ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE: AN IMPERATIVE FOR EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION IN PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES IN NORTH-CENTRAL NIGERIAGERIA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61841/678m8n55Keywords:
Environmental Organisational Change, Employee Satisfaction, Regulatory Changes, Market Competition, Funding Pressures, Private Universities, North-Central Nigeria.Abstract
This research empirically examines the impact of organisational environmental change on employee job satisfaction within private universities in North-Central Nigeria. Specifically, it explores the impact of regulatory changes, market competition, and funding pressures on employee satisfaction. Adopting a descriptive survey research approach, responses were collected from 528 participants drawn from seven private universities using a structured questionnaire. The data were analysed through multiple regression analysis to ascertain the relationship between employee satisfaction and organisational change. The findings reveal that regulatory change significantly contributes positively to employee satisfaction (0.4000, 0.0145), implying that effective management of regulatory policies enhances job security and workplace stability. Market competition also significantly and positively affects satisfaction (0.4961, 0.0033), indicating that increased competitive pressures compel universities to improve employee welfare, thereby leading to greater satisfaction. Financial pressures negatively and significantly impact employee satisfaction (0.2759, 0.0118), suggesting that financial demands result in uncertainty, delayed salaries, and decreased job morale. These results support organisational justice theory by highlighting the importance of procedural, distributive, and interactional justice in organisational change management. The following recommendations are proposed for private universities based on these results: sustaining transparency in regulatory changes, maintaining competitive and fair reward systems, and involving employees in financial decision-making to enhance job satisfaction despite environmental pressures.
References
Agbana, J., Iyaji, F. I., & Bakare, A. A. (2023). The Influence of Change Management Practices on Employee Engagement and Organisational Performance in a Competitive Business Environment: A Conceptual Review. Educational Administration: Theory and Practice, 29(4), 3638-3645. doi: 10.53555/kuey.v29i4.8192
Akintunde-Adeyi, J. F., Akinbode, J. O., & Akinola, E. T. (2023). Employees' resilience, organizational culture and sustainable performance of tertiary hospitals in Oyo State, Nigeria. International Journal of Professional Business Review, 8(11), 1-22.
Akunne, C., & Ibrahim, U. (2021). An evaluation of the impact of change management on employee performance in the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission. Open Journal of Business and Management, 9, 2591-2604.
Aregawi, M., & Vijaya, G. (2023). Effects of organizational restructuring on employee satisfaction at workplace with reference to Ministry of Peace, Ethiopia. Journal of Management (JOM), 10(1), 1-13.
Archibong, U., & Ibrahim, U. A. (2021). Assessing the impact of change management on employee performance: Evidence from Nile University of Nigeria. International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science, 10(4), 525-534.
Azeem, M., Ahmed, M., Haider, S., & Sajjad, M. (2021). Expanding competitive advantage through organizational culture, knowledge sharing and organizational innovation. Technology in Society, 66, 101635.
Bakare A. A., George S., Isah F. I. (2025). Impact of Change in Organisational Structure on Employee Satisfaction in Private Universities in North-Central Nigeria. ES 2025, 21 (1), 544-554. https://doi.org/10.69889/ccyrd415.
Bakare, A. A., Akinbode, J. O., and Aremu, M. O. (2020). Physical Work Environment and Modern Farm Performance: Employees' Perspectives. Ilorin Journal of Human Resource Management (IJHRM). A Publication of the Department of Industrial Relations and Personnel Management, Faculty of Management Sciences, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria. ISSN: 2579-0447: 4(1),35-46. http://ejournals.unilorin.edu.ng/journals/index.php/ijhrm/article/view/302
Boulagouas, W., García-Herrero, S., Chaib, R., García, S. H., & Djebabra, M. (2021). On the contribution to the alignment during an organizational change: Measurement of job satisfaction with working conditions. Journal of Safety Research, 76, 289-300.
Burnes, B., & Cooke, B. (2013). Kurt Lewin’s field theory: A review and re-evaluation. International Journal of Management Reviews, 15(4), 408-425.
Cameron, E., & Green, M. (2019). Making sense of change management: A complete guide to the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers.
Colquitt, J. A., Conlon, D. E., Wesson, M. J., Porter, C. O., & Ng, K. Y. (2013). Justice at the millennium: A meta-analytic review of 25 years of organizational justice research. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(3), 425-445.
Cropanzano, R., Bowen, D. E., & Gilliland, S. W. (2015). The management of organizational justice. Academy of Management Perspectives, 21(4), 34-48.
Daniel, C. O. (2019). Effect of organizational change on employee job performance. Asian Journal of Business and Management, 7(1), 22-27.
Eyanuku, J. P. (2021). Organizational change and employees’ performance in Nigerian banking industry. Christopher University Journal of Management and Social Sciences, 1(1), 187-195.
Folger, R., & Cropanzano, R. (2001). Fairness theory: Justice as accountability. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Greenberg, J. (1987). A taxonomy of organizational justice theories. Academy of Management Review, 12(1), 9-22.
Hackman, J. R., & Oldham, G. R. (1976). Motivation through the design of work: Test of a theory. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 16(2), 250-279.
Humphrey, S. E., Nahrgang, J. D., & Morgeson, F. P. (2007). Integrating motivational, social, and contextual work design features: A meta-analytic summary and theoretical extension of the job characteristics model. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(5), 1332-1356.
Itunu, O. O., & Egbetade, S. (2023). Effect of workplace diversity on organizational performance in selected private universities in southwestern Nigeria. LASU Journal of Employment Relations & Human Resource Management, 4(2), 101-123.
Kern, M., & Zapf, D. (2021). Ready for change? A longitudinal examination of challenge stressors in the context of organizational change. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 26(3), 204-217.
Klein, N., Ramos, T. B., & Deutz, P. (2022). Factors and strategies for circularity implementation in the public sector: An organizational change management approach for sustainability. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 29(3), 509-523.
Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading change. Harvard Business School Press.
Kumolu-Johnson, B. O., & Okewale, R. A. (2021). Change management and employees’ performance of selected Nigerian banks. International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Reviews, 11(3), 155-164.
Lewin, K. (1947). Frontiers in group dynamics: Concept, method, and reality in social science; social equilibria and social change. Human Relations, 1(1), 5-41.
Mgbemena, G. C., Akpamgbo, F. O., Uzor, C. P., & Onyero, J. (2022). Organizational change and employee performance in selected hospitals in Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria. International Journal of Innovative Human Ecology & Nature Studies, 10(4), 17-31.
Mitra, S. K. (2024). Why universities are adopting market-oriented management practices? Asian Social Science, 5(3), 137-142.
Musa, S. A., & Bello, S. M. (2023). A review of organizational change on employee performance in public sector organizations in Nigeria. Organization and Human Capital Development (ORCADEV), 2(1), 1-11.
Nielsen, K., Dawson, J., Hasson, H., & Schwarz, U. V. T. (2021). What about me? The impact of employee change agents’ person-role fit on their job satisfaction during organizational change. Work & Stress, 35(1), 57-73.
Ojogiwa, O. T., & Qwabe, B. R. (2021). Leveraging on the management of organizational cultural change for an improved change outcome in the Nigerian public health sector. African Journal of Governance and Development, 10(1), 61-79.
Okolocha, C. B., Akam, G. U., & Uchehara, F. O. (2021). Effect of job satisfaction on job performance of university lecturers in South-East, Nigeria. International Journal of Management Studies and Social Science Research, 3(1), 119-137.
Oladimeji, M. S., Hassan, B., & Eze, B. U. (2020). Change management and employees' satisfaction in the Nigerian banking sector. African Journal of Humanities, 9, 1-9.
Oyebanji, S. O., Folurunsho, I. T., Dada, O., Adeagbo, K. R., Adeniji, O. D., & Olaleye, Z. O. (2023). Organizational performance: The imperatives of employee engagement and job satisfaction. Nigerian Journal of Management Sciences, 24(1b), 31-43.
Rabiu, M. M., Bakare, A.A., Lamino, A. H., Akinbode, O.J., & Oyelude, O. O. (2024). Employee Job Satisfaction and Employee Productivity in Nigeria's Federal Civil Service: An Empirical Examination of Communication as Metric for Job Satisfaction. International Journal of Professional Business Review, 9(3).ISSN 25253654. e04328. https://doi.org/10.26668/businessreview/2024.v9i3.4328
Shuaibu, A., & Daniel, C. O. (2023). Impact of change management on employees' performance of private universities in Federal Capital Territory and Nasarawa State of Nigeria. Migration Letters, 21(S1), 697–710.
Watermeyer, R., Shankar, K., Crick, T., Knight, C., McGaughey, F., Hardman, J., ... & Phelan, D. (2021). ‘Pandemia’: A reckoning of UK universities’ corporate response to COVID-19 and its academic fallout. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 42(5-6), 651-666.
Widianto, S., Lestari, Y. D., Adna, B. E., Sukoco, B. M., & Nasih, M. (2021). Dynamic managerial capabilities, organizational capacity for change and organizational performance: The moderating effect of attitude towards change in a public service organization. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 8(1), 149-172.
Wijethilake, C., Upadhaya, B., & Lama, T. (2023). The role of organizational culture in organizational change towards sustainability: Evidence from the garment manufacturing industry. Production Planning & Control, 34(3), 275-294.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Advance Research in Business, Management and Accounting (ISSN: 2456-3544)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Terms & Condition
Submission -
Author can submit the manuscript through our online submission process or email us at the designated email id in contact details.
The other mode of submission not accepted than online and email.
Before submission please read the submission guidelines.
NN Publication accepts only article submitted in pdf/doc/docx/rtf file format. Another format except given file formats will no be considered .
Author will be responsible for the error mistakes in the submission files. The minor changes can be done without any cost after publication. But for major changes NN Publication may charges you the editing charges.
Publication (Online) -
The online publication is scheduled on last date of every month, but it can be delayed by 24 to 48 hours due to editorial process if huge number of articles comes to publish in single issue.
Automatic notification email will be sent to the all users on publication of an issue, so its author’s duty to check their email inbox or SPAM folder to get this notification.
After publication of article author can not withdraw their article.
If editor’s found any issue after publication of article then the NN Publication have the authority to remove the article from online website.
No refund will be provided after online publication of article.
Publication (Print) -
The print copy publication are sent as per the author’s request after 2 weeks of online publication of that issue.
NN Publication will ship the article by India Post and provide the consignment number on dispatch of print copy.
NN Publication follows all the guidelines of delivery provided by India Post and hence not responsible for delay in delivery due to any kind of reasons.
Refund of hard copy will not be provided after dispatch or print of the journal.
NN Publication will be responsible for raise a complain if there is any issue occurs in delivery, but still will not be responsible for providing the refund.
NN Publication will be responsible to resend the print copy only and only if the print copy is lost or print copy is damaged in delivery / or there is delay more than 6 months.
According to India Post the delivery should be completed with in 1-3 weeks after dispatch of articles.
Privacy Policy-
NN Publication uses the email ids of authors and editors and readers for sending editorial or publication notification only, we do not reveal or sell the email ids to any other website or company.