I.

Purpose and Meaning of Organizations

Meaning of Organizations:

The desire to understand the concept of “organizations” has been on since the early days of
the evolution of management thought. Musaazi (1982) observed that eminent researchers
have found it difficult to define organizations in general, noting that an organization is not as
readily visible or describable or identifiable like an elephant, building or a car. Like
‘management’ the term ‘organization’ has also been defined in a number of ways such as a
process, as a structure of relationship, as a group of persons and as an open dynamic system.

Swanepoel, B, et al (2003) defined an organization as a group of people and other resources

that are structured in a way to work together in a coordinated fashion to achieve specific
goals. Murthy (2015) defined an organization as a structured process in which individuals
interact for attaining objectives. Koontz and O’Donnell, defined an organization as ‘The
establishment of authority relationships with provision for co-ordination between them, both
vertically and horizontally in the enterprise structure.” These authors view organization as a
coordinating point among various persons in the business. From the above, it is clear that
different scholars look at the word ‘organization’ from different angles. However, for the
purpose of this paper, we shall consider an organization as an establishment of authority
relationship among persons to achieve its objectives.

Purpose of Organizations:

No single organization comes into being for nothing. Organizations come into existence for
something. That something constitutes the purpose, goal or aim. Some organizations are
business enterprises set up for a profit motive, for example, Shoprite in Kampala. Some are
government organs or parastatal institutions, for example, local authorities, and some are
non-profit seeking organizations like churches, unions and welfare associations (Swanepoel,
B, et al, 2003).

Organizations come into being because certain people have identified a common purpose,
have been able to communicate with each other and have shown willingness to contribute
action (Musaazi, 1982). The aim brings about the co-operative activity of those whose efforts
will constitute the organization. However, Musaazi (1982) is quick to note that every co-

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 operative purpose has two aspects namely; the co-operative aspect and the subjective aspect.
The co-operative aspect mainly refers to an individual’s efforts to fulfill the organizational
goals while the subjective aspect refers to the satisfaction of individual’s objectives.

For example, the organizational purpose of a secondary school may be to prepare students for
further studies and all teachers may be committed to it. However, different teachers in the
same institution may have their different subjective motives ranging from economic (to a
teacher who operates a school canteen) to social and other aspects. The individual motive is
necessarily an internal, personal, subjective thing; while the organizational purpose is
necessarily an external, impersonal and objective thing (Musaazi, 1982).

1. Definition and meaning of Management, Administration and Leadership

Management:

The concept of management has acquired special significance in the present competitive and
complex world as it is with administration and leadership. Bush (2003), notes that
Management sometimes overlaps with two similar terms; leadership and administration. This
is in agreement with Rugters (1996), who observes that in many respects administration is
not much different from management. All organizations - business, political, cultural or
social are involved in management because it is the management which helps and directs the
various efforts towards a definite purpose (Swanepoel, B, et al, 2003).

Murthy (2009) gives several definitions of management by different scholars and only a few
are being considered for this paper as follows: To Henry Fayol, "To manage is to forecast and
to plan, to organise, to command, to coordinate and to control." To Harold Koontz,
"Management is the art of getting things done through and with people in formally organized
groups. To Mary Parker Fallett, "Management is the art of getti ng things done through people."
To Gulick and Urwick, “Management is POSDCORB - Planning, Organizing, staffing, Directing,
Coordinating, Reporting and Budgeting. From the above definitions, it can be said that
management is concerned with the utilization and mobilization of all of the organization’s
resources in the context of an ever faster changing and uncertain environment within which
the organization operates and exists. The Oxford English Dictionary provides no basis for
distinguishing between, “administration” and “management”. The definition of each refers to
the other. Numerous commentaries either view the two terms as synonymous or regard
management as the more general concept. Kochhar (2011) attempted to defined
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 administration as a comprehensive effort to direct, guide and integrate associating human
strivings which are focused towards some specific ends or aims. This definition however, still
has management functions in it.

Many scholars however, have drawn distinctive lines with respect to the concept of
leadership. Swanepoel, et al, (2003) defined it as the process by which a person influences
others to accomplish an objective. It is about building and maintaining a sense of vision,
culture and interpersonal relationships. Leadership tends to be equated with vision and values
and management to processes and structures. Bennis (1984) argued that the overriding
concern of managers is “doing things right” while leaders “doing the right things.” What a
leader stands for is more important than what he or she does. The meaning a leader
communicates to others is more important than his or her specific leadership style
Swanepoel, et al, (2003).

2. Evolution of Management Thought

The origin of management can be traced back to the days when man started living in groups.
Roth (2000) noted that there have been many changes in the workplace from the Medieval
Period to the present, and there will certainly be even more changes in the future. What
started as a mechanistic approach to management has more recently become apparent that a
balanced approach between production requirements and employees’ needs is essential. With
the predominance of the global economy, it is vital that management must give due regard
and consideration to cultural differences and practices that extend beyond the boundaries of
the individual countries (Kwok, 2014).

According to Murthy (2009), evolution of management thought may be divided into four
stages

1. Pre-scientific management period.

2. Classical Theory
a. Scientific Management of Taylor
b. Administrative Management of Fayol
c. Bureaucratic Model of Max Weber
3. Neo-classical Theory or Behaviour Approach
4. Modern Theory or Systems Approach

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Pre-Scientific Management Period

From the pre-historic society of the hunter-gatherer society, survival of the tribe depended on
coordinating their skills and efforts in hunting wild animals that were often many times their size
and strength (Kwok, 2014). Management took the form of leadership which was essential to
coordinate the efforts of the group members in order to arrange the necessities of life (Bhalla, P,
2004). With the onset of Industrial Revolution, however, the position underwent a radical change
as the structure of industry became extremely complex (Swanepoel, B, et al, 2013). Employees
went to their work instead of receiving it, and so, the factory system, as it is known today,
became a dominant feature of the economy (Murthy, 2007). As workers started to work in
factories, organizations increased production through machinery and work techniques. With an
emphasis on production where workers were primarily regarded as a tool within a large machine,
problems began to emerge due to increasing staff dissatisfaction (Kwok, 2014). At this stage, the
development of a formal theory of management became absolutely necessary. It was against this
background that the pioneers of modern management thought laid the foundations of modern
management theory and practice (Bhalla, P, 2004)

The Classical Approach to Management:

Kwok (2014) categorized classical theories into three main branches – scientific management,
administrative management and bureaucratic management. All three management concepts
resulted largely from the work of engineers who had particular interest in increasing productivity
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within the factories.

The Scientific Management Theory

Chance (2009) stated that classical organizational theory period is most aptly represented by the
work of Fredrick Taylor and his notions about scientific management were obviously rooted in
an industrial era characterized by mass production where factories produced manufactured goods
with interchangeable parts. In his publication, “Principles of Scientific Management”, Taylor
spearheaded the scientific management movement, a management approach that emphasized
improving work methods through observation and analysis (Kwok, 2014). Taylor extensively
studied the individual worker-machine relationships in manufacturing plants and put great
emphasis on specialization. The ideas of Taylor were also strongly supported and developed by
the famous husband and wife team of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth. They became interested in
wasted motions in work. Gilbreth's contributions to management thought was the emphasis that
one best way of doing a job is the way which involves the fewest motions performed in an
accessible area and in the most comfortable position (Murthy, 2015).

Another well-known pioneer in the early days of scientific management was Henry Gantt. Gantt
worked for Taylor and is to be remembered for his humanizing influence on management,
emphasizing the conditions that have favourable psychological effects on the worker. Gantt was
also credited for establishing the quota systems and bonuses for workers who exceeded their
quotas. In addition, he was also remembered for creating the Gantt Chart – a visual plan and
progress report that identifies various stages of work which must be carried out to complete a
project, sets deadlines for each stage, and documents accomplishments. It is used for scheduling
of jobs which is based on time, rather than quantity, volume or weight (Kwok, 2014).
Management studies in the classical period were characterized by a concern for productivity
through supervision and efficiency. In a school setting for example, a principal of a school who
wants to get top grades would insist on close supervision of staff and students to see to it that
they all do their work to the best of their knowledge and ability (Musaazi, 1982).

However, Taylor’s work ignored the importance of psychological and sociological factors in
making a person do his job better. For instance, in a school, if the principal shows appreciation to
a teacher, the teacher feels valued and encouraged to do even more Musaazi (1982). Also, in
trying to emphasize productivity, Taylor and his associates tend to reduce human beings into
rational machines. In a way, this action could be a barrier to innovation and the development of
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one’s skills. Moreover, productivity emphasized by Taylor cannot suffice as the sole end of
education. The degree to which education helps to inculcate in students society’s desired social
norms and values cannot be underrated. Education involves the human mind, and as such some
of the benefits of education cannot be easily quantified and precisely mechanized as Taylor
emphasized. On this basis therefore, to say that remuneration should be commensurate with the
volume of work done could be difficult to apply in the school setting. The actual amount of work
done by the teacher is difficult to measure.

Administrative Management of Henri Fayol

Henri Fayol (1841 – 1925) expanded Taylor’s view of management and administration to include
that of the upper levels of the organization. He looked at management as including the following
activities;

1. Technical activities - Production, manufacture, adaptation.

2. Commercial activities - buying, selling and exchange.
3. Financial activities - search for and optimum use of capital.
4. Security activities - protection of property and persons.
5. Accounting activities - stock-taking, balance sheet, cost, and statistics.
6. Managerial activities - planning, organization, command, co- ordination and control.
These six functions had to be performed to operate successfully any kind of business.
He, however, pointed out that the last function i.e., ability to manage, was the most important for
upper levels of managers. The process of management as an ongoing managerial cycle involving
planning, organizing, directing, co-ordination, and controlling, is actually based on the analysis
of general management by Fayol (Murthy, 2015).

The Bureaucratic Model of Max Weber:

Max Weber, a German Sociologist developed the bureaucratic model. His model of bureaucracy
include; Hierarchy of authority, Division of labour based upon functional specialization, a system
of rules, impersonality of interpersonal relationships, a system of work procedures, Placement of
employees based upon technical competence, legal authority and power (Murthy, 2015).
Bureaucracy arose as an efficient organizational structure in the industrial era. Luther Gulick
(1937) also contributed to the foundation of scientific management and the development of
modern bureaucracy. He is best known for his delineation of the functions of the chief executive,

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described as POSDCORB. This acronym stood for Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing,
Coordinating, Reporting and Budgeting. These ideas of management provided support for the
departmentalization of businesses, the development of a defined span of control and the
delegation of authority to subordinates as it was deemed necessary.

Behavioural Approach to Management (Neo-Classical Theory)

Classical organizational theorists viewed workers as part of the “machinery” or “technology” of

the organization. Human needs, responses and goals were not considered separately from the
aims and objectives of the organization. The social sciences period, which emerged in the 1920s,
changed the focus of organizational theory to the consideration of human dynamics and the
impact of psychological and social factors on the effectiveness and efficiency of the organization
(Chance, 2009).

Following Elton Mayo’s Hawthorne studies, it was concluded that the effects of increased
productivity were not determined by physical manipulation in the workplace but rather were the
result of psychological and social changes in the work environment (Murthy, 2015). With
Supervisors acting more informally and less directive while observing workers, the workers
knowing they were being studied, viewed themselves differently and productivity kept increasing
the despite the workplace manipulations in relation to lighting. Two themes developed and
emerged during the behaviorist period. One was the human relations orientation, which brought
attention to the informal structures of organizations, social interactions, and worker satisfaction
and morale. The human relations approach, perhaps too, simplistically, proposed that people
work harder when treated well. In a school setting for example, a head teacher who shows
concern for his/her staff, becomes less directive and gives support to struggling staff to perform
their duties well achieves more from them.

A second theme was the behavioral science approach, which focused on the behavior of
individuals within the formal organizational structure. Musaazi (1982), observed that it was
Chester Barnard who originated much of the behavioral approach when he examined carefully
the organizational life in his Functions of the Executive (1938). He emphasized the importance
of both formal and informal organizations and clearly demonstrated the inevitable interaction
between them. This is a call to present day managers to be aware of the informal relationships
among workers in formal organizations because they can either positively or negatively affect

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their performance and hence productivity. A teachers’ welfare association in a formal school
setting can be a cause for a teacher’s improved or poor performance depending on how he/she
benefits from it.

The Systems Approach to Management

According to Murphy (2015), the Systems Approach to management indicates the fourth major theory of
management thought called modern theory. Organizational theories of the 1940s and 1950s did not
consider the relationship of the organization to factors in its external environment. The social sciences era
tended to conceptualize organizations as closed systems (Chance, 2009). Contrary, in the 1960s,
organizational theory began to incorporate the notion of pen systems. Modern theory considers an
organization as an adaptive system which has to adjust to changes in its environment. An organization is
now defined as a structured process in which individuals interact for attaining objectives. Borrowing from
the theoretical concepts of the natural sciences, organizational theories applied the analogy of
organizations as ‘living organisms.’ Systems theory postulates that organizations are dynamic systems
involving constant interactions among the various formal and informal systems within the organization as
well as exchanges (feedback and input) between the organization and systems outside the organization.

Chance, (2009) observed that schools, as open systems, have various sub-systems that operate within it.
For example, teachers, students and administrators might be considered as different subsystems within a
school. In addition, the school receives inputs and feedback from the outside environment and produces
output that is exported to the outside environment. Inputs into the system include community
expectations, parental demands, teachers’ expertise and the students themselves. The school transforms
the input through activities within the organization, such as classroom instruction, parent-teacher
conferences, or a career fair. The school then exports a product, a high school graduate, happy parent, or
disgruntled community member into the environment. The school will subsequently receive feedback
from the outside environment. For instance, local businesses that hire graduates complain of lack of skills.
The conceptualization of schools as open systems is a natural evolution of organizational theory that more
accurately describes organizations operating in a post-industrial society.

c) Leadership in the Social political Situation in Higher Education

There has been a growing interest in the role of leaders within Higher Education (HE)
institutions in recent years, driven both by the influence of HE institutions in developing learners
who later develop as leaders in wider society; and by the changing shape of HE leadership itself
in the face of global challenges in the sector (Black, 2015). Several contextual shifts have
occurred within the Higher Education sector in recent decades, particularly globalization of the
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market and internationalization of institutions, development of for-profit private institutions,
cutbacks in public funding and increased cross-border academic mobility (Gibbons, 1998).
Consequently, leaders in HE institutions have to examine how to better lead their organizations,
and must also find approaches which best fit in the HE context.

In order to examine the relevance of leadership constructs within the HE environment, it is

necessary to compare the existing understanding of leadership within HE alongside
contemporary leadership theory and practice (Black, 2015). Borrowing from House’s Path-goal
Theory, developed by Robert House (Robbins 1996), which explains how leaders can facilitate
task performance by showing subordinates how their performance can be instrumental in
achieving desired rewards or goals, House identified four distinct leadership styles that enable
leaders to perform the two basic leader functions namely; path clarification to achieve the goal
and gatekeeper rewards:

i. Directive leadership; tells subordinates what is expected of them and provides

specific guidance, standards, and schedules of work;
ii. Supportive leadership; treats subordinates as equals and shows concern for their
well-being, status, and personal needs, and seeks to develop pleasant interpersonal
relationships among group members;
iii. Achievement Oriented; sets challenging goals, expects subordinates to perform to
their highest level;
iv. Participant Leadership; consulting with subordinates and using their suggestions
and ideas in decision making. The four leadership styles can be displayed by the same
manager in different situations. However, on the House’s four leadership styles, we
shall add on the fifth in this context, posted by Charrington (1994); the punitive
leader with ability to administer careful punishment to those that fail to perform.
As already emphasized above, the styles, actions, attributes, orientations, and approaches leaders
use have a great impact on the failure or success of an organization. But higher education, like
other sectors, is beset by change and uncertainty – reeling from the effects of the global financial
crisis; social, environmental and demographic change; rapid developments in technology; and
increasing national and international competition for students, staff and funding (Bolden, et al,
2015).

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At the same time institutions’ most senior leaders have a key emerging challenge. As much as
representing and symbolising the university externally (i.e. the traditional role of Vice
Chancellors and their immediate peers), senior leaders also need to model the principles of the
institution (Astin & Astin, 2000). As institutions evolve to the needs of a globalized and user-led
market, the identity and principles of the institution may in many instances need to be redefined.
However, this can easily be attained through the development of shared beliefs and values so that
the institution can operate smoothly without being encumbered by bureaucratic structures (Astin
& Astin, 2000). This is in agreement with House’s Path-goal Participant Leadership style, where
leaders can make consultations with subordinates and using their suggestions and ideas in
decision making.

Taking for example the issue of quality assurance in higher education, which Strydom and
Lategan (2006) take to be a world‐wide phenomenon, leaders in higher institutions need to
engage and involve all stakeholders (House’s Participant Leadership style) consulting them on
how to go about improving ‘quality’ for great market competitiveness. This is also supported by
Weber (2011) when he states that, “University leadership should appreciate roles of action
research, action learning and community participation as tools to aid the new roles for
universities which will bridge the divide between universities and the communities in which they
are located.”

Another social political challenge that other scholars have pointed out is the fact that higher
education is being challenged by restructuring of university environments to meet funding
requirements (Simon, 2014). Yet they have to invest in their staffs’ up-skilling in digital tools
and online pedagogy (Warren Bebbington, 2020). Putting into consideration House’s Goal- Path
Theory, all four leadership styles may be employed here to curb the above challenge. The leaders
should set financial sustainability goals, engage the subordinates and communities, support staff
to define the paths to achieve the new university roles, and give them directives on what is
expected of them and the university (university and individual goals). Olssen and Peters (2007)
supports this by suggesting that higher education institutions are encouraged to develop links
with industry and business in a series of new venture partnerships to promote greater
entrepreneurial skills as well as the development of new performance measures to enhance
output and to establish and achieve targets.

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There is no doubt that universities in Africa today are faced with internal social and political
issues including educational corruption, sexual violence, and tribalism politics as identified by
Fowler and Mutua (2010) that, “Africa is commonly seen as a continent of rampant political
corruption, poverty, violence, and ethnic conflicts rising at times to genocide, which factors are
considered to have something to do with the African people and their leaders but affecting higher
education.” In such a scenario, leaders with the help of the Goal-Path Theory can employ
Houses’ Participant style of leadership to identify political corruption and violence tendencies in
the university and later employ Charrington’s (1994) additional fifth leadership style to use the
punitive measures to the culprits with the help of the university policies and the Law of the land.

Conclusively, aware that social political leadership is seen as a multi-dimensional phenomenon,

we can recommend that presidents, administrators, trustees, faculty, and government policy
makers can ably and successfully handle the social political situations through the use of flexible
leadership theories in decision making like the Goal-Path Theory depending on the nature of the
social political challenge and situation at hand.

d) Evolution of Human Resources Management and its implication in Higher Education

Theorists such as Haslinda (2009) and Torraco, (2009), place the beginning of Human Resource
Management in England during the 1800s. Research suggests that Human Resource Management
activities began to appear in the United States during the Industrial Revolution (Sleight, 1993). In
fact, some theorists contend that Human Resource Management stems from five periods, which
can be characterized by external forces that ultimately altered the way management responded
over the long term (Darmody, 2007). The five periods include the industrial growth, scientific
management, human relations, systems, and organizational culture (Rodríguez-Ruiz, 2014).

Before the Industrial Revolution, most people were engaged in home crafts or agriculture. There
was virtually no such a thing as modern day employment or employment relationships. With the
coming of the industrial revolution, however, daily life and the world of work changed
dramatically as technological developments led to the establishment of factories where people
went to work (Swanepoel, B, 2013). Specific employer-employee relationships were established,
which had to be managed by those in charge of and responsible for these factories and related
organizations.

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During the period 1880-1920, an American, Fredrick W. Taylor (the so-called father of scientific
management), began to conduct research. He propagated the use of “scientific techniques” to
elicit higher output, higher profits (and higher wages) through a differential piece rate wage
incentive system. He believed in using scientific methods to study working conditions and jobs
in order to identify the “best working methods” (tools, equipment, machinery and process) and to
recruit and appoint the “right” people for the “right” jobs. Scientific management protagonists,
such as Taylor, the Gilbreths and Henry Gantt also advocated for clearly defined jobs with
concomitant organizational structures (Nicole, R. 2015).

During the early 1900s, the welfare phase gained momentum in the UK as well as in the USA.
The new obsession with worker performance combined with the rise of large organizations and
government intervention forced companies to develop formal personnel management
departments (Nicole, R. 2015). Typical personnel departments were established and filled with
welfare workers who provided welfare facilities and program (related to aspects such as health
and recreation) in order to enhance the general wellbeing of the workers within the factories- the
so-called paternalism paradigm of personnel management (Swanepoel, B, et al, 2013). By this
time other functions performed by these so-called employment departments included all the basic
administrative activities of record keeping and, based on the principles of scientific management,
the specialized functions involved in recruitment and selection.

In 1912, the managers of these departments formed the first “employment managers” association
in the USA (Beach 1980). In 1913 a separate department of labour was created in the USA and
the Welfare Workers Association was formed in the UK, an association which eventually turned
into the Institute of Personnel Management in 1946 (Cherrington 1983). By 1915 the first official
training program for these “employment managers” was launched in the USA (Beach 1980). By
this time, industrial psychological research had also paved the way for the use of sophisticated
selection tests, such as the first large-scale group intelligence tests, the Army Alpha and the Beta
tests, which were used for the first time in 1917 in the USA Cherrington 1983).

During the period 1924 to 1933, Elton Mayo and some of his colleagues at Harvard University
also conducted a series of research studies at the Hawthorne Works of the Western Electric
Company in Chicago, USA. Their work related to the role of aspects such as lighting, rest pauses
and group norms on work performance levels, and laid the foundation for the so-called human
relations movement, which highlighted the social drives of man within the context of work. This

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movement emphasized that approaches which were too impersonal and task oriented, rational
and scientific, were of little value in the field of people management and that the “softer” or
social aspects of people management needed more attention (Swanepoel, B, et al, 2013). This
movement, which marked the beginning of the era of applying behavioral sciences in the work
place, put forward the view that employees could not be seen merely as “factors of production”
just like materials, money and natural resources. By the end of World War II in 1945, the official
term personnel management (PM) had been coined (Haslinda, 2009). Personnel management as a
distinct field of theory and practice thus came to be separated and recognized more and more.

Personnel management was largely regarded at this stage as a reactive function which had to
serve or support other functions within the context of pre-existing organizational structures and
established goals and objectives. The other functions (such as production and marketing) would
keep the personnel department informed of its needs regarding employees, and the later then had
to see to it that, through the use of specialized knowledge, these needs were satisfied by means of
recruitment, selection, training, compensation and administrative work (Swanepoel, B, et al,
2013).

During the 1950s and 1960s, various behavioral scientists were influential in the evolution on the
human relations school of thought. The transformation from Personnel Management to Human
Resource Management stemmed from the evolvement of management practice and philosophies
introduced by behavior theorists. For example, Abraham Maslow (1954), introduced the first
concepts of human resource motivation in his, A Theory of Human Motivation (Haslinda, 2009)
Others like Chris Argyris (1957), Douglas McGregor (1960) and Frederick Herzberg (1966) were
prominent figures in this regard.

In 1965 Miles published an article in the Harvard Business Review in which he explicitly made
the distinction between human relations and human resources. Whereas in the former the
emphasis was said to be on the human aspect, on the “softer” issues of supportive friendly people
management styles where employees’ feelings and needs were emphasized, the later was said to
emphasize the potential value of the resource aspect in terms of which each employee’s potential
talents, qualities and abilities would contribute (Nicole, 2015). All these emphasized the “harder”
economic or “business value” aspects of human resource management. Employees were said to
be viewed as highly valued assets rather than as cost factors of production (Swanepoel, B, et al,
2013).

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In the late 1970s all these developments contributed to the more official rechristening of the
traditional concept of “Personnel administration or management” as “human resource
management” in the USA. Developments such as new safety and equal opportunity laws and
sourcing economic circumstances in the USA gave further impetus to many innovative human
resource management practices in order to reduce costs and increase flexibility in increasingly
volatile and competitive environments.

Implications in Higher education:

Gordon, G. and Whitchurch, C. (2007) state that historic, systemic differences in relation to
human resource management continue to exercise significant, although arguably changing,
influence. Workforce development has become a critical issue in enabling universities to deliver
multiple agendas in complex environments. It is evident that the management of human
resources involved a combination of “hard” issues such as recruitment and retention, rewards and
incentives, and “softer” issues such as motivation, work-life balance, and career development.
This is what universities are currently handling; they can appoint, grade and, at least to a degree,
determine the reward of staff; aspects of their conditions of employment, their development, and
the building of capacity. We recommend that universities also seek to transform and own
mandate over human resources operations like recruitment, reward and promotion especially the
executive cadres of the university which still require external approval and authorization.

Clear views are held about the linkage between institutional performance and the ability to
attract, retain, reward and develop staff to perform the multifarious roles required of a
contemporary university, and to do so in a responsive, expert and flexible manner. That vision
resonates with Clark’s (1998) concept of the entrepreneurial university, and with his subsequent
work on sustaining change (2004). Care should be taken over conflating a tradition of the
administration and employees of the higher education institutions operating in a “civil service”
mode, with senior academics as the equivalent of the government ministers in setting policy and
administrators serving their needs and policies, and structures where staffs are formally
employed and accountable to government (Oba, 2005). This may make their supervisors
incapable of reprimanding them in case they need to.

Global markets mean that universities need increasingly to compete globally with other
knowledge providers for highly qualified staff. Whereas, in the past, relatively homogeneous
conditions of employment and linear career structures offered stability and predictability,
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contemporary universities are now part of “a very complex knowledge producing game”
(Gibbons et al., 1994, p. 65), which obliges them to seek new and different skills in a volatile
environment (Wood, 2005). There has been a shift, therefore, from an environment that was
secure and low maintenance, to one that is increasingly high maintenance and high risk.

In some systems such as the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, public funding bodies
have sought strategies that will mitigate the effects of uncertainty and maximize the performance
of staff. In the United Kingdom, for instance, there have been initiatives by the Higher Education
Funding Council for England (HEFCE) funding the development of good practice in Rewarding
and Developing Staff (HEFCE, 2005), and in Leadership, Governance and Management
(HEFCE, 2003). At the same time, a Higher Education Role Analysis scheme (HERA)
(www.hera.ac.uk) is being implemented to enable the incorporation of all staff on a single,
national pay spine. This is to ensure compliance with European Community equal opportunities
directives, and to meet government and funding council policies.

Qualitative Approach to Management

The potential of management is originated in the ability to understand the changes in human
behavior and to translate this knowledge in guidelines that can bring innovation and it is the
purpose of qualitative Approach. The qualitative approach to management seeks to answer
questions that cannot be answered from a solely quantitative angle. It is grounded in the social
sciences such as psychology and anthropology that aim to discover the motivation behind
people's behavior. Qualitative methods such as case studies do answer the how and why
questions (Latham, A. 2017). The qualitative approach considers the society as composed of
individuals and groups, who share meanings according to collective expectations and
perspectives. Based on these precepts, the manager investigates processes, facts and situations
in the social scene that may explain the analyzed phenomenon (Latham, A. 2017). A manager
can do this by using expert opinions, sales force polling and customer surveys.
Expert Opinions: The qualitative approach to management uses the views of experts to create
business performance forecasts. These experts base their opinions on the results of a certain
action, or on their personal experiences and education. Experts come from a variety of
professional fields. For example, if a small number of applicants come up for a particular
course after a fees increment, experts may use it to give an opinion over what could be the
cause, and a forecust about what should be done to improve on enrolment in future.

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Sales Force Polling: Sales force polling is a hybrid management method. It combines a
statistical approach with the distinctly qualitative approach of selecting a small group of
people, who are in continual contact with customers to provide valuable insight into the effects
of a particular decision. This allows managers to ask more in-depth questions about the state of
the market, which can then be normalized to create a short-term forecast. For example this
method may be used in case of higher education - where a School Dean may want to get
community feedback on a newly rolled out technology or encouraging Masters students to
publish their research work.

Consumer Surveys: Consumer opinion surveys provide another valuable tool for managers
who take advantage of a qualitative approach. The surveys obtain answers from consumers on
their feelings about a product or service, and to test the reactions of customers to management
decisions. The university may use this method to get feedback about the quality of their
education from students of companies (Andrew Latham, 2017)

3. Governance and Functioning of Higher Educational Institutions

Politics, Power and Authority in Higher Education

Governance of higher Educational Institutions is majorly influenced by nature of politics within,

and how power and authority are exercised to elicit the proper functioning and success of a given
institution. The Task Force on Higher Education and Society (2000) defines governance as the
formal and informal arrangements that allow higher education institutions to make decisions and
to establish, implement and continuously monitor the proper implementation of policies.
However, for the purpose of this paper, the term ‘governance’ is employed to refer to all those
structures, processes and activities that are involved in planning and directing of higher
education institutions and the people working in them.

It is however important to note that managers of HEIs cannot effectively manage workers to
work effectively without administrative “force” consisting of authority and power. Authority is
defined as the formal right to make decisions and to influence workers’ behavior to implement
those decisions based on organizational relationship Bernard & Kabiru, B.U. (2014). Bicer, C.
(2020), states that power is the potential ability to influence behavior and to change the sequence
or course of actions, to deal with the resistance and to get individuals to do things that they
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would otherwise never do at any time. And lastly, politics are the processes to influence the
intentions, actions or the behaviors through which this potential power is used or realized in
organizations. Since power is a basic force of human interaction, yet individual workers come
with various goals, these goals end up into conflicts and competition because of the expenditure
or distribution of scarce resources in organizations hence, putting politics at the core of public
life and organizations.

The discourse of governance and functioning of HEIs in relation to authority, power and politics
in the Ugandan context can be traced through Makerere University, since it is the oldest public
HEI both in Uganda and East Africa, founded in 1922. It transitioned from the faculty – based to
a collegiate university in 2011(Bisaso, 2017), and currently comprise ten colleges which are
structured into schools and teaching departments (Nabaho, 2017).

As we proceed into studying Makerere’s governance and the power, authority and politics within,
it is important to note that all Public Universities in Uganda are governed under the Universities
and other Tertiary Institutions Act (UOTIA), (2001). The hallmark of the UOTIA is the shift
from “direct steering of higher education by the government to granting the institutional
autonomy of public universities” (Bisaso, 2017, p. 423). The UOTIA established the Council for
Higher |Education (NCHE) as the regulatory body for HE and mandated the council among other
things to accredit the private HEIs. The senate and the university council are firmly entrenched
in the UOTIA. The council of public universities acts as a university agent responsible for the
direction of all its administrative, financial and academic affairs. On the other hand, the senate is
the principal academic authority. In its relationship with the university council, senate plays both
decision making and advisory roles, but specifically on academic questions. It is an embodiment
of self-governance and external guidance because it is composed of internal members (academic,
administrative staff and students’ representatives) and three external members. The vice
chancellor is the chairperson of the senate while the academic registrar is its secretary.

Politics, Power and Authority in Makerere University

Undermining the Authority of the Council: In Makerere, it is sometimes evident that authority
of the University Council is challenged by both internal and external forces, including formal
(Legal) and informal organizations Nabaho L., (2018), forcing the university authority to respond
with either authority or power or both. The formal groupings may take form of: 1) National
17 | P a g e
Union of Educational Institutions of Uganda – for support staff fighting for their rights; 2) the
Buganda Government – who are the landlords and therefore want recognition; 3) The students
Guild that in most cases assume the mandate of “vetoing” decisions of the university council,
leading the university to either suspend or stay the implementation of some council directives
because of student unrest. The informal groups may be: 1) MUASA – an academic staff
association that operates like a workers’ union; 2) Invisible players like Scientists and non-
scientists groupings pulling ropes over salary enhancement for scientists and not for non-
scientists; 3) Opposition Political parties that engage students to inspire them negatively to fail
government programs; 4) The untouchable movers and shakers but influencing decisions of the
university over increments and salary raise; 5) the MASA – Makerere Administrative Staff
Association that fight for salary enhancements. All these influence the university governance
either negatively or positively as emphasized in the Report of the taskforce on Job Evaluation,
Re-organizing of the staff Structure and Funding of Makerere University, (2014) that raised
concerns about the state’s erosion of “the authority of the Makerere University Council”
evidenced by a tendency of university students and staff to rush to the President, Ministry of
Education and Sports, and Parliament to express their concerns without first resolving them at
the University Council Level. MacKinnon (1965) also notes that in many developing countries,
higher education institutions become a field where politicians play their games of dispute.
Conflicting political parties find it easy to mobilize their own groups of students or teachers at a
university in order to affect their political objectives.

Indirect Control of HEIs decisions by Government: Much as (Bisaso, 2017, p. 423) urges that
a hallmark of the UOTIA is the shift from “direct steering of higher education by the government
to granting the institutional autonomy of public universities”, Nabaho, L. (2018) contradicts with
him by saying that, “The UOTIA envisages a situation where the state would steer universities
from a distance.” It is also often argued that universities, created by Acts passed by the
legislature and supported by government funds, are often financially and politically controlled by
the government (The Task Force on Higher Education and Society 2000). This also is evidenced
by Taskforce on Job Evaluation, Re-organization of the staff Structure and Financing of
Makerere University, 2014), which states that a new trend of the state micro-management of
universities in Uganda has emerged often happening in cases where governing bodies take
legitimate decisions but the state feels that such decisions may either diminish its electoral
fortunes or have security ramifications. And since the government funds a big portion of
18 | P a g e
Makerere University budget, the Parliamentally University Committee and its orders have to be
respected. One can just not afford to disobey them, yet their implementation, sometimes causes
student unrest leading to delays in implantation of the Almanac spelt out activities.

Influence on Academic Governance: On matters concerning academic governance, the senate

is always recognized as the custodian of academic standards, protector of academic integrity and
the guarantor of the quality of education provided by the university, however, the data shows that
the senate of Makerere University is ineffective in providing oversight of teaching, learning and
research activities Nabaho, L. (2018). Elected university officials use an autonomous
organization climate which results into weakening the efficient administration of the university
through tolerance of absenteeism, late coming, delayed production of examination and
coursework results, and general indiscipline which occurs, but go unpunished. This has had
deleterious effect on the quality of education at the university (Nabaho, L. 2018). A good
example is unmarked examination scripts discovered yet students were awarded marks.

Influence on election of leaders: Nabaho, (2018), states that, the UOTIA provides an elaborate
mechanism for electing leaders from the vice chancellor to heads of teaching departments,
sighting the complementary roles of the university council and the senate in some appointments
but assigns final decisions to the university council. The Makerere experience demonstrates that
the method of election of leadership is prone to corruption and too much politics. It invokes
religious and tribal bigotry and tends to polarize the staff of the institution; harming to the
reputation of the institution. The politicians and bureaucrats in the government influence the
appointment of the chief executive of the university (President or Vice Chancellor), thereby
controlling the administrative and decision-making power of the university. Livingstone, (1974)
affirms this by stating that political control over the administrative and decision-making affairs
of the institutions of higher education happens because there are some political views that
support this practice.

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