Administrative Policies and Service Delivery of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN): Constraints to Regular Power Delivery
Olufemi POPOOLA, Ph.D.; Mary FADARE

Abstract
The study examined the service delivery strategies and procedures guiding the operations and activities of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) Ibadan Zone and analyzed the effect of administrative policies on service delivery. These were with a view to contributing to the understanding of administrative policies and procedures of PHCN and also provide information on service delivery strategies adopted by the firm. Data were obtained from both primary and secondary sources. 2 sets of questionnaire were administered on all the categories of staff in the three selected business units through purposive sampling technique, representing the nineteen business units in Ibadan zone of PHCN. A total of 311 copies of the questionnaire were administered in the first instance and 232 copies on second attempt while the response rate were 90% and 85% respectively. The sets of questionnaire were analyzed and presented in this study. Secondary data were extracted from conditions of service booklet, relevant text books, and official publications of the organization, reports, as well as internet sources. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as correlation, ANOVA, and regression analysis. The results showed that there were existing service delivery strategies. This was attested to by respondents in the organization. However, there was no clear standard for implementation. The strategy being used then at initial stage was centralization, whereby all activities and instructions were coordinated centrally from the national office (Abuja). Later it was decentralized into Zones and Business Units as well as Undertaking Offices that were very close to the customers in order to serve them better. The organ gram of the organization served as another strategy being used to ensure efficient service delivery. The top managers were in charge of the policy and decision making, the middle managers (Senior Managers) manage, coordinate and direct the affairs of the organization based on the decision of the top managers. The local managers are the Service Managers (with other staff under them) who actually implement the policies as directed by the Middle Managers. While examining the policies and procedures of PHCN, the findings showed that there were good administrative policies and procedures guiding the operations of PHCN. However, the staff were not well oriented and properly trained for the implementation. The adequacy of the policies and procedures only existed on paper but faulty at implementation stage. This revealed that there was no clear cut procedure for policy implementation which eventually resulted into inability of the organization to achieve service delivery objectives. The study also revealed that there was strong and significant relationship between administrative policy and service delivery. Some of the administrative policies which had significant relationship with service delivery were training, customer care, safety measures, monitoring mechanism, data management, and maintenance. Of all these variables, training and monitoring mechanism contributed significantly to service delivery. The study concluded that the administrative policy was not popular among the staff. Procedures for service delivery were not properly established and as a result, the procedures and strategies were found to be full of lapses, ineffectiveness, and inefficiency.

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