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The emergence of corporate cultures in public higher education
The literature on the introduction of corporatisation in the public sector is burgeoning. Whincop (2003) has provided a useful analysis on the corporatisation of public enterprises. According to Whincop (2003), the advocates of corporatisation claim that the public sector is relatively inefficient as compared to its counterpart, the private sector. However, he suggests that corporatisation could help to overcome this inefficiency (p. 45). The theoretical rationale underlying the corporatisation of public enterprises is the belief that efficiency may be improved by replicating the private sector model. Corporatisation has been regarded as a reform strategy which offers corporatised public entities, such as universities, the autonomy and flexibility to manage themselves while the government continues both to fund their operations and to retain jurisdiction over the assets and staff for the purpose of promoting the public interest (Wei, 2001, p. 221; Parker, 2012, p. 250; Majid & Bakar, 2013, p. 1). McDonald and Ruiters (2005) argue that corporatisation is a popular institutional form of commercialisation through which market principles and practices are introduced to the decision-making of a public service entity (p. 12). The conceptualisation of corporatisation, as discussed in chapter one, suggest that, unlike privatisation, corporatisation means that government retains a role in providing strategic direction and establishing key financial and non-financial performance targets and community service obligations to the entity in question (Pitkin & Farrelly, 1999, p. 252; Whincop, 2003, p. 32). Corporatisation has increasingly dominated the discourse on the transformation of public higher education. The available literature indicates that the corporatisation of university is not a new phenomenon. For example, higher education in the United States of America has a long history in pioneering the incorporation of market practices into public education (Munene, 2008, p. 3). In addition, Rosow and Oswego (2000) revealed that it is possible to trace debates regarding corporate influence in the university back to 1870s in the United States of America (p. 11). Thus, the current trend of corporatisation manifests structures embedded over a long period of time in the American university. According to Lieberwitz (2005), the corporatisation of the university has become an important concept, particularly since the 1980s, with the ever-broadening effects of privatisation on both a national and a global scale (p. 759). Chan and Lo (2007) argue that the corporate culture has become the driving philosophy of higher education governance worldwide (p. 307) with its adoption oscillating around the broad influence of globalisation. Underlying globalisation is the neo liberal argument about the role of the state in the economy, the reduction of state expenditure (especially as regards subsidising social services), deregulation and liberalisation (Yang, 2003, p. 272).
Gaining access to the research site and the challenges involved in researching one’s own organisation
While sampling strategies and the criteria for creating a sample are crucial, they do not guarantee access to the participants. Thus, gaining access to both the research site and the participants is a prerequisite to a successful study. Gaining access to a research site depends on the ability of forming relationships with people within the organisation (Walford, 2001, p. 34). Given (2008, entry A) defines access as „the appropriate ethical and academic practices used to gain entry to a given community for the purposes of conducting formal research‟ (p. 2). Accordingly, I used the following methods to gain access to the research site. Firstly, I used the organisational authority to gain access. Indeed, as mentioned in the section on ethical considerations, I had research clearance from the University of Dar es Salaam allowing me to conduct this study. This offered access to the institution and its staff. Secondly, I used the key informant technique as a means of accessing the participants. This technique involves the use of people within the research site who possess inside information about the institution (ibid.). As already mentioned, I used one of the long serving academic staff members as an entry point to access the participants. As a person with „insider knowledge‟ (Jones et al., 2006, p. 74), this staff member helped with the identification of potential participants who met the sampling criteria for the study.
CHAPTER ONE Introduction and context of the study
1.1 Introduction
1.2 The context of the study
1.3 Focus of the study
1.4 Research questions
1.5 Concept analysis
1.6 Rationale for undertaking the study
1.7 Philosophical approach
1.8 Significance of the study
1.9 The organisation of the thesis
CHAPTER TWO Literature review
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Development of higher education in Africa: A brief historical overview
2.3 Development of higher education in Tanzania
2.4 Educational policy in the context of access and equity in Tanzania
2.5 Contribution of higher education to national development: African context
2.6 The role of higher education in national development in Tanzania
2.7 The trend in access to and equity in higher education in Africa
2.8 Challenges facing higher education in Africa
2.9 Strategies adopted by higher education institutions to respond to the challenges
2.10 Impacts of corporatisation on the provision of higher education
2.11 Summary of the literature review and research focus
CHAPTER THREE Conceptual framework
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Resource-dependence approach
3.3 The market approach
3.4 The conceptual framework
3.5 The components of the conceptual framework
3.6 Conclusion
CHAPTER FOUR Research design and methodology
4.1 Introduction
4.2 The purpose of the study restated
4.3 Research design and its justification
4.4 Sample and sampling techniques
4.5 Data collection methods
4.6 Validity and reliability of the study
4.7 Data analysis
4.8 Ethical considerations
4.9 Gaining access to the research site and the challenges involved in researching one‟s own organisation
4.10 Challenges and limitations
4.11 Conclusion
CHAPTER FIVE Nature and character of the transformation process at UDSM
5.1 Introduction
5.2 The institutional transformation programme: Background and context
5.3 Factors behind the transformation programme
5.4 The ITP implementation strategies
5.5 Reasons for the success of the ITP
5.6 Conclusion
CHAPTER SIX Strategies to increase access and equity at UDSM
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Access to and equity in higher education in Tanzania: general policy context
6.3 Corporate strategies and the expansion of the student intake
6.4 Equity-driven strategies at the UDSM
6.5 Student loans as a strategy for expanding access and equity
6.6 Student support systems
6.7 Conclusion
CHAPTER SEVEN Consequences and challenges of the implementation of corporate strategies
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Expansion of the student intake and the consequences of this expansion
7.3 The consequences of the ITP for the university staff
7.4 The consequences of the ITP for academic programmes
7.5 The challenges of the institutional transformation programme
7.6 Conclusion
CHAPTER EIGHT Transformation through corporatisation and national development
8.1 Introduction
8.2 The state control model versus the market model of running the university: A debate
8.3 The role of the university during the socialist era to the mid-1980s
8.4 The role of university under the market model
8.5 Adoption and implementation of corporate strategies
8.6 Conclusion
CHAPTER NINE Summary, conclusions and recommendations
9.1 Introduction
9.2 The conceptual framework revisited
9.3 Main findings of the study
9.4 Analysis of the findings
9.5 Recommendations for further research
9.6 Conclusion
