Office Accommodation Research Articles

Guidance counselling and social studies education: impetus for national rebirth in the wake of social milieu in Nigeria

This paper discusses Guidance and counselling; and Social Studies Education in relationship to national rebirth and nation building viz their roles in sensitizing the Nigerian students on the need for behaviour modification and general attitudinal restructuring for the main purpose of nation building and national transformation. In the context of this, the paper is centred on the concept of guidance and Counselling, Social Studies Education national rebirth, nation building, behavioural factors that negate nation building and the place of Guidance Counselling and Social Studies as well as the various strategies applicable to the two subject areas in preparing the learners nation building. On the basis of the issues discussed, the paper made recommendations that Government at all levels should be committed to education development through the employment of qualified counsellors and social Studies educators for effective citizenship orientation in Nigeria to achieve the desired result, provision of office accommodation and other working tools to the counsellors, adequate funding of education by government at all levels, etc.

Work Related Stress and its Causes among Selected Built Environment Academics in Nigerian Tertiary Institutions

Work related stress has negative effect on productivity and satisfaction among workers in various field. An important barrier to understanding how work-related stress affects individual academics in the built environment is scarcity of empirical studies in the area. As a result, this study aims at examining the main causes of stress and the level of risks associated with the stress among academics in the built environment. Questionnaires were administered to academics in the built environment faculties, schools and institutes offering courses such as Architecture, Building, Estate Management, Quantity surveying, Surveying and Geoinformatics and Urban and Regional Planning in the South West and North Central geopolitical zones of Nigeria. A systematic sampling technique was adopted to administer the questionnaire to respondents. The results show that work related stress among built environment academics is high (>60% on work related stress grading scale) and causes were classified into organizational factors, job demand and job role. The most important risk factors were also identified as problem with office accommodation inadequate temperature control, lack of privacy (physical factors), poor communication, lack of career progression and job insecurity (organizational and job role factors). Due to the high level of work-related stress among academics in the built environment, their performance in discharging duties in terms of research and teaching have been affected. Management of higher institutions should provide incentives and enabling environment to individual lecturer to address those factors identified in other to improve their overall performance.

Administrative staff ratings of adequacy of office accommodation in tertiary institutions

This study determined the administrative staff rating of the adequacy of accommodation in tertiary institutions in Yobe State. Two research questions guided the study and two null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The design of the study was descriptive survey. Population of the study was 1,032 administrative staff of federal and state tertiary institutions in the study area. A proportionate sampling was used to select a sample size of 310 administrative staff. A structured questionnaire containing 15 items validated by three experts was used for data collection. Cronbach alpha method was used to establish the internal consistency of the instrument. Correlation coefficients of 0.83 and 0.81 for two clusters (B1 and B2) with an overall coefficient of 0.82 were obtained.Two hundred and ninety eight duly completed copies of the instrument were retrieved and used for data analysis. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions and to determine the homogeneity of the respondents’ ratings while the t-test was used to test the hypotheses. Findings revealed that administrative staff of tertiary institutions in Yobe State rated office accommodation and conveniences in their offices lowly adequate. The findings also showed that ownership of tertiary institution was a significant factor on the mean ratings of administrative staff on the adequacy of accommodation while ownership of tertiary institution significantly did not influence their mean ratings on the adequacy of conveniences provided in their offices. Based on the findings, the researcher concluded that researcher concluded that there is need to improve the provision of office accommodation and conveniences in tertiary institutions in Yobe State, Nigeria. It was recommended among others that, administrators of tertiary institutions in Yobe State should collaborate more with private sectors in the areas of office accommodation and conveniences provision. This will encourage the private sectors to support the universities by providing some of these infrastructures to the institutions.

An Evaluation of Guidance Services in Senior Secondary Schools in the Central Region of Ghana

This study was conducted to find out what Guidance Service are being offered in the Senior Secondary Schools in the Central Region, their impact on students, the challenges and constrain that hinder their effective implementation. In trying to accomplish this study, related literature was reviewed. Descriptive survey was the design. Questionnaire was the main research instrument. Three sets of questionnaires were designed for students, teachers and coordinators, pilot- tested and administered to collect data. Sample sizes of 262 respondents were involved in the study. It comprised 235 SSS 2 students and 3 students, 21 tutors and 6 guidance coordinators. The sample was selected using purposive sampling and simple random sampling techniques analysis, Percentages was used. The findings of the study indicate that pupil’s appraisal service, orientation service, counselling service, placement service, information service, Referral service and consultation service are being offered in the senior secondary schools. It came out that the services are appreciated by the students, and it was beneficial to students. Challenges and constraints faced include lack of office accommodation for effective guidance services, lack of funds to organized programmes and provision of in – service training for the coordinators. Recommendations include adherence to recommended teaching schedules for guidance coordinators and provision of office for the use of coordinators and for individual counselling

WORKING TOOLS AND EMPLOYEES’ MISBEHAVIOUR IN PUBLIC TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN NIGERIA

The main thrust of this study was to investigate the nexus between working tools and employee misbehaviour in public tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Specifically, the study examined the effect of accessibility of working tools, such as medical and laboratory equipment, office stationery, office furniture, office accommodation and power supply, on employee attitude to work in University of Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. The study hypothesised that the independent variable (working tools) has no relationship with the dependent variable (employee misbehaviour). General strain theory was adopted as theoretical framework for the study. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey research design and a quantitative method of data collection and analysis. The instrument for data collection was a 30-item questionnaire. Data were elicited from 361 respondents who were conveniently selected from twelve (12) departments in the University of Calabar. The respondents were selected from various faculties, departments, units, and centres in the University of Calabar. The data generated were analysed using statistical methods such as linear regression and simple percentage analysis. Findings revealed that there is a significant relationship between working tools and employee misbehaviour in the University of Calabar. Thus, the study recommended, among others, that the University of Calabar management should ensure that working tools such as medical and laboratory equipment, office stationery, office furniture, office accommodation and power supply are made available to employees at all times, as this will build a positive mental picture of the working environment for the employees which will in turn reduce the tendency for organisational misbehaviour or misconduct such as absenteeism, insubordination, truancy, dereliction and abandonment of duty, among others. Article visualizations:

Effect of Changing Urban Farming Landscape on Financing Livelihoods and Food Security of Urban Farmers’ Households in Ghana

High rate of concretization of urban areas presents a challenge to the sustainability of urban farms in Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), as farms are out-competed to built-up areas for residential and commercial purposes. A major result of this concretization is a growing loss of farmlands in the metropolis. Our study explores the effect of urban growth on livelihood financing and food security of urban farming households. This is an exploratory study based on purposive sampling and snowballing techniques to inquiry. This qualitative study uses interview guides (semi-structured and structured) to collect primary data from farmers in the Accra metropolis. We bolstered this approach with spatial imagery tool to map out changing farm sizes in the metropolis. We find participants displaying greater wakefulness of the community as a key factor of urban farming in relation to food security, income and employment. This was because of inadequate land use planning and support to urban farmers. Some of the significant challenges identified were limited space for farming, limited resources, continuous increase in buildings and inadequate education. Conscious efforts should be made by the assemblies at all levels to develop comprehensive land-use plans to guide urban land management. As part of housing policy, vertical development (storey building) of housing and office accommodation is encouraged rather than horizontal expansion of offices and residential accommodation, which could encourage further growth in buildings. Moreover, the organization of urban farmer associations is a prerequisite to the improvement of urban agriculture.

Effect of changing urban farming landscape on financing livelihoods and food security of urban farmers’ households in Ghana

High rate of concretization of urban areas presents a challenge to the sustainability of urban farms in Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), as farms are outcompeted to built-up areas for residential and commercial purposes. A major result of this concretization is a growing loss of farmlands in the metropolis. Our study explores the effect of urban growth on livelihood financing and food security of urban farming households. This is an exploratory study based on purposive sampling and snowballing techniques to inquiry. This qualitative study uses interview guides (semi-structured and structured) to collect primary data from farmers in the Accra metropolis. We bolstered this approach with spatial imagery tool to map out changing farm sizes in the metropolis. We find participants displaying greater wakefulness of the community as a key factor of urban farming in relation to food security, income and employment. This was because of inadequate land use planning and support to urban farmers. Some of the significant challenges identified were limited space for farming, limited resources, continuous increase in buildings and inadequate education. Conscious efforts should be made by the assemblies at all levels to develop comprehensive land-use plans to guide urban land management. As part of housing policy, vertical development (storey building) of housing and office accommodation is encouraged rather than horizontal expansion of offices and residential accommodation, which could encourage further growth in buildings. Moreover, the organization of urban farmer associations is a prerequisite to the improvement of urban agriculture.

Environmental factors and academic staff performance in public universities in rivers state

The study is on environmental factors and academic staff performance in public universities in Rivers State. Literatures relating to the study were reviewed for expert opinions. The purpose of the study is to examine how the environmental factors can facilitate the job performance of academic staff. Three research questions guided the study and three research hypotheses were postulated and statistically tested. ANOVA was used in testing the hypotheses of the study. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire that was structured on Likert 4 point scale. The instrument was validated and the reliability was determined. The result of the study showed that physical facilities such as classrooms, office accommodation, and provision of health facilities influences the performance of academic staff in public universities, there was a significant relationship between physical facilities and academic staff performance; there was a significant relationship between the security of university environment and academic staff performance, there was a significant relationship between the provision of health facilities and academic staff performance in public universities. It was concluded that the university environments promote the effective performance of academic staff in the university. Recommendation among others include: that the university should provide more and adequate physical facilities, the university management should take the issue of security of staff more seriously, and staff should be educated on the use of facilities.

Retention and brain drain of academic staff in higher institution in Nigeria: a case study of University of Calabar

Since the inception of higher education, it has been observed that academic staff has been catalysts who have been propellers of the development of higher education through teaching (lecturing), learning, researching and community development when necessary tools and materials were provided to enhance effective teaching and learning of students who invariably become the leaders of tomorrow. But for some decades now, the higher institutions have been criticized for not providing students what it takes so that they can compete favourably with their counterparts in international markets. This unwanted assumption has happened as a result of mismanagement of academic staff in terms of staff development, proper incentives, infrastructure decay such as office accommodation and motivation, proper remuneration, delay in payment of salaries, staff training and retraining, fringe benefits and promotion when due. Based on the stated facts, highly qualified, competent, dedicated, diligent, skilled academic staff always find their way out to where their needs would be met rapidly. This movement of academic staff in tertiary institutions have negative effect on the institution and also the students in that they would be no immediate replacement to fill the vacuum and this can affect their academic performance and expert. If rapid and pragmatic approach for retention is not given proper attention, the academic staff leave the system to seek for a place where there are better conditions of service possibly in overseas countries such as the United Kingdom. If they find that there is disparity, they leave where they were for where better conditions of service are available. This paper suggests various ways where retention of academic staff would be given proper attention to curtail brain drain to the bearest minimum.Keywords: Retention, brain drain and academic staff

The effect of firm characteristics on the prime office accommodation decision

ABSTRACTThis paper examines whether firm characteristics are significant determinants in leasing decisions of Australian corporate occupiers. A logistic regression is used to examine the significance of industry, company size and geographic reach of 127 ASX300 corporate occupiers on the prime or non-prime corporate office accommodation decision in Melbourne, Australia. Findings indicate that certain industry and company size characteristics are significant determinants of the prime/non-prime decision. However, the amount of influence of these characterisitics varied from a previous study. This supports claims about the geographic heterogeneity of markets suggested in earlier studies but does suggest that additional research is required to establish how general is the phenomenon. This work also demonstrates further research is needed into the influence of both objective and subjective firm characteristics on accommodation decisions.

Effect of green building certification on organizational productivity metrics

ABSTRACTThere is increasing interest in understanding how office accommodation affects organizational productivity. Data on metrics of engagement, job satisfaction, job performance and facility complaints for thousands of employees (n = 14,569) of a large Canadian financial organization were analysed to explore differences in outcomes between those working in green-certified office buildings (n = 10) and those in otherwise similar conventional buildings (n = 10). Overall, green-certified buildings demonstrated higher scores on survey outcomes related to job satisfaction, value to clients and stakeholders, evaluation of management, and corporate engagement. There was also a tendency for manager-assessed job performance to be higher in green-certified buildings. Nevertheless, not all green-certified buildings outperformed all conventional buildings, and superior performance was not exhibited on all outcomes examined. A key observation is that such metrics are routinely recorded by organizations, but relating them to building characteristics is new. Recognition of such datasets opens up many promising avenues for buildings research.

Integrating decentralised land administration systems with traditional land governance institutions in Ghana: Policy and praxis

The aim of the Land Administration Project (LAP) policy reform for supporting the establishment of the Customary Land Secretariats (CLSs) is to formalise and strengthen customary land administration and management within the context of decentralised land administration. With the prospects of the CLSs becoming the legal local land administrative units, the paper assessed how traditional land governance institutions may have contributed to the decentralisation of land administration in Ghana. The research used case study strategy within the qualitative research paradigm and un-structured questionnaires were used to collect data. The analyses show that, simple land registries exist with traditional local governance institutions through the CLSs. The maintenance and effectiveness of this however depends on continuous improvement of records keeping, quality of office personnel and suitable office accommodation. This should be devoid of local power struggles among current and successive chiefs. Also, collaboration with public land sector agencies especially in areas of sharing information on rights, uses, disputes and preparation of planning layouts is paramount. These registries are mere extension of the state land administration apparatus as service units under the deconcentration of land administration powers. The paper concludes that the current policy focus on strengthening decentralised land administration through the CLSs may fail if attention is not given to the maintenance of the local registries. Revenue generation capacities of the CLSs need to be enhanced in order for them to recruit and maintain quality office staff, and acquire technical logistics. Decentralising land administration to the CLSs under the deconcentration of powers should be maintained in the interim because of the teething problems identified with this current system.

Office market response to earthquake risk in New Zealand

PurposeWith the marked increase in the awareness of earthquake risks following the Canterbury earthquakes, the purpose of this paper is to assess if the reassessment of risk has influenced rents for office accommodation in commercial buildings. Two contrasting office markets are examined: New Zealand’s largest market within a high-risk earthquake zone – Wellington, and the country’s largest market within a low-risk zone – Auckland.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 252 leasing transactions were collected from a proprietary database of Colliers International, one of the largest commercial brokerage firms in New Zealand. Hedonic pricing models were developed to isolate the effects of building seismic strength on office rents.FindingsWellington office market rents tend to increase with higher earthquake strength (New Building Standard) ratings, all other factors held equal. In contrast, rents in Auckland, a low-risk earthquake area, do not exhibit such price effects.Practical implicationsThe study provides estimates of the economic value associated with seismic retrofits which are vital for building owners’ decision making who must weigh retrofit costs against the economic benefits of doing so.Originality/valueThis study provides the first empirical analysis of office rents in New Zealand and the first quantitative analysis, internationally, of the impact of earthquake risk on commercial rents.

A support system that delineates location-choice sets for firms seeking office space

Factors influencing the location decisions of offices include traffic, accessibility, employment conditions, economic prospects and land-use policies. Hence tools for supporting real-estate managers and urban planners in such multidimensional decisions may be useful. Accordingly, the objective of this study is to develop a GIS-based tool to support firms who seek office accommodation within a given regional or national study area. The tool relies on a matching approach, in which a firm's characteristics (demand) on the one hand, and environmental conditions and available office spaces (supply) on the other, are analyzed separately in a first step, after which a match is sought. That is, a suitability score is obtained for every firm and for every available office space by applying some value judgments (satisfaction, utility etc.). The latter are powered by a focus on location aspects and expert knowledge about the location decisions of firms/organizations with respect to office accommodation as acquired from a group of real-estate advisers; it is stored in decision tables, and they constitute the core of the model. Apart from the delineation of choice sets for any firm seeking a location, the tool supports two additional types of queries. Firstly, it supports the more generic problem of optimally allocating firms to a set of vacant locations. Secondly, the tool allows users to find firms which meet the characteristics of any given location. Moreover, as a GIS-based tool, its results can be visualized using GIS features which, in turn, facilitate several types of analyses.

Analysis of Prospects and Challenges of Sub-District Structures under Ghana’s Local Governance System

<p>The research investigated into the operations and activities of the sub-district structures of local government in Ghana. Three districts in the Asante Region were studied using a cross-sectional study design. Data were collected from both primary and secondary sources. In addition to literature review, a sample size of 79 was used and responses from mainly the Chairmen of the sub-district structures represented the primary data. Data were analysed using both quantitative and qualitative techniques. Results from the analysis indicated that sub-district structures are confronted with a number of constraints that militate against the realization of their potential for inducing grassroots development. The constraints include: poor or no office accommodation, lack of commitment from district assemblies and sub-metropolitan units to provide the needed assistance to the sub-district structures. However, the Unit Committees representing the last tier of the local government structure are more effective and efficient in keeping touch with the grassroots than the Town, Area, Zonal and Urban councils. Recommendations are made to the Local Government Ministry but worthy of note among the recommendations are the urgent need to officially inaugurate all sub-district structures that have not been inaugurated and initiate a process to review the Legislative Instrument establishing Sub-district structures in Ghana.</p>

EVALUATION OF STAFFING STRENGTH OF COLLEGES OF EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

Education is the most important vehicle for progress and overall development of individual in particular and society in general. Yearning for positive development and progress cannot come by without sound primary education background, teacher is the prime mover of education in general without whom, education can hardly be acquired. No education system can rise above the quality of its teachers, this gives important support for teacher on their role in the first place, as educators, implementers of the curriculum content and determinant factors that influence the needed learning outcomes of instruction. Primary school teachers in Nigeria suffer serious neglect in terms of their social welfare especially in the areas of salaries and allowances, in-service training, office accommodation as well as inadequate funding of primary education. The paper also brought the issues on child’s needs for education, universal basic education and suggestions were proffered.

PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’ WELFARE: A PREREQUISITE FOR QUALITATIVE PRIMARY EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

Education is the most important vehicle for progress and overall development of individual in particular and society in general. Yearning for positive development and progress cannot come by without sound primary education background, teacher is the prime mover of education in general without whom, education can hardly be acquired. No education system can rise above the quality of its teachers, this gives important support for teacher on their role in the first place, as educators, implementers of the curriculum content and determinant factors that influence the needed learning outcomes of instruction. Primary school teachers in Nigeria suffer serious neglect in terms of their social welfare especially in the areas of salaries and allowances, in-service training, office accommodation as well as inadequate funding of primary education. The paper also brought the issues on child’s needs for education, universal basic education and suggestions were proffered.

Land-use planning and market adjustment under de-industrialization: Restructuring of industrial space in Hong Kong

This study explores the relationship between land-use planning regulation, changing use of industrial space and market adjustment in a compact city of Hong Kong under deindustrialization over the past three decades. Planning regulation defines and attenuates the rights of property owners in the use of industrial premises. Property users need to secure additional rights, through planning applications, from the regulatory authority before converting the premises for higher-value non-industrial uses. This study reveals that, under a flexible planning regulatory regime of facilitating incremental land-use conversion by the users in industrial property, the development market actually produced more rather than less industrial accommodation. A Supply Adjustment Model is proposed to explain this unexpected market phenomenon. Empirical estimations by Johansen cointegration analysis and Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) confirm opposite movements in the supply and property prices of new industrial and office accommodation, indicating market competition and segmentation between these two sectors.

Managing Stress among Lecturers in Polytechnics of South Eastern Nigeria

This paper investigated Managing Stress among Lecturers in Polytechnics of South-Eastern Nigeria. It was a descriptive survey. All the 1005 academic staff of the 5 polytechnics in the South-Eastern Nigeria made up of both the population and sample in a purposive sampling technique. A 2-part, 27-item, 4-point scale instrument known as Stress Management Questionnaire (SMQ) was used to generate data for answering 3 research questions. The instrument was validated by a team of experts in the department of Educational Measurement and evaluation, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria and a reliability coefficient of r = 0.79 established using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation. The instrument was administered by the researchers. Mean was used to answer the research questions. Findings included among other that lack of teaching facilities, poor office accommodation cause stress. It was concluded that stress exist in different dimensions in our polytechnics and recommended that efforts be made to reduce academic strikes to the barest minimum by improving tutorial condition of service. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n6p333

Cross-Sectoral Influence, Planning Policy, and Industrial Property Market in a High-Density City: A Hong Kong Study 1978–2012

Why did Hong Kong property developers continue to produce a large amount of new industrial accommodation despite the city exhibiting a strong trend of deindustrialization since the late 1970s? This study addresses this question by examining a longitudinal cross-sectoral interaction between industrial and office property markets and its relationship with planning policy. It theorizes about the substitutability between industrial and office accommodation and hypothesizes that the use of new industrial premises by nonmanufacturing operators may be the answer. Using the methodology of Johansen cointegration and a vector error correction model, our estimations have found that industrial rent, price, and supply were influenced by both changing economic structure and office market parameters. Cross-sectoral influences between industrial and office property markets were confirmed.