THE ROLE OF POLICY IMPLEMENTATION ON THE PERFORMANCE OF NIGERIA PUBLIC SECTOR ORGANIZATION.(A CASE STUDY OF NIGERIAN TELECOMMUNICATION LIMITED ENUGU)
Having traced the origin and the inception of government participation in business enterprises in Nigeria, it is now due to review some sectors, since these enterprises came into operation, a lot of problems have hindered their effective performance to date.
Also Adebayo in his book emphasized some of the causes of inefficiency, which is a variable of the problem of administrative machinery. He emphasized that in considering the factors emasculating the implementation of policies in public sectors, thirteen (13) main reasons have to be identified and this can be grouped under five main categories namely institutional, political, psychological, attitudinal and of course sociological factors.
However, finance and development magazine of Dec. 1987, 26 – 27 stated that there are two possible sets of explanation. The first consist of country specific characteristics include cultural, social, political, macro – economics and institutional factors.
The second characteristics include factors that are specific to particular companies and accounts for variation in performance of public sector within the same country. These variables, include the extent of domestic and foreign competition, the degree of autonomy and the co-operate and managerial culture. The two sets of factors clearly overlap, but for the purpose of this research, the researcher will look into these categories emphasized by Adebayo.
Furthermore, the categories emphasized in the finance and development magazine will be looked into. Other problems emasculating the implementation of policies with special reference to Nigerian Telecommunication Limited Enugu will also be discussed.
MANAGERIAL PROBLEM
This is a critical factor that make and unmake the proper implementation of policies in any public enterprises and infant distinguish successful public enterprises from poorly performing one in the degree of autonomy and accountability. Experience has shown that excessive central interference with the operation decisions of public managers (hiring and firing staff, wage setting, investment mix, procurement and production policies, personnel policies) by government over time, has really suffocated managerial initiative and result in a loss of accountability and costly operational inefficiencies. The problem of exercise of control over operation is not only that the process is time consuming for a bureaucracy already stretched to the limit, but also that government officials lack the necessary information, business perspective and confidence to make correct and expedite decision. In such environment no good policy will be professionally implemented.
Excessive political interference in the operational matter of public enterprises can be reduced by stating clearly the role and responsibilities of the government (ownership role), The board of directors (strategic role), and the management of the enterprises (operational role) further will accrue by appointing professional directors with experience relevant to there tasks and by decentralising appropriate powers to the board of directors.
Additional steps such as introducing management philosophy, that is less control oriented and procedure bound and more concerned with judging managers on the basis of enterprise viability and a limited sex of indicators of performance.
According to Mbanefo and Ugwuegbu, the management problem of state owned enterprise in Nigeria could arise from a number of sources, the problem of coping with the social and political environment, manpower planning problem, human relations problems, performance evaluation problem, and budgeting problems.
To some extent, the problem that emasculate the implementation of management policies in the public sector organization lie in the difference inherent in their ownership. These include the fact that the directors of public enterprises have no financial commitment in the business and probably have less interest in the degrees of its success than they would, if the reverse was the case. Also decision are long- term in nature in the public enterprises especially where the decision making process has been made circuitous to ensure public accountability.
Other variables that may be consider important in this discussion are
- The extent and manner in which managerial autonomy and accountability are ensured.
- Financial autonomy and accountability
- Competitive environment
A FINANCIAL AUTONOMY & ACCOUNTABILITY: One of the main problems of policy implementation in the public sector is the extent of financial autonomy and accountability. This is because the management and operation are not clearly separated from political and strategic consideration. Such blurred separation results into diffuse and conflicting objectives, a loss of managerial autonomy needed for efficient commercial operation and civil service culture, where chief executives are administrators rather than enterprising businessmen. In such an environment, employment, investment and pricing decision are often made without due consideration for their financial consequences. The prerequisite for the implementation of management policies in the public sector is to delegate more decision making to their managers. The managers interviewed in course of the study cherished financial autonomy above all, in the sense of being substantially free of the need to rely on treasury financing.
These are various requirements for financial autonomy, they are :
- Sound financial objectives
- Greater market discipline
- Clear social objectives
- Appropriate capital structure.
- Greater discipline in financial relations.
- INSTITUTIONAL PROBLEM: The institutional impairment is seen in the public sector recruitment of employee section. One of the problems in Nigerian Telecommunication Limited Enugu is the recruitment of unqualified candidates in preference to candidate of high merit. The reason for this is favouristism and God fathers. Corruption plays a key role in the recruitment of both clerks, junior employees messengers. In this category of recruitment, the recruiting agent are generally officials of low and middle rank who see this as an opportunity of making some money by collecting little bribes from applicants to enable them push their particulars.
Also selection of unsuitable candidate which undermines efficiency and performance in the public sector occur in the recruitment of higher grade of staff such as Assistant secretaries, Accountants, technical officers, information officers. Highly placed individuals at the top of the system are responsible for the recruitment of this grade of staff in the sector. This is the responsibility of the special committee appointed for the purpose (board of directors) of the organization. While every member of the committee or board members belief in the merit system, yet some of them will be anxious to ensure that their own candidates are reappointed. These candidates may be blood relation, friend or person from the same town or clan as the case may be. It is not being suggested that the illustration cited above represents the state of affairs generally in the public sector. On the contrary, there are institutions within the public sector which rigorously uphold and enforce the principle of merit and whose integrity cannot be faulted.
Adebayo (1984) stated that one fact, which is seldom realized today is that mere paper qualification is not a true test of merit which the qualification proclaimed in the certificate is suppose to carry. This he said is why it is frightfully important that the process of recruitment or appointment should be an instrument for the promotion of efficiency in the public sector organization. Still on the institutional problems, faulty positioning and frequent posting of staffs should be seen as an undertone for the inefficiency in the public sector. It is also important to recognize at all time that the development of a man to the task for which he is most suited qualified is an essential ingredient for efficiency.
Admittedly, much progress has been made in the various public sectors in Nigeria towards training and staff development during the past decade and particularly since the report of the public service review commission in 1972. Attention appears to be focussed on senior management training to the relative neglect of the numerous cadres in the public service. Among the lower cadre, there is often even barely concealed hostility or coldness or rudeness to members of the public who approach public officers in the lower cadre for information or service. Even at the higher level of the public sector to which Nigeria authorities have devoted some attention, the training given is quick and inadequate. A great many bosses in the public sector do not appear to appreciate the purpose and value of staff training and development. The usual pretence for not releasing official for training is that such official cannot be spared to leave their desk and go for training.
Deterioration of health perhaps because of domestic commitment and responsibilities, most Nigeria public servants whose health has deteriorated to the point of permanent impairment of efficiency never learn to retire gracefully from the public office. They hold on drug themselves, to work painfully, labouring with official assignment by day and collapsing after official hours.
Emphasis to this should be seen in the civil service “General order”. It contains adequate provision for dealing with officials whose efficiency has run low as a result of ill-health, such officials are required to be sent before a medical board and if the board finds that such officials can no longer operate with competence in the public sector, should be removed from public service. In practice however, this provision in the general order is hardly ever followed. The fault is that of Nigeria socio-cultural heritage or behaviour. The department boss whose responsibility to initiate such action is afraid for the fact that the relations and department of the official concerned will cry to him that he has taken the bread out of the mouth of a fellow colleague or bread winner of a family. The results is that the official continues in office and with detrimental effect to the efficiency of the public sector.
The question of conflict between administrators and professional officers has a great impairment on the managerial network of the Nigeria public sector. Public service review commission (1974) P. 112, of its report, the commission observed that as between the administrators and professional, the relationship is one of acrimony and antagonism in a conflict rather than partnership in an enterprise with resultant lack of teamwork. In modern management, when in a department the professional officer develop a lukewarm attitude to work and the administrator rely heavily on the benefit of sound advice from the professional expert, then the output that department is bound to be adversely affected.
- PROBLEM OF COPING WITH THE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT: The management of any public enterprise is very much constrained by external factors in Nigeria: Such external factors could be either political or social. Some of these enterprises are established by acts or decree which define the activities of such enterprise.
Again, the government in power may influence the activities of such enterprise by setting financial targets. The establishment of tests rate of discounts, policy rewards, vetting specific project and intervention substantially reduce the freedom of action in the management of public enterprises. High incidence of direct intervention in the operation of public enterprises is the rule rather the exception in Nigeria. Another external problem of implementation of management policy in public sector organization could be seen in the activities of their board of directors.
Umeh, also put it this way “once these comparisons are incorporated, they are shielded with “tiger”. Chief executive and most cases ignorant board of directors who are being delegated from the supervision ministry. He contend that the resultant effect of this, is that the company become an extension of civil service bureaucracy and in most cases ultimate decisions are taken by individuals who apart from reading monthly reports frequently, pushed in by the chief executive, have no direct contact with the actual life in the company concerned.
MANPOWER PLANNING PROBLEMS
Manpower planning is one of the major management problem facing public enterprises. Manpower planning is supposed to be a function of the personnel of the organization. This means assisting in the development of manpower strategy of the organization with the development forecasts and manpower models.
Ubeku, distinguished two aims of manpower planning viz:
- To provide for the future manpower needs of the organization in terms of skills and age.
- To ensure the optimum utilization of human resources currently employed.
He said that recruitment policy must be made based on the need of the organization. It should also consider the range of skills and knowledge which various categories recruited should be expected to bring to the organization.
Ubeku. A.K. continued, “One problem with there state enterprises in the area of manpower planning is that at times the problem of availability of management skills is complicated by the fact that sometimes appointment of top management position is unduly influenced by political consideration.
BUDGETARY PROBLEM
One of the characteristics usually used to explain performance difference among different types of enterprises is the degree of discretionary power that management is able to wield especially with respect to financial structures. The problem with some of the public enterprises is that their operation and financial structure are made to follow that of government department, which are incompatible business requirements. With regards to this issue, Umeh contributed thus: “Very little government owned companies (if any) are independent in matter of finding. Their fate is tied yearly to the government budget hence they are financed by way of grants, subsidies or loans, by the government that own them”.
- REMUNERATION AND MOTIVATION IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR.
Trying to discover what make employees to want to work or not, takes us into the psychological concept of motivation. The concept has been defined in various ways.
Psychologically, Brown J.A.C. defines it as that which incites, moves and direct an individual workers to perform in accordance with the goals and objectives of an organization psychologist over the years, have developed some general management approach for motivating employees to greater performance on their jobs.
Moreover, in workshops, conferences and seminars held in this country, participants have deliberated upon matters relating to leadership, motivation, discipline, and productivity and organization climate.
Nigeria copied the British in the institution of this enterprise, where semi-commercial undertakings of government are hired out and allowed to operate outside the civil service rules and regulations. The idea is that great freedom of action is required in those undertakings and quicker decision making will promote their efficiency.
In the British experience, the parastatals can be effectively managed by honest-grey haired men. The day to day management can then be left in the hands of the professionally and technically competent officials while the honest grey-haired men, determine the board policies reporting to and consulting the minister who has constitutional responsibility. Yet back home in Nigeria which is the brain child of the British pattern, we began to modify the system to suit our political and ethnic biases in favour of excellence.
The separation of ownership and management in enterprises, is the first lesson for any student in “Business Administration”, but in government the first lesson is the total assimilation of ownership and management.
The fault does not lie in the diagnosis, it lies in the capacity of the government to lay down clearly and distinctively the policy, both the government and the enterprise should follow and also ensure that proper managerial machinery is established for government itself to respect the policy and to allow management room to manage the enterprise success rewarded.
In an organization like information generation technology, to make a non- profession, the head of administrative unit of a predominantly professional department would sooner or later brew a conflict which impairs productivity and efficiency. The professional has his priority which the administrative boss may be at lost to understand but because he is the boss who determines for the professional who is under him, he always has his way even in matters he does not understand. The productive professional must either swallow his knowledge and enthusiasm in controversial matters or be prepared to make room for better consequences which awaits him at the promotion lists.
Finally, in this chapter, we cannot over look the financial problem of the said sector and the negative role it always play in policy implementation. Although, this was not mentioned earlier, the research deemed it fit to bring it in because of its negative implications.
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