The influence of performance contract implementation on innovations in public technical universities in Kenya

Resulting from increasing enrolments and inadequate resources, Public Technical Universities in Kenya are viewed as providing low quality education that doesn’t support research and innovation, and drive Vision 2030.Does implementing Performance Contract stimulate innovation in Public Technical Universities? The purpose of the study was to establish the influence of Performance Contract Implementation in stimulating innovations in Public Technical Universities in Kenya. The specific objective of the study was to establish: the influence of Performance Contract Implementation on Innovations in Public Technical Universities. The study utilised the Goal Setting theory advanced by Locke and Latham (2018), which states that goal setting in an organization enhances employee and organization performance. The study employed the Explanatory Survey research design. The study was carried out at the Technical University of Kenya and Technical University of Mombasa where the total study population was 15104 which comprised of 14592 Students, 109 Administrative staff and 403 Lecturers. From the population, a sample size of 377 was obtained as guided by the Morgan Krejcie formulae for determining sample size. Data for the study was collected by the use of 5-point Likert scale questionnaire. Content validity of the instrument was ensured by expert judgement. Reliability of study instruments was ascertained by Cronbach alpha where all achieved above the 0.5 threshold index. Qualitative data yielded was analysed by use of content analysis based on identifiable categories. Quantitative data was analysed by use of Factor analysis and Simple regression. Data was presented by use of tables and figures. Based on the study objective the findings revealed that Performance Contract implementation accounted for 66.6% innovation in Public Technical Universities. From these findings, the study concludes that Performance Contract Implementation has a positive influence on innovations in Public Technical Universities. The study therefore recommends that Performance Contracting should be implemented and strengthened as a management tool to increase efficiency and stimulate innovations in Public Technical Universities. The findings of this study should thus inform policy framework on Performance Contract Implementation for Public Technical Universities.