The role of performance contracting on performance of public universities in Kenya

Abstract

Public universities have undergone major reforms in the past few years. These reforms have brought
about challenges to both management and employees of these universities. One of changes that came
as a result of these reforms is performance contracting. This study sought to establish the role of
performance contracting on the performance of public universities in Kenya. The study objectives were: to establish how stakeholder involvement affects performance in public Universities; to determine how staff training affects performance in public Universities; to assess the impact of monitoring and evaluation on performance in public Universities; to examine how organizational structure affects performance in public Universities. The study was anchored on two main theories; first the New Public Management theory and goal theory. The study was done in four public universities with campuses within Nairobi Central Business District. The research adopted a descriptive research design of survey in nature. The Study found out that collaboration with internal stakeholders, like lecturers, students and other staff members, as well as external ones parents, local government and other parties is important in enhancing performance. It was further established that training influenced performance in public universities to a great extent. The study recommended that, various measures need to be put in place to entrench performance contracting in private and public universities and if possible, to the smallest units of operation. Measured factors leading to effectiveness of performance such as organizational productivity, employees’ motivation, organizational effectiveness and organizational culture.