Effect of strategic responses on performance in Higher Education Institutions in Mombasa County

The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of strategic responses on Performance in higher education institutions in Mombasa County. The main objective of the study was to determine the effect of strategic responses on Performance in the higher education institutions in Mombasa County. However, the study specifically sought to; assess the effect of Strategic organizational entrepreneurship, evaluate the effect of strategic alliances, determine the effect of organizational learning and assess the effect of strategic planning on Performance in higher education institutions in Mombasa County. The theories used in the study include the institutional theory, resource dependency theory and the regain fit theory. The research design adopted by this study was quantitative. The target population was the 49 institutions of higher education based in Mombasa County as at 10th May 2017. A multi stage sampling technique was employed whereby stratified random sampling and simple random sampling techniques were be used to select the respondents from the study population of 50 and a sample size of 43 institutions of higher education. 3 respondents were selected from each strata hence the target respondents were 135. The questionnaire was used as the data collection instrument and administered to 3 managers hence 132 questionnaires were administered. Out of the 132 questionnaires, administered 75 questionnaires were completed. Prior to processing the responses, the filled questionnaires were edited and checked for completeness and consistency. A pilot study was used for checking of the reliability and validity of the questionnaires. The questionnaires were coded and entered into the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), which was used for the data analysis. Specifically, data analysis and interpretation was done through descriptive statistics, measures of dispersion and inferential statistics. The findings of the study show that Strategic organizational entrepreneurship, strategic alliances, organizational learning and strategic planning have a significant effect on Performance in HEI’s in Mombasa County. Analysis of the relationship between the strategic responses and Performance in the HEI’s was positively correlated and statistically significant. The study concludes that in order to enhance Performance in HEI’s, these strategic responses need to be adapted. The study recommends that HEI’s should consider realigning their structure to accommodate the variables. Additionally, the study recommends planning that in HEI’ © 2018 Elixir All rights reserved. Elixir Soc. Sci. 120 (2018) 51308-51322 Social Science Available online at www.elixirpublishers. com (Elixir International Journal) Cecilia Nakhungu Mbati and Fridah Simba / Elixir Soc. Sci. 120 (2018) 51308-51322 51309 their delivery and market approach (Njiru, 2012). Therefore they must adjust to meet the needs of an increasingly global economy, (Gichuke & Okello, 2015). Chiuri (2015) proposes that the sustainability of these (HEIs) is determined by how they reposition themselves within the competitive environment, which can be achieved by adjusting their objectives and strategies, re-examining their operations and matching organizational strengths and resources with changes in the environment. Higher education locally Since 1963, the higher education sector has experienced tremendous growth, as observed by, (Clark, 2015). According to Mutali and Messah (2011), the university enrolments have been increasing by approximately 6.2% per year. For instance, the overall student enrolments shot up to 443,783 in 2014, as compared to 240,551 in 2012 (Clark, 2015). Although the non-university sector have been serving less than 10 percent of the total student population as indicated in, GoK (2007) and MoE (2012), the numbers are expected to increase (ICEF Monitor,2015). According to Brennan (2009), until mid2007, there wasn’t any public university within Mombasa, there were distance and open learning programs operated by Nairobi-based universities which sought to gain more market share by locating campuses near their target populations through setting up regional centres in major counties which as noted by (Wachira, 2015), were generally viewed as cash-cow entities. According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (2009), as of 2009, there were a total of seven traditional public universities and 12 university colleges. Currently, there are approximately 39 public and private universities, 14 public and private university constituent colleges and 14 institutions with letters of interim authority to operate, (Clark, 2015). Within the non-university setup, there are about 1,600 institutions. Half of them are public under various government ministries and others are private, (MoE, 2012). Based on the ministry of higher education science and technology and the commission of university education database, today they are approximately 49 institutions of higher education in mombasa county where by 11 universities, 20 colloeges and 18 training institutes. According to Chiuri (2015), HEI’s are challenged by rapidly changing environmental conditions in terms of legislative changes, competition and rapid technological advancement. Like other organizations, the higher education institutions operate in changing environment; although previously, there was absence of any independent public university for a long time in Mombasa. By 2007, Kenya had sixteen private universities and of seven public universities however, there was only one university campus of University of Nairobi in Mombasa. However, in mid-2007, there was an explosion of higher education in Mombasa, due to the agitations of the younger scholars and efforts by the government (Maina, 2013). Since the first students enrolled under the free, primary education program introduced in 2003 graduated from high school in 2015 as illustrated by (Sawamura and Sifuna, 2008), the number of students seeking to join higher institutions became more. As illustrated by GoK, (2007); MoE, (2012); Maina, (2013) and Clark (2015) approximately 440,000 students are enrolled in public and private universities and approximately 50,000 in colleges and technical institutions. According to (CUE), private universities and colleges have registered a lot of growth in the past 13 years and now enrol 20% of all students. The long absence of public university at the coast opened up opportunities for universities abroad that are now in direct competition with the local universities (Brennan, 2009). As noted by Maina, (2013) public universities are competing directly with the private, institutions in Mombasa since they enrol privately sponsored students in their campuses consequently; they have now taken to both the electronic and print media to advertise programmes. In context of the regulatory framework: recently, according to the ICEF Monitor (2015) the CUE ordered universities to stop offering diplomas and certificates hence such the courses are supposed to be offered by colleges and technical institutes therefore, more technical institutions are coming up within Mombasa in order to cope with the rising demand. As illustrated by Bryant (2013), technological advancements have changed the higher education’s landscape due to globalisation and the digital revolution. Therefore the HEI’s are under a lot of pressure to add and maintain high numbers of students hence invest heavily in infrastructure, (Nganga, 2014). According to Kuria and Wainganga (2016) since key players in the education sector are keen on positioning themselves to grow their market share they make strategic choices and employ strategic responses. Often, strategic responses used in organizations improve performance however; the effect of strategic responses on performance in education sector has received little research attention. It is therefore necessary to conduct the study whose purpose is to examine the effect of strategic responses on the overall Performance in higher education institutions in Mombasa County. Objective of the study The study was be guided by the following specific research objectives: i. To assess the effect of strategic entrepreneurship on the Performance in institutions of higher education in Mombasa County. ii. To evaluate the effect of strategic alliances on the Performance in institutions of higher education in Mombasa County. iii. To determine the effect of organizational learning on the Performance in institutions of higher education institutions in Mombasa County. iv. To assess the effect of strategic planning on the Performance in institutions of higher education in Mombasa County. 2. RELATED LITERATURE Theoretical framework The theoretical framework reflects the direction taken by the researcher in terms of theory. As illustrated by Chiuri (2015), a theory is a set of proposals that explain an event by describing how the other things are linked to the event. On the other hand, (Zikmund, Babin & Griffin, 2010) asserts that theories are made through reviewing findings of similar studies, inference and knowledge of other areas related to the theory. The theories used in the study include the institutional theory, Resource Dependency theory and the regain fit theory. Institutional Theory This theory serves as a guide for analysing organization and environment relationships with an emphasis on the social rules, expectations, norms, and values as the sources of pressure. According to DiMaggio & Powell (1991) as cited in (Gichuke & Okello, 2015). Institutional theory is comprised of three different elements of institutions: regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive. The elements are the foundation of institutional structures, hence referred to as the Cecilia Nakhungu Mbati and Fridah Simba / Elixir Soc. Sci. 120 (2018) 51308-51322 51310 pillars of institutions by (Scott, 2001) as cited in (Lipnicka & Verhoeven, 2017) . As illustrated by Gichuke & Okello,