The influence of institutional strengthening on service delivery in civil society organizations: the case of I choose life Africa

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of institutional strengthening on service delivery at a CSO called I Choose Life (ICL) - Africa based in Nairobi. Based on literature, the concept of institutional strengthening could be achieved by examining four key elements: governance, organizational structures, accountability and institutional factors. The objectives of the study were: to determine the effect of governance on service delivery at ICL-Africa; to establish the effect of organizational structures on service delivery at ICL-Africa; to investigate the effect of institutional factors on service delivery at ICL-Africa; and to determine the effect of accountability structures on service delivery at ICL-Africa. Descriptive research design was used to ascertain the influence of institutional strengthening on service delivery in the NGO. Random sampling was used to collect data from a sample of 39 respondents comprising of 12 management staff and 27 non-management staff. Pre-tested structured questionnaires were designed and administered for data collection. The responses were then entered into Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software for quantitative analysis. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed on the data to establish the dependency of the relationships between the research variables. The findings confirmed that governance had a strong and positive correlation with service delivery. Organizational structure and institutional factor variables had positive correlations with service deliveries. Further, governance and organization structure had significant relationships with service delivery. This implies that changes in governance and organizational structure would influence change in service delivery. Institutional factors did not have a significant relationship with service delivery. The positive correlations between the three independent variables and the dependent variables confirmed the research topic that institutional strengthening can influence service delivery. To this end, the researcher observes that there is a need to consider governance and organizational structure as important aspects of institutional strengthening owing to their influence on the delivery of services. The research study recommends that ICL-Africa ensures governance by using appropriate assessment and accountability tools to align performance with benchmarks for service delivery. The organization should consider networked structures and partnerships as ways of enhancing service delivery through coordinated effort and shared workload. Lastly, the NGO should promote ownership and ensure professional behaviour of its employees. Further research is encouraged due to the limited sample size and focus on one organization. Research on other ways of strengthening CSOs for better services is encouraged.