Relationship between organisational climate and effectiveness of state sports councils in Nigeria

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the climate prevalent in state sports councils (SSCs) in Nigeria and its relationship to organisational effectiveness. The secondary purpose was to examine the influence of selected demographic variables of age, educational level, status, and experience on organisational climate. Discussion about organisational climate revolves around the perceived properties found in the work environment (Downey, 1998). These presumably affect subsequent behaviour of the employees, achievement of organisational goals, and
consequently organisational effectiveness (Zammnto, 1996). Productivity and goal achievement are means to effectiveness (Chelladurai & Haggerty, 1991; Weese, 1997). Three categories of sports directors-directors of sports, deputy directors of sports, and assistant directors of sportsmade
up the sample size of 328 and represented 88.6% of the total population across all the 37 SSCs. The modified Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire (Haplin & Croft, 1962) and the Perceived Organisational Effectiveness Index (Branch Jr., 1990) were used in data collection at the various venues of the zonal preliminaries of the 15th National Sports Festival. Results revealed that organisational climate is related to organisational effectiveness (r=0.5; p < 0.05 at df 35). One way analysis of variance revealed significant influences of age (F, 2.95; p < 0.05) and experience (F=3.82; p < 0.05), while there were no significant influences of
educational level (F= 0.11; p > 0.05) and status (F = 1.20; p > 0.05) on organisational climate. Findings suggest that SSCs should create a climate that is conducive for employee commitment to work, increased productivity and goal achievement which are means to effectiveness of the councils. Also the management of the SSCs must consider the age and experience of employees when putting in place necessary properties for their work environment.

Key words: Organisational climate, effectiveness, sports council.