis fitted with cabs fall in headings 8702 to 8704 but not in heading 8706 about chassis fitted with engines for motor vehicles of headings 8701 to 8705.  As stated on Ethiopian Customs Tariff Book (HS 2017) and Ethiopian HS Code Import Data, it is important to consider the exclusions as well as the texts of headings 87.06 and 87.07 including note 3 in Chapter 87 when considering general HS code interpretation to sets of unassembled parts. 

Table 2 

Concerns on HS code chapter 87 subtitles

            Each component in SKD and CKD kits are not specified clearly in order to insert additional clarifications in the subtitles. In the CKD case studies of Aswicahyono & Kartika (2010), some joint venture company are responsible to produce engine for commercial trucks and others to be imported from overseas companies as well as locally produced engine parts as shown in the Figure 11.

Figure: 11 Engine CKD part for firm 2

           The actual collection of “parts” does not have to be sufficient to assemble complete vehicles according to the clarification and the “parts” can be assembled into an incomplete article that has the essential character of a complete or finished article as declared in Ethiopian Customs Tariff Book, (HS 2017) and Ethiopian HS Code Import Data.

3.4  Custom Duty and Product for Imported goods

           The supply strategies and the growth of sales of the product or product life cycle from CBU to different KD products can be related with the market’s maturity as a result the economic concept leads to a chronological order of the strategies (Schwede, Song, Sieben, Hellingrath and Wagenitz, 2009). The different import tax systems and facts in Ethiopia are shown in Table 3;

Table 3

Import tax in Ethiopia (Custom proclamation No. 307/2002, 570/2008, 610/2008 and directive no 18/2009), (Income tax proclamation No 286/2002 & Proclamation No. 285/2002), (Customs proclamation No. 622/2009) and (Customs tariff amendment No.1, 1996 edition)

From customs proclamation No. 622/2009 and Customs tariff amendment No.1, (1996 edition), the formula for calculating customs duty and other taxes in Ethiopia are shown below;

 Where 

DPV = Duty Paying Value; CUDU = Customs Duty Rate; EXTA = Excise Tax Rate; SURTAX = Surtax; WHT = Withholding tax 

• Results and Discussion

4.1  Basic Standards Identified for SKD and CKD 

      Basic standards are required in the tax related issue and should be clearly put with clarifications as a result the Ethiopian standards (recommended) for SKD and CKD automotive products or categories is tabulated in Table 4,5,6 and 7 below. The SKD/CKD parts and production methodology differs from company-to-company, permission of OEM, manufacturers’ company standard which is compatible with specific types of vehicles. SKD/CKD standards are summarized for vehicle types categorized as LMV, MMV and HMV for different models are described in the tables below.

Table 4

Vehicle parts for standard SKD/CKD category (Engine)

Table 5

Vehicle parts for standard SKD category (Car body)

Table 6

Car body CKD manufaturing requirements

Table 7

Vehicle parts for standard CKD category (Car body)

4.2  Stages of Development for Domestic Assembling Companies in Ethiopia

     The development stage of different domestic vehicle companies for light vehicle, bus, truck and trailer assembling as well as manufacturing are assessed as per to 2019 data and the current five years data will be required to further filter the respective assessment but the stage is mostly at CKD. Table 8 for light vehicle, Table 9 for buses, Table 10 for trucks and Table 11 for trailer fabrication companies are tabulated below to assess their developmental stage in SKD/CKD strategies.

Table 8

S/N	INDUSTRY	Stage of development
		SKD	CKD
1	Abay technical and trading sc.
2	Belayab motors plc
3	Bishofitu automotive industry
4	JIN BEI motors plc
5	Marathon motors engineering plc
6	Mesfin industrial engineering plc
7	Tamrin international trading plc
8	Yangfan motors plc

Light vehicle assembling companies

Table 9

Bus assembling companies

S/N	INDUSTRY	Stage of development
		SKD	CKD
1	Ada bus assembling and steel engineering
2	Bishofitu automotive industry

Table 10

Truck assembling companies

S/N	INDUSTRY	Stage of development
		SKD	CKD
1	Bishofitu automotive industry
2	Frankun ET automotive engineering plc
3	NA metal industry and engineering
4	AMCE(Automotive manufacturing of Ethiopia)
5	Mesfin industrial engineering

Table 11

Trailer fabrication and assembling companies

S/N	INDUSTRY DESCRIPTION	Stage of development
		SKD	CKD
1	Abenco general construction industry and  trading  plc
2	Alami industrial engineering
3	AMCE (Automotive manufacturing company of Ethiopia (sc.)
4	Ami metal engineering
5	Asnake engineering
6	Belaynehe Kindie metal Engineering complex
7	Bridge metal & wood shop business plc
8	Dagim Kennedy general trading plc
9	Fasil Mesfin Derso manufacturing
10	Frankun ET automotive engineering plc
11	Habtom G/Egziebher Woldehawaryat
12	HH engineering plc
13	KG Engineering
14	Kifle Mekonene importer trade in iron & steel manufacturing
15	Maru metals industry plc
16	Mesfin industrial engineering plc
17	NA metal industry and engineering
18	Nehemmiah engineering plc
19	NKG Engineering
20	Ocfa metal manufacturing plc
21	Rahel Dagnachew Gelaye
22	Tsehay industries sc.

      From the above table, we can conclude that Ethiopia’s automotive development stage is mostly on SKD/CKD strategy and the import substitution or technological specialization is only on some body parts of vehicle types. Generally Ethiopia is in the second automotive manufacturing stage which is similar to the JICA report on automotive industrial development stage for Africa as shown below (FRN 2015 Report).

Figure: 12 Automotive manufacturing stages

5.    Conclusion

           In this study it is revealed that the value chain of interconnected global market system shows the importance of automotive manufacturing development with higher foreign investors’ and OEM role in this sector. The study identified clearly the following significance for assembling and manufacturing of auto vehicles in Ethiopia;

• Perform relevant research studies on SKD/CKD concepts practically which is functional in different countries and CKD related tariff system encouraged by other nations.

 Collection of annual market data in SKD/CKD for all vehicle types in auto manufacturing areas in Ethiopia and the impact of tax rates. Review highlights for custom classifications and their gap in fulfilling the CKD tariff systems

• Clearly identify items to be manufactured domestically for all types of vehicles in order to promote the import substitutions. Auto domestic parts production capability study should be undertaken to restrict import of these parts and promote the manufacturers.
• Revise the established standard for SKD/CKD kits for automotive industry in all types of vehicle models annually. All the prepared documents should be revised side-by-side with the assemblers for its effectiveness or gaps in production. 
• Import and excise duties for completed built-up and complete knocked-down vehicles should be promising in order to prohibit imports of used commercial vehicles, their parts, components gradually. Promising incentives should be provided for critical and high value-added parts and components.
• The custom and tariff issues should encourage strategic partnership between globally branded manufacturers (OEM) with domestic investors which enhance the competitiveness and effective technological transfer.
• Complete implementation of vehicle-type and component approval as well as vehicle end-of-life policy should be introduced by the Ministry of Transport for all types of vehicle imported to Ethiopia.
• The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation should introduce and enforce mandatory standards for vehicles, their parts and components operational nationally.
• Relevant federal offices related to natural resources and environment should establish a clear roadmap for fuel, lubricants and paints standards used in vehicle operation, maintenance as well as manufacturing.    

Acknowledgements

     We convey our gratitude to all of our colleagues for their support and encouragement to publish the article.

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Ezeobi, Blessing Chijindu & Prof. Nkechi Ikediugwu

Department of Educational Management and Policy

Faculty of Education,

Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka

Abstract 

The study investigated communication patterns and leadership styles of administrators as correlates of organizational climate in South East, Universities, Nigeria. Five research questions guided the study and five null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Correlation research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised 749 administrators in public universities in South East, Nigeria. A sample size of 300 administrators was drawn for the study using proportionate stratified sampling techniques. A researcher developed questionnaires titled ‘‘Communication Patterns Questionnaire (CPQ)’’, ‘‘Leadership Styles Questionnaire (LSQ)’’ and ‘‘Organizational Climate Scale (QCS)’’ were used for data collection. The instruments were validated by three experts, two from the Department of Educational Management and Policy, and one from the Department of Educational Foundations, Nnamdi Azikiwe University. Cronbach alpha was used for a test of internal consistency of the instruments which yielded overall co-efficient values of 0.80, 0.82 and 0.82 for CPQ, LSQ and OCS respectively. The researcher together with four research assistants collected data for the study using the direct approach method and 97% return was recorded. Pearson Product Moment Correlational Coefficient was used to answer the research questions 1-4 and t-test of correlation to test hypotheses 1-4, while multiple regression was used to answer research question 5 and test hypothesis 5. The findings of the study revealed among others that downward and horizontal communication patterns of administrators have strong positive relationship with organization climate. Further results indicted that democratic leadership style of administrators has strong positive relationship with organizational climate in public universities South East, Nigeria. It was also revealed that all dimensions of communication patterns and leadership styles of administrators have significant relationship withorganizational climate in South East, Universities, Nigeria. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that university management should organize training programmes in forms of annually or quarterly conferences, seminars, short-courses and workshops to enable administrators acquire skills and knowledge of applying communication patterns and leadership styles to create positive organizational climate. 

Key words: Communication Patterns, Leadership styles, Downward, Horizontal, Administrators, Organizational Climate

Introduction 

Higher education is the post secondary level of education that enables individuals to gain knowledge and acquire skills to improve their sources of livelihood and also contribute to the development of the society. It also inculcates sound moral values and character that promotes peaceful coexistence of individuals in the society. Federal Republic of Nigeria (2013) noted that higher education is the education given after post basic education in institutions such as Colleges of Education, Monotechnics, Polytechnics, Universities and other specialized institutions such as Colleges of Agriculture, School of Health and Technology and the National Teachers’ Institutes (NTI). The focus of this study is on university.  

            University is an institution of higher learning where people study to acquire knowledge, shape their character and obtain degrees in different disciplines.  Tofi, Agada and Okafor (2020) opined that university is the foremost tertiary institution in Nigeria with responsibility for equipping people with knowledge and skills to undertake tasks and employment functions which are necessary for transformation of societies. The authors added that the functions of university in Nigeria include: teaching, research, production of texts, certification, storage and retrieval of knowledge, community service and enlightenment service. Universities offer opportunity for people to study at an undergraduate level for first degrees and at postgraduate level for advanced degrees. Similarly, Asuquo and Ekpoh (2020) opined that as the apex of education, every university is expected to generate knowledge, ideas, skills and disseminate same through teaching, learning, research and community services. 

            There are public and private universities in Nigeria which are regulated by National Universities Commission. The focus of the study is on the public universities which are established, financed and managed by State or Federal Government. Akpakwu and Okwo (2014) noted that the State and Federal Universities in Nigeria are composed of members of Governing Council, Vice-Chancellors, Principals officers, Administrators (Deans and Heads of Departments (HODs), academic and non-academic staff. The administrators control the daily activities of academic and non-academic. The university administrators inform and clarify members of staff of their job responsibilities and expectations through communication. 

            Communication is the act of disseminating information, passing message and expressing feelings among two or persons. According to Akarika, Umoren and Okon (2021), communication is an expression of thoughts, feelings, ideas and messages from the sender to the receiver through verbal, non-verbal, written and non-written forms. It is a process by which individuals exchange information, share ideas, provide facts, express their thoughts, feelings and values in a given setting. University administrators disseminate information and influence the activities of members of staff through different communication patterns. 

            Communication patterns are the channels and strategies employed by workforce of an organization in passing messages, sharing ideas and feelings among each other. According to Weldeghebriel, Mberia and Ndavula (2019), communication patterns deal with how information flows for smooth and better functioning of an organization. Communication patterns are techniques for creating, sending, and receiving information in the workplace. Fiel-Miranda and Miranda (2019) defined communication patterns as the ways of transmitting ideas, facts, thoughts, feelings and values between two or more persons. It is the structure in which information flow in an organization. Contextually, communication patterns are the sets of lines or flows of information by words, writing, symbols, body languages and other mediums. Several scholars identified communication pattern as follow: upward, downward and horizontal patterns (Badau, 2018; Joda, 2022, Akarika, Umoren and Okon, 2022; Uwandu, Udo-Anyanwu and Okorie, 2022). The focus of the study is on downward and horizontal patterns of communication.

            Downward communication pattern is the flow of information from superiors to subordinates in an organization. Job descriptions, policies and goals of an organization are made known to subordinates through downward communication pattern. Ogunola and Akporaro (2015) asserted that when managers, supervisors, and team leaders communicate with the employees that are directly under them, downward communication is used. Continuing, they stressed that it is used to assign goals, provide job instructions, inform employees of policies and procedures, point out problems that need attention, and offer feedback about performance. The administrators who send letters to lecturers to informing them of deadline for lectures delivery and commencement of examinations have applied downward communication pattern. Badau (2018) pointed out that university leaders, from central office administrators to building-level administrators, communicate downward to members of academic and non-academic staff through speeches, messages in University bulletins, University board policy manuals, and school procedure handbooks.  They added that the types of messages transmitted through downward pattern of communication are job instructions, job rationales and practices information, feedback and indoctrination. Some of the information communicated downward could be discussed and disseminated among staff of the same level through horizontal communication pattern.

            Horizontal communication pattern is the style of exchanging information among members of staff across the same level or rank in an organization. Joda (2022) noted that horizontal communication is the transmission of information between people, divisions, departments or units within the same level of organizational hierarchy. Horizontal communication pattern helps to improve coordination between departments in the university. Badau (2018) noted that information disseminated through horizontal communication pattern is basically for coordination to tie together activities within or across departments on a single school campus or within divisions in a school-wide organisational system. Horizontal communication pattern takes place, when there is exchange of information among Heads of Departments, Divisional Heads and Unit Heads among others. Hee, Qin, Kowang, Husin and Ping (2019) asserted that horizontal communication pattern is useful in coordinating the activities of different departments in an organization. They added that it contributes in developing stronger relationship among staff in both similar department and different departments in an organization. The flow of information in universities could be enhanced by the leadership style of administrators. 

            Leadership styles are strategies adopted by administrators to influence and control the efforts of staff towards attainment of set goals and objectives. Leadership styles are series of approaches adopted by management towards ensuring members of staff diligently execute their duties. Dzakpasu, Amankwah, Konin and Amanfo (2022) defined leadership styles as the patterns of the manager’s interaction or behaviour in guiding, structuring and facilitating activitiesand relationships in a school. Leadership styles are the behavioural patterns of operating the activities of an organization and influencing the efforts of members of staff to attain common goals. Narad, Kaitano and Lakhanpal (2020) definedleadership styles as the behavioural patterns that a leader adopt to influence and motivate the attitude of the followers to accomplish given objectives.  Leadership styles are the peculiar ways of influencing the conduct of staff in the workplace. Operationally, leadership styles are the ways and approaches in which administrators provides direction, control and influence the activities of staff toward realising predetermined objectives. The leadership styles could inspire, demoralize or encourage the contribution of subordinates towards the attainment of set goals. Several scholars have outlined leadership styles as follows: democratic, autocratic and laissez-faires (Jideofor, 2022; Mohammad, Alam, Amin and Alam, 2019). This study focused on three leadership styles namely democratic, autocratic and laissez-faires because they influence the behaviour of staff in an organization. 

            The democratic leadership style is an approach of leading by participation and collaboration of subordinates. The university administrators who apply democratic leadership style seek the opinions of the subordinates before taking decisions on the affairs of the institutions. Achimugu and Obaka (2020) posited that the suggestions, recommendations, opinions and views of the subordinates who are affected by decisions are actively sought by administrators who apply democratic leadership style. They further asserted that democratic leaders encourage staff and students to participate actively, thereby making them feel engaged and motivated to attain predetermined goals and objectives of the institution. The democratic style of leadership encourages use of initiatives and promotes creativity as the inputs of lecturers are highly valued. Okoroma and Agbo (2022) posited that democratic leadership style encourages trust, promotes team work and cooperation among employees. They added that this leadership style makes workers to be motivated to do more as they are usually part of the entire process of reaching decision. The administrators who adopt democratic leadership style tend to treat members of staff with kindness, respect and fairness.  The administrators who use threats to get things done have applied autocratic leadership style,

            Autocratic leadership style is characterised by the use punishment, threat, rules and regulations to guide the conduct of staff in an organization. Ziduli, Molepo, Buka and Jadezweni (2018) pointed out that autocratic leaders do not consult members of the organization in the decision-making process; they set all policies, predetermine the methods of work, determine the duties of followers, specify technical and performance evaluation standards. Autocratic administrators dictate all activities and work procedures in an organization.  Jideofor (2022) asserted that autocratic leadership style is a self-centred leadership approach in which the superiors provide clear expectations of what needs to be done, when it should be done and how it should be done. Administrators who adopt autocratic style of leadership issue orders and give directives that must be obeyed by subordinates without any question. Achimugu and Obaka (2020) averred that autocratic style of leadership often engenders anger, frustration, despair, and in extreme cases withdrawal from school activities. Under autocratic style of leadership, there is limited freedom because of the domineering control by the administrators. Autocratic leadership style of administrators is likely to shape organizational climate of the university.

            Organizational climate is the perception of the staff about the norms, practices and expectations in the work environment. Ezinine and Ughamadu (2021) defined organizational climate as the behavioural pattern, structure, norms, values, and traditions of a college that distinguish it from other organizations. Organizational climate is the shared beliefs and values that guide the work behaviour of staff of an establishment.  According to Bello and Oredein (2022), organizational climate is the norms, goals, values, interpersonal relationships, teaching, learning, management practices and structure of a workplace. Organizational climate is a set of characteristics, feelings and work norms which is created from the way an organization deals with its members. Operationally, organizational climate is core sets of norms, shared values and perceptions that influence the thoughts and actions of staff in the workplace. 

            The rapid demand for university education without corresponding leadership styles and communication patterns to build a favourable organizational climate creates the problem of institutional effectiveness in Nigeria. Some university administrators tend to disengage members of staff from making suggestions regarding tasks to be done for attainment of set organizational goals. This is buttressed by the observation of Ndukwe, Ukeje and Onele (2016) which indicated that some university administrators apply undemocratic leadership style by not only denying members of staff the opportunity to participate in decision/policy making but force them to complete tasks against their wish. They added that this has created organization climate of disloyalty and distrust which tend to leads to formation of coalitions and cliques among staff in public universities in South East, Nigeria. Some administrators tend to be too harsh to staff and also demonstrate strictness by insisting on total compliance to lay down rules and procedures in public universities in South East, Nigeria. 

            There tends to be gap in the flow of information from the top-down and the bottom-up as it appears that communication from bottom-up is considered relevant only when problematic situation arises in public universities in South East, Nigeria. Badau (2018) observed that some administrators fail to respond when staff members bring up information or problems in Nigeria Universities. The author further noted that failure of university administrators to respond to request of members of staff will ultimately result in communication gaps. The communication gaps tends to make subordinates feel under-valued and left out in the affairs of universities which breed gossips, rumours and distrust that create unhealthy organizational climate. Nebo, Nwankwo and Okonkwo (2015) noted that the constant delay in accessing information by staff of universities in South East, Nigeria seems to create unfavourable organizational climate. This background prompted the investigation into communication patterns and leadership styles of administrators as correlates of organizational climate in South East, Universities, Nigeria.

Statement of the Problem

            The hostile, unsupportive and unhealthy atmosphere of some public universities in South East is probably due to untimely dissemination of information, closed-minded leadership behaviours of the university administrators and their leadership styles of ignoring of staff’s suggestions on crucial matters which breed misunderstanding and confrontation. Inputs of some lecturers that tend to be sought during decision-making process appear to be hardly taken into considerations before deciding on university affairs in South East, Nigeria. Communication channels put by in place by some administrators tend to distract, interrupt and impede the flow of information from bottom-up in public universities in South East, Nigeria. Some administrators seem to be bossy, harsh and rely on the use threats to get work done by subordinates. 

            The hostile nature of some universities atmosphere in South East, Nigeria may be connected to communication gaps and rigid leadership behaviour of university administrators. The communication gaps could be associated with rumours and confusion in universities in South East, Nigeria. Some lecturers who are not well communicated about their roles by administrators are more likely to misunderstand their job requirements and expectations which undermine the success of the universities. The negative reactions of lecturers to the breakdown in communication in some universities in South East have somehow been reflecting in their absenteeism, low team spirit, grudges and poor interpersonal relationship with administrators. This prompted this study to investigate communication patterns and leadership styles of administrators as correlates of organizational climate in south-east universities. 

Purpose of the Study 

            The study determined the communication patterns and leadership styles of administrators as correlates of organizational climate in South East, Universities, Nigeria. Specifically, it determined 

1. Downward communication pattern of administrators as correlates of organizational climate in South East, Universities.
2. Horizontal communication pattern of administrators as correlates of organizational climate in South East, Universities.
3. Democratic leadership style of administrators as correlates of organizational climate in South East, Universities.
4. Autocratic leadership style of administrators as correlates of organizational climate in South East, universities.
5. Communication patterns and leadership styles of administrators as correlates of organizational climate in South East, Universities, Nigeria

Research Questions 

            The following research questions guided the study:

1. What is the relationship between downward communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities? 
2. What is the relationship between horizontal communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities? 
3. What is the relationship between democratic leadership style of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities? 
4. What is the relationship between autocratic leadership style of administrators as correlates of organizational climate in South East, universities? 
5. What is the relationship between communication patterns, leadership styles of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities, Nigeria

Hypotheses  

            The following null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance: 

1. There is no significant relationship between downward communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. 
2. There is no significant relationship between horizontal communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. 
3. There is no significant relationship between democratic leadership style of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. 
4. There is no significant relationship between autocratic leadership style of administrators as correlates of organizational climate in South East, universities. 
5. There is no significant relationship between communication patterns, leadership styles of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities, Nigeria.

Methods

            Correlation research design was adopted for this study. According to Nworgu (2015), this type of study seeks to establish what relationship exists between two or more variables. This design is appropriate since the study sought to collect data from respondents in order to investigate communication patterns and leadership styles of administrators as correlates of organizational climate in South East, Universities, Nigeria. The study was conducted in South East, Nigeria which is bounded in the east by Benue and Cross River States, in the west by Delta State, in the North by Kogi State and in the South by Akwa Ibom and Rivers States. South East Nigeria has five states namely; Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo States. 

            The population of the study comprised 749 administrators in public universities in South East, Nigeria. The sample for the study comprised 300 administrators drawn using proportionate stratified sampling technique. The sample size was 40% of the population of the study. 

            Three sets of instruments titled Communication Patterns Questionnaire (CPQ), Leadership Styles Questionnaire (LSQ) and Organizational Climate Scale (QCS) were used to collect data.  The first instrument titled CPQ was developed by the researcher from literature review and consultation of experts in the field of education. The instrument which measured communication patterns contains 14 items spread two clusters (1-2). Cluster 1 contained 7 items on downward communication pattern and Cluster 2 contained 7 items on horizontal communication pattern. The second instrument titled LSQ was developed by the researcher from literature review and consultation of experts in the field of education. The instrument which measured leadership styles contained 19 items spread three clusters (I-II). Cluster I contained 10 items on democratic leadership style and Cluster II contained 9 items on autocratic leadership style. The third instrument titled OCS was adopted from Pena-Suarez, Muniz, Campillo-Alvarez, Fonseca-Pedrero and Garcia-Cueto (2013). The instrument contained 25 items which measured organizational culture. The items of the three sets of instruments are placed on a 4-point rating of Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), Disagree (D) and Strongly Disagree (SD) weighted 4, 3, 2 and 1 respectively. 

            The instruments were subjected to face validation by three experts, two in the Department of Educational Management and Policy, and one in Measurement and Evaluation in the Department of Educational Foundations, all in the Faculty of Education, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. The researcher presented the title, purpose of the study, research questions and hypotheses with a copy of the questionnaires to the three experts and requested them to examine and scrutinize the items in terms of relevance, suitability, clarity of instruction and content coverage. The experts suggested among others that leading statements should be provided in all clusters and some items should be restructured. Their suggestions were used to produce the final version of the instrument. The reliability of the instruments were ascertained through Cronbach alpha. The internal consistency coefficient values of 0.81 and 0.79 were obtained for Cluster 1 and 2 of CPQ with overall reliability coefficient value of 0.80. On the other hand, the internal consistency coefficient values of 0.84 and 0.80 were obtained for Cluster I and II of LSQ with overall reliability coefficient value of 0.82, while the coefficient obtained for OCS was 0.82. 

            The researcher with the help of four research assistants who are lecturers in public universities in South East administered copies of the questionnaires to the respondents through a direct approach. A total of 300 copies of the questionnaires were distributed and 291 were properly filled and successfully retrieved indicating 97% return rate. The copies of the questionnaires distributed, duly filled and successfully retrieved were used for data analysis. Data collected were analyzed using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient to answer the research questions 1-6, t-test of correlation to test the hypotheses 1-8 and multiple regression to answer research question 9 and test hypothesis 9. For decision on the research questions, the coefficient r and the size of the relationship was interpreted using the correlation coefficient by Alsagr (2021), as follows

Coefficient                              Relationship

.00- .19                                    Weak correlation 

.20- .39                                    Fair correlation 

.40- .69                                    Moderate correlation 

.70- .89                                    Strong correlation 

.90- .1.00                                 Very strong correlation  

            In taking decisions on the null hypotheses, if p-value is equal to or less (≤) than significant value of .05, the null hypothesis was rejected, but if p-value is greater than (>), the significant value of .05 the null hypotheses was accepted.

Results

Research Question 1: What is the relationship between downward communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities? 

Table 1: Pearson (r) on Relationship Downward Communication Pattern of Administrators and Organizational Climate 

            Result in Table 1 revealed that Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) of .759 was obtained. This showed that there is strong positive relationship between downward communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. This indicated that an improvement in downward communication pattern of administrators will contribute to positive organizational climate. 

Research Question 2: What is the relationship between horizontal communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities? 

Table 2: Pearson (r) on Relationship Horizontal Communication Pattern of Administrators and Organizational Climate 

            Table 2 indicated that a Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) of .715 was obtained. This showed that there is strong positive relationship between horizontal communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. This indicated that increase in horizontal communication pattern of administrators will lead to better organizational climate. 

Research Question 3: What is the relationship between democratic leadership style of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities? 

Table 3: Pearson (r) on Relationship Democratic Leadership Style of Administrators and Organizational Climate 

            As shown in Table 3, Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) of .818 was obtained. This showed that there is strong positive relationship between democratic leadership style of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. This indicated that improvement on the democratic leadership style of administrators will contribute to better organizational climate. 

Research Question 4: What is the relationship between autocratic leadership style of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities? 

Table 4: Pearson (r) on Relationship Autocratic Leadership Style of Administrators and Organizational Climate 

            Table 4 indicated that a Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) of .309 was obtained. This showed that there is fair positive relationship between autocratic leadership style of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. This indicated that autocratic leadership style of administrators will contribute to fair organizational climate. 

Research Question 5: What is the relationship between communication patterns, leadership styles of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities, Nigeria?

Table 5: The Summary of Multiple Regression Analysis on Communication Patterns and Leadership Styles of Administrators as Correlates of Organizational Culture

Table 5 showed that correlation coefficient of simple regression analysis is .876 with a coefficient of determination of .767. This shows that 76.7% variation in organizational Climate can be attributed to communication patterns, leadership styles of administrators. The regression Coefficient r of .876 indicated that there is strong positive relationship between communication patterns, leadership styles of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities, Nigeria. 

Hypothesis One: There is no significant relationship between downward communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. 

Table 6: The Summary of t-test of Correlation on the Significant Relationship between Downward Communication Pattern of Administrators and Organizational Climate

Table 6 revealed that the p-value of .000 is less than .05. Therefore, since the p-value is less than the stipulated .05 level of significance, the null hypothesis was rejected. Therefore, there is significant relationship between downward communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. 

Hypothesis Two: There is no significant relationship between horizontal communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. 

Table 7: The Summary of t-test of Correlation on the Significant Relationship between Horizontal Communication Pattern of Administrators and Organizational Climate

The result presented in Table 7 revealed that the p-value of .000 is less than .05. Therefore, since the p-value is less than the stipulated .05 level of significance, the null hypothesis was rejected. Therefore, there is significant relationship between horizontal communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. 

Hypothesis Three: There is no significant relationship between democratic leadership style of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. 

Table 8: The Summary of t-test of Correlation on the Significant Relationship between Democratic Leadership Style of Administrators and Organizational Climate

The result presented in Table 8 revealed that the p-value of .000 is less than .05. Therefore, since the p-value is less than the stipulated .05 level of significance, the null hypothesis was rejected. Therefore, there is significant relationship between democratic leadership style of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. 

Hypothesis Four: There is no significant relationship between autocratic leadership style of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. 

Table 9: The Summary of t-test of Correlation on the Significant Relationship between Autocratic Leadership Style of Administrators and Organizational Climate

Table 9 showed that the p-value of .000 is less than .05. Therefore, since the p-value is less than the stipulated .05 level of significance, the null hypothesis was rejected. Therefore, there is significant relationship between autocratic leadership style of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. 

Hypothesis Five: There is no significant relationship between communication patterns, leadership styles of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities, Nigeria.

Table 10: The Summary of Multiple Regression Analysis on Communication Patterns and Leadership Styles of Administrators as Correlates of Organizational Climate 

            As shown in Table 10, the multiple regression coefficient (R) is .876 while the R² is .767 showing that communication patterns and leadership styles of administrators make 76.7% contribution to the variance organizational climate. The F (1/291) =158.556 and the p-value of .000 is less than .05. Therefore, since the p-value is less than the stipulated .05 level of significance, the null hypothesis was rejected. Therefore, there is significant relationship between communication patterns, leadership styles of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities, Nigeria.

Discussion 

            The result of the study indicated that there is strong positive relationship between downward communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. This is in conformity with the finding of Thet and Htarr (2020) which indicated that there was positively strong relationship between principals’ downward communication pattern and school climate. The agreement in findings could be associated with the fact that the two studies were conducted in educational institutions where administrators give instructions and provide directions using downward communication pattern. This is in disagreement with the finding of This contradicted the finding of Sapian, Abdullah, Ghani, Abdullah and Omar (2019) which indicated that there was moderate relationship between principals’ downward communication pattern and school climate. The difference in geographical locations where there are different policies guiding downward communication pattern. This finding is explained by the fact that downward communication pattern is a means of providing instructions and disseminating information on policies, rules and work procedures enable subordinate become aware of their job roles and expected behaviour contribute to strong organizational climate. Downward communication pattern is strongly correlated with organizational climate due to the fact that it helps to keep members of staff up-dated and well-informed of tasks to be done and how to execute the tasks. The university administrators through downward communication pattern delegate duties and instill a sense of responsibilities to subordinates which contribute ton strong organizational climate.

            Further result indicated that there is significant relationship between downward communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. This is in line with the finding of Thet and Htarr (2020) which revealed that there was significant relationship between principals’ downward communication pattern and school climate. The university administrators give order and directives to the subordinates through downward communication pattern to ensure uniformity and compliance to standard mode of operations which explain the significant relationship with organizational climate. The mission and values of universities shared with members of staff through downward communication pattern enable them understand the expected attitude towards achieving the values which thereby create favourable organizational climate. 

            It was revealed that indicated that there is strong positive relationship between horizontal communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. This is in agreement with the finding of Lannes (2021) which showed a strong positive correlation between organizational horizontal communication and organizational climate. Horizontal communication pattern which ensures unity of purpose among departments or teams at the same level in universities could explain the strong relationship with organizational culture. Members of staff with the same job title could work together to achieve interdependent goals through horizontal communication pattern. Some departments who are dependent on one another for vital information in executing tasks could create strong organizational climate through horizontal communication pattern. The opportunity in which horizontal communication pattern provides for staff at the same level to communicate directly without going through the university administrators could account for the strong relationship with organizational climate. 

            Further finding showed that there is significant relationship between horizontal communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. This affirmed the finding of Sidiropoulou (2021) which showed a significant correlation between organizational horizontal communication and organizational climate. Horizontal communication pattern which facilitates information sharing and task coordination between departments or units could account for the significant relationship with organizational climate. 

            The finding of the study indicated that there is strong positive relationship between democratic leadership style of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. This supported the finding of Zamin and Hussin (2021) which showed there was a strong positive relationship between democratic leadership style and work climate. This is also in line with the finding of Barnova, Trelova, Krasna, Benova, Hasajova and Gabrhelova (2022) which indicated democratic leadership style has strong correlation with school climate. The agreement in the findings of the studies could be connected to the fact that the two studies were conducted in educational institutions. This finding is probably due to the fact that democratic leadership style which empowers subordinates to participate in decision-making process could make them feel valued and thereby create strong and healthy organizational climate. Open discussion and sharing of new idea encouraged by administrators who apply democratic leadership style lead to feeling of trust, loyalty and team cohesion could be connected with the strong relationship with organizational climate. Members of staff feel more involved, committed and inspired to take action that foster healthy organizational climate through their inputs and ideas solicited by democratic administrators. 

            Further result showed that there is significant relationship between democratic leadership style of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. This is in consonance with the finding of Barnova, Trelova, Krasna, Benova, Hasajova and Gabrhelova (2022) which showed democratic leadership style has significant correlation with school climate. University administrators who apply democratic style inspire trust and respect among subordinates which could account for the significant relationship with organizational climate. University administrators who apply democratic leadership style delegate responsibilities, foster participatory management and team work which help to build strong organizational climate. 

            The result of the study indicated that there is fair positive relationship between autocratic leadership style of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. This agreed with the finding of Zamin and Hussin (2021) which revealed that there was a fair positive and significant relationship between autocratic leadership style and work culture. This disagreed with the finding of Philip, Ibrahim and Yussof (2020) which revealed that there exist weak relationship between autocratic leadership style and organizational climate. The difference in geographical location could explain the disagreement in findings. The autocratic administrators who deprive subordinates the opportunities to make inputs and provide feedback on the affairs of university lead to feeling of mistrust and this breeds misunderstanding which could explain the fair relationship with organizational climate. The absolute control over subordinates by administrators who apply autocratic leadership impair creative ideas and inputs that tend to lead to physical confrontation which could contribute to the fair relationship with organizational climate. Autocratic administrators fail to value the suggestions of subordinates decrease their morale and create unfair organizational climate. 

            Further finding showed that there is significant relationship between autocratic leadership style of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. This refuted the finding of Philip, Ibrahim and Yussof (2020) which showed that there was no significant relationship between autocratic leadership style and organizational climate. This disagreed with the finding of Ngoma, Sakakombe and Kabeta (2019) which indicated that the relationship between autocratic leadership style and school climate was not statistically significant. This disagreement could be attributed to the fact that the studies were conducted in different levels of education where the school administrators have different qualifications and experience that guide their use of autocratic leadership style to shape the school climate.  

            It was showed that there is strong positive relationship between communication patterns, leadership styles of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities, Nigeria. This supported the finding of Witarini and Sriathi (2020) which showed that there is joint strong relationship between leadership styles, effective communication and organizational climate. This finding is explained by the fact that communication patterns and leadership styles of administrators determine the social norms, values and expected behaviour that forms the organizational climate of universities. The interaction of administrators with subordinates, decision-making process as well as work procedures which are instrumental in creating strong organizational climate is determined by the communication patterns and leadership styles in universities. 

            Further result showed that there is significant relationship between communication patterns, leadership styles of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities, Nigeria. This agreed with the finding of Witarini and Sriathi (2020) which showed that there is significant relationship between leadership styles, effective communication and organizational climate. This finding is explained by the fact that the flow of information determined by communication patterns of administrators as well as their leadership styles which influence the work behaviour of staff could significantly create the organizational climate of universities. 

Conclusion

            Based on the findings, it was concluded that the communication patterns and leadership styles of administrators have positive and significant relationship with organizational climate in South East, Universities. Communication patterns and leadership styles of administrators help to convey information about core values, mission and expected behaviour that create organizational culture of universities. It is the patterns of communication and styles of leadership that could inspire open discussion, good interpersonal relationship, teamwork and honest feedback that strongly shape the organizational culture of universities.

Recommendations 

            Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations were made: 

1. University management should formulate programme and modalities that encourage downward communication pattern by creating innovative channels for timely dissemination of information to members of staff and students for healthy organizational climate.
2. University council should create flowchart that provide details of communication between departments or units with regard to frequency and mode of communication which will foster horizontal communication pattern and strongly improve organizational climate. 
3. University administrators should practice democratic leadership style by encouraging open communication and friendly environment that embolden subordinates to express how they think and feel things could be done to strongly create healthy organizational climate. 
4. University administrators should modify their autocratic leadership style by considering the inputs of subordinates in operation of daily affairs to create positive organizational climate. 
5. University management should organize training programmes in forms of annually or quarterly conferences, seminars, short-courses and workshops to enable administrators acquire skills and knowledge of applying communication patterns and leadership styles to create positive organizational climate. 

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Ezeobi, Blessing Chijindu & Prof. Nkechi Ikediugwu 

Department of Educational Management and Policy

Faculty of Education,

Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka

Abstract 

The study investigated communication patterns and leadership styles of administrators as correlates of organizational climate in South East, Universities, Nigeria. Five research questions guided the study and five null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Correlation research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised 749 administrators in public universities in South East, Nigeria. A sample size of 300 administrators was drawn for the study using proportionate stratified sampling techniques. A researcher developed questionnaires titled ‘‘Communication Patterns Questionnaire (CPQ)’’, ‘‘Leadership Styles Questionnaire (LSQ)’’ and ‘‘Organizational Climate Scale (QCS)’’ were used for data collection. The instruments were validated by three experts, two from the Department of Educational Management and Policy, and one from the Department of Educational Foundations, Nnamdi Azikiwe University. Cronbach alpha was used for a test of internal consistency of the instruments which yielded overall co-efficient values of 0.80, 0.82 and 0.82 for CPQ, LSQ and OCS respectively. The researcher together with four research assistants collected data for the study using the direct approach method and 97% return was recorded. Pearson Product Moment Correlational Coefficient was used to answer the research questions 1-4 and t-test of correlation to test hypotheses 1-4, while multiple regression was used to answer research question 5 and test hypothesis 5. The findings of the study revealed among others that downward and horizontal communication patterns of administrators have strong positive relationship with organization climate. Further results indicted that democratic leadership style of administrators has strong positive relationship with organizational climate in public universities South East, Nigeria. It was also revealed that all dimensions of communication patterns and leadership styles of administrators have significant relationship with organizational climate in South East, Universities, Nigeria. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that university management should organize training programmes in forms of annually or quarterly conferences, seminars, short-courses and workshops to enable administrators acquire skills and knowledge of applying communication patterns and leadership styles to create positive organizational climate. 

Key words: Communication Patterns, Leadership styles, Downward, Horizontal, Administrators, Organizational Climate

Introduction 

Higher education is the post secondary level of education that enables individuals to gain knowledge and acquire skills to improve their sources of livelihood and also contribute to the development of the society. It also inculcates sound moral values and character that promotes peaceful coexistence of individuals in the society. Federal Republic of Nigeria (2013) noted that higher education is the education given after post basic education in institutions such as Colleges of Education, Monotechnics, Polytechnics, Universities and other specialized institutions such as Colleges of Agriculture, School of Health and Technology and the National Teachers’ Institutes (NTI). The focus of this study is on university.  

            University is an institution of higher learning where people study to acquire knowledge, shape their character and obtain degrees in different disciplines.  Tofi, Agada and Okafor (2020) opined that university is the foremost tertiary institution in Nigeria with responsibility for equipping people with knowledge and skills to undertake tasks and employment functions which are necessary for transformation of societies. The authors added that the functions of university in Nigeria include: teaching, research, production of texts, certification, storage and retrieval of knowledge, community service and enlightenment service. Universities offer opportunity for people to study at an undergraduate level for first degrees and at postgraduate level for advanced degrees. Similarly, Asuquo and Ekpoh (2020) opined that as the apex of education, every university is expected to generate knowledge, ideas, skills and disseminate same through teaching, learning, research and community services. 

            There are public and private universities in Nigeria which are regulated by National Universities Commission. The focus of the study is on the public universities which are established, financed and managed by State or Federal Government. Akpakwu and Okwo (2014) noted that the State and Federal Universities in Nigeria are composed of members of Governing Council, Vice-Chancellors, Principals officers, Administrators (Deans and Heads of Departments (HODs), academic and non-academic staff. The administrators control the daily activities of academic and non-academic. The university administrators inform and clarify members of staff of their job responsibilities and expectations through communication. 

            Communication is the act of disseminating information, passing message and expressing feelings among two or persons. According to Akarika, Umoren and Okon (2021), communication is an expression of thoughts, feelings, ideas and messages from the sender to the receiver through verbal, non-verbal, written and non-written forms. It is a process by which individuals exchange information, share ideas, provide facts, express their thoughts, feelings and values in a given setting. University administrators disseminate information and influence the activities of members of staff through different communication patterns. 

            Communication patterns are the channels and strategies employed by workforce of an organization in passing messages, sharing ideas and feelings among each other. According to Weldeghebriel, Mberia and Ndavula (2019), communication patterns deal with how information flows for smooth and better functioning of an organization. Communication patterns are techniques for creating, sending, and receiving information in the workplace. Fiel-Miranda and Miranda (2019) defined communication patterns as the ways of transmitting ideas, facts, thoughts, feelings and values between two or more persons. It is the structure in which information flow in an organization. Contextually, communication patterns are the sets of lines or flows of information by words, writing, symbols, body languages and other mediums. Several scholars identified communication pattern as follow: upward, downward and horizontal patterns (Badau, 2018; Joda, 2022, Akarika, Umoren and Okon, 2022; Uwandu, Udo-Anyanwu and Okorie, 2022). The focus of the study is on downward and horizontal patterns of communication.

            Downward communication pattern is the flow of information from superiors to subordinates in an organization. Job descriptions, policies and goals of an organization are made known to subordinates through downward communication pattern. Ogunola and Akporaro (2015) asserted that when managers, supervisors, and team leaders communicate with the employees that are directly under them, downward communication is used. Continuing, they stressed that it is used to assign goals, provide job instructions, inform employees of policies and procedures, point out problems that need attention, and offer feedback about performance. The administrators who send letters to lecturers to informing them of deadline for lectures delivery and commencement of examinations have applied downward communication pattern. Badau (2018) pointed out that university leaders, from central office administrators to building-level administrators, communicate downward to members of academic and non-academic staff through speeches, messages in University bulletins, University board policy manuals, and school procedure handbooks.  They added that the types of messages transmitted through downward pattern of communication are job instructions, job rationales and practices information, feedback and indoctrination. Some of the information communicated downward could be discussed and disseminated among staff of the same level through horizontal communication pattern.

            Horizontal communication pattern is the style of exchanging information among members of staff across the same level or rank in an organization. Joda (2022) noted that horizontal communication is the transmission of information between people, divisions, departments or units within the same level of organizational hierarchy. Horizontal communication pattern helps to improve coordination between departments in the university. Badau (2018) noted that information disseminated through horizontal communication pattern is basically for coordination to tie together activities within or across departments on a single school campus or within divisions in a school-wide organisational system. Horizontal communication pattern takes place, when there is exchange of information among Heads of Departments, Divisional Heads and Unit Heads among others. Hee, Qin, Kowang, Husin and Ping (2019) asserted that horizontal communication pattern is useful in coordinating the activities of different departments in an organization. They added that it contributes in developing stronger relationship among staff in both similar department and different departments in an organization. The flow of information in universities could be enhanced by the leadership style of administrators. 

            Leadership styles are strategies adopted by administrators to influence and control the efforts of staff towards attainment of set goals and objectives. Leadership styles are series of approaches adopted by management towards ensuring members of staff diligently execute their duties. Dzakpasu, Amankwah, Konin and Amanfo (2022) defined leadership styles as the patterns of the manager’s interaction or behaviour in guiding, structuring and facilitating activitiesand relationships in a school. Leadership styles are the behavioural patterns of operating the activities of an organization and influencing the efforts of members of staff to attain common goals. Narad, Kaitano and Lakhanpal (2020) definedleadership styles as the behavioural patterns that a leader adopt to influence and motivate the attitude of the followers to accomplish given objectives.  Leadership styles are the peculiar ways of influencing the conduct of staff in the workplace. Operationally, leadership styles are the ways and approaches in which administrators provides direction, control and influence the activities of staff toward realising predetermined objectives. The leadership styles could inspire, demoralize or encourage the contribution of subordinates towards the attainment of set goals. Several scholars have outlined leadership styles as follows: democratic, autocratic and laissez-faires (Jideofor, 2022; Mohammad, Alam, Amin and Alam, 2019). This study focused on three leadership styles namely democratic, autocratic and laissez-faires because they influence the behaviour of staff in an organization. 

            The democratic leadership style is an approach of leading by participation and collaboration of subordinates. The university administrators who apply democratic leadership style seek the opinions of the subordinates before taking decisions on the affairs of the institutions. Achimugu and Obaka (2020) posited that the suggestions, recommendations, opinions and views of the subordinates who are affected by decisions are actively sought by administrators who apply democratic leadership style. They further asserted that democratic leaders encourage staff and students to participate actively, thereby making them feel engaged and motivated to attain predetermined goals and objectives of the institution. The democratic style of leadership encourages use of initiatives and promotes creativity as the inputs of lecturers are highly valued. Okoroma and Agbo (2022) posited that democratic leadership style encourages trust, promotes team work and cooperation among employees. They added that this leadership style makes workers to be motivated to do more as they are usually part of the entire process of reaching decision. The administrators who adopt democratic leadership style tend to treat members of staff with kindness, respect and fairness.  The administrators who use threats to get things done have applied autocratic leadership style,

            Autocratic leadership style is characterised by the use punishment, threat, rules and regulations to guide the conduct of staff in an organization. Ziduli, Molepo, Buka and Jadezweni (2018) pointed out that autocratic leaders do not consult members of the organization in the decision-making process; they set all policies, predetermine the methods of work, determine the duties of followers, specify technical and performance evaluation standards. Autocratic administrators dictate all activities and work procedures in an organization.  Jideofor (2022) asserted that autocratic leadership style is a self-centred leadership approach in which the superiors provide clear expectations of what needs to be done, when it should be done and how it should be done. Administrators who adopt autocratic style of leadership issue orders and give directives that must be obeyed by subordinates without any question. Achimugu and Obaka (2020) averred that autocratic style of leadership often engenders anger, frustration, despair, and in extreme cases withdrawal from school activities. Under autocratic style of leadership, there is limited freedom because of the domineering control by the administrators. Autocratic leadership style of administrators is likely to shape organizational climate of the university.

            Organizational climate is the perception of the staff about the norms, practices and expectations in the work environment. Ezinine and Ughamadu (2021) defined organizational climate as the behavioural pattern, structure, norms, values, and traditions of a college that distinguish it from other organizations. Organizational climate is the shared beliefs and values that guide the work behaviour of staff of an establishment.  According to Bello and Oredein (2022), organizational climate is the norms, goals, values, interpersonal relationships, teaching, learning, management practices and structure of a workplace. Organizational climate is a set of characteristics, feelings and work norms which is created from the way an organization deals with its members. Operationally, organizational climate is core sets of norms, shared values and perceptions that influence the thoughts and actions of staff in the workplace. 

            The rapid demand for university education without corresponding leadership styles and communication patterns to build a favourable organizational climate creates the problem of institutional effectiveness in Nigeria. Some university administrators tend to disengage members of staff from making suggestions regarding tasks to be done for attainment of set organizational goals. This is buttressed by the observation of Ndukwe, Ukeje and Onele (2016) which indicated that some university administrators apply undemocratic leadership style by not only denying members of staff the opportunity to participate in decision/policy making but force them to complete tasks against their wish. They added that this has created organization climate of disloyalty and distrust which tend to leads to formation of coalitions and cliques among staff in public universities in South East, Nigeria. Some administrators tend to be too harsh to staff and also demonstrate strictness by insisting on total compliance to lay down rules and procedures in public universities in South East, Nigeria. 

            There tends to be gap in the flow of information from the top-down and the bottom-up as it appears that communication from bottom-up is considered relevant only when problematic situation arises in public universities in South East, Nigeria. Badau (2018) observed that some administrators fail to respond when staff members bring up information or problems in Nigeria Universities. The author further noted that failure of university administrators to respond to request of members of staff will ultimately result in communication gaps. The communication gaps tends to make subordinates feel under-valued and left out in the affairs of universities which breed gossips, rumours and distrust that create unhealthy organizational climate. Nebo, Nwankwo and Okonkwo (2015) noted that the constant delay in accessing information by staff of universities in South East, Nigeria seems to create unfavourable organizational climate. This background prompted the investigation into communication patterns and leadership styles of administrators as correlates of organizational climate in South East, Universities, Nigeria.

Statement of the Problem

            The hostile, unsupportive and unhealthy atmosphere of some public universities in South East is probably due to untimely dissemination of information, closed-minded leadership behaviours of the university administrators and their leadership styles of ignoring of staff’s suggestions on crucial matters which breed misunderstanding and confrontation. Inputs of some lecturers that tend to be sought during decision-making process appear to be hardly taken into considerations before deciding on university affairs in South East, Nigeria. Communication channels put by in place by some administrators tend to distract, interrupt and impede the flow of information from bottom-up in public universities in South East, Nigeria. Some administrators seem to be bossy, harsh and rely on the use threats to get work done by subordinates. 

            The hostile nature of some universities atmosphere in South East, Nigeria may be connected to communication gaps and rigid leadership behaviour of university administrators. The communication gaps could be associated with rumours and confusion in universities in South East, Nigeria. Some lecturers who are not well communicated about their roles by administrators are more likely to misunderstand their job requirements and expectations which undermine the success of the universities. The negative reactions of lecturers to the breakdown in communication in some universities in South East have somehow been reflecting in their absenteeism, low team spirit, grudges and poor interpersonal relationship with administrators. This prompted this study to investigate communication patterns and leadership styles of administrators as correlates of organizational climate in south-east universities. 

Purpose of the Study 

            The study determined the communication patterns and leadership styles of administrators as correlates of organizational climate in South East, Universities, Nigeria. Specifically, it determined 

1. Downward communication pattern of administrators as correlates of organizational climate in South East, Universities.
2. Horizontal communication pattern of administrators as correlates of organizational climate in South East, Universities.
3. Democratic leadership style of administrators as correlates of organizational climate in South East, Universities.
4. Autocratic leadership style of administrators as correlates of organizational climate in South East, universities.
5. Communication patterns and leadership styles of administrators as correlates of organizational climate in South East, Universities, Nigeria

Research Questions 

            The following research questions guided the study:

1. What is the relationship between downward communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities? 
2. What is the relationship between horizontal communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities? 
3. What is the relationship between democratic leadership style of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities? 
4. What is the relationship between autocratic leadership style of administrators as correlates of organizational climate in South East, universities? 
5. What is the relationship between communication patterns, leadership styles of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities, Nigeria

Hypotheses  

            The following null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance: 

1. There is no significant relationship between downward communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. 
2. There is no significant relationship between horizontal communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. 
3. There is no significant relationship between democratic leadership style of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. 
4. There is no significant relationship between autocratic leadership style of administrators as correlates of organizational climate in South East, universities. 
5. There is no significant relationship between communication patterns, leadership styles of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities, Nigeria.

Methods

            Correlation research design was adopted for this study. According to Nworgu (2015), this type of study seeks to establish what relationship exists between two or more variables. This design is appropriate since the study sought to collect data from respondents in order to investigate communication patterns and leadership styles of administrators as correlates of organizational climate in South East, Universities, Nigeria. The study was conducted in South East, Nigeria which is bounded in the east by Benue and Cross River States, in the west by Delta State, in the North by Kogi State and in the South by Akwa Ibom and Rivers States. South East Nigeria has five states namely; Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo States. 

            The population of the study comprised 749 administrators in public universities in South East, Nigeria. The sample for the study comprised 300 administrators drawn using proportionate stratified sampling technique. The sample size was 40% of the population of the study. 

            Three sets of instruments titled Communication Patterns Questionnaire (CPQ), Leadership Styles Questionnaire (LSQ) and Organizational Climate Scale (QCS) were used to collect data.  The first instrument titled CPQ was developed by the researcher from literature review and consultation of experts in the field of education. The instrument which measured communication patterns contains 14 items spread two clusters (1-2). Cluster 1 contained 7 items on downward communication pattern and Cluster 2 contained 7 items on horizontal communication pattern. The second instrument titled LSQ was developed by the researcher from literature review and consultation of experts in the field of education. The instrument which measured leadership styles contained 19 items spread three clusters (I-II). Cluster I contained 10 items on democratic leadership style and Cluster II contained 9 items on autocratic leadership style. The third instrument titled OCS was adopted from Pena-Suarez, Muniz, Campillo-Alvarez, Fonseca-Pedrero and Garcia-Cueto (2013). The instrument contained 25 items which measured organizational culture. The items of the three sets of instruments are placed on a 4-point rating of Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), Disagree (D) and Strongly Disagree (SD) weighted 4, 3, 2 and 1 respectively. 

            The instruments were subjected to face validation by three experts, two in the Department of Educational Management and Policy, and one in Measurement and Evaluation in the Department of Educational Foundations, all in the Faculty of Education, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. The researcher presented the title, purpose of the study, research questions and hypotheses with a copy of the questionnaires to the three experts and requested them to examine and scrutinize the items in terms of relevance, suitability, clarity of instruction and content coverage. The experts suggested among others that leading statements should be provided in all clusters and some items should be restructured. Their suggestions were used to produce the final version of the instrument. The reliability of the instruments were ascertained through Cronbach alpha. The internal consistency coefficient values of 0.81 and 0.79 were obtained for Cluster 1 and 2 of CPQ with overall reliability coefficient value of 0.80. On the other hand, the internal consistency coefficient values of 0.84 and 0.80 were obtained for Cluster I and II of LSQ with overall reliability coefficient value of 0.82, while the coefficient obtained for OCS was 0.82. 

            The researcher with the help of four research assistants who are lecturers in public universities in South East administered copies of the questionnaires to the respondents through a direct approach. A total of 300 copies of the questionnaires were distributed and 291 were properly filled and successfully retrieved indicating 97% return rate. The copies of the questionnaires distributed, duly filled and successfully retrieved were used for data analysis. Data collected were analyzed using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient to answer the research questions 1-6, t-test of correlation to test the hypotheses 1-8 and multiple regression to answer research question 9 and test hypothesis 9. For decision on the research questions, the coefficient r and the size of the relationship was interpreted using the correlation coefficient by Alsagr (2021), as follows

Coefficient                              Relationship

.00- .19                                    Weak correlation 

.20- .39                                    Fair correlation 

.40- .69                                    Moderate correlation 

.70- .89                                    Strong correlation 

.90- .1.00                                 Very strong correlation  

            In taking decisions on the null hypotheses, if p-value is equal to or less (≤) than significant value of .05, the null hypothesis was rejected, but if p-value is greater than (>), the significant value of .05 the null hypotheses was accepted.

Results

Research Question 1: What is the relationship between downward communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities? 

Table 1: Pearson (r) on Relationship Downward Communication Pattern of Administrators and Organizational Climate 

            Result in Table 1 revealed that Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) of .759 was obtained. This showed that there is strong positive relationship between downward communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. This indicated that an improvement in downward communication pattern of administrators will contribute to positive organizational climate. 

Research Question 2: What is the relationship between horizontal communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities? 

Table 2: Pearson (r) on Relationship Horizontal Communication Pattern of Administrators and Organizational Climate 

            Table 2 indicated that a Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) of .715 was obtained. This showed that there is strong positive relationship between horizontal communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. This indicated that increase in horizontal communication pattern of administrators will lead to better organizational climate. 

Research Question 3: What is the relationship between democratic leadership style of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities? 

Table 3: Pearson (r) on Relationship Democratic Leadership Style of Administrators and Organizational Climate 

            As shown in Table 3, Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) of .818 was obtained. This showed that there is strong positive relationship between democratic leadership style of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. This indicated that improvement on the democratic leadership style of administrators will contribute to better organizational climate. 

Research Question 4: What is the relationship between autocratic leadership style of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities? 

Table 4: Pearson (r) on Relationship Autocratic Leadership Style of Administrators and Organizational Climate 

            Table 4 indicated that a Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) of .309 was obtained. This showed that there is fair positive relationship between autocratic leadership style of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. This indicated that autocratic leadership style of administrators will contribute to fair organizational climate. 

Research Question 5: What is the relationship between communication patterns, leadership styles of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities, Nigeria?

Table 5: The Summary of Multiple Regression Analysis on Communication Patterns and Leadership Styles of Administrators as Correlates of Organizational Culture

Table 5 showed that correlation coefficient of simple regression analysis is .876 with a coefficient of determination of .767. This shows that 76.7% variation in organizational Climate can be attributed to communication patterns, leadership styles of administrators. The regression Coefficient r of .876 indicated that there is strong positive relationship between communication patterns, leadership styles of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities, Nigeria. 

Hypothesis One: There is no significant relationship between downward communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. 

Table 6: The Summary of t-test of Correlation on the Significant Relationship between Downward Communication Pattern of Administrators and Organizational Climate

Table 6 revealed that the p-value of .000 is less than .05. Therefore, since the p-value is less than the stipulated .05 level of significance, the null hypothesis was rejected. Therefore, there is significant relationship between downward communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. 

Hypothesis Two: There is no significant relationship between horizontal communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. 

Table 7: The Summary of t-test of Correlation on the Significant Relationship between Horizontal Communication Pattern of Administrators and Organizational Climate

The result presented in Table 7 revealed that the p-value of .000 is less than .05. Therefore, since the p-value is less than the stipulated .05 level of significance, the null hypothesis was rejected. Therefore, there is significant relationship between horizontal communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. 

Hypothesis Three: There is no significant relationship between democratic leadership style of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. 

Table 8: The Summary of t-test of Correlation on the Significant Relationship between Democratic Leadership Style of Administrators and Organizational Climate

The result presented in Table 8 revealed that the p-value of .000 is less than .05. Therefore, since the p-value is less than the stipulated .05 level of significance, the null hypothesis was rejected. Therefore, there is significant relationship between democratic leadership style of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. 

Hypothesis Four: There is no significant relationship between autocratic leadership style of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. 

Table 9: The Summary of t-test of Correlation on the Significant Relationship between Autocratic Leadership Style of Administrators and Organizational Climate

Table 9 showed that the p-value of .000 is less than .05. Therefore, since the p-value is less than the stipulated .05 level of significance, the null hypothesis was rejected. Therefore, there is significant relationship between autocratic leadership style of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. 

Hypothesis Five: There is no significant relationship between communication patterns, leadership styles of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities, Nigeria.

Table 10: The Summary of Multiple Regression Analysis on Communication Patterns and Leadership Styles of Administrators as Correlates of Organizational Climate 

            As shown in Table 10, the multiple regression coefficient (R) is .876 while the R² is .767 showing that communication patterns and leadership styles of administrators make 76.7% contribution to the variance organizational climate. The F (1/291) =158.556 and the p-value of .000 is less than .05. Therefore, since the p-value is less than the stipulated .05 level of significance, the null hypothesis was rejected. Therefore, there is significant relationship between communication patterns, leadership styles of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities, Nigeria.

Discussion 

            The result of the study indicated that there is strong positive relationship between downward communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. This is in conformity with the finding of Thet and Htarr (2020) which indicated that there was positively strong relationship between principals’ downward communication pattern and school climate. The agreement in findings could be associated with the fact that the two studies were conducted in educational institutions where administrators give instructions and provide directions using downward communication pattern. This is in disagreement with the finding of This contradicted the finding of Sapian, Abdullah, Ghani, Abdullah and Omar (2019) which indicated that there was moderate relationship between principals’ downward communication pattern and school climate. The difference in geographical locations where there are different policies guiding downward communication pattern. This finding is explained by the fact that downward communication pattern is a means of providing instructions and disseminating information on policies, rules and work procedures enable subordinate become aware of their job roles and expected behaviour contribute to strong organizational climate. Downward communication pattern is strongly correlated with organizational climate due to the fact that it helps to keep members of staff up-dated and well-informed of tasks to be done and how to execute the tasks. The university administrators through downward communication pattern delegate duties and instill a sense of responsibilities to subordinates which contribute ton strong organizational climate.

            Further result indicated that there is significant relationship between downward communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. This is in line with the finding of Thet and Htarr (2020) which revealed that there was significant relationship between principals’ downward communication pattern and school climate. The university administrators give order and directives to the subordinates through downward communication pattern to ensure uniformity and compliance to standard mode of operations which explain the significant relationship with organizational climate. The mission and values of universities shared with members of staff through downward communication pattern enable them understand the expected attitude towards achieving the values which thereby create favourable organizational climate. 

            It was revealed that indicated that there is strong positive relationship between horizontal communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. This is in agreement with the finding of Lannes (2021) which showed a strong positive correlation between organizational horizontal communication and organizational climate. Horizontal communication pattern which ensures unity of purpose among departments or teams at the same level in universities could explain the strong relationship with organizational culture. Members of staff with the same job title could work together to achieve interdependent goals through horizontal communication pattern. Some departments who are dependent on one another for vital information in executing tasks could create strong organizational climate through horizontal communication pattern. The opportunity in which horizontal communication pattern provides for staff at the same level to communicate directly without going through the university administrators could account for the strong relationship with organizational climate. 

            Further finding showed that there is significant relationship between horizontal communication pattern of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. This affirmed the finding of Sidiropoulou (2021) which showed a significant correlation between organizational horizontal communication and organizational climate. Horizontal communication pattern which facilitates information sharing and task coordination between departments or units could account for the significant relationship with organizational climate. 

            The finding of the study indicated that there is strong positive relationship between democratic leadership style of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. This supported the finding of Zamin and Hussin (2021) which showed there was a strong positive relationship between democratic leadership style and work climate. This is also in line with the finding of Barnova, Trelova, Krasna, Benova, Hasajova and Gabrhelova (2022) which indicated democratic leadership style has strong correlation with school climate. The agreement in the findings of the studies could be connected to the fact that the two studies were conducted in educational institutions. This finding is probably due to the fact that democratic leadership style which empowers subordinates to participate in decision-making process could make them feel valued and thereby create strong and healthy organizational climate. Open discussion and sharing of new idea encouraged by administrators who apply democratic leadership style lead to feeling of trust, loyalty and team cohesion could be connected with the strong relationship with organizational climate. Members of staff feel more involved, committed and inspired to take action that foster healthy organizational climate through their inputs and ideas solicited by democratic administrators. 

            Further result showed that there is significant relationship between democratic leadership style of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. This is in consonance with the finding of Barnova, Trelova, Krasna, Benova, Hasajova and Gabrhelova (2022) which showed democratic leadership style has significant correlation with school climate. University administrators who apply democratic style inspire trust and respect among subordinates which could account for the significant relationship with organizational climate. University administrators who apply democratic leadership style delegate responsibilities, foster participatory management and team work which help to build strong organizational climate. 

            The result of the study indicated that there is fair positive relationship between autocratic leadership style of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. This agreed with the finding of Zamin and Hussin (2021) which revealed that there was a fair positive and significant relationship between autocratic leadership style and work culture. This disagreed with the finding of Philip, Ibrahim and Yussof (2020) which revealed that there exist weak relationship between autocratic leadership style and organizational climate. The difference in geographical location could explain the disagreement in findings. The autocratic administrators who deprive subordinates the opportunities to make inputs and provide feedback on the affairs of university lead to feeling of mistrust and this breeds misunderstanding which could explain the fair relationship with organizational climate. The absolute control over subordinates by administrators who apply autocratic leadership impair creative ideas and inputs that tend to lead to physical confrontation which could contribute to the fair relationship with organizational climate. Autocratic administrators fail to value the suggestions of subordinates decrease their morale and create unfair organizational climate. 

            Further finding showed that there is significant relationship between autocratic leadership style of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities. This refuted the finding of Philip, Ibrahim and Yussof (2020) which showed that there was no significant relationship between autocratic leadership style and organizational climate. This disagreed with the finding of Ngoma, Sakakombe and Kabeta (2019) which indicated that the relationship between autocratic leadership style and school climate was not statistically significant. This disagreement could be attributed to the fact that the studies were conducted in different levels of education where the school administrators have different qualifications and experience that guide their use of autocratic leadership style to shape the school climate.  

            It was showed that there is strong positive relationship between communication patterns, leadership styles of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities, Nigeria. This supported the finding of Witarini and Sriathi (2020) which showed that there is joint strong relationship between leadership styles, effective communication and organizational climate. This finding is explained by the fact that communication patterns and leadership styles of administrators determine the social norms, values and expected behaviour that forms the organizational climate of universities. The interaction of administrators with subordinates, decision-making process as well as work procedures which are instrumental in creating strong organizational climate is determined by the communication patterns and leadership styles in universities. 

            Further result showed that there is significant relationship between communication patterns, leadership styles of administrators and organizational climate in South East, Universities, Nigeria. This agreed with the finding of Witarini and Sriathi (2020) which showed that there is significant relationship between leadership styles, effective communication and organizational climate. This finding is explained by the fact that the flow of information determined by communication patterns of administrators as well as their leadership styles which influence the work behaviour of staff could significantly create the organizational climate of universities. 

Conclusion

            Based on the findings, it was concluded that the communication patterns and leadership styles of administrators have positive and significant relationship with organizational climate in South East, Universities. Communication patterns and leadership styles of administrators help to convey information about core values, mission and expected behaviour that create organizational culture of universities. It is the patterns of communication and styles of leadership that could inspire open discussion, good interpersonal relationship, teamwork and honest feedback that strongly shape the organizational culture of universities.

Recommendations 

            Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations were made: 

1. University management should formulate programme and modalities that encourage downward communication pattern by creating innovative channels for timely dissemination of information to members of staff and students for healthy organizational climate.
2. University council should create flowchart that provide details of communication between departments or units with regard to frequency and mode of communication which will foster horizontal communication pattern and strongly improve organizational climate. 
3. University administrators should practice democratic leadership style by encouraging open communication and friendly environment that embolden subordinates to express how they think and feel things could be done to strongly create healthy organizational climate. 
4. University administrators should modify their autocratic leadership style by considering the inputs of subordinates in operation of daily affairs to create positive organizational climate. 
5. University management should organize training programmes in forms of annually or quarterly conferences, seminars, short-courses and workshops to enable administrators acquire skills and knowledge of applying communication patterns and leadership styles to create positive organizational climate. 

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ESE Theresa Esenohor, Yakubu Abubakar, Orogun E. Simeon

College of Education, Warri

Abubakar Yak & Co Chartered Accountants

College of Education, Warri

Abstract

This study examines the impact of directors’ remuneration on financial performance of selected quoted firms in Nigeria. The study has been conducted in different parts of the globe and in Nigeria with different findings which are mixed and inconclusive. The population of the study consists of ten (10) firms quoted on the Nigerian stock exchange as at 31st December 2021 out of which ten (10) firms were selected as samples for a period of Ten (10) years from 2012 to 2021 based on purposeful sampling technique. The study uses Correlation matrix and OLS regression as tools for analysis and adopted the correlational research design. The study shows that Directors’ remuneration has a positive significant impact on financial performance of quoted selected firms in Nigeria.

Keywords: Directors, Remuneration, Leverage.

Introduction

Director Remuneration plays an important role in firms especially it impacts on firm’s financial performance.Directors’ remuneration is the full package of compensation received by a director from a company. It is seen beyond the salary, but can also include bonus payments, stocks, options to buy stocks, and other benefits. Tax consequences can restrict the way directors’ remuneration is calculated based on relevant legislations imposed on Companies. According to Ab Razak (2014), Directors’ remuneration is the payment made for services or employment of directors on the board of a company or corporation. Directors may be compensated by fee, salary, and or use of the company’s property as an agreement between them and the company. However, the amount of remuneration cannot exceed the amount specified in the articles of association (AOA) as stated in company law. Akter (2020) opined that Directors` pay will certainly impact positively on firm performance if the payment mechanism effectively elicits/incentivizes the board to do so. Thus, a positive impact of pay on performance indirectly reflects whether directors are paid for performance. On the other hand, the high levels of an interrelation exist between and within the remuneration packages for CEOs and board of directors with the indicators of corporate performance. The results showed that performance indicators and remuneration packages are positively correlated with each other (Aslam, Haron& Tahir 2019). Empirical studies conducted on the Directors Remuneration and financial performance which include studies Herdan & Szczepanska (2011), Ab Razak (2014), Razali, Yee, Hwangi, Tak, & Kadri (2018), Akter, Ali, Abedin, & Hossain, (2020) of are largely foreign. Most of studies conducted in Nigeria to the best of our knowledge concentrated on insurance firms, deposit money banks and Hospitality firms which could not provide adequate evidence on the impact of Directors remuneration on financial performance as far as selected firms in the Consumer goods and oil and gas sectors are concerned. Those studies have provided mixed and inconclusive findings due to the data collected, methodology used and the industry used and to the best of our knowledge, among studies conducted in Nigeria, we have not seen a study that took into consideration the selected quoted firms from Consumer goods and Oil and gas sectors. To this end, this study attempts to fill the gap by examining the impact of Directors remuneration on financial performance of selected quoted firms of Consumer goods and Oil and gas sectors in Nigeria. The main objective of the study is to examine the impact of Directors Remuneration on financial performance of quoted selected firms in Nigeria. The Specific objective of the study are to determine the extent to which Directors remuneration impact on financial performance of quoted selected firms in Nigeria. In line with the specific objective, a hypothesis was formulated which is: HO1 Directors remuneration has no significant impact on financial performance of quoted selected firms in Nigeria.

 Literature Review

Many studies have been conducted on the impact of Directors remuneration on financial performance. Herdan & Szczepanska (2011) opined the impact of Directors’ Remuneration and Companies’ Performance of Listed Companies in Poland and Uk. They said that companies size, accounting factor and market factor are three factors that affect CEO compensation.. They looked at the relationship between each of this factors and directors remuneration. Sample of companies listed on London Stock Exchange (LSE) and Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) for the period of 2007 – 2010. Data were collected through annual reports content analysis and announcement on websites of LSE and WSE. Linear regression was run on collected data. The results of the findings showed a positive correlation between directors’ remuneration and companies’ size in both British and Polish listed companies. There existed also a positive relationship between directors pay and companies performance. Ab Razak (2014) investigated the relationship between director’s remuneration, corporate governance structure and performance of a sample of 150 companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia from year 2008 until 2013. Sample was selected to provide matched-pair of government linked companies (GLCs) and non-government linked companies (non-GLCs), as it was anticipated that these group would have different governance structure, the key difference being government ownership. The result holds even when we control for company specific characteristic such as corporate governance, company size, leverage, director’s remuneration, board size and auditors. They used panel based regression model to examine the impact of government control mechanism on company performance using two important measurers. Accounting based measure was proxies by ROA and non-accounting based measured by Tobin’s Q. The result of the study showed a significant impact of government ownership on company performance after controlling for company specific characteristics. Lawrence (2020) examined the impact of directors’ remuneration on firms’ performance of Thirteen (13) commercial banks listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange from 2010 to 2017.  Descriptive Statistics, Correlation Matrix, and the Ordinary Least Square Regression Techniques were used in analyzing the related data set. The results of the study revealed that there is no significant relationship between directors’ remuneration (proxy as directors’ salary and bonus share) and firm’s performance in terms of shareholders’ value of Tobin Q, among listed banks in Nigeria. Razali, etal (2018) examined the Impact of Directors’ Remuneration and Firm’s Performance: A Study on Malaysian Listed Firm under Consumer Product Industry. Firm performances are measured by return on assets (ROA) and return on equities (ROE). A sample of 40Malaysian listed companies for the period of 2012to 2014 was employed. After controlling forboard size, CEO duality, firm size, firm age and leverage, the results of the study revealed that director remuneration has positive relationship with firm performance measured by ROA and ROE. The result also shows all variables affect firm performance differently.  Ahmed, Bahamman, & Abdulkarim (2020) examined the effect of  directors’ remuneration on financial performance of listed insurance companies in Nigeria. Data was gotten from annual reports and accounts of listed Insurance companies in Nigeria from 2012 to 2017. The Population of the study was all 28 insurance companies listed on the floor of the Nigerian stock exchange market, out of which 19 insurance companies were randomly selected as sample for the study. Data was analyzed using pooled OLS, fixed and random effects regression. It was found that directors’ remuneration is positively and significantly related to financial performance at 10% level of significance. On the interaction variables, it was found that the presence of more independent directors on the board strengthens the positive impact of directors’ remuneration on firm performance. Otekunrin etal (2018) studied the impact of Directors Compensation on firm performance using selected general insurance companies as a case study. Eight general insurance companies which were listed in Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) were used from 2009-2013. The time frame used considered the recapitalization in the insurance industry that occurred in 2007. They made use of secondary data which were collected from the published annual reports of the eight (8) general insurance companies under study. The data was analyzed using the regression analysis. Return on Assets (ROA) and net claims paid (NC) were used to establish a relationship between with directors’ compensation. The results of the study revealed a significant relationship between annual directors’ compensation and firm performance of the general insurance companies. It also showed a significant but negative relationship between directors compensation and Return on asset, while that of net claims paid was significantly positive. Akter etal (2020), Directors’ Remuneration and Performance: Evidence from the Textile Sector of Bangladesh, They used Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) and data pertaining to listed textile companies of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) from 2011 to 2017 resulting in a total of 140 firm-year observations. They used directors’ remuneration and board independence as the independent variables and some other control variables like firm age, size, leverage, and operating efficiency. The results of the study showed that there existed a negative association between board remuneration and firm performance. They found no significant relationship between board independence and firm performance of the sample firms. John etal (2019) studied the effect of Directors’ Remuneration on Financial performance; Evidence from the Nigerian Hospitality industry. They employed ex-post facto research design using panel data from 2009 to 2018. The scope of the study comprised of the three hotels listed in the Nigerian Stock Exchange as at December 2018. Necessary data were obtained from the audited financial reports of the selected companies. The results of the regression analysis revealed a positive significant relationship between directors’ remuneration and corporate financial performance. Drake & Kevin (2003) examined the impact of Executive remuneration and firm performance: Evidence from a panel of Mutual organizations. The relationship between the remuneration of: the highest paid director (HPD), mean Board remuneration (Director), and the Chairperson of the Board (Chair) and firm-level performance were examined on a panel of mutual building societies from 1991 to 1996. Profitability and the change in total factor productivity (TFP were two measures of performance employed. The result of the study showed a strong positive relationship between profitability and pay is found for the HPD but not for the Director or Chair. The relationship between pay and TFP change is generally weak for all three measures of executive remuneration. A strong relationship between size and the executive remuneration measures is found, particularly for the Director.  Singhal & Agrawal (2022) studied the Impact of director’s Remuneration on financial performance of top 10 BSE Listed companies from. 2019-2021Financial performance of the company was measured by various financial ratios i.e. NPR, DE, ROCE, CR, ROA. Secondary data were collected from the official website of the company. E views were used to investigate the correlation between Directors remuneration and financial performance. The result of the study indicates that director’s remuneration has significant impact on financial performance. Saidu, Bello & Jibril (2017), Executive Compensation and Financial Performance; Industry Sensitivity Test. They used ex post-facto research design to test its objectives using ten years data drawn from banking and construction industries with results obtained from data analysis using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The result of the study showed that both correlation and OLS results revealed significantly negative and positive results on banking and construction industries respectively. Capuano (2022) investigated the impact of directors’ remuneration on bank performance: Evidence in the US for the period 1999–2021. They focused on the remuneration of the chief executive officer (CEO), neglecting that of the board members. The scientific analysis methodology was adopted based on the analysis of panel data. The results of the data analysis made it possible to highlight the existence of a significant link between the remuneration policies adopted by banks concerning the corporate results obtained in terms of profitability. Secondly, the results showed differences, in terms of impact on banking performance, between the remuneration of chief executive officers and the remuneration of directors. Aslam, Haron& Tahir 2019. Studied How director remuneration impacts firm performance: An empirical analysis of executive director remuneration in Pakistan, They used GMM approach to account for the problem of potential endogeneity and unobserved heterogeneity that arises due to the potential reverse causality (pay and performance) for a sample of non-financial firms listed in the KSE from 2009 to2016. They supported the agency theory whereby CEOs/board of directors is compensated for their prior level of market-based performance. In addition, it weakly supports the notion of the steward/tournament theory. The result of the study revealed that CEOs/board director’s remuneration is highly persistent and takes time to adjust to long-run equilibrium.

Methodology

This research adopted correlation research design and was considered adequate and appropriate for this study because it describes the statistical relationship between the independent variable of the study (Directors remuneration) and the dependent variable (Return on Equity). The population consists of selected firms from Oil and Gas and Consumer goods Sector namely Conoil Plc, Champion Breweries Plc, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Flour Mills Nigeria Plc, Forte Oil Plc, Honeywell Flour Mills Plc, MRS oil Nigeria Plc, Nestle Nigeria Plc, Oando Plc, Total Nigeria Plc quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange as at 31st December 2021 and covered a period of Ten (10) years (2012-2021). Purposeful sampling technique was employed to select the sample. The sample selected was in line with this, the sample size is all the ten (10) selected quoted firms on the Nigerian stock exchange namely Conoil Plc, Champion Breweries Plc, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Flour Mills Nigeria Plc, Forte Oil Plc, Honeywell Flour Mills Plc, MRS oil Nigeria Plc, Nestle Nigeria Plc, Oando Plc, Total Nigeria Plc. The study employed panel data using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS 25) and Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method adopted in this study is a parametric statistical test that is based on a number of assumptions, the violation of which could affect the reliability of the results. The Pearson correlation and t-test statistics were used for inferential analysis. Two of the most commonly encountered problems addressed in this study relate to normal distribution of the variables and descriptive statistics was used to test for normality of data.

 Model Specification

The model that was used to test the hypothesis formulated for this study is presented below. The null Hypothesis is tested considering the results for the P-values at 1%, 5% and 10% level of significance.

ROE = f (DIREREβ₁+ LEVβ₂)

ROE = α + β₁DIRERE + LEVβ₂+ ϵ_i

Where

α= the intercept

ROE = Profit after Tax divided by Total Equity.

DIRERE= the Total amount of Expenditure incurred on Directors remuneration for the year

LEV = the total liabilities divided by total assets.

ϵ_i= error term

Leverage is a controls variable.

Data Presentation

This part presents the results of the descriptive statistics and regression results on the impact of Directors remuneration on financial performance of selected quoted firms in Nigeria. One explanatory variable and One (1) control variable are employed for the purpose of explaining and predicting the impact of Director Remuneration on financial performance of selected quoted firms in Nigeria.

Test of Normality

The normality tests are supplementary to the graphical assessment of normality. For this study, Z skewness and Z Kurtosis are used to test for normality of the One (1) independent variable; namely Directors remuneration. The Z skewness was computed as skewness divided by standard error of skewness and the Z kurtosis was computed as kurtosis divided by standard error of kurtosis.

Table 4.2.1 shows the skewness, kurtosis and Z skewness and Z kurtosis.

Table 1 Descriptive Statistics Table for the Variables

This table shows the normality test for Director Remuneration

 In Small samples like that of this study which the number of observations is 100, values of Z skewness and Z kurtosis greater or lesser than 1.96 are sufficient to establish normality of the data. The result of Skewness for Directors remuneration is 2.461. The Z skewness of Directors remuneration is 10.21 which is more than 1.96 shows that the data is normal which indicates that the data for Directors remuneration relates linearly to the dependent variable (Return on Equity). The results of the Kurtosis for Directors remuneration is 5.559 and the Z kurtosis of Directors remuneration is 11.63 is more than 1.96 and therefore, is normal which indicates that the data for Directors remuneration relates linearly to the dependent variable (Return on Equity). Ghasemi and Zahediasl (2012).

Table 2.  Correlational Matrix of Independent and Dependent Variables

Table 3. OLS Regression Results Directors Remuneration impact on Financial performance

Source: Author’s computation using SPSS 25

            The estimated equation of the study is presented as follows:

            ROE = 0.147 + 0.358 (DIRERE) + 0.367 (LEV).

Financial performance measured by Return on Equity would be equal to 0.147 when all other variables are held to zero. One-unit change of Directors remuneration all other variables remain constant, would increase Director Remuneration by 0.147. The regression result of the study shows that the beta coefficient in respect of Directors remuneration is (0.358) and the t-value is (4.159) and it is significant at 1%. This means that, as far as selected firms of oil and gas and consumer goods sectors are concerned, Directors remuneration has significant impact on financial performance of quoted selected firms in Nigeria. The implication of this is that, a higher directors’ remuneration is able to motivate and retain directors in order to perform their duty and work harder for the best interest of shareholders which will result in better financial performance. This provides an evidence of rejecting the hypothesis stating that Directors remuneration has no significant impact on financial performance of quoted selected firms in Nigeria. 

The overall impact Directors remuneration of is able to explain the dependent variable up to (58%). This shows a positive relationship as indicated by the R value and the remaining (42%) are controlled by other factors. Similarly, the result of the F- statistic shows the overall fitness of the model. The F- statistic has a value of (24.785) and is significant at 1% which implies that the model is fit because it is significant at all levels of significant. Durbin Watson of (1.950) shows that there is no problem of autocorrelation in the data set (Gujarati, 2004).

 Findings of the Study

 Directors’ remuneration has significant impact on financial performance of quoted selected firms in Nigeria which is in line with the findings of Herdan & Szczepanska (2011), John etal (2019) and Razali, etal (2018).

Conclusions

This study has contributed to findings on Accounting Research in Nigeria. It investigated whether Directors remuneration impacted on financial performance of quoted selected firms in Nigeria. The study concludes that Directors remuneration has a positive significant impact on financial performance of quoted selected Oil and gas and consumer goods firms in Nigeria. 

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