The impact of culture on performance appraisal reforms in Africa : the case of Uganda’s civil service

This article explores administrative culture and examines its impact on performance appraisal reforms in Uganda’s civil service. It reveals that Uganda’s bureaucracy is characterised by large power distance, strong uncertainty avoidance, high ethnicity adherence and political neutrality. Research findings indicate that these cultural variables influence the performance appraisal by sabotaging its actual implementation and undermining its institutionalisation. The study supports the use of power distance and uncertainty avoidance by various scholars to analyse the linkage between administrative culture and instruments of management. The additional dimensions of political (neutrality) biasness and ethnicity pursued are highly relevant additions to the literature. It is argued that for the successful introduction of performance appraisals, culture matters. Although the Ugandan government introduced appraisal reforms, incompatibility between the values embedded in the appraisal and the host administrative culture watered down the reform

Implications of Information Load on Fiscal Decentralization Delivery in Government Aided Primary Schools in Uganda

Purpose: The study explores the importance of information load in enhancing Fiscal Decentralization delivery in Government Aided Primary Schools in Busoga sub region, Eastern Uganda.  The study is occasioned by availability of not so many empirical studies in many developing countries such as Uganda.  The major objectives of this study are to establish the relationship between information load and Fiscal Decentralization in Busoga Sub region Government Aided Primary Schools in eastern Uganda. Methodology: This study adopted a cross sectional design under a quantitative and qualitative methods. Data collection was done on a sample of 314, respondents.  The data was analyzed using multiple regression and confirmatory factor analysis using Amos.  Findings: The findings of the study indicate that the association is positive and significant which means the information load improves Fiscal Decentralization delivery.  Unique contribution to the theory, practice and policy: It is therefore noted that many public schools face significant challenges in the management of fiscal resources, as such it is recommended that the Central Government streamlines communication and availability of information to the lowest accounting officers (Headteachers), such that there is prompt information availability in form of circulars using traditional media, organize regional meetings/workshops to disseminate information every quarter on release of funds to government institutions. Keywords: Fiscal decentralization delivery, information load, lowest accounting officers, Government aided primary schools DOI: 10.7176/PPAR/9-7-08 Publication date:July 31st 2019

The impact of culture on performance appraisal reforms in Africa: The case of Uganda’s civil service

Abstract This article explores the impact of administrative culture on performance appraisal reforms in Uganda's civil service. Data gathered from 147 questionnaires, 29 interviews and various documents indicates that administrative culture sabotages the actual conduct of performance appraisals and undermines its institutionalization. The study supports the use of power distance and uncertainty avoidance. The additional dimensions of political (neutrality) biasness and ethnicity are a highly relevant addition to the literature on administrative culture and its linkage to instruments of management. Thus, for the successful introduction of performance appraisals, culture matters because the performance appraisal is imposed from abroad and requires a compatible host administrative culture in order to take root. In this case, the host administrative culture was not compatible in many respects with the values underlying the appraisal reforms. Although the Ugandan government introduced appraisal reforms, incompatibility between the values embedded in the appraisal and the host administrative culture watered down the reform

Network governance and capacity of local governments to deliver LED in Uganda

This paper discusses network governance and its contribution to the capacity of local governments (LGs) to deliver local economic development (LED) in Uganda. Although a formal LED policy was only established in Uganda in February 2014, there have been LED-inspired practices in the past decade. Various scholars and practitioners have observed that the autonomy and capacity of LGs to deliver LED is limited, but have been hopeful that new governance strategies like network governance would increase the capacities of LGs. However, neither network governance arrangements among LGs, nor their potential to improve governance capacity, have been documented. In a case study of Kyenjojo District, this paper finds that existing network governance arrangements have been fundamental in improving financial autonomy at this LG, delivering some income to invest in LED activities, although no evidence was found of reduced transaction costs in transforming local economies. The study further reveals that network governance arrangements have not led to the development of specialised skills in regulation or law enforcement, and capacity gaps are evident amongst staff and members in understanding the private sector and how it works. On a positive note, there is clear evidence of attempts by the LG to be innovative. Based on these findings, this study recommends that LGs need to consider a multi-pronged or multi-network governance approach to LED, which in turn will require a refocusing of governance mechanisms to become more dynamic and responsive, and offer incentives to the various actors in the development sector

Identification of simple sequence repeat markers for sweetpotato weevil resistance

The development of sweetpotato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam] germplasm with resistance to sweetpotato weevil (SPW) requires an understanding of the biochemical and genetic mechanisms of resistance to optimize crop resistance. The African sweetpotato landrace, ‘New Kawogo’, was reported to be moderately resistant to two species of SPW, Cylas puncticollis and Cylas brunneus. Resistance has been associated with the presence of hydroxycinnamic acids esters (HCAs), but the underlying genetic basis remains unknown. To determine the genetic basis of this resistance, a bi-parental sweetpotato population from a cross between the moderately resistant, white-fleshed ‘New Kawogo’ and the highly susceptible, orange-fleshed North American variety ‘Beauregard’ was evaluated for SPW resistance and genotyped with simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers to identify weevil resistance loci. SPW resistance was measured on the basis of field storage root SPW damage severity and total HCA ester concentrations. Moderate broad sense heritability (H2 = 0.49) was observed for weevil resistance in the population. Mean genotype SPW severity scores ranged from 1.0 to 9.0 and 25 progeny exhibited transgressive segregation for SPW resistance. Mean genotype total HCA ester concentrations were significantly different (P < 0.0001). A weak but significant correlation (r = 0.103, P = 0.015) was observed between total HCA ester concentration and SPW severity. A total of five and seven SSR markers were associated with field SPW severity and total HCA ester concentration, respectively. Markers IBS11, IbE5 and IbJ544b showed significant association with both field and HCA-based resistance, representing potential markers for the development of SPW resistant sweetpotato cultivars

Comparative analysis among the small RNA populations of source, sink and conductive tissues in two different plant-virus pathosystems

Conclusions: We compare for the first time the sRNA profile of four different tissues, including source, sink and conductive (phloem) tissues, in two plant-virus pathosystems. Our results indicate that antiviral silencing machinery in melon and cucumber acts mainly through DCL4. Upon infection, the total sRNA pattern in phloem remains unchanged in contrast to the rest of the analyzed tissues indicating a certain tissue-tropism to this polulation. Independently of the accumulation level of the vsRNAs both viruses were able to modulate the host sRNA pattern.We thank Dr A. Niehl for critical reading and helpful comments on the manuscript. This work was funded by a supporting program for the research from the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia (PAID-05-10), a grant BIO2011-25018 from the Spanish granting agency Direccion General de Investigacion Cientifica and the PROMETEO program 2011/003 from the Generalitat Valenciana. 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Performance appraisal in Uganda’s civil service: Does administrative culture matter?

This study explores administrative culture and examines its impact on the reform ofperformance appraisal in Uganda’s civil service, an area which has received littleattention from researchers. It reveals that Uganda’s bureaucracy is characterized by largepower distance, strong uncertainty avoidance, high ethnicity and political neutrality.Evidence for this study gathered from 147 questionnaires, 29 interviews and variousdocuments for eight months indicates that these cultural variables influence theintroduction of performance appraisal by sabotaging its actual conduct and underminingits institutionalization. The study supports the use of power distance and uncertaintyavoidance by various scholars to analyze the linkage between administrative culture andinstruments of management. The additional dimensions of political (neutrality) biasnessand ethnicity pursued by this study are a highly relevant addition to the literature onadministrative culture, and the linkage between administrative culture and instruments ofmanagement.Findings further indicate that administrative culture in Uganda’s bureaucracy is quiteunified and integrated. Background variables such as age, type of education, duration ofservice, studying abroad, birthplace and gender have limited or no influence onadministrative culture. It is only the level of education which has a strong negativecorrelation, i.e. higher levels of education is associated with low power distance, lowuncertainty avoidance, low political neutrality, and low ethnicity.The thesis argues that for the successful introduction of performance appraisals, culturematters because the performance appraisal is imposed from abroad and requires acompatible host administrative culture in order to take root. In this case, the hostadministrative culture was not compatible in many respects with the values underlyingthe appraisal reforms. Although the Ugandan government successfully introduced theappraisal reforms, the incompatibility between the values embedded in the appraisal andthe host administrative culture watered down the reform

Analysis of decision making in Uganda's social security and pension policy reform

This thesis argues that in order to understand Uganda’s social security reforms and how they were formulated, it is important to consider the patterns of interaction amongst the key actors. The major objective is to map out the decision making process of a select group of individuals working within limited time. This work is a qualitative study on the Social Security and Pensions Sector Stakeholder Transition Group (STG) deliberations between January 2003 and February 2004. The STG was appointed by the government of Uganda to come up with policy recommendations to reform the social security and pensions sector. Unraveling the actors involved in the STG and revealing the patterns of communication enabled me to address the following research questions: How did the actors arrive at these policy recommendations? What was the nature of participation among key actors in the STG? Why did the actors arrive at specific decisions? How did the actors arrive at specific decisions? What were the actors’ preferences? Did preferences change during the decision making process? Examining the patterns of interaction between the actors, their preferences, resources, time, and extent of communication, served as a basis for understanding policy formulation. Scholars such as Herbarmas, March and Olsen, Eriksen, Phillip and Zelikow, Gehring, inter alia proclaim that human action is a resultant of individual or group motivation; I drew from their studies and sought to explain policy formulation from the rationality perspective. With institutional oriented decision making, policies reflect context and specific policy objectives. Strategic oriented decision making reflects narrow preferences and compromise laden policy options. Consensus produces well reasoned and often new policy options. Data shows that the strategic oriented decision making style was more dominant, rule-following was next and the consensual was the least practiced by the STG. This paper concludes by suggesting that it is imperative to underscore the interaction patterns of policy formulators in order to get the essence of policies formulated. These forms of interaction do not only inform policies, but also determine the nature of established policies. These patterns are not absolute in themselves, but together, they led to the twenty four policy proposals for reforming the social security and pensions sector in Uganda. Finally, the decisions could either be incremental or radical in character

Institutional roles and the implementation of Local Economic Development, Kasese District, Uganda

The study examined the relationship between institutional roles and the implementation of Local Economic Development (LED) in Uganda, taking Kasese District as a case study. The study objectives were to examine how technical roles, political roles, Civil Society Organisations and private sector roles affect implementation of LED implementation in Kasese District Local Government. The study was a correlational research design that adopted both quantitative and qualitative approaches. A sample of 120 respondents were observed using questionnaires and interviews. Data were analysed using Pearson correlation coefficient and regressions analysis. The study findings revealed that there is a positive significant relationship between technical roles, political roles, civil society roles and private sector roles with the implementation of LED. The study recommended among others, that local governments should be assisted to create efficacious LED institutions and create LED implementation planning frameworks involving key actors and stakeholders at locality level