Role Of Budgeting In The Management Of Public Institutions

Project and Seminar material for Public Administration

Abstract

It is now a common knowledge that budgeting plays an invaluable role in our public institutions. However, the institutions have hardly used this administrative tool widely and as a result the desired transformation or change which budget would have effected in the society has not been achieved.

This shortcoming in using the budget to actualize organizational goals has compelled the researcher to study the role of budgeting in the management of public institutions, using ministry of works and housing, Enugu State, as a case study.

The researcher used both primary and secondary data sources. The primary data included the use of questionnaires, observation and interview. The researcher spent some time to mingle with the staff of ministry of works and Housing Enugu whereby certain observations on the study were taken note of. In the same vein, some of the staff were interviewed so that some questions that were not properly answered in the questionnaires were cleared through the use of interviews.

The Secondary source of data collection (Literature review) enabled the researcher to read as much materials that have been written on the subject matter as possible. It enabled the research to draw the theoretical frame works research questions etc.

The research design was essentially descriptive to ease the study. Data were presented, analyzed and interpreted using simple percentages.

The analysis and procedures was manual. From the data analyzed, findings were made which included notably that ministry of works and Housing Enugu carried out routine or yearly budgeting exercise which where not fully implemented. There have been frequent administrative changes in the ministry and that had affected budgeting adversely, that the public influence budgeting in the ministry and that budget implementation is not taken seriously by the ministry.

Based on the findings recommendations were accordingly made. They were that budgeting should not be a mere yearly ritual exercise devoid of seriousness and commitment, that administrators of the ministry should not be changed too often to avoid its adverse affects. Public influence on the budgeting should be encouraged and that the implementation of budgets should be given priority that budgeting principles ought to be observed by public institutions to enable the desired changes or transformation to take place.

Chapter One

Introduction

The life cycle of any business either private or public enterprise lie on its financial power, this entail the management of fund and scarce resource for the advancement of such enterprises.

However, before a fiscal year begin such enterprise must draw out its business plan or programme in order to be able to utilize its fund effectively and efficiently for maximum productivity in all the department. It calls for planning and control of fund by the management all units or department must be able to utilize its fund effectively and efficiently for maximum productivity in all the department. It calls for planning all units or department must be able to determine precisely the necessary needs which will contribute to the growth and progress of the enterprise. This vital point will help the management to avoid spending unnecessarily on ideal matter but rather concentrate of matter that will yield interest.

Nonetheless, budget serve as financial frame work designed to guide the operation of an organization for futuristic purpose, this helps the management to verify well before fund is released and to ensure that such fund is adequately utilize to achieve its proposed goals or objectives.

1.1 Background and Need for the Study

This study is base on budgeting in the management of public enterprises or institution.

Putting into consideration that all public or private enterprise deals with acquisition and use of material (Human and Equipment) which should be effectively and efficiently utilized more maximum output such task falls for planning and control.

Budget have be described by different scholar in their own perspective and understanding, according to Henry (1980:2006) he said that many to problems of public administration that concept budgeting have the longest and major impact on the fields of administration, impact on the field of administration.

Also according Reed and Swain (1997:4) put it this way that public budgeting is concerned with the planned budgeting is concerned with the planned acquisition and use of resources by public entities and involves the decisions of what revenues to collect and what expenditure to make that is to say concrete decision must be reach in order to avoid great loss, management must be reach in order to avoid great loss, management must work toward achieving this both in human capital and material as well.

However, budget has a great impact on the behavior of public officer in Nigeria, according to Olewe (1995:392) states that every January in Nigeria Civil and public servant show particular kinds of interest about our security matters in various state precisely in the worth have no heading solution. All these are sufficient indications that out national budgets all this years leave much to be desired looking at the words of Schick (1978:178) budgeting tends to grossly over estimates administration capacity to calculate programme effectiveness and vastly under estimate the important of political and technology constraints. The views has been shared by the researcher as one of the major problems of budgeting in the public institutions it has been observed that the most public official have been unable to make the calculation needed for their respective department policies. Also another scholar Obiekewe (1999:18) observed that our nations national house of assembly and senates do not have the analytical and staff capacities needed to properly analyze the president budgetary (supplementary) proposals required in order to develop worth while policy alternative within the whole, idea about budget in Nigeria boils down to certain factors which have contributed to non-executive of budget plan as it was stipulated and read to the hearing of all Nigerians, these can be attributed to poor man power and capacity, non-monitoring bodies, political dichotomy among public servant and about of internal democracy in our national house and representatives respectively. The difficulties encountered by public officers in budgeting and solutions to the identified problems have proffered.

1.4 Theoretical Foundation of the Study

The theoretical foundation of the study was based on planning programme and budgeting system (PPBS). This has been a technique in budgeting.

According to Ocheoha (1998:34) there is no known author who can rightly claim to have originated the (PPBS) though the name of Robert Mc Mamara have been associated with the it because he popularized the adopting of the PPBS in the United State of America.

The PPBS Has the following Features

Carefully identification and evaluation of goals and obejcives in each major area of government orientated towards greater specification of goals.
Systematic evaluation of poor achievement in terms of obejcives that is programme outputs.
Measuring the extents to which current decision commit future resource that is total cost of the system.
Analyzing of alternative strategies to determine the most effective mean of achieving result to and at the least cost.
Multi-years programme planning.
Creation and implementation of a decision system that integrates planning policy and progamme decision with budgeting a major innovation characteristic of PPBS is the multi year planning circle with requirement that all decision structural be linked together in a system.

1.5 Research Questions

The following question have been drawn as a guide to the study:

How does frequent change of administration in the ministry affect the budgeting process.
To what extent does the public internals the budgeting process?
To what extent does the administration adhere to the budgeting process?
How does the ministry implement her budgetary allocation in order to meet people aspiration.

1.6 Significance of the Study

The study has a lot of significance in that it represent a symbol of academic achievement as having contributed to the already records of research in social science. Again the study shall be useful to the colleagues of the research and the entire student of the field of management sciences as they shall resort to in their various works on the same topic of study in future.

The research should be relevant to public administration in general and budget experts in various ministries and department as it shall assist them in carrying about their budgeting duties.

Nonetheless our policy makers are not left out because it will help them in formulation and execution of policies in respect to budgeting.

1.7 Scope of the Study

The study covers the ministry of workers and housing Enugu. Members of staff of all cadrs of the ministry participated in the same way, all units of the ministry participated in the study.

Descriptive analysis was applied in the study the study is a survey research.

1.8 Limitation of the Study

The research has encountered some difficulties in the course of the worker some of the them have been discussed below: most of the department units were not open to disclose some relevant information to the researcher.

The staff claimed that disclosing certain information would be an offence. A few of the respondents were not willing to fill the questionnaire while few of them even host their own copies.

Some of the respondents also displayed non-certain attitude to the questionnaire this lead to asking questions in order to avoid collecting it.

Time facto was another constrain, the space period to carry out the research has been limited for a more thorough job, more time would have been allowed.

This researchers had to attend lecturers as well as attend other official duties as a civil servants.

However, financial difficulties is not left out because information needed for this research requires going to the ministry in question in order to get al necessary information, payment for the photocoping of document, payment for the product of the question to mention but few.

1.9 Definition of Terms / Acronyms

1. Accountability:

According to Bayo (1981:6) it is the efficient adaptation of government policies by experienced civil servants through paper unilization of manageemnt system and styles in administration of material and financial resources.

2. Budget Negotiation:

The process of arriving at mutual agreement on the provisions of a contract. The principle of negotiation applied in several contexts and situations.

3. PPBS:

Planning programming budgeting system which is a technique used to analyze activities in strategic terms (Nwoko Op Cit:43)

4. ZZBB:

Zero base budget which is a technique of evaluating from time to time the continued reference of on going programmes (Nwoko OpCit)

5. Public Expenditure:

It is the action or practice or laying out public money presumably in pursuit of public goals.
It is the process by which public money is consumed

Chapter Five

Summary of Finding Recommendations and Conclusions

5.1 Summary of Findings

From the data presented analyzed and interpreted the following findings were made.

As a routine the ministry of works and housing Enugu prepares yearly budgets to serve as a financial guide and control with such guide it is expected that all expenditures incurred by the ministry are within the provision of the budget.
There has been frequent changes of administrators of the ministry. These changes adversely affected the budgeting process. New administrators often came in with new ideas which must have been overtaken by the budget instead of implementing programmes contained in the budget prepared by the proceeding administrators
The public had to a large extent influenced the budgeting process of the ministry many a time pr4essure groups had compelled government to change its programmes to suit the whims and caprices of such pressure groups.
The budget was discovered to be an administrative tools which could be used to transform Enugu State through the operations of the ministry and other organs of the government.
Over the years, the budgets of the ministry had little or no impact on the management (control) of the ministry. The budget is often ignored after the routine preparation and approval. This there have been noticeable reckless utilization of resources by the ministry
The implementation stage which is one of the most important aspect of the budget is often neglected by the ministry. Failure to implement the budget by the ministry had brought a lot of stagnation of desired social change which is one of the principal aims of the budget.

5.2 Recommendation

The following recommendations have been made;

Since budget is always prepared for use by ministry efforts should be made to train the personnel handling budgeting process in the ministry.
The government should endeavour to avoid frequent changes of administrators to disruption of the budgeting process.
Public influence on the budgeting process should be encouraged for effectiveness and efficiency
As an administrative tool capable of transforming the state emphasis should be laid on budget implementation and monitoring
The budget should be used to manage the organization effectively and efficiently.
Measure should be taken to ensure budget implementation by the ministry otherwise the budget will be meaningless

5.3 Conclusion

All the stages of budgeting process are important hence non should be neglected. The best approach the handle the myraid of the problems in the public institutions in Nigeria is the budget.

Budget is a very serious business and it touches on the life of the citizens. It plays a vital role in the management of public institutions if implemented and monitored. This the sooner our administrators discipline in the budget affairs, 0the better for our public institutions in general and the ministry of works and Housing Enugu in particular.

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