Promotion of service delivery through publishing: a case study of the government press-Kenya

Abstract

The publishing and printing industries have made tremendous improvements in public service delivery. As the publishing industry globally embraces both digital delivery and production, books still remain a major source of ideas and important channels of information dissemination, entertainment, and service delivery. However, irrespective of the many opportunities publishing offers to society, it still faces a myriad of challenges. Effective service delivery is key to every government; however, the distribution of information and knowledge is facing challenges due to various reasons, such as insufficient publishing investment. The aim of this study was to investigate the promotion of public service delivery through publishing. The objectives of this study were to: find out the role that government press publishing policy plays in providing effective service delivery to the Kenyan public; find out how digitization of publishing is affecting service delivery in the publishing industry; analyse the challenges and constraints to publishing development in service delivery; and finally, examine the effects of management style on service delivery and make conclusions and recommendations. The theoretical foundation of the study was Institutional Theory and Resource-Based View Theory. The study applied a descriptive research design and adopted mixed-method research. The study targeted 250 employees of the Government Press, from whom a sample of 75 respondents was drawn using purposive sampling and stratified sampling; this represented 30% of the population. The study used primary data, which were collected using a questionnaire through the drop and pick method, while secondary data was obtained from existing literature. An interview guide was also used to collect qualitative data from key informants. The qualitative data was presented through descriptive narrative analysis procedures, and the quantitative data collected was presented using graphs, tables, and pie charts. Descriptive statistics such as means and percentages were also used. The research instruments were pre-tested on a group of 10 employees from Government Press in the Planning Department to gauge the accuracy of the research instrument among the respondents. The study found that publishing promotes service delivery through the enhanced articulation of printed literature that is well understood and easily consumed by the public, especially when it comes to policy documents. The study further found out that strategic policy planning, which was implemented through work plans, led to improved service delivery due to periodic monitoring and reporting. The study concluded that despite the numerous challenges that the publishing industry faces, it still has an important role to play in promoting service delivery effectiveness to the public. The study recommended that policymakers review policies that promote service delivery in publishing establishments with the aim of instituting research on the most effective policies.