Decision-making styles of heads of department and work involvement of academic staff in Makerere and Nkumba Universities

Abstract

The study sought to examine the effect of decision-making styles of heads of department (HODS) on the work involvement of academic staff in Makerere and Nkumba universities. This study was prompted by the low work involvement of academic staff in Makerere and Nkumba Universities. The study was guided by three specific objectives which included examining the effect of the decision-making styles of heads of department (HODS) on the job involvement, career involvement and organisational commitment of academic staff in the two universities. It was anchored by the Contingency Theory of Decision Making. The study was guided by the research philosophy of positivism mainly emphasising Aristotle’s deductive reasoning philosophy. This study was conducted using a cross-sectional survey and descriptive research designs with a total of 205 respondents. Academic staff and heads of department (HODs) were selected using stratified sampling techniques respectively. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire for academic staff and an interview guide for heads of department. Quantitative data were analysed using frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations at univariate level while at bi-variate level, regression analysis was used. Qualitative data were analysed using thematic data analysis method. The findings revealed that decision making styles of heads of department (HODS) insignificantly affected job and career involvement of academic staff but had a high and positive significant effect on organisational commitment of academic staff. The study concluded that decision making styles of heads of department (HODS) insignificantly effect on job and career involvement of academic staff in the two universities. However, it was concluded that decision making styles of heads of department (HODS) significantly affect organisational commitment of academic staff. From the study findings and conclusions, the study thus recommended that to boost academic staff work involvement the university council should not rely on decision making styles of HODs to improve on job and career involvement of academic staff. However, they should emphasize those decision making styles like democratic and participative decision making styles that enhance organisational commitment of academic staff.