Influence of Organizational Structure on the Performance of Agencies Constituting the National Council on the Administration of Justice in Kenya

Abstract

Strategy implementation drivers are elements that shape an organization's strategy and determine important success elements, long-term prosperity, and essential value propositions. The National Council on the Administration of Justice in Kenya comprises state and non-state actors in the administration of justice. They play a role in establishing and maintaining a favorable environment for the economic, social, and political development of the country as envisaged in the Kenya Vision 2030. Despite the existence of strategic plans, government agencies have been criticized for underperformance. Implementation of the strategic plan has been marred with challenges including: clogging up of the Justice system with petty offenses, systemic, structural, and agency challenges, a low rate of successful prosecution of serious offences, and that the justice system is skewed against the poor. This study sought to establish the influence of organizational structure on the performance of agencies constituting the National Council on the Administration of Justice in Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were to establish the influence of power relations, communication flow, and people interactions on the performance of agencies constituting NCAJ and to assess the moderating role of the regulatory environment on the relationship. The study used a descriptive correlational survey research design and utilized both qualitative and quantitative data. The study's unit of analysis was the 36 institutions that comprise the NCAJ, while the unit of observation was 231 drawn from the top and middle-level managers, with a sample of 164 obtained using the Yamane formula. Primary data were collected using interviews and structured questionnaires administered by trained research assistants. Secondary data were collected from NCAJ reports. A pilot study of 10% of the sample frame was conducted, and those who participated in the pilot study were excluded from the final study. Cronbach's alpha and exploratory factor analysis were used to test the reliability and validity of the data collection instrument. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze data with the help of the SPSS tool. Descriptive statistics was presented using measures of central tendency and measure of variability in tables, while inferential statistics was presented using a regression model. The study found that power relations, communication flow, and people interactions have a significant and positive relationship with the performance of agencies constituting the NCAJ. Thus, the study concluded that there is a strong, significant positive relationship between organizational structure (r=.225 and p<0.05) and the performance of agencies constituting the National Council on the Administration of Justice in Kenya. The study also concluded that the Regulatory environment has a moderating influence on the relationship between organizational structure and the performance of agencies constituting the National Council on the Administration of Justice in Kenya (r=.241 and p<0.05). From the findings, the study recommended that NCAJ should maintain a clear line of communication between the various management levels. This will assist firms in increasing productivity, increasing employee loyalty and morale, making operations run more smoothly, and, as a result, increasing customer satisfaction.