Abstract:
Quality of institutional management is arguably a major determinant of organizational performance. The role of managers and the activities and tasks they perform as aided by the organizational structure could lead to the effective and efficient implementation of organizational objectives and goals. This study was undertaken to establish the perception of university managers on the influence of organizational structure on the quality of institutional management of universities in Kenya. The study applied a descriptive research survey design which was deemed to be appropriate since the researcher was investigating characteristics in a population in order to obtain opinion regarding a situation or a phenomenon. There was a population of 705 university managers in the public and private universities. A sample of 227 managers drawn from this population participated in the study. The participants were selected using proportionate random sampling according to the size of the different strata of the managers. The data was collected using self-report questionnaires on the perception of university managers on the influence of organizational structure on the quality of management in the public and private universities. Purposive sampling was used to select the universities for study on the basis of size and location. The instruments were validated by experts in the department of Curriculum, Instruction and Education Management and pilot tested. A reliability coefficient was estimated and found to be 0.90, which is above the required threshold value of 0.70, Cronbach alpha in social science research. The collected data was analysed using means and percentages. The hypothesis was tested at 0.05 Alpha (α) level. The results that was generated showed that 67.8% of managers in public universities and 61.2% in private universities agreed that the organizational structure in their universities were mechanistic. An overall percentage score showed that 64.2% of managers in the public universities and 65.6% in private universities had a positive perception on the influence of organizational structure on quality of management. There was a statistically significant difference at 0.5 alpha α, p=.011 on customer satisfaction. The findings of the study showed that the level of bureaucracy was moderate. It was concluded that the organizational structures in Kenyan universities were mechanistic and thus bureaucratic. Universities exhibited quality of management practices which contributed to improved performance. However, the existing bureaucratic characteristics could cause limitations in the ability of universities to achieve superior performance.
