Performance contracting and service delivery in selected Kenyan public universities
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Date
2014-09-09
Authors
Wambua, Peter Philip
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Abstract
Performance contracting has largely been considered as the remedy to the quality of
service delivery in public universities in Kenya. However this has not been the case and
therefore, this study intended to analyze the disconnect between the implementation of
performance contracting as a management tool in public universities in Kenya in 2012. It
specifically sought to: (i) determine the extent to which employees' teaching workload
affected the level of service delivery in selected public universities in Kenya; (ii) evaluate
employee's administrative work systems contribution to service delivery; (iii) examine
the effect of employees' participation in community service on the quality of service
delivery; and (iv) establish the relationship between organizational factors and the level
of service delivery in the study area. The study used a descriptive design to describe some
aspects of performance contracting and make directional predictions on its effects on the
quality of service delivery by university lecturers. Empirical evidence was collected from
three (3) public universities comprising 848 lecturers among the 5,630 working in the
seven (7) public universities in Kenya using questionnaires. In total 142 staff members
were randomly selected as questionnaire respondents. Data collected were analyzed using
descriptive statistics and a multiple regression based on a General Linear Model (GLM).
The descriptive findings showed that a majority of lecturers were aware of performance
contracting in their universities but understood it in different versions and terminologies.
The prediction of between-subjects effects of employees' teaching workload on the level
of service delivery established a strong relationship between the two at least at 90%
confidence interval (CI).Moreover, the F-test confirmed at least at 90% C1 that there was
a strong relationship between administrative work systems and the level of service
delivery, and that it was not due by mere chance. Results of objective three upholds the
working hypothesis stating that employees' participation in community service was
positively related to the level of service delivery at university level in Kenya. Other tests
of between-subjects effects established at least at 90% C1 that the level of service
delivery was also significantly reliable on an organizational environment that was
conducive for academic work. The study concluded that the university tangibles, and
reliability of the lecturers as well as their responsiveness, assurance and empathy
significantly depend on their teaching workload, administrative work systems,
participation in community service and involvement in organizational matters. Hence, the
researcher recommends that there should be stakeholders' consultation and involvement,
proper management by objectives practices and setting of challenging and attainable
targets. The universities shall endeavor to engage academic teaching staff in designing
the targets of performance contracting to create their awareness and train them on the
same. They shall also provide some socio-economic incentives to motivate academic
teaching members of staff improve the quality of their services. The management of
universities shall establish a body to develop, sustain, monitor and evaluate the
performance contracting practices across public universities. It shall also extend its
resources towards establishing causes of weak administrative work systems and
participation in community service, which were sometimes unable to significantly
explain the quality of service delivery in the selected public universities of Kenya. The researcher was able to link performance contracting to outcomes in public universities.
Description
Department of Management Science, 189. 2014