The Forms of Organizational Structures in Public and Private Universiteis in Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perception of managers on the forms of organizational structures that existed in public and private universities in Kenya.  The study employed a descriptive survey research design with a target population of 705 senior managers which included the Deputy Vice-Chancellors (DVC’s), Deans and Directors, Heads of teaching and non-teaching departments (HOD’s).  Purposive sampling technique was used in selecting six universities out of seventeen which were fully fledged universities, on the basis of size and location.  Proportionate stratified random sampling technique was used to obtain a total of 248 representative sample from each category of managers.  One questionnaire document was used to collect data from the respondents. The instrument was pilot tested and reliability coefficient was calculated from collected data and found to be 0.90 qualifying the research instrument as reliable and acceptable. Data from the research was analyzed using descriptive (percentages and means). Overall index score of six organizational structure dimensions was done and the findings was that bureaucratic features in public universities was manifested at 61.2% and 67.8% in private universities. This was not a very high degree of bureaucracy and therefore it was concluded that there was a mixture of both the mechanistic and organic organizational structures in the universities in Kenya. The study recommended that structural flexibility in the universities was achievable  and management could strategize on the initiative. Universities could equip managerial staff with managerial competencies to endow them with skills to implement structural change  in response to uncertainties in the environmental situations and conditions.

Keywords:Organizational Structures, organic organizational structure, Bureaucratic organizational structure, structural flexibility.

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-32-02

Publication date: November 30^th 2021