Effect of Hierarchy Culture Practices on Institutional Positioning of Public Universities in The Rift Valley Region, Kenya
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53819/81018102t5464Abstract
Public universities in Kenya operate in an increasingly competitive and dynamic higher education environment characterized by declining government funding, heightened regulatory oversight, changing stakeholder expectations, and increased competition for students, research funding, and strategic partnerships. In this context, strengthening institutional positioning has become a strategic priority. Hierarchy culture, which emphasizes formal structures, standardized procedures, accountability, and coordinated decision-making, is considered an important organizational mechanism for enhancing institutional effectiveness. The study was guided by Johnson's Cultural Web Theory and adopted an ex post facto research design using a quantitative approach. Data were collected from 273 academic and non-academic staff drawn from six public universities selected through stratified random sampling from a target population of 7,427 employees. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation analysis, and simple linear regression. The findings revealed that hierarchy culture was a statistically significant predictor of institutional positioning (β = .610, B = .616, t = 12.668, p < .001). The regression model explained 37.2% of the variation in institutional positioning (R² = .372; F(1, 271) = 160.477, p < .001), indicating meaningful explanatory power in the study context. The results offer practical insights for university managers and policymakers seeking to strengthen governance systems and improve institutional competitiveness in Kenya's higher education sector. University councils and management should strengthen hierarchy culture practices by continuously reviewing and improving organizational structures, reporting relationships, institutional policies, and standard operating procedures with the aim of enhancing accountability, coordination, and operational efficiency. The Commission for University Education and other higher education regulators should continue to support governance frameworks that promote accountability, transparency, and institutional effectiveness while providing universities with sufficient flexibility to respond to emerging opportunities and challenges within the higher education sector.
Keywords: Hierarchy culture; Institutional positioning; Organizational culture; Public universities; Strategic management
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