Psychological Contract and Performance of Academic Staff in Selected Public Universities in Kenya
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Date
2023
Authors
Odengo, Ruth Anyango
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
Globally, performance of academic staff in higher education institutions is seen as a very
important driver of economic development through dissemination of knowledge. Concerns
have been raised about the complexity of academic staff performance in Kenyan
universities. Employee attitudes and performance have been seen to be influenced by
psychological contracts. However, there have been few attempts to determine the extent to
which psychological contract fulfillment affects academic staff performance in Kenyan
public universities. The main objective of this study envisaged examining the influence
psychological contract have on the expected performance of academic staff in selected
public universities in Kenya. Specifically, the study established the extent to which
relational contract, transactional contract and balanced contract affect performance of
academic staff at selected public universities in Kenya; secondly, determine the moderating
effect of human resource policies and the mediating effect of organizational capabilities on
the relationship between psychological contract and performance of academic staff at
selected public universities in Kenya. This research was anchored on four theories namely
the equity theory, social exchange theory, organizational support theory and the Harvard
framework for human resource management. This study was conducted using descriptive
and explanatory research design. This study targeted six public universities whose student
population are above 15,000 and a minimum of 4 similar schools across the universities.
The target population was 6 selected public universities with a population size of 6,271
academic staff. The sample size was 362 academic staff of the selected schools, in the
selected public universities. Primary data was collected using a questionnaire, bearing both
structured and semi-structured questions. The questionnaire was evaluated for content and
construct validity, while a pilot study was carried out to determine the reliability of the
questionnaire. To analyze quantitative data, descriptive statistics was used in describing the
variables whereas inferential statistics established the association in the independent and
dependent variable, outcomes are displayed through tables, charts, diagrams and numerical
values. The study hypotheses were tested at 95% confidence level. The study findings
showed that relational contract, transactional contract and balanced contract have positive
and significant effect on performance of academic staff at selected public universities in
Kenya. The findings further established that organisational capabilities partially mediated
the relationship between psychological contract and performance of academic staff in
selected public universities in Kenya. The study finally showed that human resource
policies provided the necessary environment for staff to form effective psychological
contract that improve performance. The study concluded that psychological contract plays
a significant role in determining the performance of academic staff in the public
universities, hence, fulfillment or breach of the psychological contract further determine
whether the universities realize positive academic staff performance or not. The study
recommends that management of the universities regularly review and discuss challenges
faced by the academic staff in performance of their duties and formulate HR policies that
would ensure trust and fairness in the employment relationship hence promoting formation
of the right psychological contract that would yield intrinsic motivation, job satisfaction,
engagement and ultimately overall performance of the academic staff.
Description
A Thesis Submitted to the School of Business, Economics and
Tourism in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the
Award of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Business
Administration (Human Resource Management) of Kenyatta
University February, 2023
Keywords
Psychological Contract, Performance, Academic Staff, Selected Public Universities, Kenya