EFFECTS OF CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES ON ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE OF PUBLIC TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING INSTITUTIONS IN MAKUENI COUNTY, KENYA
Jessy Ngina Kitusa - School of Education, Machakos University, Kenya
Prof Kimiti Richard Peter - School of Education, Machakos University, Kenya
Dr Nkoroi Lillian - School of Education, Machakos University, Kenya
ABSTRACT
This research work looked at the impacts of collaboration strategies on the performance of agencies of public Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Makueni County, Kenya. In that effort, the study incorporated both quantitative and qualitative data by using structured questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with support of a convergent parallel design funded by a mixed-methods research approach. The number of the participants included in the study was 328 people, the group composed of principals of the David Mbiti Wambuli technical and vocational college and Kibwezi west technical and vocational college, support staff and trainers as well as the final year students from the David Mbiti Wambuli technical and vocational college and Kibwezi west technical and vocational college. The calculation of sample size included 181, which accounts to a formula of Yamane, and this was with the use of purposive, census, and a simple random method. The Cronbach Alpha value of the questionnaire reliability was found to be 0.812 signifying that data are consistent. The quantitative method, such as Z-scores, Chi-Square tests, T-test, and multiple linear regression, revealed the strength of 0.42 meant that there was a moderate statistical association between the aspect of collaboration strategy and the organizational performance, which two measures as an external examination pass rates and a student enrollment. The qualitative findings revealed that collaboration was the most favored approach amongst the educational stakeholders where teamwork, information sharing, and joint solutions to issues were more deliberated upon. The results prove that the better performance outcome in terms of academic achievement and institutional effectiveness is reached among the institutions that have developed a structured approach to collaboration. The gap that this research is going to fill is that the study focuses on TVET institutions and provides evidence that the educational administrators and policymakers can use to enhance cooperation practices and organizational performance.