A Comparative Analysis of Administrative Politics Between a Public and Private University in the Eastern Region of Uganda

Abstract

The study made a comparative analysis of administrative politics between a public and a private university in the Eastern Region of Uganda. Two specific objectives guided the study: 1) to compare information management politics in a public and a private university in the Eastern Region of Uganda; and 2) to compare coalition-building politics in a public and a private university in the Eastern Region of Uganda. The study was guided by the theory of Reasoned Action developed by Fishbein and Ajzen in 1967. An ex post facto design was adopted with a positivist philosophy and quantitative approach. A population of 220 academic staff and a sample of 213 were selected using simple random sampling and a lottery technique. A closed-ended questionnaire was used to collect data, and data were analyzed using means and standard deviations for descriptive statistics, as well as an independent-samples t-test for inferential analysis. Findings indicate that there is a statistically significant difference in information management politics between a public (M = 2.5711) and a private university (M = 3.1037); t(201) = -8.142, p = .000. There was also a statistically significant difference in coalition-building politics between a public (M = 2.8686) and a private university (M = 3.1012); t(201) = -3.855, p = .000. The difference is reflected in the level of politics (rigid for public as opposed to flexible for private), purpose of the politics (protective in public as opposed to promotional in private), as well as the source of authority and control (government for public as opposed to owners for private). This implies that politics is prevalent in both public and private universities but varies significantly. Conclusively, the leaders and those who are led have to embrace the political gimmick and handle information and coalitions carefully, as they may have adverse effects and influence on the administration and execution of tasks in the university. Key recommendations are to make information management and coalition building a procedural issue as well as making proper communication to make the two aspects a preserve of each stakeholder in the universities rather than administrators only.