ABSTRACT
This study was on the effect of internet culture
on administrative efficiency. This study was guided by the following
objectives; to examine the effect of internet culture on
administrative efficiency in Federal Ministry of Communication Technology,
Nigeria. To identify the various forms of the internet culture and how
they affect administrative efficiency. To determine the
relationship between internet culture and administrative efficiency in Nigeria.
The study employed the descriptive and explanatory
design; questionnaires in addition to library research were applied in order to
collect data. Primary and secondary data sources were used and data was
analyzed using the correlation and chi-square statistical tools at 5% level of
significance which was presented in frequency tables and percentage. The
respondents under the study were 50 staff of the federal ministry of
communication technology, Abuja.
The study findings revealed that there is a positive
significant relationship between internet culture and administrative efficiency;
based on the findings from the study, the Nigerian government should focus on
provision of enhanced internet connectivity in Nigeria.
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
The
analysis of administrative efficiency is about the relationships between
inputs, outputs and outcomes. In 1957, Farrell already investigated the
question how to measure efficiency and highlighted its relevance for economic
policy makers. “It is important to know how far a given industry can be
expected to increase its output by simply increasing its efficiency, without
absorbing further resources”. Since that time techniques to measure
efficiency have improved and investigations of efficiency have become more
frequent, particularly in industry. Nevertheless, the measurement of efficiency
of public administrative efficiency remains a conceptual challenge. Problems
arise because public administration has multiple objectives and because public
sector outputs are often not sold on the market which implies that price data
is not available and that the output cannot be quantified.
e-Government
programs remain at the top of most countries policy agendas (UN, 2002). The
emphasis on e-Government may be due to the potential of information and
communication technologies (ICT) to transform public administration (PA) to an
efficient system, enhance public services quality, establish trust between public
administration and citizens and realize economic objectives (OECD, 2003; UN,
2004). In fact, e-Government aims at providing an efficient government
management, better service delivery, and empowerment of citizens through access
to information and participation in public policy decision making (UN, 2005).
For these benefits, the PA in most countries develops Web sites, portals and
electronic services delivery (UN, 2002; 2003; 2004; 2005). However, differences
in worldwide adoption of e-Government are considerable. The e-Government
readiness index estimated for each of UN countries varies between 0, 9062 in
the United States of America and 0, 0011 in Liberia (UN, 2005). The Web Measure
Index varies between 0 (no presence for countries like Haiti, Zambia, Liberia,
etc.) and 1 in the United States of America.
Certainly,
the diffusion of the Web in PA leans on a political will that mobilizes the
necessary human, material and financial resources. But, this diffusion depends
also on social and economic variables (UN, 2002). UN (2005) affirm that
e-Government readiness is a function of a country’s situation of technological
and telecommunication infrastructure and of the level of its human resource
development. Nevertheless, “the number of variables – social, legal and
institutional as well as economic and technological – which might retard the
diffusion process is virtually limitless’’ (Rosenberg, 1972, cited by Erumban
and de Jong, 2006, p.303). Recently, several researchers show the importance of
culture in IT adoption and justify the divergences between countries in the
adoption of ICT, in general (Erumban and de Jong, 2006) and of specific
technologies, such as Internet, PC, fax machines, cellular phone, telephone and
pagers (Bagchi and al., 2004; Gong and al., 2007) on the base of the cultural
variables. According to Zghal (2001), cultures include both favorable factors
to ICT exploitation and unfavorable ones that may hinder an efficient
implementation of these technologies. So, this research tries to answer this
question: what is the impact of the national culture on the adoption of the
e-Government by the PA? The analysis starts with the definition of e-Government
and the presentation of its stages of evolution. Then, an explanation of the
differences between the countries use of the e-Government is advanced on the
base of a cultural perspective and the hypotheses are formulated. After the
precision of the methodology, the results and their interpretations are
presented.
1.2 Statement
of the problem
The objective
of assessing the effect of internet culture on administrative efficiency is to
enhance the effective use of the various forms of online communication in
contributing to the overall economic development of the country through
effective administration. But the objective cannot be achieved in a situation
where the would-be beneficiaries are not even aware of the existence of such platforms.
Moreover, the few who are aware of these platforms do not even bother to apply them
at their place of work due to stringent work style, therefore, there is the
need to proffer solutions to these problems to ensure the growth and
development of our economy.
1.3 Significance of the study
The
research will be of benefit to the government – Federal ministry of
communication technology. It will provide a framework for the critical
evaluation of the various forms of internet culture and how it affects the
efficiency of an administration. It will provide a basis for the modification
of the use of internet for communication in the ministry and identify loopholes
where necessary.
It
will also benefit other researchers, forming a basis for further research on
the subject in future. The study also gives a clear insight into the various
forms of internet culture and how they can be executed efficiently to favor ministries
and organizations that use the internet as a means of communication.
1.4 Objectives of the study
The
main objective of this study is to examine the effect of internet culture on
administrative efficiency in Federal Ministry of Communication Technology,
Nigeria.
Specific
objectives of the study are:
1.
To identify the various forms of the
internet culture and how they affect administrative efficiency.
2.
To determine the relationship between internet
culture and administrative efficiency in Nigeria.
1.5 Research questions
The
following research questions will be considered in this study:
1.
What are effects does internet culture
have on administrative efficiency of organizations?
2.
Is there any relationship between
internet culture and administrative efficiency?
1.6 Research hypotheses
In order to ascertain
the effect of internet culture on the efficiency of the administration of
Federal Ministry of Communication Technology, the following hypotheses have
been formulated:
Ho:
Internet culture does not have any significant effect on the
efficiency of the administration of Federal Ministry of Communication
Technology.
Hi:
Internet culture affects the efficiency of the administration
of Federal Ministry of Communication Technology significantly.
Ho: There
is no significant relationship between internet culture and administrative efficiency.
Hi: There
is significant relationship between internet culture and administrative
efficiency.
1.7 Limitations of the study
The
only limitation faced by the researcher in the course of carrying out this
study was the delay in getting data from the various respondents. Most
respondents were reluctant in filling questionnaires administered to them due
to their busy schedules and nature of their work. The researcher found it
difficult to collect responses from the various respondents, and this almost hampered
the success of this study.
1.8 Scope of the study
The
study covers various forms of the internet culture such as online communities,
online multi-player gaming, wearable computing, social gaming, social media,
mobile apps, augmented reality, and texting and how they affect
the administrative efficiency using Federal Ministry of Communication
Technology as a case study.
1.9 Definition
of terms
Internet:
Is a global computer network providing a
variety of information and communication facilities, consisting of
interconnected networks using standardized communication protocols.
Internet
culture: Is the study of various social
phenomena associated with the internet and other new forms of the network
communication.
Efficiency:
A the state of being efficient. It means
achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense.
Administrative
Efficiency: The capacity of an organization, institution, or business to
produce desired results with a minimum expenditure of energy, time, money, personnel,
materiel, etc.