Organizational Climate as a Predictor of Employee Job Satisfaction:Evidence from Covenant University

The study aim to explore organizational climate as a predictor of employee job satisfaction of academic staff from a private Nigerian University. The study of the antecedents of job satisfaction is important because of the role it plays in job satisfaction of employees which in turn affects organizational productivity. Data were collected from three hundred and eighty-four academic staff of the university with the aid of questionnaire out of which a total of two hundred and ninety-three questionnaires were returned fully and appropriately filled. Three hypotheses were tested and the results of the finding showed a significant positive relationship between these two variables. Thus, the study then paves way into other research opportunities in the field to stretch the depth of knowledge into public universities- i.e. the federal and state universities. It also serves as eye opener to conduct the research into other zones in Nigeria to see whether their organizational climate in relation to job satisfaction of the academics in those places will differ from what we have in the south-west Nigeria. Therefore, apart from confirming a theoretical proposition, the findings of this study are likely to have significant practical value

Entrepreneur Psychological Traits and Performance:Implications for Nigerian Non-oil SMES Exporting Companies

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of psychological traits on performance of small and medium sized (SMEs)exporting firms in a developing country. The study made of survey method to reach one hundred and twenty three firms. Descriptive and inference statistics were used to test the hypotheses. The results showed that the psychological traits tested (need achievement, locus of control and selfefficacy)are related among themselves and positively related to performance of the studied firms. Subjective measures were used to test performance. The findings are in line with some other studies using similar variables. The major contribution of this paper is it’s the relationship between entrepreneurial psychological traits and performance in a developing African country like Nigeri

Confined turbulent fluid-particle flow modeling using multiple-realization particle trajectory schemes

A multiple-realization particle trajectory scheme has been developed and applied to the numerical prediction of confined turbulent fluid-particle flows. The example flows investigated include the vertical pipe upflow experimental data of Tsuji et al. and the experimental data of Leavitt for a coaxial jet flow, comprising a particle-laden central jet and a clean annular jet, into a large recirculation chamber. The results obtained from the numerical scheme agree well with the experimental data, lending confidence to the modeling approach. The multiple-realization particle trajectory turbulent flow modeling scheme is believed to be a more elegant and accurate approach to the extension of single-particle hydrodynamics to dilute multi-particle systems than the more commonly employed two-fluid modeling approach. It is also better able to incorporate additional force items such as lift, virtual mass and Bassett history terms directly into the particle equation of motion as appropriate. This makes it a suitable candidate for particle migration studies and an extension to situations involving liquid particulate phases with possible propulsion applications, such as in spray combustion, follows naturally

Conflict Resolution in E-HRM Environments

There have been studies on conflict resolutions but many focused on regional inter-tribe and international conflicts between or among nations of the world. Only very few have written about industrial conflict recently, even these few did not touch the mechanism of resolving conflicts in the organization in depth. Therefore, this article will focus on various conflict resolution mechanisms and the three major models of conflict resolutions—namely distributive bargaining, integrated bargaining, and interactive problem solving as given by Cross, Susan, Rosenthal, and Robert (1999). To do this effectively, we will explore the available literature on the antecedents of conflicts in human resource systems. Varieties of views and notions held by individuals and groups in respect of the role and the consequences of conflicts in the functioning of humans in our modern complex organizations will be considered. The consequences of conflicts on interpersonal, inter-group, and inter-organizational processes, when conflict may empower, distress, or lubricate the wheels of human interaction in the context of human resource management will be traced. The views of experts, professionals and academicians on how and why conflicts should be handled to ensure a healthier and conducive environment to work will be traced

The Competitive Advantage of Outstanding the Products and Services of the Nigerian Service Industry

The study examines the concept of outsourcing and the possible impact it has on the competitive advantage it has on a company in Nigerian economy. Outsourcing is the practice in which companies move or contract out some or all of their products or service operations to other companies that specialize in those operations or to companies in other countries. The problems indentified in the Nigeria service industry are high operating cost having negative impact on return on capital employed, sub-optimality in production because of ineffective utilization of resources and inability of organization to identify areas of core competence for competitive advantage. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the competitive advantag

The effect of a small initial curvature on the free vibration of clamped, rectangular plates

An analytical method of obtaining the natural frequencies and mode shapes of clamped, rectangular plates having a small initial curvature is presented. Specifically, the singular perturbation technique is used to reduce the fourth-order plate vibration problem to the simpler membrane problem with modified boundary conditions that account for the bending effects. The eigenfrequencies for plates with inverse aspect ratios varying between 0.1 and 1.0 and for the dimensionless normal prestress between 0.1 and 1.0 have been presented for values of epsilon, the normalized bending rigidity, ranging between 0.0010 and 0.2500. It is established that a small initial curvature has no effect on the frequency of vibration of the plate. However, its effect is manifested in the eigenmodes

Free vibration of rectangular plates with a small initial curvature

The method of matched asymptotic expansions is used to solve the transverse free vibration of a slightly curved, thin rectangular plate. Analytical results for natural frequencies and mode shapes are presented in the limit when the dimensionless bending rigidity, epsilon, is small compared with in-plane forces. Results for different boundary conditions are obtained when the initial deflection is: (1) a polynomial in both directions, and (2) the product of a polynomial and a trigonometric function, and arbitrary. For the arbitrary initial deflection case, the Fourier series technique is used to define the initial deflection. The results obtained show that the natural frequencies of vibration of slightly curved plates are coincident with those of perfectly flat, prestressed rectangular plates. However, the eigenmodes are very different from those of initially flat prestressed rectangular plates. The total deflection is found to be the sum of the initial deflection, the deflection resulting from the solution of the flat plate problem, and the deflection resulting from the static problem

Internal Marketing Practices and Job Satisfaction: Evidence from a Nigerian University Setting

This study investigated internal marketing practices and its relationship with job satisfaction in a Nigerian university environment. Results indicated internal marketing as having resultant effects on three major areas or components; understanding of organizational vision and values,quality delivery of external marketing as well as quality delivery of interactive marketing. It was also established that there was strong and positive relationship between internal marketing and job satisfaction. The research measures showed good psychometric values. These findings were discussed and situated within the Nigerian university environment. It was recommended that the university should place more emphasis on internal marketing practices thereby enhancing the quality delivery of both interactive and external marketing of the university. The university was advised to promote extrinsic job satisfaction among its staff. Areas of further studies were also suggested

The role of human resource development practitioners in solving ethical concerns in mentoring

There are many benefits of mentoring relationships which were documented in previous researches. These mentoring relationships however, may become dysfunctional. In this paper, some of the common ethical issues in the mentoring process which are grouped into three related classes namely: power, access and cultural replication were considered. They are considered in terms of how human resource development (HRD) can take an interventionist position to address these ethical issues of concerns. Moreover, to promote healthy, productive relationships and to prevent the potential for these issues of concerns to arise, four initiatives are suggested. These include recruitment/selection, organizational analysis, training and follow-up / evaluation