DOWNLOAD PDF

Organizational structure and Academic staff Performances in Private Universities in Uganda.

1Silaji Turyamureeba, 2Tukur Muhammad, 2Abdul Rahim and 1Kiyundo Zikanga

1Department of Educational Foundation Faculty of Education, Kampala International University, Western Campus, Uganda

2Department of Science Faculty of Education, Kampala International University, Western Campus, Uganda

Corresponding Author Email Address: turyamureebasilaji@kiu.ac.ug   

ABSTRACT

The decision to organize and restructure institutions have become crucial due to dynamics of the Academic environment in private Universities. Organizational structure is the most important structural choice a leader must make as it establishes the formal categorization, coordination, and division of work duties in an organization, The authors assert that the organizational structure and level of employees dedication among academic staff members are very crucial. The decision to organize and restructure institutions has become crucial due to the dynamics of the academic environment in private universities. Organizational structure is the most important structural choice a leader must make as it establishes the formal categorization, coordination, and division of work duties in an organization. The authors assert that the organizational structure and level of employee’s dedication among academic staff members are very crucial. The study is aimed at reviewing literature on organizational structure and academic staff performance in private universities in Western Uganda. In order to achieve this, the researcher used ProQuest significantly with the appearance of web-based providers which includes: Science Direct; Web of Science; Em-erald; Google Scholar; Scopus ,Springer; Education Resources Information Centre (ERIC), Tylor and Francis. All the databases were scanned to retrieve the published articles in social science, management education with regard to Organizational structure and academic staff performance in private universities in Uganda. I used a computer laptop and internet gadgets and downloaded 100 articles and some journals related to the research topic under review. Review findings indicate that organizational boundaries and hierarchical layers have a substantial impact on academic staff performance and promote dedication among academic staff members in universities. It was also found that organizational structure and service delivery are positively correlated. On the basis of the literature reviewed, empirical evidence shows that organizational structure has a significant impact on academic staff performance in private universities in Uganda.

Keywords: Organizational structure, academic staff performance, private universities

INTRODUCTION

Organizations exist to accomplish objectives or goals that are divided into tasks. There are some departments that are used to organize jobs; they can be classified as marketing, sales, advertising, manufacturing, and so on [1]. The organizational structure is made up of connections between departments and sub-departments that provide a conducive environment for academic staff to accomplish their designed roles [2]. According to [3], organizational structure is the formal arrangement between individuals and groups about the distribution of duties, responsibilities, and power inside the organization, hence boosting academic staff performance roles. Similar to this, [4] assert that an organization’s organizational structure gives it the shape to carry out its environmental functions. One would want to concur with [5] that the outcome of the organizational design process is unquestionably a significant determinant of the performance of firms. Taking into account the authors’ opinions on the necessity of structural decisions and the ongoing discussion on the interrelationships between strategy, structure, and performance, organizational structure consists of two essential components: the separation of work into different tasks and the coordination of those tasks so that academic staff may achieve a shared objective [6,7,8]. The idea of organizational structure is evidence of purposeful thought. Segments, relationships between segments, and structure as a broad statement all contribute to the formation of the organization as a whole. A human body is an amalgam of associations between bodily elements like blood and the skeleton, and a structure refers to the interaction between each piece of an organization [9]. Other researchers went beyond these pioneering ideas and looked at how organizational strategy and structure relate to one another [10]. According [11], the sort of decentralization used by an organization is the third fundamental aspect to consider in any organization so that the set goals cab attained, vertical decentralization refers to the sharing of authority between superiors and subordinates or the dispersion of power down the chain of command, the level of horizontal decentralization refers to the division of decision-making authority between line employees and administrators. Selective decentralization refers to the distribution of decision-making authority among several organizational units.

Literature organizational structure and academic staff performance

[12], asserts that organizational structure affects academic staff productivity in institutions. The results of the study showed that organizational boundaries and hierarchical layers had a substantial impact on academic staff performance. The outcome further demonstrates that there is no meaningful relationship between this kind of formalization and employee performance. [13], assert that the organizational structure and level of employee dedication among academic staff members are crucial. The study also showed that while organizational formalization and centralization implementation were high, organizational complexity implementation was low. The subscales evaluating employee commitment and organizational structure were both shown to be valid and reliable measures, according to factor analysis and Cronbach alpha assessments. An investigation of the correlation between formalization, centralization, and employee commitment showed a weakly positive but significant association, although it was negligible for complexity. According to [14], academic staff performance and incentive management are crucial in a company. He saw that the right incentives may create the kind of motivating environment that is essential to boosting academic staff members’ performance. While both financial and non-financial rewards were shown to be important and favorable predictors of Busoga University’s success, financial awards played the largest role and had the most impact on that institution’s output. The results show that when workers are suitably motivated, they will exhibit reciprocity-related sentiments that are important for enhancing the performance of their organizations [15]. The research results show that universities’ organizational structures have a big impact on management and academic staff performance. The current organizational structure of universities has high degrees of formalization marked by rigidity and centralized decision-making procedures, in contrast to the staff’s need for a more flexible approach that fosters greater creativity, innovation, and autonomy. The staff believes that in order for universities to stay competitive, they must function somewhere between the two theoretical opposites of bureaucracy and collegiality [16]. According to [17], organizational structure has a vital effect on academic staff performance in universities in Uganda. The study’s findings revealed, among other things, that while technological advancement and computer proficiency were positive and significant antecedents of research productivity, research funding and human resources were negative and positive but not statistically significant antecedents of academic staff’s research productivity in the universities studied. According to [8], who examined the impact of organizational structure on academic staff performance using Mbarara University of Science and Technology as a case study, The study showed that organizational structure affects the incentive system in public organizations because appropriate rewards encourage workers in these companies to perform better. The study also discovered that organizational structure and service delivery are related and that Mbarara University of Science and Technology’s organizational structure affects its financial management. [9], conducted a study on organizational structure, job satisfaction, and task performance of Punjabi universities’ teaching faculty. Their findings showed that there was a significant distinction between public and private institutions’ organizational structures across all subscales. Additionally, a significant favorable relationship between organizational structure and faculty members’ work satisfaction was discovered. Additionally, all of the organizational structure subscales and the instructors’ task performance showed a positive and modest association. The purpose of the study was to determine how organizational structure affects academic staff performance. The results showed that task routine had a mixed impact on staff productivity and that there was a significant positive relationship between a narrow span of control and organizational efficiency. Decentralization also improved and informed decision-making in technical and service firms in Nigeria [8]. According to [12], an important factor in improving employee and organizational performance is organizational structure. Findings show that organizational structure positively affects employee performance as well as the general effectiveness and productivity of businesses. Therefore, it is accurate to state that enhanced organizational structure has a positive impact on the results of employees’ efforts and their growth, ultimately leading to higher productivity and performance in companies. The study also showed a strong correlation between organizational structure and overall levels of both trust and work satisfaction [10].The findings showed that the coercive bureaucratic structure positively influenced teachers’ tendency to leave, but its enabling bureaucratic structure and perceived organizational support during the pandemic adversely predicted teachers’ propensity to quit. Additionally, the analysis revealed that the strongest influence on intention to depart was perceptions of organizational support throughout the epidemic [11].The university has a strong organizational structure that supports staff and lecturer performance that meets “good” and “medium” standards. The organizational structure of the campus has a substantial positive association (rxy = 0.8) with the performance of the personnel, according to a correlation test. Therefore, enhancing the effectiveness of the campus’ organizational structure can help employees and lecturers perform better [4]. The study found that employee performance and stress management in virtual businesses are positively impacted by task- and relation-oriented leadership behavior, e-training, and employment security. Additionally, stress management serves as a full mediator in the association between leadership style and worker performance, whereas e-training, employment security, and worker performance only serve as partial mediators [11]. The findings showed that performance evaluation and academic staff research output in public universities had a moderately positive relationship (r = 0.452, p 0.01) and a moderately positive relationship (r = 0.379, p 0.01). The present performance assessment system has to be revised in Uganda’s public universities in order to make it more pertinent to the primary job duties of academic staff members, which include teaching and research outputs [13]. The study was about cost of living and academic staff performance. The academic staff reported struggling to make ends meet, which forced them to turn to alternate sources of income, including looking for additional teaching assignments, side jobs, consulting work, or other commercial endeavors in an effort to deal with the socioeconomic reality. Overall, it was determined that the performance indicators were influenced by the indicators used to postulate the correlations. A total causal impact of 45.6 percent was produced by the routes of the hypothetical Reward Management Systems Model, which was deemed significant [14]. This study looked at the academic staff’s performance effectiveness and motivation in higher education. It also showed that the provision of suitable opportunities for professional development and instructional resources influences lecturers’ effectiveness [7]. Additionally, it has been proven that academic staff performance is highly impacted by the current workplace culture. In order to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of their institutions, university administration should make it a top priority to create a positive work environment. This is supported by the premise that, regardless of context, a poor work environment gravely degrades employees’ ability to execute their jobs in any organization [12]. Teaching, supervision, research and publishing, and community service all received excellent ratings, according to the descriptive findings. However, innovation received a dismal rating. Teaching, supervision, research and publishing, innovation, and community services were found to be reliable indicators of academic staff success by factor analysis. The results of a correlation study showed that there was little interaction between the academic staff’s performance domains, making them distinct performance domains. As a result, it was determined that academic personnel effectively handled community service, research, supervision, and teaching. However, the effectiveness of innovation was poor [8]. According to [9], the results show that universities’ organizational structures have a big impact on management. The current organizational structure of universities involves high degrees of formalization marked by rigidity and centralized decision-making processes, but the staff at universities requires a more flexible approach that fosters more creativity, innovation, and autonomy. Based on available literature, many scholars concluded that organizational structure has a positive and significant relationship with academic staff performance, while few showed little relationship with academic staff performance. Teaching, supervision, research and publishing, and community service all received excellent ratings, according to the descriptive findings. However, innovation received a dismal rating. Teaching, supervision, research and publishing, innovation, and community services were found to be reliable indicators of academic staff success by factor analysis. The results of a correlation study showed that there was little interaction between the academic staff’s performance domains, making them distinct performance domains. As a result, it was determined that academic personnel effectively handled community service, research, supervision, and teaching. However, the effectiveness of innovation was poor [8]. According to [8], the results show that universities’ organizational structures have a big impact on academic staff performance and management. The current organizational structure of universities involves high degrees of formalization marked by rigidity and centralized decision-making processes, but the staff at universities requires a more flexible approach that fosters more creativity, innovation, and autonomy.

                                                                         CONCLUSION

Based on available literature, many scholars concluded that organizational structure has a positive and significant relationship with academic staff performance, while few showed little relationship with academic staff performance. Again literature on organizational structure and academic staff performance many scholars used quantitative methodology. It also concludes that most of the research studies conducted on organizational structure and academic staff performance was done in other parts but not in private universities in western Uganda.

                                                                    RECOMMENDATIONS

The researcher recommends that organizational structure and academic staff performance in private universities in western Uganda is worth under taking since no same study has been conducted in the same region. The researcher recommends mixed methodology should also be used to achieve results other than using one methodology unlike many scholars as per the literature have been using single methodology. Basing from literature, the researcher recommends that students should also be included in the study since they are also key informants in the same area which has not been majorly the case in reviewed literature.

                                                                        REFERENCES

  1. Abdulrahaman, S. (2020). Organizational Structure and Academic Staff Performance in Yusuf Maitama Sule University. KIU Journal of Social Sciences, 5(4), 249–258.
  2. Berkovich, I. (2023). Effect of enabling and coercive bureaucracies and of perceived organizational support during the pandemic on teachers’ intention to leave the profession. Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy, 00(00), 1–12.
  3. Oonyu, J., & Onen, D. (2020). Organizational Factors as Antecedents of University Academic Staff Research Productivity Journal of Education and Practice, August.
  4. Dammen, K. (2001). the Effects of Organizational Structure on. May.
  5. Nadeak, M. P. P. A. (2014). The Effectiveness of Organizational Structure and Effect on Lecturer and Employee Campus Performance: A Case Study on Private Christian University in Jakarta. International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), 3(8), 1809–1813.
  6. Emuron, L., Matagi, L., & Mande, W. (2022). Cost of living and performance of academic staff in private universities in Uganda Uganda Higher Education Review Journal, 10(1), 1–29.
  7. Felbo-Kolding, J., Leschke, J., & F. Spreckelsen, T. (2019). A division of labor? Labor market segmentation by region of origin: the case of intra-EU migrants in the UK, Germany, and Denmark Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 45(15), 2820–2843.
  8. Galstyan, M., & Tuji, H. (2019). How do managers handle their time? A descriptive study about the temporal dispositions of middle- and low-level managers Exploring the correlation between time urgency and pacing styles
  9. Gertrude, Z. (2014) Does the organizational structure affect the management of universities in Uganda? An empirical analysis. International Journal of Educational Administration and Policy Studies, 6(8), 159–169. https://doi.org/10.5897/ijeaps2014.0344
  10. Jiang, J., Wang, S., & Zhao, S. (2014). Does HRM facilitate employee creativity and organizational innovation? A study of Chinese firms In Whither Chinese HRM? (pp. 83–105), Routledge.
  11. Kyatuha, O. M., Basheka, B. C., & Ziwa, G. (2016). Authoritative structures and their implications for decision-making in Uganda’s university sector Journal of Technology and…, 1(Ii), 1–15. https://www.kab.ac.ug/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/14-Article-Text-29-1-10-20190706.pdf
  12. Lauring, J., Selmer, J., & Kubovcikova, A. (2019). Personality in context: effective traits for expatriate managers at different levels International Journal of Human Resource Management, 30(6), 1010–1035. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2017.1381137
  13. Mugizi, W., Bakkabulindi, F. E. K., & Bisaso, R. (2015). Antecedents of Academic Staff Commitment in Universities in Uganda: A Conceptual Paper Key words:14 (2008), 1–13.
  14. Mugizi, W., & Nuwatuhaire, B. (2019). Recruitment, Selection, and Employee Commitment of Academic Staff in the Context of a Private University in Uganda International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology, 55 (278), 49–56.
  15. Musenze, I. A., Thomas, M., & Stella, B. (2013). Reward Management and Organizational Performance: An Empirical Study of Private Universities in Uganda,2(8), 90–96
  16. Ogbo, A. I., Chibueze, N. F., Christopher, O. C., & Anthony, I. A. (2015). Impact of structure on organizational performance of selected technical and service firms in Nigeria Corporate Ownership and Control, 13 (1CONT10), 1278–1284.
  17. Shoaib, M., Nawal, A., Korsakien, R., Zámenk, R., Rehman, A. U., & Raiien, A. G. (2022). Performance of Academic Staff during COVID-19 Pandemic-Induced Work Transformations: An IPO Model for Stress Management Economies, 10(2)

CITE AS: Silaji Turyamureeba, Tukur Muhammad, Abdul Rahim and Kiyundo Zikanga (2023). Organizational structure and Academic staff Performances in Private Universities in Uganda. IDOSR JOURNAL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES 8(2): 22-27. https://doi.org/10.59298/IDOSRJHSS/2023/12.1.5100

DOWNLOAD PDF