INFLUENCE OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE ON THE PERFORMANCE OF PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES IN KENYA

Abstract

University performance is critical both locally and internationally. This is due to the crucial functions of teaching, research, and community service that universities discharge. However, public universities in Kenya are faced with different challenges that have jeopardized their performance. The challenges include inadequate funding by the government and a lack of unifying organizational culture that leads to good performance. There is limited information on the influence of organizational culture on the performance of public universities with most of the available literature dealing with universities in developed countries. For this reason, this paper investigated the influence of organizational culture on the performance of public universities in Kenya. The research aimed to determine the relationship between organizational culture and the performance of public universities in Kenya. A descriptive cross-sectional design was used in the study. At the same time, Semi-structured questionnaires and one-on-one interview data collection techniques were used to obtain data from 174 heads of departments who were sampled.  Both purposive and random sampling techniques were used to obtain the samples required for the study and Slovin’s formula was used to determine the sample size. Data was collected and analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. It was found that organizational culture had a positive and statistically significant relationship with the performance of public universities in Kenya. The study recommended that public universities in Kenya should encourage a unifying organizational culture to improve their performance.