GENDER AND LEARNING IN THE ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN STUDIO

This study aimed at gaining a better understanding of the link between the learning characteristics of students of architecture and their gender. The Learning combination inventory was administered to both undergraduate and post graduate architecture students from the second to sixth year in a private university in Nigeria. Using Parametric and non-parametric statistical tests, it was found that out of four processing patterns, (Sequential, Precise, Technical and Confluent) there were sex differences in Technical and CP with the male students scoring significantly higher than their female colleagues in both cases. Gender identity differences were also investigated based on Bem’s gender schema and the masculine students were found to be more proficient than the feminine students in both technical and CP. These findings suggested that male and masculine students were more creative than female and feminine students. The implications of these findings as well as positive steps that can be taken to ginger higher levels of creativity in the female students were fully discussed

Subjective Life Satisfaction in Public Housing in Urban Areas of Ogun State, Nigeria

This study investigated subjective life satisfaction of 452 residents in 10 newly constructed public housing estates in urban areas of Ogun State Southwest Nigeria. Data were collected using structured questionnaire and subjected to descriptive statistics, factor and multivariate regression analyses. The result shows that 61% of the respondents were generally satisfied with life in their current residences. A larger proportion of them were also found to be satisfied with the physical and spatial characteristics of the dwelling unit components of their housing environment but were dissatisfied with access to housing services and infrastructural facilities. Tenure, income and marital status as well as satisfaction with the size of residence, housing services and management of the housing estates and housing delivery strategy were among the strongest predictors of subjective life satisfaction among the respondents. This implies that among other factors, satisfaction with housing environment as well as housing delivery strategy have a significant influence on residents’ satisfaction with life in public housing. Therefore, public housing developers need to take adequate steps to improve residents’ satisfaction with the size of main activity areas in dwelling units, housing services and management of housing estates and encourage the participation of users in housing delivery process in order to enhance the subjective life satisfaction of residents of public housing in urban areas in Nigeri

Culture of Architectural Firms in Nigeria: An Exploratory Study

What is the culture of architectural firms and which organizational characteristics influence their culture? These questions are addressed in this paper in a survey of 92 architectural firms in Nigeria. The study investigated the types of culture which are applicable to the architectural firms using the responses of the principals to the value statements questionnaire constructed from the innovation, stability, people orientation, outcome orientation, team orientation, and aggressiveness dimensions of culture. The data were analyzed using two-step cluster analysis to determine the culture types. Categorical regression was also carried out to determine the factors which influenced culture.The study reveals that the architectural firms did not adopt the market and hierarchical cultures. The findings also question the idea that larger firms tend to be impersonal in character. It however confirms the notion that the service sector organizations are more people-oriented than outcome oriented because there was a predominance of the responsive and staff-oriented cultures. The leadership style of the principals was the best predictor of the culture of the firms

Architectural Firms:Workforce,Business Strategy and Performance

The intent of this research was to investigate the relationship between the workforce, business strategy and performance of architectural firms. Data was collected from 92 firms randomly selected from the cities where architectural firms were most concentrated in Nigeria using questionnaires. Hierarchical regression analysis was carried out to investigate the direct and indirect impacts of the workforce of architectural firms on their performance. The findings confirm the significant positive impact. With business strategy controlled, the specific characteristics of the workforce and its management which influenced performance were the number of architects, the work structure, and the age and experience of the principal partners. The impact of the number of non- architecture professionals and staff participation in decision-making on performance was moderated by the business strategy adopted by the firms. The results suggest that workforce characteristics are more important than the management of the workforce in determining performance of architectural firms. This is contrary to the results of previous studies which suggest higher importance of the management. This probably indicates the peculiarity of architectural firm as a professional service firm in the construction industr

Ownership,Structure,and Performance of Architectural Firms

With architectural firms, owners are often managers whose characteristics may influence the firm structure. This study investigated the relationships between ownership characteristics, organizational structure, and performance of architectural firms. Utilizing a sample of architectural firms from Nigeria, a questionnaire survey of 92 architectural firms was carried out. Data were analyzed using multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA) and regression analyses. A generally low level of specialization of duties was observed even though professional service firms were defined as highly specialized firms. For most of the firms, level of formalization was moderate or high, while level of centralization was mostly low. Results revealed a direct significant relationship between legal ownership form and formalization dimension of structure. In addition, the centralization dimension of structure influenced firm performance. However, no direct relationship between ownership characteristics and performance was noted, although different fits of ownership characteristics and structural variables were observed. The results suggest that principals of architectural firms should match their characteristics with the firm structure to enhance performance in relation to profit. & 2013. Higher Education Press Limited Company. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Characteristics of Global Architectural Firms

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to investigate the factors which discriminate between local and global architectural firms in Nigeria. The rationale was to examine how the globalization process differs in Nigeria and contribute to the discourse on globalization. Design/methodology/approach – The research is quantitative, using discriminant analysis to differentiate the global architectural firms from the local ones. The study used a random sample of 92 architectural firms in Nigeria, examining various characteristics of the firms through a questionnaire. Findings – There was a strong distinction between global and local firms. Compared to the local architectural firms, the global firms were larger, and mostly run by sole principals who were more experienced. The internet was used more to communicate with other professionals, but less to communicate with clients and in designing and drafting. The global firms also placed higher value on developing expertise in specific building types. Research limitations/implications – Data are obtained from architectural firms in Nigeria only. The results suggest that global architectural firms are peculiar and exhibit certain characteristics which further differentiate them from local ones. Practical implications – The implications for architectural firms seeking to operate globally include building size advantage, building expertise in specific specializations, having principals with high level experience and employing alliances with other professionals in operating internationally. Originality/value – This paper adds to the body of knowledge on architectural firms which are under-researched. The importance of this paper lies in its empirical nature in investigating the characteristics of global architectural firms using a sample of architectural firms in Nigeria

Culture of Architectural Firms in Nigeria: An Exploratory Study

What is the culture of an architectural firm, and what are the organisational characteristics that shape this culture? These are the questions addressed by this paper that surveys 92 Nigerian architectural firms. The study investigated the culture of these architectural firms using the response of the firms' principals to a questionnaire of value statements regarding innovation, stability, people orientation, outcome orientation, team orientation and aggressiveness. The culture types were determined using a two-step cluster analysis of the data. Categorical regression was also used to determine the factors that shaped a firm's culture. The study revealed that the architectural firms did not have either market or hierarchical cultures. The findings also challenged the notion that larger firms tend to be more impersonal. However, the predominance of responsive and staff-oriented cultures confirmed the notion that service sector organisations are more people-oriented than outcome-oriented confirms. The leadership style of the principals best predicted a firm's culture

Organizational Structure of Architectural Firms and Their Performances

The focus of this study is the organizational structure of architectural firms where the mode of coordination had been unclear. The types of organizational structure in architectural firms were identified using data obtained from 92 architectural firms in Nigeria. The findings show that sizes of the firms influenced the organizational structures adopted by the architectural firms. Although, sizes of the firms also had direct influence on the performance, no interaction of this variable or any internal firm characteristic with organizational structure led to any significant change in performance. Although the environment did not directly influence organizational structure, it appeared that particular organizational structures worked best when some external influences are high and resulted in higher profit. The results show that while adhoc structure leads to better performance in firms where the influence of other professionals is considered high, the administered structure is more effective highly influenced by government privatization programmes. Only the adhoc structure was however not suitable for firms strongly influenced by increasing concerns for sustainable environment. The results of the study suggest that while larger architectural firms may record higher profit, architectural firms that adapt their organizational structures to environmental conditions to reap improved profi

Physical characteristics of students’ residential environment in relation to dietary habits in University of Ilorin, Nigeria

The design of students’ residential environment has implication on their dietary habits. This study, which was conducted through a cross-sectional survey of students’ resident on-campus, describes the physical characteristics of students’ residential environment in relation to dietary habits in University of Ilorin, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was adopted and twelve (12) residence halls were purposively selected out of the twenty (20) residence halls on campus based on three criteria, namely: ownership, gender and design type. The systematic selection of 12% of students in each of the twelve (12) residence halls gave a total of 430 students that were used in the study. The data for the study were collected through the use of self-administered questionnaire and personal observation. Statistical analysis was done using the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) software. The analytical tools used for the study were mainly descriptive statistics such as frequency tables and percentages. The result of the data analysis revealed that most (67%) of the residence halls had kitchen en suite design and most (92%) had butteries and restaurants within them to enhance the cooking and eating habits of students. The result also revealed that most of the food outlets (72%) in the residential environment were mainly butteries and snack shops while few were restaurants (18%). The study recommends that developers and stakeholders in student housing should pay more attention to the provision of facilities such as kitchens and restaurants that would enhance the cooking and eating of students within the residential environment.Keywords: Students’ residential environment, Physical characteristics, University students, Cooking and eatin

Architectural Firms in Nigeria: A Study of Organizational Culture and Determinants

Culture of organizations has received increasing attention in recent years. The questions that remain unanswered are however: what are the dominant cultural values of architectural firms and which characteristics of the firms determined the dominant culture of firms? To answer these questions, we carried out a survey of 92 architectural firms in Nigeria. The factor which best described the cultural values of the firms was innovation and staff orientation dimension, while the factor which least described the cultural values of the firms was the businessorientation dimension. The cultural value dimensions were explained by factors both internal and external to the firms. The results show that the age, size and legal ownership form of the firms were the firm characteristics which determined the dominant cultural values of the firms. The leadership style of the principal was also a major cultural value determinant. This suggests that each firm may need to adapt cultural values to their unique characteristics. The value of this study lies in its empirical nature in investigating the dominant cultural values of architectural firms, an area that hitherto had received little attention from scholar