Wasteful management practices as perceived by the supportive staff of University of Gondar: Lessons for private higher education institutions in Ethiopia

Abstract

Managers are concerned about the effects of leaderships on organization, achievement of objectives and quality of their leadership. Even though many managers feel that they are promoting the use of Best Management Practices (BMPs), unproductive management practices, which do not contribute to the achievement of objectives and failure to recognize and control them by leaders, are common. The purpose of this study was to assess the perception of administrative staff of University of Gondar about the manifestation of these Wasteful Management Practices (WMPs), using ten dimensions such as organizational politics, hypocrisy and so on. The data were collected from 77 employees working in Human Resource, Finance and Registrar of the university. To measure Wasteful Management Practices, an instrument consisting 30 items was developed from literature. The validity and reliability of this instrument was tested by using Factor Analysis and Cronbach’ Alpha respectively. The finding of this study shows that Wasteful Management Practices are rampant (67.43 %). The most dominant waste or unproductive practices of the university are: delay of tasks that require immediate actions (Procrastination); a delay between the making and implementation of a decision (Time Lag); execute things as a matter of tradition (Habit); failure to know every detail about every activity and pass a decision with uncertainty (Individual Limitation); and attend too many and unplanned meetings (Unproductive Meeting). This study was conducted in public university; but the problem tried to address wasteful management practices and its implications are also the concern of Private Universities, other governmental and nongovernmental organizations. In the majority of the organizations, management activities, which do not contribute to the achievement of organization’s objectives, are taken for granted as a normal feature of organizational life are common. This study is a wake up call for all.