The Status of Performance Management for Quality Instruction in Ugandan Private Universities

This paper presents the current status of performance management for quality instruction in private universities in Uganda. The key objective of the study was to establish the relationship between performance management and quality instruction in Uganda’s private universities. The study was grounded on the Goal Setting Theory, the pragmatist research paradigm, and convergent parallel methods. It used self-administered questionnaires, interview guides, and focus group discussions to collect data from 339 academic staff, 20 heads of department, and 12 quality assurance officers. Correlation, regression, and thematic analyses were applied to establish the relationship between the predictor and outcome variables and to glean themes for qualitative data analysis. The results showed a significant positive relationship between performance management and quality instruction (r=.47, p<0.01). In addition, it emerged that performance management contributed 40.8% of the change in quality instruction (R2 = .408). The conclusion held that performance management was a predictor of quality instruction in the selected private universities. Additionally, performance management caused a significant variation in the quality of instruction outputs in private universities. Thus, the university management should enhance its performance management efforts through tailored incentives for heads of department, improved facilities, performance appraisal, and better pay for the academic staff