The Relationship Between Information Sharing and Employee Commitment in the Public Sector: a Case of Ministry of Trade

Abstract

The study aimed at determining whether or not information sharing has any relationship to employee commitment in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of trade. The population of interest was the members of staff in this ministry and a sample was drawn from both headquarter and field station offices. A sample of 40 employees was targeted. Primary data was collected using questionnaires. The drop and pick method was used to administer the questionnaires and the response rate was 90% with 36 of the returned questionnaires being processed and passed for analysis. Descriptive statistics were used in data analysis and comparative analysis was done. The study brought out a positive correlation between information sharing and employee commitment in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister & Ministry of Trade. The respondents indicate that information sharing is exercised better at the headquarters and field stations closest to the headquarters. This is where most employee commitment has been registered. Respondents from field stations further away from the headquarters indicated discontentment with the way information was shared and were not. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister & Ministry for Trade needs to streamline channels of information sharing to make them more efficient and effective. The study has also brought out the fact that, information sharing has not been exercised as much as is needed. A study to determine to what extends information sharing influences employee commitment needs to be carried out. Such a study would compliment this study and will provide a guidance on how much emphasize should be placed on information sharing in the civil service sector of Kenya and in particular, in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister & Ministry of Trade. Further, there is a great need to carry out a study to determine the factors that influence information sharing in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister & Ministry of Trade, and in the wider civil service sector of Kenya. Another interesting study area would be a study on how the foregoing factors affect performance in the civil service sector of Kenya. This would be most relevant given the fact that the public service sector of Kenya has embraced performance contracting as a way of enhancing service delivery.