Operating Environmental Factors And Organization Performance: A Case Of Secondary Schools In Garissa Town, Kenya

Abstract

Organization performance is a critical area that needs to be well analyzed. Operating environment is composed of forces or institutions surrounding an organization that affect performance, resources and operations. The environment is the key factor in determining the level of available resources and the ease with which an organization can carry out its activities. The specific objectives for this study were; to establish effect of environment heterogeneity in performance of secondary school in Garissa town, to determine the effect of environmental uncertainty on performance of secondary schools in Garissa town, to assess the extent to which the domain consensus affects performance of secondary schools in Garissa town, to determine the extent to which environmental capacity have affected performance of secondary schools in Garissa town and finally to determine the effect of environmental concentration on secondary school performance of secondary schools in Garissa town. This study was anchored on three theories. The main theory was balanced scorecard theory (BSC) which emphasize on performance measurement. The other theories are stakeholders’ theories and resource based theory. The descriptive and survey study focused on the five external operative environment factors. Many studies in organization performance have concentrated on performance of profit making institutions and organization and none in learning institutions such as schools. This research aimed at determining the external operating environmental factors affecting performance using secondary schools in Garissa town as a case study. It was achieved by determining the effect of environmental heterogeneity, capacity, concentration, uncertainty and domain consensus on organization performance. The study targeted teachers and students from public secondary schools in Garissa town. Multistage, Simple random and purposeful sampling technique were used to select a sample of three schools, thirty-one teachers and one hundred eight students were used in the study. Data was collected using questionnaire and interview method. Data collected was analyzed by descriptive and regression model using excel and SPSS programmes. The findings of the study show that a considerable level of heterogeneity is present in the secondary schools under study. However, the findings in the regression model underrate the influence of heterogeneity on the organizational performance of these schools. It was clear that insecurity happened to be the major cause of uncertainty in the secondary schools in Garissa Town. These uncertainties significantly affected organizational performance of these secondary schools. There was some extent of environmental domain consensus in secondary schools in Garissa Town. This seemed to create confusion on who should finance what programme and who should be consulted in certain critical matters involving decision making. Findings from the regression model show that performance of these schools was affected significantly and if the problem continues, these institutions are likely to suffer greatly. The findings of the study show that most of the schools studied had large capacity of students, all with enrolment above 500 students. It was established that teachers were inadequate to handle such large number of students. The findings of the study show that trained teachers were not well distributed; moreover, libraries were not qualified librarians as mentioned by some teachers and students. The study recommends the school management to initiate accommodative environment that will attract students of all faiths as well as those from different parts of the country in order to promote environmental heterogeneity. The study further recommends the government to improve the state of security in Garissa Town as well as promote interfaith tolerance.