Abstract
How do organizational climate and psychology affect the motivations and behavior of employees? How can they be structured to achieve greater productivity? This exploratory study examines the role of organizational climate and the ways it affects NEPA service technicians' level of performance. The climate categories that were measured in this study are: (1) structure, or the givens of the work situation, (2) responsibility, or the degree to which employees can dictate the pace of their work and do their work in their own way, (3) risk, or the degree to which individual initiative on the job is looked on with favor by management, (4) reward, or the degree to which good work leads to promotions and other "perks," (5) warmth and support, or the degree of friendly and sympathetic responses from supervisors, and (6) conflict, or the degree to which harmony is prized in the organizational environment. The different levels of employee motivation of NEPA service technicians were measured in terms of: (1) achievement, or the control and challenge of the work, (2) affiliation, or the degree of interaction the job allows between employees, and (3) power, or the control the service technicians had over the work of coworkers and the methods and pace of his work. Responses were obtained from 240 service technicians of the Nigeria Electrical Power Authority (NEPA), representative of many others in the country and in the third world where attempts to industrialize and modernize society are hampered by insufficient electrical power and industrial expertise. An exploratory, case study analysis of the data indicated that organizational climate significantly influenced the NEPA service technicians' perceived motivational needs, but these findings were confounded by certain cultural and economic realities of the situation in Nigeria itself. The social control factors of conformity and reward appeared to have the greatest influence on these employees, who were working in an economy characterized by high unemployment. Further research should consider the following areas: (1) the degree to which service technicians' expectations are likely to be realized, (2) the physical changes that could be made to improve performance on the job, (3) other modifications that might show a greater responsiveness to the needs and concerns of the employees. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.).