Submit your papersSubmit Now
For Enquiries: [email protected]
IIARD LogoIIARD

Organizational Structure and Employee Job Performance in Private Hospitals in Port Harcourt

Nde, Martin Alphonsus

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between organizational structure and employee job performance in private hospitals in Port Harcourt, with emphasis on the dimensions of organizational structure - complexity and formalization. The study was anchored on the Structural Contingency Theory, which posits that organizational effectiveness depends on the alignment between structural arrangements and organizational demands. A survey research design within a correlational framework and a cross-sectional time horizon was adopted. The population comprised 7,920 health workers and administrative staff drawn from 264 private hospitals in Port Harcourt. Using purposive sampling, 38 private hospitals with at least fifteen years of operation were selected, while a sample size of 380 respondents was determined using the Taro Yamane formula. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire, of which 374 copies were retrieved and found suitable for analysis. The validity of the instrument was established through expert review, while reliability was confirmed using Cronbach's alpha coefficients exceeding the acceptable threshold of 0.70. Data were analysed using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation to test the hypotheses at a 0.05 level of significance, while partial correlation was employed to examine the moderating effect of technology-in-use. The findings revealed that complexity had a positive and significant relationship with employee job performance (r = 0.492, p < 0.05), while formalization also exhibited a positive and significant relationship with employee job performance (r = 0.582, p < 0.05). The study concluded that an organizational structure characterized by appropriate specialization, effective coordination, and clearly defined rules and procedures enhances employee job performance in private hospitals. The study therefore recommended that private hospital management should strengthen departmental specialization through improved interdepartmental coordination and collaborative work processes. It also recommended regular review of job descriptions, standard operating procedures, and policy manuals, alongside continuous staff orientation and compliance monitoring, to promote adherence to established work procedures and improve employee performance.

Keywords

Organizational Structure; Complexity; Formalization; Employee Job Performance

References

Ahiazu, A. I., & Asawo, S. P. (2016). Advanced social research methods. CIMRAT Publications. Ahmadi, A., Barzegar, M., & Izadi, M. A. (2013). The relation of organizational structure with organizational effectiveness and making ability within staffs of Shiraz's education office. Educational Management Initiatives, 3(5), 7–18. Al Banki, K. R., & Aziz, W. A. (2021). The influence of the organizational bureaucracy on the employees' performance: Evidence from King Hamad University Hospital. In 2021 International Conference on Decision Aid Sciences and Application (pp. 6–11). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/DASA53625.2021.9682389 Alipoor, H., Ahmadi, K., Pouya, S., Ahmadi, K., & Mowlaie, S. (2017). The effect of organizational structure on employees' job performance in private hospitals of Ahvaz. Journal of Ecophysiology and Occupational Health, 17(3–4), 119–123. https://doi.org/10.18311/jeoh/2017/19831 Al-Qatawneh, M. I. (2014). The impact of organizational structure on organizational commitment: A comparison between public and private sector firms in Jordan. European Journal of Business and Management, 6(12), 30–37. Armstrong, M. (2012). Armstrong's handbook of reward management practice. Kogan Page. Armstrong, M., & Baron, A. (1998). Performance management: The new realities. Institute of Personnel Development. Asika, N. (1991). Research methodology in the behavioural sciences. Longman. Bento, A., & Bento, B. (2006). Factors affecting the outcomes of performance management systems. Journal of Information Technology Management, 17(2), 23–32. Bibi, N., & Saeed Akhtar, M. M. (2020). Relationship between organizational structure and job performance of teaching faculty at higher education level. Ilkogretim Online, 20(5), 2327– 2338. Borman, W. C., & Motowidlo, S. J. (1993). Expanding the criterion domain to include elements of contextual performance. In N. Schmitt & W. C. Borman (Eds.), Personnel selection in organizations (pp. 71–98). Jossey-Bass. Burns, T., & Stalker, G. M. (1961). The management of innovation. Tavistock Publications. Campbell, J. P. (1990). Modeling the performance prediction problem in industrial and organizational psychology. In M. D. Dunnette & L. M. Hough (Eds.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (Vol. 1, 2nd ed., pp. 687–732). Consulting Psychologists Press. Child, J. (1972). Organizational structure, environment and performance: The role of strategic choice. Sociology, 6(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/003803857200600101 Daft, R. L. (2009). Organization theory and design (10th ed.). South-Western Cengage Learning. Donaldson, L. (1987). Strategy and structural adjustment to regain fit and performance: In defence of contingency theory. Journal of Management Studies, 24(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.1987.tb00429.x Donaldson, L. (1996). For positivist organization theory: Proving the hard core. Sage. Donaldson, L. (2001). The contingency theory of organizations. Sage. Foot, M., & Hook, C. (2008). Introducing human resource management (5th ed.). Prentice Hall. Herath, S. K. (2007). A framework for management control research. Journal of Management Development, 26(9), 895–915. https://doi.org/10.1108/02621710710819366 P-ISSN 2695-186X Khaleghi, D., Alavi, H., & Alimiri, M. (2013). A study on the effects of organizational structure on success of performance measurement. Management Science Letters, 3(6), 1611–1614. https://doi.org/10.5267/j.msl.2013.05.010 Kozlowski, S. W. J., & Hults, B. M. (1986). Joint moderation of the relation between task complexity and job performance for engineers. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71(2), 196– 202. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.71.2.196 Kumar, R. (2005). Research methodology: A step-by-step guide for beginners (2nd ed.). Sage. Lawrence, P. R., & Lorsch, J. W. (1967). Organization and environment: Managing differentiation and integration. Harvard University Press. Liao, C. C. (2011). How knowledge management mediates the relation between environment and organizational structure. Journal of Business Research, 64(7), 728–736. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2010.08.001 Lunenburg, F. C. (2012). Mechanistic-organic organizations—An axiomatic theory: Authority based on bureaucracy or professional norms. International Journal of Scholarly Academic Intellectual Diversity, 14(1), 1–7. March, J. G., & Simon, H. A. (1958). Organizations. John Wiley & Sons. Mbogu, G. (2001). Implications of leadership styles of administrators on job performance in two selected organizations in Owerri, Imo State (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calabar. Mintzberg, H. (1979). The structuring of organizations. Prentice Hall. Naharuddin, N. M., & Sadegi, M. (2013). Factors of workplace environment that affect employees' performance: A case study of Miyazu Malaysia. Journal of Independent Research and Studies, 2(2), 66–78. Nahm, A. Y., Vonderembse, M. A., & Koufteros, X. A. (2003). The impact of organizational structure on time-based manufacturing and plant performance. Journal of Operations Management, 21(3), 281–306. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-6963(02)00107-9 Nnabuife, E. K. N. (2009). Organizational behaviour and management theory. Rex Charles & Patrick. Nosike, C. J., Okoye, N. J., & Afodigbueokwu, H. E. (2021). Effect of organizational structure on employee performance of commercial banks in Nigeria. Research Journal of Management Practice, 1, 32–41. Osuala, E. C. (2005). Research methodology. New Generation Books. Otley, D. (1999). Performance management: A framework for management control systems research. Management Accounting Research, 10(4), 363–382. https://doi.org/10.1006/mare.1999.0115 Rezaeeyan, A. (2008). Principles of organization and management. SAMT. Robbins, S. P., & Decenzo, D. A. (2008). Fundamentals of management (6th ed.). Pearson Education. Robbins, S. P., Decenzo, D. A., & Coulter, M. (2014). Fundamentals of management: Essential concepts and applications (9th ed.). Pearson. Roe, R. A. (1999). Work performance: A multiple regulation perspective. In C. L. Cooper & I. T. Robertson (Eds.), International review of industrial and organizational psychology (Vol. 14, pp. 231–335). John Wiley & Sons. Rotundo, M., & Sackett, P. R. (2002). The relative importance of task, citizenship, and counterproductive performance to global ratings of job performance: A policy-capturing P-ISSN 2695-186X approach. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(1), 66–80. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021- 9010.87.1.66 Sablynski, C. J. (2012). Foundation of organizational structure. California State University, Sacramento. http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/sablynskic/ch.14.html Sarboland, K. (2012). Effect of different levels of organizational structure on the productivity of human resource management: A case study of Electricity Distribution Company in Ardabil Province. Journal of Basic and Applied Scientific Research, 2(6), 5550–5554. Scott, W. R., & Davis, G. F. (2007). Organizations and organizing: Rational, natural, and open system perspectives. Pearson Prentice Hall. Shoghi, B., & Nazari, S. (2012). Organizational structure and organizational culture (Concepts, definitions and theories). Raze Nahan. Taheri, S. (2006). Productivity and experience in organizational analysis (8th ed.). Hassan Publication. Teixeira, R., Koufteros, X. A., & Peng, X. D. (2012). Organizational structure, integration, and manufacturing performance: A conceptual model and propositions. Journal of Operations and Supply Chain Management, 5(1), 69–81. https://doi.org/10.12660/joscmv5n1p69-81 Thibodeaux, G. (2012). What is job specialization? EHow. https://www.ehow.com Ugwu, J. N., Nnadi, C. S. O., & Udeze, C. C. (2019). Organizational structure and employees' performance in selected microfinance banks in Enugu State. Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 4(1), 38–52. Underdown, J. (2012). Organizational structures. Lamar University. http://dept.lamar.edu/industrial/underdown/org_mana/org/org_structure-George.html Woodward, J. (1965). Industrial organization: Theory and practice. Oxford University Press. Yamane, T. (1964). Statistics: An introductory analysis (3rd ed.). Harper & Row. Zacher, H., & Frese, M. (2011). Maintaining a focus on opportunities at work: The interplay between age, job complexity, and the use of selection, optimization, and compensation strategies. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 32(2), 291–318. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.683

More Articles from IIARD INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS MANAGEMENT