Abstract:
In recent years, there have been attempts to import business models from the private
sector into higher education systems and institutions in an attempt to improve their
performance. This has led to the emergence of a debate on the applicability of
the Quality Management System(QMS) principles, methodologies and tools to the
higher education sector and their relationship with performance of those institutions.
There exists a lot of research on the importance of the Quality Management System
and how it impacts on performance of organizations in general. However, there is
little research that specifically focuses on the influence of QMS on the relationship
between internal factors and performance of Kenyan public universities. This study
sought to establish the influence of the Quality Management System on the
relationships between funding mobilization, administrative systems, infrastructure,
and admission on the performance of Kenyan public universities. The study sought to
investigate influence of the combined internal factors (funding, administrative,
infrastructure and Admission systems) and the performance of Kenyan public
universities. The study adopted survey research design which made it easy to sample
and analyse data. Seven certified public sponsored universities published by the
Commission for Higher Education in Kenya were sampled. Structured questionnaires
were used in the collection of data. A pilot study was conducted to check for the
reliability and validity of the research instruments. SPSS software was used in
analyzing and interpreting data that was collected. The findings of this study
demonstrated that QMS played a significant influencing role between each of the
individual internal factors and the performance of Kenyan public universities.
Infrastructure systems had the highest coefficient of determination, R2 factor
compared to all the other internal factors. This meant that infrastructure systems,
with the influence of QMS as a moderating factor had the highest positive
contribution to the change in the performance of Kenyan public universities. This
was followed by Admission Systems, administrative systems and funding
xvi
mobilization, respectively. The results from this study will be beneficial to a range of
beneficiaries: scholars in the subject of management; researchers who will use the
results as a contribution towards the advancement of knowledge in the subject area;
Government officials and university management will in particular, benefit from the
knowledge on the linkages between QMS and its influence on internal factors and the
performance of public universities in Kenya. The study recommended that for public
universities to realize the dreams of a majority of Kenyans as envisioned in Vision
2030 and the Kenyan constitution, they should proactively adopt QMS in their
operations across all internal factors in order to improve their performances. The
study proposed two future studies.