Organisational Commitment as a Mediator on the Correlation between the Leadership Attributes, Organisational Culture and Organisational Effectiveneness in Niger State Primary Schools

Organisational Commitment as a Mediator on the Correlation between the Leadership Attributes, Organisational Culture and Organisational Effectiveneness in Niger State Primary Schools

Garba Bagobiri¹, Arnida Abdullahi², Soaib B. Asimiran³, Siti Raba’ah Hamzah⁴

Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia.^1,2,3,4

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2024.801048

Received: 26 December 2023; Revised: 06 January 2024; Accepted: 19 January 2024; Published: 31 January 2024

ABSTRACTS

Studies reveal that, leadership and organizational culture have an indirect relationship with organizational effectiveness. However, when some variables mediate the relationship, it expresses an insignificant and negative relationship. Mediation effects of organisational commitment on the relationship between leadership attribute, organisational culture, and organisational effectiveness was determined using partial correlation in this study. The survey was carried out in Niger state primary schools, and the respondents were teachers. The study has 1,572 participants and 340 make up the sample size. The findings revealed that, with the mediation of organizational commitment; Organizational effectiveness, organisational culture, and leadership attributes all had a strong and positive relationship (r =.987, p =.01) and (r =.813, p =.01), respectively. As a result of these findings, it was recommended that headmasters be encouraged to become acquainted with those leadership attributes and understand their schools’ organizational culture in order to encourage teachers to be committed to the task at hand. This could have a positive impact on organizational effectiveness. These leadership attributes can be acquired through a variety of learning programs, such as mentoring, educational leadership certification, and many others.

Keywords: Leadership Attributes, Organisational Culture, Organisational Commitment and Organisational Effectiveness

BACKGROUND

One of the major indicators of the organisational effectiveness of primary schools in Nigeria is the level of pupils’ literacy and numeracy, which includes tests on reading, writing, and simple arithmetic. Nigeria Common Entrance Examination is a body that assigns questions to primary six students in order for them to progress to secondary school. For example, in 2017, (77,512) candidates took the exam, and the highest score was 189 out of 200, achieved by only two candidates. In 2019, (73,347) people took the exam. Only six candidates scored 191 out of 200 questions. The above results indicated that the outcomes of student performance did not meet the students’ expectations. There is widespread agreement in Nigeria about the low quality output of primary school students. Parents and the government are both convinced that their massive investment in education is not yielding the desired results (Adedigba & Sulaiman, 2020).

Primary education in Nigeria has specific and designated goals, one of which is to lay the groundwork for high-quality education and to supply quality products to secondary schools. However, these specified goals in Niger state primary schools appear to be partially met; specifically, the quality of the pupils’ knowledge in respect to reading and writing skills, as well as knowledge of basic arithmetic in the majority of primary schools in the state, which may eventually determine the quality of education at the next level and contribute to national development (Fafunwa, 2018). The students’ performance falls short of the expectations of both parents and the government. For example, in 2015, 102,689 pupils graduated from primary school in the state; approximately 1183 pupils did not meet the standard requirement for secondary schools; this is a factual indication of lower quality outputs from primary school pupils (Olusanjo, 2017), and organisational effectiveness generally refers to an organization’s ability to achieve its objectives.

According to organisational effectiveness research, excellent leadership and organisational culture are among the determinants of organisational effectiveness (Shelankar, 2018). According to studies, executives managers and staff members are committed and feel a strong sense of ownership in effective organisations; people at all levels believe they have a voice in decisions that affect their work and see a clear connection to the organization’s goals (Pandya & Srivastava, 2017). According to the literature on educational leadership in Nigeria, organisational effectiveness is correlated with the capacity to acquire and use resources efficiently in order to achieve the stated objectives (Murtedjo, 2017).

Despite the importance of leadership characteristics, culture, and commitment to organisational effectiveness in primary schools, there are little empirical evidence in Niger state that includes all four variables (leadership attributes, organisational culture, commitment, and effectiveness). Headmasters in Nigeria face significant challenges in maintaining good school culture and ensuring teachers’ commitment in their respective schools while the continuation training programme primarily focuses on teachers, whereas the success of the schools is dependent on successful headmasters and principals (Fafunwa, 2018). Majority of the studies conducted on the organizational effectiveness were found in secondary and tertiary institutions. As a result, such studies should be conducted in primary schools to ensure the familiarity and usability of that leadership attributes on the Headmasters to address the issues and challenges of the majority of Headmasters in Nigeria in leading their schools and maintaining a positive culture that may enhance members’ commitment to organisational effectiveness. Majority of studies on organisational effectiveness have used a qualitative approach, this study has used a quantitative approach, which may fill a methodological gap. Thus, in Niger state primary schools, the required information on organisational effectiveness as well as some related variables influencing the organisational effectiveness (leadership attributes, organisational culture, and organisational commitment) may be provided, thereby strengthening educational leadership and administration in Niger state. The majority of organisational effectiveness research employs the Goal Approach, Systems Approach, or Internal Process Model Approach. However, for the theoretical basis of organisational effectiveness, leadership attributes, and organisational culture, the current study used a competing value framework. Using a model of organisational effectiveness with broader coverage may adequately measure the organisational effectiveness construct. Furthermore, the Leader Attributes Factors, three component model was used in the study to bridge the theoretical gap in the study. With these leadership attributes, Headmasters in Niger State, Nigeria may be able to maintain a positive culture and ensure teacher commitment, which may improve the organisational effectiveness of their respective primary schools. The current study, which is based on the aforementioned justification, seeks to gain a better understanding of the mediating role of organisational commitment in the relationship between leadership attributes, organisational culture, and organisational effectiveness in Niger state primary, Nigeria.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction

Organizational effectiveness is defined as “the extent to which an organisation achieves its objectives.” It is a comprehensive construct that obliquely considers a variety of factors at the organizational level. It evaluates the level of accomplishment of various objectives, whether formal or informal (Mishra, 2009). Educational effectiveness is a field of study that has grown in importance in recent years. In earlier theories of organisational effectiveness, it was connected to profit maximisation, throughput, efficient service, or employee self-esteem (Khan, 2012). Over the past 30 years, researchers have centred their work on the concept of organisational effectiveness (Rangriz & Soltanieh, 2015). Despite the facts, there is paucity of empirical proof to support organisational commitment’s mediating role in enhancing organisational effectiveness.

Arguments can be made that the paradoxical nature of school organisational effectiveness necessitates leaders who are capable of managing competing priorities. Scholars argue that leaders in modern organisations, including schools, must be capable of effecting change, aligning people, and motivating them while also managing the organization’s time and budget (Pounder, 2001). Many theories and frameworks have been developed to highlight the connection between organisational culture and organisational effectiveness. For example, Hackman’s theory (1976) provides a remarkably strong framework for understanding how an organisation, particularly its norms as the fundamental building blocks of organisational culture, influences individuals’ work behaviour and effectiveness. In addition, the framework aids in conceptualising the association between organisational culture and organisational effectiveness (Shapira-Lischshinsky & Aziel, 2010).

Theories and Models

The researcher’s theories and models were used to deliberate thoughts on the variables in the study, which are leadership attributes, organisational culture, organisational commitment, and

organisational effectiveness. The theories and models are used to ground a supporting pillar on which the leadership attributes of headmasters are built; organisational culture, organisational commitment, and organisational effectiveness are rooted in its foundation. This theoretical framework will identify the relationship between the leadership attributes organisational culture, organisational commitment, and organisational effectiveness, as well as supporting information from theories and models in this study.

A model of organisational effectiveness that reflects a multifaceted and integrated constructed understanding of effectiveness will be most beneficial to academics (Sowa e tals., 2004). The information presented above could be used to determine the organisational effectiveness model to be used in the current study. The researcher will examine and analyse the existing models of organisational effectiveness proposed by various scholars in order to identify the most integrated, multidimensional, and multilevel models among the existing ones. The following are various scholars’ perspectives on organisational effectiveness models.

According to the Miskel et al. (1979), organisational effectiveness in schools is a complex and multifaceted issue. Other effectiveness indicators in education may include: educational success, resourcefulness, confidence, yearnings, anticipations, turnout, completion, and drop-out rates for students; occupational contentment, low rate of truancy, and throughput for teachers; and  school administrator’s commitment (Angelle et al., 2011). The concept of organisational effectiveness was chosen as the theoretical foundation for this study. It was contends that a school can be classified as successful or unsuccessful based on a wide range of distinct measures. For instance, some schools may excel in students success whilst other excels in staff confidence (Miskel et al,, 1979). Organizational effectiveness is one of the most widely used theories to explain organisational success, but it is also one of the most contentious in terms of the criteria that should be used to determine whether an organisation is truly effective (Quinn & Cameron, 1983). The debate over how to define an organization’s effectiveness stems from the fact that different organisations use different standards to determine whether they are effective. Goal attainment is the most frequently cited measure of effectiveness; however, how one organisation formulates and measures a goal may differ significantly from how another organisation formulates and measures a goal (Cameron & Quinn, 2011; Cetin & Cerit, 2010).

It is assumed that all formal organisations, such as schools, strive to achieve specific goals and create group products by manipulating human and material resources. The analyst who views the organisation as a “open system” with inputs, transformations, and outputs typically employs the system approach. There is now widespread agreement that modern organisations, including schools, are “open systems.” As a result, studying effectiveness is all about “means and ends” (Hoy & Ferguson, 1985). Organizational effectiveness can be viewed as the degree to which an organisation is able to give out certain resources and means so as to achieve its goals as well as depriving the depleting its resources (Hoy & Ferguson, 1985). Two theoretical models serve as a foundation for conceptualising organisational effectiveness in schools (Hoy & Miskel 1987). The Goal Model of Organizational Effectiveness measures organisational effectiveness in terms of goal attainment. Academic achievement in basic skills, as mentioned above and consistent with this framework, has been identified by many as the primary criterion of school organisational effectiveness (Loup, 1994). Hoy etal. (1996) combined a school achievement and its throughput in determining the organisational effectiveness in the educational sector. The goal

model holds that organisations are effective to the extent that they achieve the goals specified by stakeholders; therefore, it is very important that every school have a clear set of goals to study (Hoy & Hannum, 1997). Two theoretical stances have been taken in the literature to clarify what organisational effectiveness is: the goal model and the system-resource model (Omolade, 2007).

However, many scholars have severely criticised both the goal and system approaches, claiming that measuring an organization’s goals can never be justified substantially as a benchmark for determining an organization’s effectiveness. While the system approach focuses on the means to achieve effectiveness rather than organisational effectiveness itself   (Pandya 2016). As a result, the internal process approach evolves. According to internal process approaches, inputs could not be reached without the transformation process outputs. The trend in higher education institutions is to meet the objectives by providing students and academicians with timely and sufficient information (Schermerhorn et. al., 2004). Despite the fact that the internal process approach indicated that it has an impact on throughputs (internal activities) and processes with a significant focus on meeting objectives in tertiary institutions, it has received a lot of criticism (Sekaran, 2006). It has been discovered that no single measure is suitable for all stages of an organization’s life cycle (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2006). It was proposed that measuring an organization’s effectiveness based on a single criterion in terms of goals, system and internal process does not provide an all-inclusive measure of organisational effectiveness; however, every single one describes a different aspect of the story line  (Khanka, 2007).

According to Cameron (1981), none of the models mentioned above fully cover the construct or the full meaning of organisational effectiveness. Each of the effectiveness models is useful in and of it, because it makes distinctions that the others do not. No model, however, has more explanatory power than the others. As a result, Cameron (1979) suggested a four-model assimilation of the literature those includes the goal, systems resource, internal processes, and participant satisfaction approach. Competing value frameworks argue that an integrative framework is required to overcome all of the shortcomings of each model presented in the literature. Experts in the field advise using a multidimensional approach to evaluate the effectiveness of modern organisations. The approach maintains that there are common components or threads underlying any detailed list of organisational effectiveness criteria, and that these components or threads can be combined in such a way that elementary sets of competing values can be constructed. Then, each of these sets defines a distinct effectiveness model.

Based on the above explanations from various literatures, the researcher was convinced to use a Competing Value framework to be used in this study and provide a theoretical basis to measure organisational effectiveness in Niger state primary schools. It has been suggested that the competing value framework is the most viable model for comparing the organisational effectiveness of for-profit and nonprofit organisations. The model has been used in a variety of organisational studies (Cameron, 2013). The approach nearly encompasses all previous models that measure organisational effectiveness to form a sound and all-inclusive model of organisational effectiveness. It is a multidimensional approach that is recommended as the best model for assessing the effectiveness of modern organisations such as schools. For every point of an organization’s life cycle, single model is insufficient (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2006). This approach will be used as the foundation for general organisation evaluation criteria in the current

study, along with another factor discovered in the literature to measure organisational effectiveness.

The preceding justification from existing literatures implies that a single model cannot actually measure organisational effectiveness; that is, to measure organisational effectiveness, a holistic model that confines all of the noteworthy aspects of existing approaches must be used (Khanka, 2007). As a result, the researchers used the Competing Value framework; the model is viewed as one of the models that integrated other models and captured a wide range of constructs of organisational effectiveness. It has been named as “a theory of theories” because it aims to distinguish and incorporate earlier organisational models and their effectiveness (Faerman & Quinn, 1985).

The competing value framework comprises of the Human Relations Model; Rational-Goal Model; Internal Process Model and System Approach

Below is the details of Competing Value Framework

Competing Values Framework for Culture, Leadership, Effectiveness, and Value Drivers (Roubough & Quinn, 1983; Quinn & Cameron 1999; Cameron, 2009).

Leader Attributes Factor

Leader Attributes Factor is model of leadership attributes developed by Moss and Liang (1990), they highlighted the importance of leadership attributes when they stated, “While it is a leader’s attributes that influence group performance, which eventually leads to the organisational effectiveness, it is a leader’s attributes that shape those behaviours. This study employed the Leader Attributes factor developed by the Liang and Moss (1990). They have clustered the leader attributes into three main groups (factors); namely management skills, social skills, and personal characteristics (Moss, 1990).

Three Component Model

The most significant and influential contributions to the literature on organisational commitment came from Meyer and Allen. in recent years, The most thorough empirical analysis has been

done on it over the past 20 years (Allen & Meyer 1996). The discovery of common components in the conceptualization of the organizational commitment in the literature at the time led to the development of a Three Component Meyer et al. (2012) cite Allen and Meyer (1997) as saying that the model explain the affective, continuance and normative commitment.

METHODOLOGY

Introduction

Methodology gives details of the design of the research, location, population, sampling technique and research instrument. Research was conducted to investigate social issues by systematically collecting and analyzing raw data to generate a new knowledge and framework. In this research, it was attempted to determine the mediating role of the organizational commitment on the relationship between the leadership attributes, organizational culture and organizational effectiveness in Niger state primary schools.

Research Design

Research design of the current study is correlational studies, a quantitative in nature and survey method. Quantitative approach is more commonly used in testing existing theories which involved collection and statistical analysis of data (Daniel, 2018). The study demands descriptive and partial correlation.

Research Location and Population

The research was carried out in Niger state primary schools and included all of the teachers from the state’s thirty one primary schools (1,572). The aforementioned information interprets the definition of the population, which is defined as the collection of all people who are interested in a particular study (Frederick, 2011).

Research Sample Size and Sampling Technique`

The next step to be considered is to determine the appropriate sample size and the sampling technique, which is an important consideration in meeting the objectives of any research (Sekaran, 2010). The purpose of sampling is to select a representative from the entire population. It is a group of people chosen from a population to represent the entire population in a research (Fredrick, 2011). However, Researchers have been warned and advised to use the Cochran formula when determining sample size, particularly in research involving continuous data (Bartlett, 2005b). Researcher calculated the sample size using the Cochran (2007) formula, below is the expression of the formula:

To calculate sample size, Cochran (2007) proposes the following:

Many survey researchers have response rates that are less than 100% (Bartlett, 2005a). This permitted the researcher to add 10% of the total sample size for the percentage unreturned to increase the sample size and to replace any questionnaires that may not be going to yield results and thereby enhancing the sample size to adequately represent the population of study.

 Total Sample size =  309+30.9=339.9

                                                           ≈340

Sampling Technique

The sampling techniques in this study involved three methods, the first sampling technique is purposeful, and this involved the selection of thirty one primary schools from Niger state. These primary schools have the highest numbers of teachers that can adequately meet up the desire sample size for the current study. The second sampling technique is the proportionate stratified sampling; it is suitable for this study because it involved many primary schools with different population. To ensure proper spread of the sample size this sample technique is essential because it provides the researcher with the option to select the proportion based on the size of the population stratum (Hibberts et al., 2012). It is a sampling technique in which the size of the strata in the sample corresponds to the size of the strata in the population. The formula is expressed below:

Table Indicating the population and sample size in each stratum                         

The third stage of sampling techniques is simple random sampling being that the techniques to ensure that every member of the population has an equal opportunity to be chosen as a sample (Newman, 2007). The use of random sampling is critical because it allows the study to produce

valid and significant generalisations (Hibberts et al., 2012). The total number of teachers in each primary school is used to figure out the sample size from the targeted population. The random selection of the teachers from the schools was based on the number obtained from the proportionate stratified sampling. Procedure involves, writing the names of the whole teachers according to the name of every school, sample size was determined from every school by randomly selecting the calculated sample size of every school through the proportionate sample size.

Research Instrumentation

Multiple sets of questionnaire have been utilized in gathering the required data for this study. In educational research, the instrument for this study, addressed the personal information of the respondents, leadership attributes, organizational culture, organizational commitment, and finally organizational effectiveness.

The components of the questionnaire are summarized below in the table below:

Table of Components Of The Questionnaire

Demographic Profile of the Respondent

The information on demographic variables in Section “A” was gathered by requesting information about the respondents’ gender, age, educational level and years of working experience in the school. The participants are requested to write the answer that most appropriately described them.

Leadership Attributes

The primary school head teachers’ leadership attributes were measured using the Leader Attributes Inventory (LAI), which was created by Moss et al. (1991) and later improved by Moss et al. (1994). They went on to say that the Leader Attribute Inventory was used to determine how much each attributes each person possessed. It were classified based on the three main dimensions, which are as follows: Management skills; personal characteristics; social skills and characteristics (Moss, 1991). Each statement is an affirmation of a different quality, describing the level to which the teachers at the Niger State Primary Schools feel that their respective headmasters possess that attributes. The published inter rater reliability scores were measured at 0.75 to .84 and the coefficient for the average score was measured at 0.91 (Moss, 1991).  Researcher has run the reliability test during the pilot and the final study to confirm the usability of the questionnaire in the study. The Cronbach alpha of the variables in the study during the pilot and final study are; the leadership attributes (Management skills 0.850 and 0.789; Social skills and characteristics 0.844 and 0.921; Personal characteristics 0.923 and 0.935). Content validity has been stated in the Leader Attributes Inventory (LAI).

Organizational Culture

The Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument has been used to measure this variable. The instrument was developed by Cameron and Quinn (2006), it is designed to measure and identify four types of cultures in organizations which are clan, adhocracy, hierarchy and market. Each culture type was measured by six items. Thus the instrument consists of 24-items with Likert type scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Researcher was permitted to use the instrument by the original owner. Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument has been tested and validated by many researchers on the organizational studies (Aji et al., 2017). Overall test-retest score reliability has been reported by the instrument of .922 during the pilot study, while at the final study expresses the cronbach alpha value of .956 in the study  on the “mediating effect of psychological empowerment on the relationship between organizational climate, organizational culture and organizational commitment of lecturers” (Aji, 2017). The internal consistency of this instrument in the current study expresses the Cronbach alpha during the pilot and final study as: (clan culture 0.938 and 0.798; adhocracy culture 0.869 and 0.783; market culture 0.936 and 0.895; hierarchy culture 0.720 and 0.913).

Organizational Commitment

The instrument that has been used to measured organizational commitment is; Three- Component Model of Organizational Commitment questionnaire (TCM). This instrument Allen and Meyer (1993) created it to assess three types of commitment: affective commitment, normative commitment, and continuance commitment (Allen & Meyer, 1993). A six-item normative, six items affective and six-item continuance. The items are rated based on seven-point Likert scale, the instrument undergoes the validity and reliability of each of the three constructs (AC, CC and NC); to ensure its effective usability in the field (Ashraf, 2013). According to a study titled “Investigation of the Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence, Organizational Commitment, and Job Satisfaction.” The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient is expressed as.88 for affective, 0.89 for normative, and.86 for continuance (Seyal & Afzaal, 2013).The current study has attested the usability of the instrument based on the crobach alpha during the reliability test of the pilot and the final study, as can be seen (Affective commitment 0.777 and 0.697; Continuance commitment 0.661 and 0.860; Normative commitment 0.798 and 0.649) respectively. Numerous studies have been conducted to investigate the construct validity of three-component model. Allen and Meyer (1996) concluded that construct validity was strong enough to justify the scales’ continued use after analysing data from more than 40 samples (Cheng & Stockdale, 2003).

Organizational Effectiveness

The instrument measuring the organizational effectiveness was developed by James Griffiths (2003) to measure organizational effectiveness of elementary in Chicago United State (Kwan & Walker, 2003). The instrument measures four dimensions namely; human-relation, open system, rational-goal and internal-process. It uses the four-point response scale: “strongly agree” (coded as 4), “agree” (3), “disagree” (2), and “strongly disagree” (1) in the present study, researcher uses test re-test approach to determine the internal consistence of the instrument measuring the organizational effectiveness. The Cronbach alpha of the instrument measuring the organizational effectiveness based on the current study is expressed as: (Rational Goal 0.693 and 0.828; Human Relation 0.817 and 0.911; System approach 0.792 and 0.936; Internal Process 0.759 and 0.936) respectively.

Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA)

The result of the skewness and kurtosis indicated that, the distributions of data are normal. Therefore, it can be used for further parametric test, and the result is expressed below:

Table Indicating Skewness and Kurtosis of each Variable

The table below indicated the result of multicollinearity through VIF, this indicated that the data are normally distributed

Table Indicating (VIF) And Tolerance

RESULTS INTERPRETATION

Data analysis is defined as the process of simplifying data in order to make it more comprehensive (Pallant, 2011). The purpose of this research is to determine the role of organisational commitment as a mediator in the relationship between the leadership attributes organisational culture and organisational effectiveness. Partial correlation was performed to determine the mediation of organisational commitment on the relationship between leadership attributes, organisational culture, and organisational effectiveness.

Organisational commitment mediates the relationship between leadership attributes, organizational culture and organizational effectiveness

Researchers used a partial correlation analysis to achieve the stated objective of the research, “Organizational commitment mediates the relationship between leadership attributes, organisational culture, and organisational effectiveness in Niger state primary schools.”

Partial Correlation Matrix

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

The table above indicated that, Headmasters’ leadership attributes and organisational culture are positively and strongly related to organisational effectiveness when organisational commitment is controlled, as perceived by Niger State primary school teachers. When organisational commitment was controlled for, the study discovered a strong and highly positive correlation between leadership attributes, organisational culture, and organisational effectiveness. The ‘r’ is.987 and.813, respectively, and the ‘p’ value is.01.

DISCUSSION

The Partial Correlation Coefficient in this study reveals a significant high and positive relationship between the leadership attributes, organisational culture, and organisational effectiveness with the mediation of organisational commitment, as perceived by the Niger State primary school teachers in Niger State primary schools. The current study is in line with many studies by the using the organisational commitment as mediator variable.  Organisational commitment has been used as mediator by researchers, and most of the result indicates that, it plays mediating roles between the variables. For instance in the study on the Mediating Effect of Organisational Commitment on Leadership Type and Job Performance shows that, there exists a partial mediating effect of the organisational commitment on the relationship between the leadership type and job performance (Yeh & Hong, 2012).

The on-going study is supported by Yousef (2000) where Organisational commitment has been performing the function of mediation between the leadership and many other variables. For instance research conducted on the organizational commitment: a mediator of the relationships of leadership behaviour with job satisfaction and performance in a non-western part of the United Arabs Emirates (UAE). The research design is survey and quantitative approach, therefore questionnaire was used to collect the data, major organisations in four main districts in the united Arabs Emirates was compiled, a sample of 600 hundred responded was selected from the 30 districts. The result of the analysis indicates that organisational commitment mediates between the leadership behaviour and job satisfaction (Yousef, 2000).

The current study was supported by the study on the teachers’ organisational commitment which indicates that the dimension of affective commitment mediated the relations between team culture perceptions and factors of school effectiveness (students’ achievements, teachers’ voluntary absence) more than did normative commitment (teachers’ intent to leave). These findings seem to corroborate previous research indicating that affective commitment is more dominant than normative commitment in determining school effectiveness. Indeed, when teachers identify with their schools, feel involved, and want to be at work (affective commitment), this may affect not only their own behaviours (e.g., lowering absenteeism) but also their students’ outcomes (e.g., raising achievements). However, when teachers remain at work because they feel they ought to (normative commitment), they may reveal a reduction in their intent to leave because they will try to keep their positions. The four different dimensions of organisational effectiveness were significantly related to all four dimensions of team culture perceptions. Both dimensions of organisational commitment were related to all four dimensions of team culture perceptions. Affective commitment was significantly related to students’ achievement and teachers’ absence frequency while normative commitment was significantly related to teachers’ intent to leave, thus providing the basis for examining the mediating effect of organisational commitment between team culture perceptions and organisational effectiveness. The results regarding teachers’ organisational commitment indicate that the dimension of affective commitment mediated the relations between team culture perceptions and factors of school effectiveness (students’ achievements, teachers’ voluntary absence) more than did normative commitment (teachers’ intent to leave). These findings seem to corroborate previous research indicating that affective commitment is more dominant than normative commitment in determining school effectiveness. Indeed, when teachers identify with their schools, feel involved, and want to be at work (affective commitment), this may affect not only their own behaviours (e.g., lowering absenteeism) but also their students’ outcomes (e.g., raising achievements). However, when teachers remain at work because they feel they ought to (normative commitment), they may reveal a reduction in their intent to leave because they will try to keep their positions  (Shapira & Aziel, 2010).

IMPLICATION, RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION

Implication of the Study

The current findings, theoretically, emphasised the importance of developing an integrative framework by mediating organisational commitment on the connection between leadership attributes, organisational culture, and organisational effectiveness. Prior research has primarily focused on the connection between leadership attributes, organizational culture, and organizational effectiveness, however, the model used in this study (Competing Value Framework) highlighted how the three variables are related to one another. (Leadership attributes, organisational culture, and organisational effectiveness), whereas current study provided an integrative multi-construct framework that took into account the mediating effects of the organizational commitment. The recent research highlighted the significance of creating a comprehensive model theoretically by mediating the organisational commitment on the relationship between the leadership attributes. The study may serve as a resultant effect towards identifying the various leadership attributes that may assist the primary school headmasters in having the resilient of making the primary school teachers committed and Understanding organisational culture so as to reward the highest level of organisational effectiveness in primary schools in Niger State. This study was successful in identifying the necessary leadership attributes that may be useful in the management of primary schools in Niger state sectors. As a result, the research may lead to the development of a framework that will be useful in the field of educational administration in the state primary schools in the future.

The study was successful in using various instruments to measure the constructs in the research; The Leader Attributes Inventory (LAI) was utilized to measure the leadership attributes of the headmasters. Aside from that, an additional benefit was realised by adapting the instrument to the context of primary schools in Niger state; with a high alpha coefficient value of (0.852 &

0.960) during the pilot and final studies, respectively, the instrument supported the currently underway study for headmasters’ leadership attributes in Niger state primary schools. This proves that the recently adapted new survey instrument may be effective in measuring the leadership attributes of headmasters in future studies. The organisational model used in this study is very versatile and holistic, containing several organisational effectiveness theories to ensure that the construct is measured satisfactorily in the research.

The findings have important implications for organizational commitment in practice. First, in order to increase organizational effectiveness, headmasters should promote high levels of organizational commitment in their respective primary schools by displaying such attributes that may ensure staff commitments.

The headmaster should create a necessary framework for transforming the school into suitable remedial teams with shared practices and wisdom.

Headmasters should schedule weekly team meetings that emphasize affective, normative, and continuous commitment. Because professional development improves the leadership attributes of the headmaster, the Niger state government should make every effort to implement adequate leadership training programs that may improve the headmasters’ leadership attributes and understanding of the organizational culture with the goal of ensuring organizational commitment.

Recommendations

The current study’s empirical evidence is based on primary school teachers’ perceptions; similar studies based on headmasters’ perceptions of Niger State primary schools are highly recommended.

Research on the connection between leadership attributes, organisational effectiveness, and organisational culture in Niger state primary schools should be conducted while controlling for other variables such as organisational communication. According to previous research, organisational communication has been used as a mediator variable (Gochhayat, Giri, & Suar, 2017).

The findings of this study are limited to Niger state primary schools; further investigation could be carried out among schools in different states to ensure efficient generalizability to all Nigerian primary schools.

Secondly, the results may serve as a measuring device for future headmasters to be provided with a leadership development programme, which may result in effective leadership for Niger state primary schools, eventually improving organisational effectiveness.

Thirdly, surveys study can cause some conclusions to be overestimated due to variance, qualitative research such as in-depth interviews and case studies are recommended for comparative purposes. Furthermore, qualitative aspects of research may allow respondents to express their opinions on all four variables in the study.

Fourthly, research on headmasters’ leadership training should be conducted; this will assist educational planners in developing an appropriate programme that will aim to improve the level of leadership attributes as well as organisational effectiveness in the state primary schools.

Fiftly, influence of the headmaster as the leader in primary school effectiveness cannot be overstated (Bottery, 2006; Griffith, 2003). It is critical for the Niger state government to focus on strong investment in the development of headmasters’ leadership attributes and understanding the organisational culture to ensure organisational effectiveness the state primary schools, because leadership attributes can be acquired.

Researcher suggested that, the Niger state government should develop various forms of leadership learning programmes for headmasters, which will help them learn more about leadership attributes. Adequate leadership training may improve organisational effectiveness in the state primary schools.

Practically it is recommended that, the certificate in educational leadership from a recognized educational institution should be added to the criteria for selecting school heads in the state’s primary schools. This may aid in the acquisition of the fundamental knowledge required for school leadership activities, as well as the acquisition of organisational commitment skills, thereby increasing the level of organisational effectiveness in primary schools of Niger state.

Collaboration with Mentor Headmasters: The Niger state government should develop a programme that will foster a collegial relationship between highly experienced headmasters and novice headmasters. This may have positively contributed to the novice headmasters’ excellent performance of leadership roles, leading to the organisational effectiveness of the state’s primary schools.

Conclusion

The study yielded numerous significant results toward obtaining empirical information that may bridge the theoretical and conceptual gap regarding the study. Headmasters’ leadership attributes and organisational culture play an important role in directing primary schools toward teachers’ commitment to ensuring effective teaching and learning, which may result in primary school effectiveness. As a result, numerous plans with extensive packages that can rigorously and recurrently improve leadership attributes and understanding of organizational culture are required. This could help headmasters understand how to get teachers fully committed to ensuring the effectiveness of primary schools in Niger State, Nigeria.

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