Housing Deficit Attenuation Through Market-Oriented Polycentric Management: Evidence from Nigeria

With a household renumeration of 39 million, 2.6% annual population growth rate, the over 17 million housing deficit in Nigeria is colossal, and remarkably unsustainable. Public housing providers in Nigeria have approached the scourge through a plethora of economic, financial and social strategies that have been proclaimed ineffective from various empirical standpoints. This paper investigates the market-oriented polycentricity of housing deficit attenuation in Nigeria. Survey method was employed on a sample frame of 384 public housing providers. Data was collected using a Market Orientation and Service Performance modelled questionnaire. Hypotheses testing employed Wilcoxon Signed Rank-Test and Spearman Rank Order Correlation. Results indicate that public housing delivery in Nigeria has not followed a market-oriented polycentric approach. The study recommended a consideration of this in the delivery of public housing, while advocating for the development of a Stakeholder Identification Framework for sustainable public housing delivery. Keywords: Housing deficit, Housing delivery, Polycentric management, Market orientation, Stakeholder identification, Demography management DOI: 10.7176/DCS/10-3-05 Publication date: March 31 st 2020

of government as against any profit maximization tendency. Tomášková (2009) further grouped the customer and competitor facets into one umbrella tagged -stakeholder orientation. Stakeholder orientation is the relative attention an organization gives to its employees (as internal stakeholders), customers, community, and the natural environment (as external stakeholders) (Liu and Reid, 2019). This attention entails the identification and engagement of stakeholders in service delivery, where identification is premised upon Freeman's (1984) Stakeholder Identification theory on recognition and documentation of groups vital to organizational performance. While external stakeholder orientation conforms more to the market orientation hypothesis, the internal aspect that deals with employees is more related to inter-functional coordination. Lending credence, Kanovska and Tomášková (2012) opine that inter-functional coordination is the "coordination of all company activities leading to the increase of business performance". This extrapolation recognizes the employee as an organ of the organization's market.
We juxtapose the stakeholder orientation argument with Nigeria's stakeholder identification framework which rightly recognizes regulators, financiers and developers (Pison Housing Company, 2010 in EFInA andFinMark Trust, 2010 Yet, it is conspicuous that a cursory examination of this framework shows that the end-user may not be recognized by Nigerian public housing providers as a stakeholder. Clarkson (1995) refutes this approach with the identification of stakeholders in public administration as "the government that provide infrastructure (such as housing), whose laws must be obeyed, and to whom taxes and other obligations may be due; and the communities who are beneficiaries of the infrastructure, and liable to pay the taxes". It is interestingly evident from Clarkson's (1995) argument that sustainable infrastructural delivery depends on its economic and social sustainability disposition.
Citing another flaw in the framework is Ewurum et al.'s (2019) observation of an equally conspicuous absence of the academia. They argue that "the extent to which contributions of studies as this are utilized in national and economic planning is relatively not encouraging". Even if Scholars are consulted during the housing delivery process, what evidence suggests that novel empirical recommendations are implemented by housing providers at every stage of the process. Also running contrary to Freeman (1984), is the framework's unrecognition of "Non-Governmental Organizations (local and international), cooperative societies, representatives of relevant international agencies such as United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the World Bank as crucial stakeholders". In this context, the study goes further as an empirical examination of the processes employed by public housing providers in Nigeria in engaging the end-user, community and market interests across the 6 geopolitical zones of the country. Therefore, we hypothesize as follows: HI: To a large extent, stakeholder identification is not utilized in public housing delivery in Nigeria. The MARKOR model, also an acronym for market orientation was developed by Kohli and Jaworski (1993). It sees market orientation as the trinity of gaining information, disseminating the information, and utilizing same information through organizational response. This is indicative of a culture of customer needs-based service delivery. Information is gained by the organization through market research, which is the identification, collection, analysis, dissemination and utilization of information for improved decision making (Brochado, 2020). Could Delmendo's (2019) and Akinlose's (2019) report on public housing delivery in Lagos in this regard, be indictive on the public housing delivery system in Nigeria? Following the empiricism of this query as akin to Lagos Nigeria, our conjecture is as follows: HII: To a large extent, market research is not utilized by Nigerian public housing providers. HIII: Demography management is associated with urban housing deficit in Nigeria.

Theoretical Foundation: Polycentric Governance Theory (Carlisle and Gruby, 2019)
A precis of the prescriptions of MKTOR and MARKOR models show that organizations who are responsive to intelligence gained from employees, customers, competitors, consultants and the natural environment in service planning and delivery, are market-oriented organizations. This is consistent with the polycentric governance theory (Carlisle and Gruby, 2019) on which this work is anchored on. The Theory argues that sustainable service delivery is attained through decentralized governance. The relevance of polycentric management system to our analysis is premised on the argument that decentralized decision-making can be achieved through stakeholder collaboration. This is the most effective model of service delivery in democratic societies (Pahl-Wostl and Knieper, 2014). By this, we conceptualize market orientation as a polycentric approach to sustainable organizational performance through identification and implementation of customer needs in service planning and delivery. In other words, it is a bottom-up approach to service delivery (Ifediora et al, 2015). Marshall (2015) argues that Developing Country Studies www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-607X (Paper) ISSN 2225-0565 (Online) Vol.10, No.3, 2020 polycentricity is not only achieved through decentralization, instead it must incorporate intelligence gained from the collaboration. This sums up the thesis of market orientation (Taborecka-Petrovicova, 2018;Šályová et al., 2015). By implication then, market disorientation is a top-bottom approach to service delivery without due cognizance to stakeholder input. Organizations who employ this approach are hardly sustainable and are characterized by inefficiency and service failures (Ifediora, 2017).
On the other hand, research has shown that market-oriented organizations perform better than marketdisoriented organizations through business intelligence management that bothers on collection, dissemination of, and responsiveness to market-based information (Budinska and Taborecka-Petrovicova, 2018; Ifediora et al, 2015;Šályová et al, 2015). This consensual foundation of market orientation is consistent with the MKTOR and MARKOR theories of market orientation, and the Polycentric Governance Theory.

Market Orientation of Public Housing Delivery: A Perspective
In spite of the empirical synthesis which suggests a perceived market disorientation behavior of Nigerian public housing providers, it is also clear that the discourse has remained largely unexplored and speculative as a concentrated effort. Specifically, empirical submissions on the reasons for the ameliorated housing deficit in Nigeria were spatially sectorial, and not significantly scoped on market orientation. To confirm the veracity of this claim and further justify the study, we conducted a tailored meta-analysis to compare the prevalent empirical knowledge on market orientation with our 'applicable region' of housing delivery, in consistence with Willis and Hyde (2014) and Van der Gaag et al. (2014). To establish the test positive rate and the prevalent rate, our relevant construct development was based on a linkage of market orientation and public housing delivery on the Web of Science and Google Scholar databases in 2019.
In the identification of variable groups, the control group (MO) showed over 3,250,000 presentations and simulations of market orientation amongst diverse industries on both databases. However, for our experimental group (MO-PHD), the result was only 7 contributions globally. Of the 7 contributions, 1 was domiciled in Zimbabwe (Davies and Dewar, 1989), 1 in Italy (Amenta and Di Betta, 2010), 1 in China (Li et al, 2016), while 4 (Ifediora, 2017;Ifediora et al, 2015;Ifediora et al., 2015b;and Ndubueze, 2009) were domiciled in Nigeria. Thereafter, analysis with Glass's Delta was conducted to establish the variations between the control and experimental for further division with the control groups' Standard Deviation (Black et al, 2010;Kingsep et al., 2003). We discuss the findings of the tailored meta-analysis in the following paragraphs. Davies et al (1989) was deemed relatively irrelevant to the MO-PHD construct due to its focus on the role of the housing process in social transformation. We attribute same decision on Amenta et al (2010) due to their emphasis on football clubs' "corporate social responsibility and marketing strategies" within their host communities. Li et al (2016), Ifediora (2017), Ifediora et al (2015;2015b) and Ndubueze (2009) are more related to the MO-PHD construct. Li et al (2016) investigated "the financial sustainability of Public Rental Housing projects in China, from the perspective of the private sector". By implication, the study focuses more on the role of the private sector in the provision of affordable housing, thus deviating from our market-oriented approach to housing deficit attenuation.
In Nigeria, Ndubueze's (2009) doctoral thesis developed a model for measuring housing affordability in Nigeria. Although the study is financial-driven in consistence with Li et al (2016), it further establishes the grounds for our investigation into the MO-PHD nexus, with its finding that shows "very high levels of housing affordability problems in Nigeria with about 3 out of every 5 urban households experiencing such difficulties". While our earlier spatially sectorial argument does not hold for Ndubueze (2009), Ifediora (2017, and Ifediora et al (2015;2015b) given that they share our country-level approach, they still did not incorporate the stakeholder identification and demography management constructs employed in this study.
Also of pertinence is the noted disparity evinced by Ifediora's (2017)  The study therefore, extricates other identified public housing deficit predictors such as finance, corruption, affordability, and lays particular emphasis on the stakeholder identification/customer orientation, market research and demography management constructs of market orientation in the examination of public housing delivery in Nigeria. This approach to the investigation follows the submissions of the MKTOR, MARKOR and Polycentric Governance Models. To the best of our knowledge, the study is the first to underscore public housing delivery through strategic polycentricity-market orientation linkage. From the foregoing we develop the following research questions: To what extent is stakeholder identification utilized in public housing delivery in Nigeria?

II.
To what extent is market research utilized by Nigerian public housing providers? III.
What is the correlation between demography management and urban housing deficit in Nigeria?

Methodology
The study employed descriptive research design. Data were obtained from primary sources through the use of a 5point Likert Scale questionnaire designed in consistence with the research questions. The make-up of the questionnaire items was modeled from the Singh (2005) Table 1 shows the distribution of public housing providers in accordance with each utilized State from the 6 geopolitical zones of Nigeria. The use of REDAN was informed by the Public-Private Partnership schemes of the government housing ministries, departments and agencies.
The data collection process spanned a period of 5 weeks, and utilized the services of 9 paid research assistants in addition to the 3 researchers. Questionnaire return rate was 81%, and as this rate surpassed 65% acceptable rate for questionnaires, it was deemed valid (Arber, 2001;Sitzia and Wood, 1998;Kelley et al, 2003). The survey was based on execution level experience of public housing delivery mechanisms in the country. Following the Singh (2005) Market Orientation and Service Performance construct, the questionnaire was adapted to elicit the following data on the application of MO-Responsiveness paradigms to a housing perspective: RQI: SI-PHD i.
Stakeholder Analysis ii.
Public Participation iii.
Valuing Stakeholder Input iv.
Continuous  Vol.10, No.3, 2020 Providers represented the dependent variable of the study. A weighted mean ranging from 0 to 2.5 implies weak MO; a weighted mean ranging from 2.6 to 3.5 implies medium MO; while a weighted mean ranging from 3.6 to 5 implies strong MO (Singh, 2005). This laid the ground for testing the hypotheses using Wilcoxon Signed Rank-Test and Spearman Rank Order Correlation due to the ordinal physiognomy of our data.
The Wilcoxon Signed Rank-Test, used in testing hypotheses I and II, was employed to match samples obtained from both independent and dependent variable indicators with a view to determining the variation in their population mean (Rosner et al., 2006;Woolson, 2008). The decision rule is to reject the null hypothesis where the critical z-value equals or is greater than 1.96, representing z-value at 95% confidence interval (or a 5% level of significance). We used Spearman Rank Order Correlation to determine the strength and direction of the relationship between the ranked demography management and urban housing deficit variables in hypothesis III (Spearman, 1904;Gilmore et al., 2019). The decision rule is to accept the alternate hypotheses when the probability value is less than alpha level of 0.05, otherwise do not reject the null hypotheses.

Results
Research Question One investigated the extent to which stakeholder identification is utilized in public housing delivery in Nigeria. Table 2 reveals the results obtained from the operationalization of this query.  Table 2 shows a weak-medium MO dichotomy amongst all customer identification and recognition-based enquiries, thus signifying that the PHD process is not satisfactorily market oriented. However, the Medium MO observed in stakeholder analysis suggests that stakeholder identification is not inexistent in public housing delivery.

Analysis
We also subject the results to analysis with Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test. .891 a. Based on negative ranks. b. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test Decision: Since z=-.137 (<1.96), we do not reject the null hypothesis. Therefore, to a large extent, stakeholder identification is not utilized in public housing delivery in Nigeria.
Developing Country Studies www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-607X (Paper) ISSN 2225-0565 (Online) Vol.10, No.3, 2020 Research Question Two investigated the extent to which market research is utilized by Nigerian public housing providers. Table 3 reveals the results obtained from the operationalization of this query.  Table 3 shows that all market research-based enquiries produced a Weak MO signifying that PHPs are not market oriented. However, the Medium MO observed in the project externality to environment query shows the integration of triple bottom sustainability by PHPs in Nigeria, albeit minimal. .705 a. Based on negative ranks. b. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test Decision: Since z=-.378 (<1.96), we do not reject the null hypothesis. Therefore, to a large extent, market research is not utilized by Nigerian public housing providers.

Analysis
Research Question Three investigated the correlation between demography management and urban housing deficit in Nigeria. Table 4 shows the results obtained from the operationalization of this query.  Table 4, it could be observed that PHD in Nigeria is market segment-driven as indicated by a Strong MO of 4.18. However, the Weak MO of 1.46 observed in whether customer needs are prioritized in decision making, explains that while PHD is market segment-driven, it was not prioritizing the market segment with the highest demand.

Analysis
We subject the results to analysis with Spearman Rank Order Correlation.   Table 6 is the Spearman Rank Order correlation matrix on the strength and direction of the association between both variables as indicated by the correlation coefficients, significant values and the number of cases. The correlation coefficient shows 0.199. This value indicates that correlation is weak at 0.00 level (2tailed).
Decision: Since p<0.05, we reject the null hypothesis. Therefore, we conclude that demography management is associated with urban housing deficit in Nigeria (r = .199, p<0.05).

Findings
1. To a large extent, stakeholder identification was not utilized in public housing delivery in Nigeria (z=-.137). 2. To a large extent, market research was not utilized by Nigerian public housing providers (z=-.378). 3. Demography management was associated with urban housing deficit in Nigeria (r = .199, p<0.05).

Conclusion and Recommendations
From the findings, the study concluded that public housing delivery in Nigeria is not market oriented, and therefore is not polycentric management-compliant. This position is informed by the ineffective stakeholder identification and market research process employed by public housing providers. The indication is that management approach to attenuating the over 17 million housing deficit in the country is not polycentric, and is more top-to-bottom. This lack of polycentricity implies that demographic management is encumbered by inadequate market intelligence.
Following the market disorientation behavior of public housing delivery in Nigeria, the development of a new Stakeholder Identification Framework has become more imperative, and is thus recommended by the study. The Framework should internalize the inter-functional coordination aspect of the MKTOR model through a recognition of employees as stakeholders who must be trained to be market orientation savvy. This would enable a prioritization of market orientation through assimilated intelligence for effective demography management. Finally, while the study recognizes that Nigerian public housing providers have not totally neglected the end-user, we advocate for increased empirical attention to the market orientation-public housing delivery nexus to broaden their perspective on the subject.

Practical Implication
The study argues that a market-oriented polycentric approach should be considered in the delivery of public housing. Public housing providers who adopt this argument stand better chance of achieving economic and social sustainability in the public housing delivery system.

Originality
To the best of the authors' knowledge, the study is at the fore of addressing the attenuation of deficit in public housing delivery through strategic polycentricity-market orientation linkage.

Conflict of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgements
We are effusively grateful to the public housing delivery officials across the Ministries, Banks, Agencies and