Abstract
Orientation: This article focused on the need for improved employer-employee relationships in order for public universities in Uganda to achieve their intended objectives.Research purpose: The purpose of this article was to review the need for appropriate employer-employee relationships that will ensure quality services and service delivery in public universities in Uganda.Motivation for the study: The researchers set out to examine why managers of public universities in Uganda were continuously paying less attention to the needs of the employees.Research design, approach and method: A descriptive research design was employed and 12 respondents, purposively selected from 4 public universities, were interviewed. Data were recorded, transcribed and analysed using Nvivo software. This article is based on the perspective of agency theory, and discussed the contractual relationship between management and employees. The agency theory was deemed necessary because of its contribution to organisational literature.Main findings: There is a need to create and nurture a collegial working climate that promotes quality interactions through information sharing. This results in creating and retaining motivated and committed employees, and also helps to overcome the paradox of balancing the high demand for university education whilst offering quality services.Practical/managerial implications: Managers have to continuously monitor and accommodate employee needs and demands.Contribution/value-add: The potential value of the paper is its function as a guide for public universities to have visionary managers that will introduce new approaches to managing public universities in a competitive global environment.
Highlights
Public universities and other tertiary institutions in Uganda have faced significant challenges during recent years
Kyambogo University (KYU) is Uganda’s third public university and was established by the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act 2001. It is the product of a merger between the Uganda Polytechnic Kyambogo (UPK), the Institute of Teacher Education, Kyambogo (ITEK), and the Uganda National Institute of Special Education (UNISE)
This study revealed and confirmed an existing relationship between agency relations and organisational climate, which is in line with the first proposition
Summary
Public universities and other tertiary institutions in Uganda have faced significant challenges during recent years. There are other environmental changes such as the need to provide costly technological support for the education of the students These public universities have to operate as profit making organisations for sustainability, making them both public and private institutions simultaneously (Mamdani, 2007). The National Council of Higher Education (NCHE) Report (2011) showed that between 2006 and 2010, the number of universities increased from 26 to 29, a percentage of 14%. Of these 29 universities, 5 were public whilst 24 were private. The government owned and funded the public universities whilst the private universities were the property of individuals or organisations
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