Abstract:
The purpose of this study is to investigate the lecturers‟ perceptions of performance contracting in public universities in Kenya: A case of school of Education in Moi University. The study is important because performance contracting is a new concept in the management of lecturers in public universities in Kenya. Four objectives were addressed namely: to find out lecturers‟ levels of awareness on the concept of performance contracting, to establish their perceived benefits of performance contracting, investigate their perceptions on possible challenges and possible solutions in performance Contracting. The study adopted the theory of management by objectives (MBO) by Drucker and the modern quality management theory by Edward and Douglas. In order to achieve this goal, the researcher chose a quantitative cross-sectional descriptive and exploratory research design. The School of Education-Moi University was chosen because performance contracting has not been fully implemented although the university is in the process of doing so. The target population was all 104 lecturers in the four departments of the school of Education in Moi University. A total of 36 lecturers representing 34.6% of all the lecturers from the four departments in the School of Education were used; information was also sought from the Office of the Performance Contracting Secretariat in Moi University. Data was collected using questionnaires, interviews and document analysis. The questionnaires and interviews were administered to lecturers and officers from the Office of the Performance Contracting Secretariat in Moi University. The questionnaires had both structured and unstructured questions while the interviews schedule had open ended questions. The quantitative data was analysed by use of descriptive statistics which involved frequencies and tables and presented in pie charts and tables, while the qualitative data was thematically analysed based on the findings the lecturers are aware of the concept of performance contracting, positively perceive the benefits of such a system, and are aware of the possible challenges and possible solutions of such a system. Findings of this study will add value to the already existing literature on performance contracting. The findings may also assist policy makers, educational managers, administrators and lecturers in the formulation and implementation of performance contracts in the public universities in Kenya, particularly at Moi University.
