ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS EDUCATION STUDENTS IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA

The purpose of this study was to investigate which the organizational culture could exert influence on the academic performance of undergraduate business education students in Rivers State, Nigeria with emphasis on caring, apathetic, exacting, integrative culture. This study adopted the co-relational research design, because the study attempted to establish relationship between the perceived organizational culture and students’ academic performance. The study was carried out in the Rivers State University of Science and Technology and Rivers State University of Education Eight hundred and sixty two (862) undergraduate business education students which was a representation of 30% of the target population participated in this study as respondents. Four rating scales in addition to students’ cumulative result scores were for data collection for this study. Mean and standard deviation scores were used to answer the four (4) research questions while Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (r) was used to test the four (4) hypotheses. The results of the study revealed high level of caring and integrative culture existing in the two universities with high level of academic performance and that significant relationship existed between the caring and integrative culture as aspects of the universities’ culture and their students’ academic performance. It was further revealed that no significant relationship existed between apathetic and exacting culture as aspects of the universities and their students’ academic performance. It was recommended that the universities authorities should ensure that conducive organizational culture be maintained within the university communities and also care for others, integrate and work together with the aim of achieving the objectives of the universities.