Records Management Practices and Organizational Effectiveness of Universities Registries in South -West, Nigeria

Records Management Practices and Organizational Effectiveness of Universities Registries in South -West, Nigeria

Dada, Racheal Olufumilola and Ogunwemimo Taiwo

Babcock University Registry and Department of Information Resources Management, School of Management Sciences, Babcock University Ilishan-Remo, Ogun
State, Nigeria

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2024.806005

Received: 14 May 2024; Accepted: 23 May 2024; Published: 26 June 2024

ABSTRACT

It has been observed that registry staff of universities in South- West Nigeria has lots of challenges in proper keeping and maintenance of students and staff records. Misplaced or loss of records delay necessary actions on urgent matters, or lead to irrational decisions, which may translate to an embarrassment to the organization. Also the mounting rise of paperwork requirements continues to accelerate on daily basis. Technology is consistently being used to convert paper records into electronic format presenting a change in a way records have to be managed. One of the problems also confronting registry staff in the digital age relates to security of information held in electronic media and the privacy of records.  This study therefore, reviewed the activities of registry staff in higher institutions of learning with respect to the records management practices and organizational effectiveness of registry staff in universities in South West Nigeria.

Survey research design was adopted in the study. The population comprised 2,282 staff of university registries in South-West Nigeria. Taro Yamane’s sample size formula was used to determine sample size of 340 registry staff. Random sampling technique was used to select the respondents. A validated structured questionnaire was administered to collect data. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings revealed that records management practices significantly influenced organizational effectiveness (Adj.R² = 0.651, F(5, 334) = 7.840, p < 0.05) of university registries in South-West Nigeria. The study concluded that records management practices are important in achieving organizational effectiveness in university registries. The study recommended that university management in South-West Nigeria should enhance organizational effectiveness of their registries by investing in the training of registry staff in records management.

Keywords: Records management, Impact, Organizational effectiveness, Population.

INTRODUCTION

The registry supports the mission of the university by serving the needs of universities colleges and schools, the faculty, current and former students, staff, and the general public in accordance with university’s academic policies and procedures. The educational life cycle of a student and his relationship with the university may never end bearing in mind that even after graduation, the student may come back to the university to request for some relevant academic documents either to further his education or for referee note (Adade, et al , (2018).

The records that establish the students’ relationship with the university can be categorized into current or semi-current records. While students remain at the university, their records are considered to be current. Once the students departed, their records become semi-current. The semi-current records will gradually be transferred into non-current, which will eventually end up either being destroyed or permanently preserved in the university records center or archive.

 The registry, as the control room of administration, therefore needs to perform its roles effectively to achieve the objectives of the university. The effectiveness of the registry can be measured through policy implementation, social and strategic advice to the Vice-Chancellor and the entire university system. Universities have a lot of records to be kept, the group of people involved in keeping and managing these records are mainly the registry staff. The survey by Joy and Agala (2019) identified effective records management (Rm) as part of the strategies for ensuring quality assurance in the management of university education in Nigeria. Accurate, comprehensive and trustworthy records that provide information about university’s operation and services are often created but are not properly managed. Instead, handful of setbacks are recorded in terms of improper security of records, inadequate resource, incompetent personnel, use of manual system in recording and storing of information and negative attitude of staff towards record keeping (Allison & Otuza, 2017). Lot of students suffered in the hands of many universities owing to poor RM in terms of credentials, examination scripts, results and the like. As a result, records, like any other business resource, must be managed systematically (Hashim, 2018).

Adade, et al (2018) supported this assertion where they stated that whenever there is contentious issue over certificates awarded to students, one easiest way to calm down nerves and establish the accuracy and authenticity of such documents is to refer to the university’s academic records archive for verification and confirmation.

Academic records management occupies a strategic position in the efficient and effective management of students’ records in the university administration (Seniwoliba, et al 2017). It is central in ensuring the credibility of students’ records, because proper records management always proves very relevant in terms of providing accurate students records for verification and confirmation in times of disputes. Administrative roles in universities are becoming increasingly complicated in terms of enrolment, delay in computation of results and students registration, all these happened due to inadequate technological infrastructure such as internet facilities, training for registry staff and lack of motivation on the part of the administration towards staff . Other implications are difficulties in accounting for any decisions taken (Nyathi & Peterson, 2017), delay in decision making, overlapping of authority and responsibility among human resource and registry staff (Nkebukwa, 2019), loss of institutional memories (Netshakhuma, 2019).

According to Palmer (2016), the role of records management Practices is that it acts as a control Practices that reinforces other control Practices such as internal and external auditing. The record environment that allows opportunities to commit fraud, once fraud is detected; records can provide a trail for investigators to track the root of corruption. However, for records to be useful in this capacity, they must be accessible. According to Hare & McLeod (2016), the organization kept records for information retrieval, evidence of the organization‘s activities and compliance with regulations.

As explained by Lush and Young (2019), keeping records straight is not only good business practice, but also necessary for running a productive, well-functioning company. The foundation for business intelligence and the ability to make data-driven decisions that affect the bottom line is having a proper record management system.

Organizational effectiveness is the measure of how successful an organization is in achieving its mission and advancing its vision through its core strategies. It is the ability of an organization to meet its goals. Building a solid organization takes hard work and a keen awareness of the culture and environment that exists in a business. In the turbulent business environment, with changes in customer demands the main aim of every organization is to improve its productivity but this can never be possible without effective organization. Organizations can only achieve their objectives if they are able to survive and the primary condition for survival is enough profitability to enable them maintains their wealth creating capabilities. An organization that is not profitable cannot even survive, not to think of the level of its effectiveness. Organizational effectiveness comprises measuring the actual performance outcomes or results of an organization against its intended goals. Organizational effectiveness is very significant for any successful organization. Organizational effectiveness is a business strategy designed to improve the efficiency of the company without reducing the quality of the products or services. How an organization produces its set quota of products, how much waste it produces, or how efficient it is processes to actualize its goal fall under organizational effectiveness.

Many organizations have attempted to find answers to what it is that separates high-performing organizations from the rest. This subject has been of special interest to managers and stakeholders, as they search for ways to improve organizational effectiveness, adapt to a rapidly changing environment and respond to growing demand for quality products and services (Lear, 2017). How organizations can achieve desired performance, however, is hard to determine and potentially varies depending on the goal of the organization.

Thus, it is necessary that they take strategies and behaviours that benefit and revitalize their results, forcing them to measure their performance in order to contribute to its stability. All organizations, regardless of size, market, and technology, want to be successful and maintain a constant progress even in a current highly competitive business environment. Organizations must take into consideration their objectives and the means through which they sustain themselves and attain their objectives, particularly those means that come to assume the character of and function as organizational goals. Important aspects of organization’s effectiveness are high output in order to achieve the end results for which they are designed, whether quantitatively or qualitatively. It is also determined by the ability to absorb and assimilate relevant changes, or the ability of an organization to keep up with the times without jeopardizing its integrity. In order to achieve those goals and objectives, strategies must be developed and well-implemented with the effective utilization of all available resources.

Statement of the Problem

Central to the system structure of the university is the registry, established to coordinate students’ enrolment, academic and administrative records. Universities as well as their various organs are formal organizations because they possess characteristics that are common to all formal organizations such as purpose, people and systematic structures. The purpose of the university is to facilitate teaching, research, community service and to produce the future leaders in various fields.

However, organizational effectiveness of the university has been negatively affected in numerous ways due to lack of poor records management practices in the universities in South- West Nigeria. The implications of poor records management also affected universities quest for better international ranking. Muhammad, Isa, Samsudin and Miah (2020) stated that universities in Nigeria aspire to be on the global map with better international rankings. Regrettably, they are overwhelmed with inefficient administration and management due to poor management of records and information.

The identified problems are lack of record manual,  inadequate computer terminals, difficulty in record retrieval, lack of appreciation by management and staff of the need for well-controlled records, inadequate manual classification, lack of storage facilities, inadequate funds, weak organizational infrastructures, lack of basic skills and competences, high staff turn-over, absence of an archival law, inadequate welfare packages, insensitivity of some administrators, lack of security of life, as well as inadequate training opportunities. There is also lacuna in our knowledge of the records management practices on registry staff effectiveness. Here too, there have been several complaints by the university regarding lack of proper standard and procedures for creating records, maintaining them and getting the right information to the right administrator at the right time. Incidences of record loss are rampart and unauthorized destruction of records is rife.

The question then is: can the factors of records management practices influence the effectiveness of university registries? This study, therefore, sets out to find out the veracity of the above assumption.

Objective of the Study

The main objective of this study is to investigate the influence of records management practices on the organization effectiveness of the registry staff in universities in South-West, Nigeria.

1. determine the influence of records management practices on organizational effectiveness of university registries in South-West Nigeria;

Research Questions

The following research question were answered in the course of the study:

1. What is the level of records management practices in university registries in South-West, Nigeria?

Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 significant level.

Ho1:  A records management practice does not significantly influence organizational effectiveness of registry staff in Universities in South-West, Nigeria.

LITERATURE REVIEW

From the review of the literature it appears that academic records management in Nigerian universities is not given the proper treatment. In a related study Barde, et al (2019) found that retrieval of students’ academic records in Ahmadu Bello University was slow and time consuming due to poor records organization.

The role of records management practices in any organization including higher educational institution is enormous and very important to the growth and the development of education in any part of the world. This is because the continuity of the institution depends largely on the availability of useful records of past activities and programmes. In a complex organization like that of a university, it is not possible to keep every information in the brain because the volume of information is much and therefore, in the course of human interactions and service provisions that occur in such organizations records are created. According to Faulhaber (2019), records management is a must-have function for industries, charitable organizations, government agencies, civic groups, medical, commerce, financial, schools, colleges, and universities, and other types of entities that generate information that must be kept for a specific amount of time. As explained by Lush and Young (2019), keeping records straight is not only good business practice, but also necessary for running a productive, well- functioning company. The foundation for business intelligence and the ability to make data-driven decisions that affect the bottom line is having a proper record management practices.

 Records are evidence of the transactions that occur daily in any human society. Records can either be generated internally or externally by an organization. Absence of records can cripple the planning and decision making processes of management in an organization. Just as The National Records of Scotland (2018) observed, “any freedom of information legislation is only as good as the quality of records to which it provided access. Such rights are of little use if reliable records are not created in the first place, if they cannot be found when needed or if the arrangements for their eventual archiving or destruction are inadequate”.

The issue of record management in organisations have attracted attention in the literature for a long time, and this same issue in educational institutions in recent times continue to attract a large literature in the area of problems in record management, since proper record management has enormous benefits in educational institutions (Mohammed, et al (2018). Also, Seniwoliba, et al, (2017), asserted that several literatures reached the conclusion that records management in institutions face various challenges.

 According to, Unegbu and Oludipe (2013), Records management deals with the classifying, recognition, storage, access, securing, disposing and exploitation of records that are necessary for an organization in order to blossom. This includes helping employees to know how to organize materials so that those who need them – not just the employees – can find them; to know which records are vital and valuable; to know how to preserve records; and to know how and when to dispose of records or to identify non-records that can be disposed off immediately.

Allison (2021) emphasized that registry staff must record, keep, and manage these records using good record management practices. Their ability to effectively manage these records will determine the quality of records/information the universities will have and the type of decision they will make, as well as their job performance.

Therefore, the practice of creation, storage, and archiving of records suits the traditional model or culture of records management in the University because, without proper records in place, the University management cannot plan well for the future (Khumalo & Chigariro, 2017).  The growth of university education around the world has been quite remarkable in the last decade. This growth has also witnessed an expansion in the Registry department of universities.

Records help with decision-making, documenting public operational processes, providing evidence of policies, decisions, transactions, and activities, and assisting the university in legal cases (Giba-Fosu, 2020). Thus, all universities must take responsibility for the proper storage and management of their records. Clear, consistent, and organized records are essential for keeping compliance and avoiding future issues (Heaney, 2021). For example, developing effective office filing policies can make it easier to locate important documents. No matter how much documentation is completed on computers, there will always be a portion that must be printed and filed by hand.

Regardless of how detailed an office filing policy is, someone must be responsible for  implementing it daily for it to be effective (Root, 2019). This is important as Yuee (2020) emphasized that losing important and sensitive data can have a significant impact on business operation. Backups ensure that at least one additional copy of important files can be easily restored if the originals are lost or damaged (Castagna, 2021). For instance, if computer crashes, a copy of document can be saved (Davis, 2021).

The management of an institution’s records determines its reliability and trustworthiness.

As such, records must be stored in a safe environment that ensures accessibility and protects records from environmental damage (Kaboyo, 2019). According to Nabwami (2018), a well-kept record can protect the institution in situations where the legal defence of their actions is required. Documentation also ensures a level of professionalism and evidence of practice improvement.

Quality of Service through Records Management 

Every organization needs to strive for excellence in service quality once they are service-based organizations. Pamatmat, (2018) cited that service quality is a priced commodity and an equally important index for measuring client and stakeholder satisfaction. It is vital because it determines customer satisfaction (Davis, 2021b). As institution’s success or failure is determined by its quality, loyal customer is a major determinant of an educational institution’s long-term viability (Suparjo, 2018). Accordingly, student satisfaction has long been a key indicator of a university’s ability to provide high-quality services. With the increased competition in higher education, which now extends beyond borders, universities and colleges were prompted to prioritize quality service, which is directly related to student satisfaction and dissatisfaction (Sarsale, 2020). Furthermore, as a continuous process, regular training sessions of staff and paying attention to what customers have to say about their experience are expected (Sherman, 2019).

Moreover, in the view of Alegbeleye and Chilaka (2019), records management described as a constantly changing profession. This has ramifications for the skills and competencies required for record management. All employees involved in the management of records, from creation to destruction or preservation, should be trained on a regular basis. While records management necessitates those records designers and creators be given some level of training in records management, records professionals require an upgrade of the skills they use on a daily basis. Molepo and Cloete (2017) equally investigated the records management practices and challenges faced by traditional institutions of leadership and governance in Ga Molepo, Limpopo, South Africa. The main value of the study was to create awareness of records management as one of the neglected areas in traditional institutions.

Benefits of Records Management Practices?

Information and records management systems support and guide all aspects of the administration of records. Such as:

1. Efficiency – records are better organised and located, and retrieved more quickly, thus facilitating ease of reference, eradicating staff frustration and increasing productivity. Policies govern all aspects of the management of records, thus negating the necessity of staff members having to make difficult decisions.
2. Consistency – the existence of documented policies means that staff members execute actions relative to records in a consistent manner.
3. Good-decision making – because staff members have ready access to all necessary records, they are able to make decisions with reference to precedent, context and eventualities.
4. Economy – Information and records management systems are formulated with reference to using all resources (people, money, space, equipment and supplies etc.) as economically as possible.
5. Legal protection – where stringent control is exercised over records, the organization protects its own interests and those of stakeholders, whether they are students, employees, the wider community or individuals and organisations. Careful policies facilitate compliance with applicable legislation and regulations. Unnecessary retention of records is obliterated. This is beneficial as considerable resources must be devoted to administering records request. Furthermore, prolonged retention of records may be legally damaging.
6. Enhanced image – improved efficiency and management enhances the image of the organisation for all stakeholders, not least employees whose work proceeds in a more orderly manner.
7. Ensures preservation of important records – Archives are those records which are demonstrated to possess continuing value. While not of everyday use for operational purposes, archives contribute significantly to the construction of collective memory and cultural heritage. Information and records management policies are cognisant of the long-term needs of archives, most significantly from the perspectives of accessibility and preservation. Vital records are those which are necessary for the legal and financial protection of the University and its stakeholders. Disaster planning and recovery planning puts in place measures to safeguard the well-being of such records.
8. Continuity – Good records facilitate continuity on occasions when staff members leave the employment of the organisation. In the absence of records, staff members take their knowledge with them when they leave.

Records Management Practices and Organizational Effectiveness

An effective records management program would allow the organization to render better customer service, provides legal defensibility and leads to improved profitability. Hence, it is necessary to award high priority to records management to avoid organizational problems that may arise owing to poor handling of office records (Robles & Langemo, 2016).

Records are classified into the following categories;

The records lifecycle concept indicates that records are not static, but have a life similar to that of biological organisms: they are born, live through youth and old age and then die (Shepherd & Geoffrey, 2003). Therefore, all the stages involved in the records life-cycle must be considered before any record is created.

University Archives preserves records that provide evidence of the policies and decisions chronicling the university’s growth and development, the creation of academic programs, research, student life, the physical campus, and the traditions that comprise the University’s 200-year legacy” (U-M Bentley 2020).

Legal Records

It explains that legal Records are those Records created to evidence business transactions or legal decisions for example; contracts, agreements, leases, policy records, case files and correspondences. Within a legal context, records serve legal functions. Legal records support legal rights and obligations with the legal system, also provide proof that a particular activity took place. Legal records contribute to accountability in an organization and in government.

Administration Records

They are created for documentary policies, procedure and guidelines like directives manuals and reports, staff in this section manages records and information systems related to personnel transactions such as employment, seniority, leaves of absence, terminations and changes of status. Records staff also maintains the official employee files. Saleemi (2000) classifies records to the line of life cycle as active and archive records.

Research Records

These are created to determine trends, recent developments or new information related to an organization‘s product. Research records refer to any type of records or materials that document your research effort. These can be electronic or hard copy as in various forms of logs, notebooks, correspondence, videos, computer databases, audio or digital records, or even the actual products of experiments (Saffady, & William, 2009). Although not an inclusive list, research records typically include laboratory research, lab notes, computer databases, microscopic slides, gels, images, photos, videos, laboratory equipment printouts, and records of statistical and other data analysis.

Financial Records

These are created for accounting and fiscal use. Examples include financial statements and tax forms. Formal documents representing the transactions of a business, individual or other organization. Financial records maintained by most businesses include a statement of retained earnings and cash flow, income statements and the company‘s balance sheet and tax returns.

Records Life Cycle Model

The records management phase of the records life-cycle consists of creation, classification, maintenance and disposition. Creation occurs during the receipt of information in the form of records. Records or their information is classified in some logical system. As records are used they require maintenance. Disposition encompasses the destruction or transfer to an archive for future reference. This is then followed by a second, archival phase consisting of the selection or acquisition of the records by archives, a description of the records in inventories, finding aids, and the like and the preservation of the records or, perhaps, the information in the records. As shown here.

Figure 1: The record Life Cycle (Read – Smith et al 2002) 

Record keeping is a fundamental activity of public administration.  Without records there can be no rule of law and no accountability.  An employee must have information to carry out their work, and records represent a particular and crucial source of information.  Records provide a reliable, legally verifiable source of evidence of decisions and actions.  They document compliance or non-compliance with laws, rules, and procedures. In many countries around the world, record-keeping systems are unable to cope with the growing mass of unmanaged papers.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Cameron’s Model of Organizational Effectiveness

In Cameron’s (1988) proposal for the organizational effectiveness of 4-year colleges, there are nine dimensions and a 57-item questionnaire to secure the members’ perceptions about the efficacy of their institutions on these aspects.

He, opined that there are four main fields of organizational effectiveness that are compatible with the effectiveness dimensions. They are: The academic field which is concerned with the students’ academic progress, professional development and the productivity of the lecturers as well as the potential to obtain resource; the moral field that deals with the student’s educational satisfaction, the organizational health and the faculty and administrator employment satisfaction; the external adaptation field which deals with the student’s career progress and system openness and community interaction and the extracurricular field discusses the single dimension of student’s personal development.

Based on Cameron’s (1981) article, the organizational effectiveness is multi-field; that is, the system resource model is very closely related to the external adaptation field at the higher educational institutions. There seems to exist some similarities between the process approach and the moral field. The goal model is also similar to the academic field. Since organizational effectiveness is a multidimensional field, it cannot be measured by a single model and so all the variables should be taken into consideration (Cameron, 1988). In addition, it is essential+l to take all the contextual factors into account before any organizational effectiveness criteria are selected. Due to the diversity of cultures across countries and even within the country, it is possible that one factor can work in one place, but it may fail in another.

The Application of Cameron’s Model of Organizational Effectiveness Studies

There have been extensive international studies using Cameron’s model of organizational effectiveness. For instance, Anderson (2015) did a study in which the researcher utilized a 16-item Cameron’s organizational culture instrument and a 36-item Cameron’s organizational effectiveness questionnaire. The participants of the study were all full-time faculty members, administrative and professional staff from the Tennessee Community Colleges in the United States. The findings indicated that the four culture types which are clan, adhocracy, hierarchy and market, are significantly related to the organizational effectiveness in the Tennessee Community Colleges. The associations were found to be strong (p < .001) and positive. Additionally, it was revealed that Cameron’s instrument works as a valuable diagnostic tool in higher education and is associated with more familiar university assessment indicators. Regarding the findings, the researcher suggested college members to obtain specific actions to learn how to use aspects of the four culture-types in order to achieve the maximum performance of organizational effectiveness.

METHODOLOGY

This study adopted a survey research design. This is because the researcher seeks to examine certain categories of people whose opinions may vary and the most convenient method of reaching them is through administration of structured questionnaire. The researcher is interested in examining the influence of the independent variables (motivation) on the dependent variable (job performance).

Population 

The target population for this study comprises of University Registries in South-West, Nigeria. There are two thousand two hundred and eighty-two (2,282) respondents of all registry staff in the forty-one (41) Universities in South-West, Nigeria. According to the National Universities Commission Website (2017), [and Human Resources of the studied Universities in South- West Nigeria as at 31^st Dec, 2018 for population information.

Sample Size and Sampling Technique

Multistage was used for this study.  Ten Universities were randomly selected out of forty-one (41) Universities in South- West Nigeria. To determine the study’s sample size, Yamane’s (1967) sample size determination was used to calculate the sample size in the ten selected Universities. Purposive sampling technique was used thereafter to select the Participants from the Ten Universities based on their ages. According to Yamane (1967), 39% of a total population could be used to derive the actual population as given in the formula.

                                                              n=N/(1+N(e²))

Where;

N (population size) =2,282

e(sampling error)=5% or 0.05.

Therefore

                                                             n=2,282/(1+2,282((0.05)²))

                                                             n=2282/(1+2282(0.0025))

                                                             n=2282/(1+5.705)

                                                             n=2282/6.705

                                                             n=340

The sample size arrived at for this study is therefore 340

Table 3.1 The proportionate sampling technique of the total sample size of universities in South-West, Nigeria.

Hypothesis tested stated that:

Records management practices have no significant influence on organizational effectiveness of University registries in South-West, Nigeria.

Table 3.2 Influence of records management practices on organizational effectiveness of University registries in South-West, Nigeria.

Dependent Variable: Organizational Effectiveness

Hypothesis three also shows a multiple regression results of the influence of record management practice on organizational effectiveness. This result shows that there is a significant positive influence of Capture/Creation on organizational effectiveness (t =4.975, prob. <0.002), a negative significant relationship between Records Maintenance and Use on organizational effectiveness (t=-6.920, prob. <0.001), negative significant influence of Records Preservation and Disposition on organizational effectiveness (t =-5.002, prob.<0.001) and significant positive influence of Records Management Policy on organizational effectiveness (t =2.072, prob. =0.039) The Adjusted R- Square of 0.651 reveals the explanatory power of the components of records management practices on organizational effectiveness. The result shows that a 65.1% change on organizational effectiveness is explained by record management practices in the organization. The F-statistic reveals that the parameter of the general model is significant at 0.013 which is less than 0.05 level of significance. This means that the parameter estimates as a whole are statistically significant in explaining organizational effectiveness. Hence, the null hypothesis is rejected.

DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

This section discusses the major findings of the study in relation to relevant studies. The discussion showed the research questions and the hypotheses on which sources of influence between records management practices and organizational effectiveness was established through past empirical studies. Each of the research questions and the hypothesis was based on determining the influence of records management practices on organizational effectiveness of University registries in South-West Nigerian. The study also determined whether or not the independent variables had any significant influence on organizational effectiveness of University registries (the dependent variable).

Research question one sought to find out the degree of organizational effectiveness of University registries in South-West, Nigeria. The result revealed that University registries in South- West Nigeria are to some extent effective in their job with an overall mean score of 4.17. This is an evidence that the registry staff are being effective in their job because the management gave room for cooperation, self-development and effective communication. The flow of information is on a horizontal and vertical basis (Cameron, 1981). The aim of this approach in higher educational institutions is to fulfil the objectives by providing timely and sufficient information to the students, and the academicians.

The research question that guided this study was determining the level of records management practices among university registries in South-West Nigeria. The overall level of records management practices is at the minimum level as indicated by (mean=2.62). This shows that the registries have above-average levels of records management maturity. There is also an existence of policies, procedures, maintenance and processes that are used consistently within the organization. All the measured variables were all above average. This indicates that there were fairly good records management practices in South- West Nigeria university registries but policy safe guiding the management and maintenance needed more attention. The table shows that records management policies carried the lowest score among all. (Giba-Fosu, 2020) considered records as vital, corporate assets and are required, to provide evidence of actions and decisions to support accountability and transparency, to comply with legal and regulatory obligations, including employment, contract and financial law, to support decision making to protect the interests of staff, students and other stakeholders.

The findings of research question three on challenges encountered organizational effectiveness by the university registries in South –West, Nigeria revealed that the problems faced were enormous except that they have been able to reduce it to the minimal. This means that the University administration needed to be sensitive to the needs and the challenges of the employee for them to contribute immensely to the effectiveness of the universities. Employees develop a positive attitude towards the organization where the actions of the managers clearly show that employees are part of the University.

Research Question: What is the influence of records management practices on organizational effectiveness among University registries in South-West, Nigeria?

This section sought to find out the level of records management practices of University registries in South- West, Nigeria using a 4 point scale of level-4 to level-1

Table 4.1: Level of records management practices

Level 1 – Inadequate/Sub-standard

Level 2 – Acceptable but Requires Development

Level 3 – Effective

Level 4 – Optimal

The decision rule states that: Level 1= 1- 1.49, Level 2 =1.5-2.49, Level3 =2.5 -3.49, Level 4= 3.5-4.00. Criteria mean of 2 is calculated as follows; 4+ 3+2+1= 10/4= 2.5 by implication, any score above 2.5, is considered “Effective” or “Optimal” while mean scores below 2.5 is considered “Acceptable but requires development” or “inadequate/ Sub- standard ”.

Table 4.5 revealed the respondent’s view on the level of organizations’ records management practice. It could be deduced from the result that the respondents are of the view that the record management practice in their offices is effective with an average mean value of 2.62. The record management practice components were also individually checked and it was revealed that the respondents are of the view that record capture/ creation practice is effective (mean=2.56), record maintenance and use is effective (mean= 2.79), records preservation and disposition is effective (mean= 2.67) records management policy is not effective but is acceptable and requires development (mean=2.49), while records disposal/destruction is effective (mean=2.58). This suggests that records management practices are acceptable and effective in University registries in South- West Nigeria but requires proper development to be able to meet the required standard.

Hypothesis: Records management practices have no significant influence on organizational effectiveness of University registries in South-West, Nigeria.

Table 4.2 Influence of records management practices on organizational effectiveness of University registries in South-West, Nigeria.

Dependent Variable: Organizational Effectiveness

The hypothesis also shows a multiple regression results of the influence of record management practice on organizational effectiveness. This result shows that there is a significant positive influence of Capture/Creation on organizational effectiveness (t =4.975, prob. <0.002), a negative significant relationship between Records Maintenance and Use on organizational effectiveness (t=-6.920, prob. <0.001), negative significant influence of Records Preservation and Disposition on organizational effectiveness (t =-5.002, prob.<0.001) and significant positive influence of Records Management Policy on organizational effectiveness (t =2.072, prob. =0.039) The Adjusted R- Square of 0.651 reveals the explanatory power of the components of records management practices on organizational effectiveness. The result shows that a 65.1% change on organizational effectiveness is explained by record management practices in the organization. The F-statistic reveals that the parameter of the general model is significant at 0.013 which is less than 0.05 level of significance. This means that the parameter estimates as a whole are statistically significant in explaining organizational effectiveness. Hence, the null hypothesis is rejected.

This section discusses the major findings of the study in relation to relevant studies. The discussion showed the research questions and the hypothesis on which sources of influence between records management practices and organizational effectiveness was established through past empirical studies. Each of the research questions and the hypothesis was based on determining the influence of records management practices on organizational effectiveness of University registries in South-West Nigerian. The study also determined whether or not the independent variables had any significant influence on organizational effectiveness of University registries (the dependent variable).

CONCLUSION

This study provides empirical evidence on records management practices as determinants of organizational effectiveness of university registries in South- West Nigeria.

The findings of this study indicated that records management practices is yet to attain enough maturity level expected of an organization like the university compared to its counterparts in the developed countries. The findings show that at all levels records management practices are high but not high enough. There are areas of records management practices where improvements are still required,

Despite the fact that there was a high level of organizational effectiveness, there were still challenges facing the university registries such as incessant staff transfer, lack of good working conditions, poor accessibility to electronic means of storing information, bias in the selection of staff for career development, poor funding, absent of records management policy, poor electricity supply and motivation by the administration.

Based on these findings, it can be concluded that organizational effectiveness in university registries in South- West needs the attention of all university authorities to empower the registry staff by making available necessary infrastructural facilities, employment of qualified records management staff and conducive environment to exist for both the staff and the administration.

5.1 Recommendations

Based on the findings that were revealed in this study the following recommendations are made:

1. The average mean score of (2.62) was recorded in the level of records management practices; this shows that there is need for the University registries to improve on the level of their records management practices through adequate provision of policies and rules and regulations guiding good records management practices so as to yield the benefits of good records management practices.
2. The University administration needs to provide necessary infrastructural facilities, hire qualified staff (trained records managers/workers), and provide a conducive environment. The universities should invest in staff who possesses good customer relations and can relate well with both staff, students and guidance.
3. The level of organizational effectiveness at every stage of the construct should be sustained and can still be improved upon if the university management will cooperate with the workers, they can go to any length to achieve a determined goal in the area of stability, productivity, and growth.

5.2 Suggestions for Further Studies.

 The current study focused on University registries in South -West Nigeria. In the future, the study could be carried out in other parts of the country further still in other higher institutions like, polytechnics, colleges of education, technical schools to encourage better records management practices.

This study employed descriptive statistics and the regression analysis other studies could use inferential statistics and multiple regression analysis. Practical methods in the form of an interview, appraisal of performance in the form of self-assessments, surveys and case studies to help assessment of individuals working in the registry could also be used.

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