Abstract:

This article explores the factors underpinning university effectiveness and the makeable conditions that influence its performance. The concept of University effectiveness is developed from the general concept of organizational effectiveness. The concept of university effectiveness is based on the belief that the survival and assured future of a university rests on its ability to attain its goals and objectives. The article discusses the criteria of university effectiveness in the context of organizational theory. Five effectiveness criteria   are namely productivity, adaptability, involvement and satisfaction of stakeholders, continuity and responsiveness are discussed to give a base for determining effectiveness. A holistic approach to university effectiveness is presented as the one that can address all the five criteria because of its emphasis on both the domain of effect and domain of causes as means.  A model by Mintzberg (1979) and Deleeuw (1986) is adopted to demonstrate interrelationship of the five basic elements of effectives – goals organizational culture, structure, environment, and primary processes. Theoretical orientation that underpin the concept of university effectiveness is discussed under the themes of synoptic planning and bureaucratic organization, retroactive planning and the learning organization, public choice theory, contingency theory and chaos theory. These are categorized as mechanisms levers of university effectiveness. The article lastly presents leadership in the university as the key variable around which the success or failure of a university rotates.

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Nkata, James (2004). The conceptual map for university effectiveness. Makerere Journal of Higher Education, vol. 1 (Dec 2004)