This paper examines the causes, effects and remedies of organizational conflict. What are the things that lead to conflicts in organizations? The study found out that like other terms, conflict generates considerable ambivalence and leaves many scholars and administrators quite uncertain about (1) its meaning and relevance; and (2) how best to cope with it. Conflicts are inevitable in human life. It is also inevitable in organizations or even between nations. Conflict is an inseparable aspect of people's as well as organizations' life. The study also discovered that conflicts occur in organizations as a result of competition for supremacy, leadership style, scarcity of common resources, etc. If a conflict is not well and timely managed, it can lead to low productivity or service delivery. The study also discovered that conflict can sometimes produce positive result, if well managed. Thus, not all conflict situations are bad. Efforts should always be made to ensure that the causes of conflicts are addressed as soon as they are noticed. The paper concludes that early recognition and paying attention to the conflicting parties and negotiation between parties involved in the conflict should be adopted in resolving conflicts while force or intimidation should never be used to resolve conflicting parties. Force and intimidation can only be counter productive.
Performance of the Nigerian public service has been a major concern to policy makers and researchers alike. This is because despite all measures put in place to arrest the ugly trend, it seems, it has defied all approaches towards tackling the problem of inefficiency and capacity collapse. Work ethics, attitudes and values can be influenced by the organization, through interventions like training, motivation and coaching, etc. However, they cannot be changed forcibly because they are intrinsic. It is, therefore, of fundamental importance that public functionaries act justly and fairly to all, not only paying lip service to ethical conduct but also ensuring that these are manifestly and undoubtedly seen to be done. This paper discusses the challenges of work ethics, values, attitudes and performance in the Nigerian public service. The major causes of unethical conduct in the public service were identified and the institutional mechanisms established by the government to curb these unethical behaviours were examined. This paper adopted content analysis as a method of data gathering and analysis. It suggested viable options for effective and efficient service-oriented public service.
The recruitment and selection of staff in any organization be it public or private sector is of paramount importance to the organization. This is so because it is the staff that turns the vision and mission of the organization into reality. Thus, the objectives of any organization can only be realized through the effective co-ordination of the human resource (staff) of the organization. This paper attempts an examination of the process of staff recruitment and selection in the public service of Nigeria. Five relevant research questions were raised and addressed. Descriptive statistics was used to analyse the data collected from respondents to the questionnaire designed for this purpose. The results obtained showed that merit is often jettisoned on the altar of ethnicity and religion in recruitment into the public service in Nigeria. Since the public service is directly controlled and regulated by the government, the Nigerian Federal Character Principle was largely complied with. The study also reveals that though there are stipulated periods for recruitment and selection into the public service, these are often sidelined. This paper concludes by recommending that for government to operate the most efficient administrative service that would be beneficial to all, her recruitment and selection policies into the Nigerian public services should be unfettered. It should be able to absorb the most qualified, technically sound, disciplined and committed human resource that would in turn help government achieve the objectives of governance.
Organizations are made up of both human and material resources. It is the human resources of an organization that transform or convert the material resources of the organization into finished or consumable products. In trying to transform/convert the material resources of the organization, choices have to be made. Choices as to the type or kind of product to be produced, different materials to be used in order to have the desired product, the type of machinery to be adopted for production efficiency, the financial resources to be involved and its sources, etc. In any of these decisions, choices have to be made. These decisions or choices involve some kind of politics while the person making the choices or decisions uses some power to ensure that his/her choices or decisions are accepted. Thus, the influence of power and politics in organizations presents a political analysis of intraorganizational relations in which power play and politics is normal. In any organization, we look up to people/human resources for support. This accounts for the inevitability of organizational politics and power play. An understanding of organizational politics requires an analysis of power, coalitions, and bargaining. The power relationship is the contest for political action and encompasses the most basic issues underlying organizational politics. Infact, survival in an organization is a political act.
Public services play a central role in the well-being, sustainability and growth of communities, cities, and nations. Nigeria"s quest to attain the United Nation"s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will be a mirage without the public officers taking the driving seat to lead the process. Improvement in the capacity and ability of public service officials can be harnessed to improve a range of public services (e.g. health, policing, education, environment, local government, policy-making, etc.). The changing global economy, technology, politics, and increased expectations for government performance demand new attention to the complex set of public skills and capacity. Public officials are experiencing intense pressures emanating from increasing global integration -economic, political, social and cultural.New technology, new ways of organizing work, new means of delivering services and an increasing reliance on temporary employment have redefined the nature of public service. Meeting all these challenges requires a unique combination of knowledge, skills, abilities, traits and behaviours, effective human resource development policies and strategies to nurture those competencies. Against the background problems of persistent low performance of the Nigerian Public Service and the inability of the sector to deliver efficient and effective public goods and services, the Obasanjo civilian administration (1999 -2007) identified the need for a more comprehensive and wide-ranging public sector reforms as part of its overall development framework.The success of the plethora of reform programmes of the federal government of Nigeria will largely depend on the quality of its workforce (public officers) that is statutorily charged with the responsibility to analysing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating policies and programmes of government. For example, if the service fails to deliver to certain standards, a country can lose its competitiveness, lose its direct investments and can lose its talented individuals to other countries (brain drain). While the choices are not always this simple, the ISSN 2161-7104 2013 www.macrothink.org/jpag 16 ramifications and repercussions of a non-performing public sector are great in its impact and implications to the nation, its people, and its economy. To be able to deliver such levels of service, on the current scale and complexity, the fundamental personal qualities of those who deliver the service becomes imperative and vital. Journal of Public Administration and GovernanceThe objective of this paper is to identify strategies for improving the competence of public service officials in Nigeria with a view to moving public management beyond bureaucracy and promote greater economy, efficiency and effectiveness in public service delivery.
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