| dc.description.abstract | The research aimed at assessing the influence of employee empowerment on performance
of Public Universities in Kenya, and to determine the moderating role of institutional
factors on this relationship, and to determine the mediating role of job-related attitudes on
this relationship. This study was carried out against a background of change in the public
universities with the introduction of Public Universities Act 2012 which streamlined all
the activities of Kenyan universities. A review of extant conceptual and empirical
literature was done and hypotheses formulated. A positivist paradigm using descriptive
research design was used. The population comprised the staff of Chartered Public
Universities in Kenya 2013. Proportionate random stratified sampling and multi stage
sampling was used. A sample size of 1,011 staff was selected from employees of
Chartered Public Universities in Kenya. The literature review revealed that a number of
studies have been conducted on the predictors and antecedents of employee
empowerment and performance. However, these studies did not examine any integration
between them. The objective of this study was to explore the integrated relationship
amongst the variables. A structured questionnaire with Likert-type interval scale
anchored on a five-point scale was used to collect primary data. Descriptive statistics
were computed for organizational data and the main characteristics of the study variable.
Data was presented in tables, charts and figures. Hypotheses were tested using Pearson‟s
product moment, simple linear regression, stepwise and multiple regression and change
statistics for data analysis and tests. The results revealed that employee empowerment,
institutional factors, and job-related attitudes have a positive relationship with the
performance. The strength of the relationship between employee empowerment and
organizational performance was found to be moderated by institutional factors. However
Job-Related Attitudes was found not to mediate the influence of employee empowerment
and organizational performance. Using ANOVA and F-test the study showed that the
influence of employee empowerment on organizational performance was linear and was
statistically significant. The results confirmed that the joint effect of employee
empowerment, job-related attitudes and institutional factors on performance was greater
than the individual effects of each variable on performance of Public Universities in
Kenya. This study contributes to the understanding of the link between employee
empowerment and organizational performance, while at the same time it confirms the
findings of previous studies on a similar subject. The study also contributes to knowledge
by empirically confirming that job-related attitudes are not mediators of the influence of
employee empowerment on organizational performance contrary to previous studies. The
study highlights an increased understanding that the combinative effect of the study
variables is greater than the individual effects. Involvement in decision-making and
autonomy coupled with enabling structures and leadership should be considered if
employees are to be empowered and their contributions to count. Universities should
strengthen their empowerment programs and support staff in pursuit of their
development. The study also confirms that as structural empowerment increases it is
associated with increases in psychological empowerment in the workplace. Further, as
empowerment increases employees become more engaged and this is believed to have a
significant impact on their productivity. Empowered employees are motivated workers,
which contributes to overall performance in the Public Universities in Kenya. Future
research should seek to concentrate on other institutional factors such as democratic and
contingency leadership styles. Consider use of longitudinal research design. Replication
of the study in other sectors and examining the relationship between employee
empowerment could serve as useful reference for future. | en_US |
