Cost Management Strategies For Efficient Utilization Of Resources In The Administration Of Public Universities In Bayelsa State In The Era Of Covid-19 Pandemic
Poi, Godwin PhD
Director of Entrepreneurship Centre & Head of Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Social and Management Sciences, University of Africa, Toru-Orua, Bayelsa State, Nigeria
Keywords: Cost Management, Strategies, COVID-19, Public Universities, University Administrators
Abstract
The study investigated cost management strategies for efficient utilization of resources in the administration of public universities in Bayelsa State in the era of COVID-19 pandemic. Descriptive survey design was adopted. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The population of the study consisted of 491 teaching and non-teaching staff in the three public universities in Bayelsa State. A sample of 221 staff (86 teaching and 135 non-teaching) representing 45% of the population was drawn through stratified random sampling technique. A questionnaire entitled “Cost Management Strategies for Efficient Utilization of Resources in the Administration of public universities questionnaire (CMSEURAPUQ)” was developed by the researcher and used for data collection. The instrument was properly validated and the reliability index of 0.80 was obtained through the Cronbach Alpha Method. Mean, percentages and standard deviation were used to analyse the research questions while z-test was used to test the hypotheses at .05 level of significance. The findings showed that the cost management strategies adopted by Administrators of public universities in Bayelsa State in the era of COVID-19 pandemic for efficient utilization of resources among others included: drawing of scale of preference, auditing, labour cost control and adoption of total quality management. The roles of University Administrators in cost management strategies among others included: making effective cost management policies, ensuring the involvement of staff and students, ensuring that budgets are judiciously implemented, and that University Administrators should set good examples. The study concluded and recommended that Administrators of public universities in Bayelsa State should intensify their cost management strategies by adopting other approaches such as inter-agency collaboration, cash flow analysis and creation of cost-efficient new programmes.