Contents Preface………………………………………...…………….…………………………….2 1. Introduction…………………….……..…………….…………………………………….3 2. Definition of Organisation……………………………………..………………………….3 3. Organisational Behavoiur…………………………………………….......……………….4 4. Definitions of Learning……………………………………………………………...…….4 1. Classical Conditioning Theory………………………………...………………….5 2. Operant Conditioning Theory……………………………….…………………….5 3. Social Learning Theory………………………………….………………………..6 4. Cognitive Theory……………………………………...…………………………..6 5. Organisational Learning…………………………………………………………………..6 1. Organisational Learning contribution from Educational Psychology………….....7 2. Organisational Learning contribution from Sociology…………………………....7 3. Organisational Learning contribution from Economics…………………………..7 4. Organisational Learning contribution from Anthropology………….…………….8 5. Organisational Learning contribution from Political Science…………...………..8 6. Organisational Learning contribution from Management Science………….…….8 6. Learning Organisation…………………………………………………………………….9 1. Team Learning……………………………………………………….……………9 2. Shared Visions…………………………………………………………………….9 3. Mental Models…………………………………………………….………………9 4. Personal Mastery……………………………………………………...………….10 7. Executive Summary on Organisational Behaviour within Kyambogo University……....10 1. Manifestation of Organisational Behavoiur Learning issues in the Kyambogo Case Study……………………………………………………………………….11 2. Recommendations……………………………………………….……………….14 8. Conclusions………………………………………………………………………………17 9. References………………………………………………………………………………..18

Annex I
Names of Eagle 3 Group members………………………………………………………………20

1. Introduction

The complexity of current business environments has imposed constantly changing settings in which organizations compete for survival. As a result, special emphasis is placed on acquiring, motivating and retaining quality human resources, since these initiatives are essential for the success of organizations. Moreover, as organizational success is tied to human resource innovations, it is increasingly obvious that all organizations whatever their size and business orientation, depend on the knowledge and expertise of their employees to create sustainable agility and competitive advantage.

To achieve this, organizations not only create enabling environment but also ensure that employees have the appropriate expertise to do the job. Learning clearly underpins this and as such to remain competitive in a business environment characterized with uncertainty and constant change, organization’s ability to learn from the past and with a better understanding of what is required for the future is essential for their survival. Learning therefore influences organizational behavior and vital for their relevance and success. Mullins (2010)
Most organizations often fail to capitalize on the collective learning ability of their people. Organizations that value the knowledge and experience of their staff and see that as central to their progress will value the role of learning in the work they do. Applying a range of learning concepts is the foundation for building and managing effective organizational learning.

2. Organisation

An organisation is a managed system designed and operated to achieve a specific set of objectives. Organizations can mean different things for those who use them and work in them, because for some, they are significant personal and social sources of money, physical resources; meaning, relevance, purpose and identity; order and stability and for others it offers security, support and protection; status, prestige, self esteem and self confidence; power, authority and control (Huczynski and Buchanan, 2007).

According to Laudon and Laudon (2006), an organisation can be defined technically as a stable, formal social structure with internal rules and procedures that must abide by laws. They further defined an organisation from a behavioral perspective as a collection of rights, privileges, obligations and responsibilities that is delicately balanced over a period of time through conflict and conflict resolution. In this behavioral view, people in organizations develop customary ways of working and they gain attachment to existing relationships. Organizations are thus social arrangements for the controlled performance of collective goals according to Huczynski and Buchanan (2007).

3. Organizational Behavior

Organizational behavior is the study of the structure, functioning and performance of organizations, and the behavior of groups and individual within them Huczynski and Buchanan (2007).

Griffin (1999) defines organizational behavior as a pattern of actions by the members of an organisation that directly or indirectly influences organizational effectiveness. He continued to outline the workplace behaviors to include performance behaviors, withdrawal behaviors and organizational citizenship. He further defined performance behaviors as the total set of work-related behaviors that the organisation expects the individual to display. On the other hand, absenteeism and high turnover rates constitute withdrawal behaviors in organizations.

Additionally, Griffin (1999) referred to organizational citizenship as the behaviors of individuals that make a positive overall contribution to the organisation. The purpose of organizational behaviour is to gain a greater understanding of those factors that influence individual and group dynamics in an organisational setting so that individuals and the groups and organizations to which they belong may become more efficient and effective. The study of organisational behaviour therefore seeks to integrate the insights of diversity, discipline and applying them to real-life problems and opportunities.

Whereas there several factors that influence organisational behavior, according to Mullin (2010), the main factors that influence the way individuals and groups in organizations behave can be listed as follows: - Individual differences - Organisational culture - Information technology - Organisational structure - Organisational mission statement - Learning.
In relation to our case study focus will therefore be bestowed on the aspect of learning.

4.0 Learning

According to Wikipedia, learning is defined is a goal-directed act. Learning is acquiring new, or modifying and reinforcing, existing knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences and may involve synthesizing different types of information.

In organization behavior, Learning frequently occurs when an individual has to deal with a new situation. It is about developing new skills, competencies and attitude to meet new situations. It is a change in behaviour that occurs as a result of one’s interaction with the environment. Torrington, et al (2005) defined learning as the changed or new behaviour resulting from new or reinterpreted knowledge that has been derived from an external or internal experience. Learning is a powerful incentive for many employees to stick to certain organizations and has significant impact on individual behaviour as it influences abilities, role perceptions and motivation. Organizations can therefore influence these factors in their bid to promote and encourage learning initiatives.

Torrington et al (2005) stated that there are a number of ways people learn and outlined the following as some of the effective means of work-related learning techniques: - Action learning - Coaching - Mentoring - Peer relationships - Learning logs.

Huczynski and Buchanan (2007) advanced that changes in behaviour can be measured or quantified using learning curves. A learning curve is a high learning concept which is valid for a wide range of situations. It is a diagrammatic presentation of the amount of learning in relation to time. At the beginning, it is natural that the rate of learning increases but levels off at a point indicating that maximum performance has been achieved and plateaus indicating flattening off in terms of the improvement.

Learning Theories.

There are broadly four theoretical approaches to understanding the nature of learning. Whilst there are no right or wrong theory, organisational behaviors often reflect the explicit or implicit acceptance of one or more of such theoretical perspectives.

4.1 Classical Conditioning theory

Classical conditioning theory discovered by Pavlov (1927) shows how a behaviour or response that is already established can become associated with a new stimulus. It is based on the premise that a physical event termed a stimulus that initially does not elicit a particular response gradually acquires the capacity to elicit that response as a result of repeated pairing with a stimulus that elicits a reaction.

4.2 Operant Conditioning theory

Here people learn by continually looking for ways to achieve more positive reinforcement in terms of rewards and avoid negative reinforcement in terms of punishment (Skinner, 1953). Reinforcement is defined as a stimulus or event that affects the likelihood that an immediately preceding behaviour will be repeated. Besides reinforcement, punishment produces avoidance behaviour, which appears to weaken learning but not curtail it. It operates under the assumption that if behaviour can be learned, it can also be unlearned.
The classical and operant conditioning theories constitute the behavioral theories concentrating on changes in observable behaviors.

4.3 Social learning theory

A lot of psychologists have been associated with this theory; notable among them are Albert Bandura, N. E. Miller and J. C. Dollard. Social learning theory, also known as observational learning, state that people learn through observing others’ behaviour, attitudes, and outcomes of those behaviors Bandura, (1977). Furthermore, Bandura (1977) explained human behaviour in terms of continuous reciprocal interaction between cognitive, behavioral, and environmental influences. He believed that direct reinforcement could not account for all types of learning. The social learning theory added a social element, arguing that people can learn new information and behaviors by watching other people. He noted that external environmental reinforcement was not the only factor to influence learning and behaviour but also intrinsic reinforcement such as pride, satisfaction, and a sense of accomplishment.

4.4 Cognitive theory

Cognitive theory is based on an information processing approach and is basically concerned with what goes on in the learner’s mind. The cognitive theorist argued that the rewards and punishment that behavioural theorists call reinforcement, work in more complex ways than the conditioning theories suggested (Huczynski and Buchanan 2007). These authors claimed that in reinforcement, people are always aware about the results of the past behaviour; thus a feedback on how successful a behaviour has been. Huczynski and Buchanan further stressed that knowledge is information which can be used to modify or maintain previous behaviour. Cognitive theory of learning is therefore not concerned with the relationship between stimuli and responses, but rather with the plans that people choose and the way they adopt to pursue and how these plans are modified by experience (Torrington et al 2005).

An organisation which facilitates the learning of all it members and continually transform itself is refered to as a learning organisation (Peddler et al 1991). On the other hand, organisational learning is based on the detached observation of individual and collective learning processes in organisations (Torrington et al 2005).
In quest for understanding how the issue of learning relates or manifests itself in the kyambogo case study, we need to fully understand the concepts of organization learning and learning organizations.
5.0 Organization learning
Just as a wide variety of the social science disciplines have contributed to the study of Organization Behavior (OB), so too have they contributed to the subset of OB called Organizational Learning. Greenberg and Baron (2003) define an organization as “a social system consisting of groups and individuals working together to meet some agreed-upon objectives”. When one considers the key elements of that definition – individuals, groups, social systems, and objectives -- the disciplines of Psychology, Sociology, Economics, Anthropology, Political Science, Management Science and higher education as a whole would seem to have the most widespread and profound impact on the contributions to the understanding of organizational learning.

5.1 Organizational learning contribution from educational psychology

Educational psychology has contributed to the field of learning since the mid-nineteenth century. Johann Friedrich Herbart may be thought of as the first voice of modern educational psychology. His disciples, called Herbartians, were instrumental in enhancing the field. They wrote on the subject referred to now as the schema theory and promoted five formal steps for teaching: 1. Preparation (of the mind of the student) 2. Presentation (of the material to be learned) 3. Comparison 4. Generalization 5. Application
It was this group who started the evolution of researching and studying the field of teaching. In addition to Herbart's work, we have the classic contribution by Bloom.

5.2 Organizational learning contribution from sociology

Dierkes, Berthoin Antal, Child, & Nonaka (2003) state, "Sociologists approach learning not as something that takes place in the mind but as something produced and reproduced in social relations of individuals when they participate in society" (p. 47). This concept opens the realm of integrated learning as a part of our every-day life. It suggests that a large part of our learning comes from the informal source of social relationships. This further introduces the concept of practice as a prominent factor in the sociological discipline. The sociological discipline resupposes that every activity in life is an opportunity to learn and that learning in casual social settings is as important as formal learning experiences.

5.3 Organizational learning contributions from economics

Contributions to organizational learning by the discipline of Economics have been most apparent in the development, usage, and mastery of analytical models used to improve decision making. Organizations or companies must be adept at quickly learning the implications of the competitive landscape for their particular sector. For instance, an organization that seeks to optimize profitability based on current or anticipated market conditions. To achieve a perfect, optimal decision, the decision-maker must have complete and perfect information.

5.4 Organizational learning contribution from anthropology

Anthropology began to use the term ‘organizational learning’, as it refers to the learning we do, in context of social structures. This is an important delineation of terms because it crosses disciplines. Understanding the use of the term organizational learning in this light helps focus on how we learn in social structures, which is diffused differently than in the context of independent learning.

5.5 Organizational learning contributions from political science

Research in the area of public sector learning is one example of the political science field's contribution to organizational learning. Allison's (1971) research indicated leaders in public organizations tend to use historical data to help make decisions and improve internal processes.

5.6 Organizational learning from management science

The concept of management science is best understood within the framework of post-modern learning theories. The post-modern notion that all existence is interrelated can be applied to organizational learning by way of management science - purposing toward a new awareness. Peter Pawlowsky defines this organizational learning approach as the ...transformation of informational and knowledge resources in integrated work systems. [He adds that] innovation, growth, and productivity gains do not result from separating tasks in the workflow of a knowledge-intensive operation but rather from integrating and combining knowledge in order to develop new ideas and jointly develop solutions through problem-solving processes (Dierkes, 2003, p. 61).
Fig. 1 Behavioral science a multi-disciplinary approach
[pic]

6.0 Learning organisation

According to Torrington et al, the learning organisation concept centers more on individual learning and self development, this implies that it is only when an individual’s learning has an impact on and interrelates with others that organisation members learn together and gradually begin to change the way things are done.
There are five disciplines (as described by Peter Senge) which are essential to a learning organisation and should be encouraged at all times. These are:
6.1 Team Learning
Virtually all important decisions occur in groups. Teams, not individuals, are the fundamental learning units. Unless a team can learn, the organisation cannot learn.
6.2 Shared Visions
To create a shared vision, large numbers of people within the organisation must draft it, empowering them to create a single image of the future. All members of the organisation must understand, share and contribute to the vision for it to become reality.
6.3 Mental Models
Each individual has an internal image of the world, with deeply ingrained assumptions. Individuals will act according to the true mental model that they subconsciously hold, not according to the theories which they claim to believe. If team members can constructively challenge each others' ideas and assumptions, they can begin to perceive their mental models, and to change these to create a shared mental model for the team. This is important as the individual's mental model will control what they think can or cannot be done.
6.4 Personal Mastery
Personal mastery is the process of continually clarifying and deepening an individual's personal vision. This is a matter of personal choice for the individual and involves continually assessing the gap between their current and desired proficiencies in an objective manner, and practising and refining skills until they are internalised.
7.0 Executive Summary On Organisational Behavoiur Within Kyambogo University.

Kyambogo University is a public university in Uganda that was established in 2003, as a creature of the University and other Tertiary Institutions (Amendment) Act 2003, through the merger of the three institutions namely; • Uganda Polytechnic Kyambogo (UPK) • Uganda National Institute of Special Education (UNISE) • Kyambogo Institute of Teacher Education (ITEK).

The campus is located on Kyambogo Hill approximately 10km by road East of the Central Business District of Kampala along the Kampala – Jinja Highway.

The university however has become a bed of unrest. Just as the tuition fees scandal threatened to tear apart the 10-year-old institution, in-house wrangles, rages on between the top management and staff associations over mismanagement, poor service delivery and delayed payment of salaries, among others have heated in.
The media have constantly published issues that have portrayed several factors that have influenced organizational behavior in the University resulting in the above scandals. Some of these factors have been mentioned in section 3 of this report.

The Inspectorate of Government also received a complaint alleging the corruption and mismanagement of the University with the following background.
In particular, it was alleged; • That there was complete failure by the University’s top management, to implement the merger of the three institutions, namely Uganda Polytechnic (UPK), Institute of Teacher’s Education, Kyambogo and Institute for special Education (UNISE), to form a new Kyambogo University and handle integration by staff within the new structure. • That there was conflict of interest involving Top Management of the University and characterized by failure to handle the appointment of top management staff members of the University in a transparent manner and in accordance with relevant laws. • That there is gross mismanagement of the financial and other resources of the University

7.1 Manifestation of organisational behavoiur learning issues in the Kyambogo case study. 1. The individuals at the university seem not to engage with a shared vision, they are instead using personal mastery to advance their own personal visions a case in point is some staff employing their relatives, demanding for promotions among others. Here personal mastery is being applied in the contrary hence acting as a threat to the university. Remember Peter Senge asserts that “to empower people in an unaligned organisation can be counterproductive” 2. There is evidence of resistance to learning at the university. This is attributed to the absence of sufficient buy-in at an individual level. It is noted that the VC and other officials are not willing to see change nor is the group of staff and some members of management with indiscipline and fraud related interests. These people feel threatened by change or believe that they have the most to lose. They have developed closed mind sets, and are not willing to engage with mental models. 3. In addition, the size of the university employees (organizational size) is a barrier to internal knowledge sharing (learning). with a big working force of 1116 people of which 421 are teaching staff internal knowledge sharing dramatically decreases because of higher complexity in the formal organizational structure, weaker inter-employee relationships, lower trust, reduced connective efficacy, and less effective communication. As such, as the size of an organizational unit increases, the effectiveness of internal knowledge flows dramatically diminishes and the degree of intra-organizational knowledge sharing decreases. 4. Conversely, an unsupportive organisational culture, the university staff seem not to appreciate the works of the VC due to his nationality. This is an indication of the staff’s limited knowledge or learning of the prospects arising from the East African Community and the subsequent mutual recognition agreements. 5. Unclear roles; The roles of the different persons and Departments at the university seem to have not been learnt. For example the VC taking on roles of the university secretary, and for the finance department, Department heads taking on the roles of human resource, e.t.c are all evidences of a learning gap. 6. Lack of innovation - The University seem to still apply traditional hierarchical structures and management styles. This is seen from claims by some staff that the VC’s people management skills and hence his leadership styles were lacking. There seems to be no environment created where individuals can share learning without it being devalued and ignored, so that more people can benefit from their knowledge and they in turn becomes empowered. 7. Lack of resources negatively impacted organisational learning. From the case it is reported the there is break down in all the systems and that some Departments do not have computers hence inhibiting the learning process. 8. Lack of confidence among those entrusted with power; there also seems to be no confidence among all the stakeholders at the university. This is as a result of an unlearned trait of trust to those entrusted with leadership. Some members of the council are said to have bad blood the VC, camps also exist among the staff and this has left the university sharply divided. 9. Lack of motivation; some staff are not motivated. This could be attributed to the insufficient pay e.t.c resulting into low morale. 10. Unwillingness to participate, 11. There are also notable barriers to learning at the university according to Torrington, et al (2005) these can be identified as: a. Insufficient learning culture of the university - The university seems to have no acceptable set of attitudes, values and practices that support the process of continuous learning as it should be for any learning Organisation.(the VC is usurping the powers of the university secretary, staff are grabbing university land, the procurement officer is seconded for investigations among others. b. There is fear of the risk of admitting failure, there is also this risk for example the university Council reversing its earlier decision of requesting the VC to step aside because the Council lacked legal backing. This stirred up confusion the more since the staff took to stand by their demands and the Council would not educated them on the ramifications of their demand. c. A lot of internal competition, the case study openly exposes the internal competition at the university. This is seen between the staff who support the VC and those who don’t. d. High degree of resistance to ideas, there is firm indication that the several parties including the junior education minister, Minister of Education and Sports, members of parliament have tried to bring the warring parties at the university together but no success is achieved. e. lack of incentive to change,
According to the Inspector General of Government’s Report. 12. Deviation from the original vision / concept of the merger. The Government’s original vision on the merger of the three institutions was to form this University, as a greater Polytechnic, specialized in advancing professionalism in science, technology and teacher education, and embracing the former institutions as constituent colleges and the constituent college system was for purposes of retaining the special characteristics and core competences of the former institutions. This original idea as conceived by Government was later abandoned by the Ministry of Education and Sports. It was this oversight on the part of the Ministry, that was partly the genesis of the management crisis that later paralyzed Kyambogo University. 13. Lack of an effective implementation strategy. There was failure to implement the merger of the three institutions(ITEK, UPK and UNISE) to form Kyambogo University and also to handle the integration of staff into its new structure, characterized by complete lack of an effective implementations strategy, a situation that various commentators have referred to as a faculty start of the merger. 14. Weaknesses in the legal framework establishing the University. Weaknesses in the legal framework that established Kyambogo University further complicated the merger of the University especially the integration of staff from the former three institutions into the new University. Kyambogo University was established by the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions (Amendment) Act, 2003. Under Section 3 of the Amendment Act the 3 institutions merged into one University known as Kyambogo University. However, Under Section 4 and 5 of the same Act the status quo of the former institutions was restored thus complicating the staff integration process into the new university. 15. Lack of a broad based Interim University Council. The Spirit of the Act (Universities and other Tertiary Institutions Act, 2001) as enshrined under Section 38 of the Act, was that the composition of the University Council was to be broad based and accommodative of divergent stake holder’s interests. It was established that prior to the merger ITEK and UPK had separate autonomous governing boards, which should have been dissolved. However, instead of dissolving both, ITEK governing Council was re-appointed Interim council for the new University by appointing the members of former ITEK, governing Council, as the new Interim Council for Kyambogo University. This council was not representative of the interests of UNISE and UPK staff, especially with regard to the critical issue of integration, under new terms and conditions. 16. Irregular appointment of the top officers of the University. That whereas the Task Force Committee originally appointed to review and propose a management structure for the new University had recommended that top administrators of the University be appointed by Council on Acting basis, until positions were advertised and competed for, publicly and whereas the University Council, had during its meeting, held on 14th December, 2004, resolved that the positions of top officers of the University be publicity advertised and competed for, this decision was later changed by Council, to have the appointments in question, internally advertised and filled-up.

1. The VCs concerns stem right from the time of his appointment, the procedure of appointment may seem not clear with allegation of him just snatching the position. 2. The requirements for the VC post seemed unclear in regard to the desired nationality. 3. The working style and changes introduce were not disseminated well- like blocked payments of responsibility allowances. 4. The big working force of 1116 people of which 421 are teaching staff is a big number for effective managing of the learning process. 5. Failure to crystallize external environment to the advantage of the university. 6. The appreciation of the organization structure and the flow of power and authority. The council was forced to rescind.VC taking on powers of CEO. 7. Failure of the university council to back up their position of seeing the VC step aside. Prof. Okedi submission indicates the councils position was reached without thorough consultations. Bad-blood. 8. Unbecoming behavior at the university (land grabbing and disappearance of other assets e.t.c) indicates that the university values are not communicated among the members. 9. Disunity at the university 10. Failing systems- teachers getting to the extent of making false teaching claims, accounting and finance policy. 11. Deviation from original vision / concept of merger. 12. Lack of an effective implementation strategy. 13. Weaknesses in the legal framework establishing the university. 14. Lack of a broad based interim university council. 15. Irregular appointment of top officers of the university.
7.2 Recommendations on how to approach the issues raised above.
There is need for the university to adopt Behaviour modification. This is a general label for approaches to changing behaviour through the use of appropriate and timely reinforcement. This approach is based on the premise that people learn to repeat behaviours that have favourable consequences. It uses the principles of reinforcement (motivational strategies) to eliminate undesirable workplace behaviours and to increase the frequency of such desirable behaviours. (Ref to classical conditioning and operant conditioning theories).

Effective motivational strategies can either be transactional or relational rewards. The transactional rewards are mostly in the form of pay increase and attractive benefits whereas the relational rewards are in the form of employee recognition, flexible work/life balance, positive working conditions, sense of achievement, employee empowerment and involvement in decision making, opportunities for personal growth, career advancement and positive personal traits (Lohman 2005). All these motivational strategies drive employee satisfaction and commitment toward the achievement of organisational goals.

Illustration
Suppose a manager want more assignment completed on time, and less submitted beyond the required deadline; the manager may use positive reinforcement like compliment to reinforce this behaviour or use negative reinforcement (punishment/sanctions) like warning letter to deter undesirable behaviours. Smither (1988) cited a typical example of how this was applied in a factory in Mexico which suffered serious timekeeping problem; 15% of their workforce arrived late for work on regular basis. Management decided to reward good timekeeping by paying workers two pesos a day extra if they started work early. Lateness fell from 15% to 2%, at minimal additional cost to the company. In customer oriented organisations, a positive reinforcement can be used to create superior customer value; motivational strategy like recognition can greatly influence behaviours positively as far as delighting customers is concerned.

Social learning theory can also be applied to influence organisational behavior at the university. A great deal of what is learnt about how to behave in organisations can be explained through the process of observational learning. For instance, a new staff acquires job skills by observing what an experienced employee does. Organisations tend to have different standards concerning, for example, social interactions at work; the appropriate amount of deference to show to superiors, dress and appearance; and attitudes to work, colleagues. The newcomer has to learn these standards to be a successful and accepted member of the organisation. It is not enough just to learn the knowledge and skills required to perform work duties and responsibilities but to also acclimatise towards the accepted corporate culture. The Vice Chancellor arrived in Kyambogo University with values, attitudes, beliefs and expectations that he had acquired elsewhere. He may have to unlearn the old way in order to learn the new ways of doing things in the new organization. The VC therefore may need to change his management styles. The University may also borrow a leaf from other universities such as Uganda Martyrs’ Nkozi to see how things are done in the latter. Social learning increases self-efficiency because people gain greater self-confidence after observing others perform task.

Illustration
Managers can shape employee behaviour by systematically reinforcing each successive step that moves the individual closer to the desired response. If an employee, for example, who has often been an hour late for work comes in only twenty minutes late, the boss can reinforce that improvement.

Cognitive learning theory, which emphasised the informative and motivational function of feedback, can also be applied to positively influence learning at the university as follows: a. Motivating staff to learn and with management, establishing what the motives of organisational learning are, and clearly outlining the benefits. The motivational strategies may include a prestigious job title, the acquisition of a valued skill, offering trips e.t.c. b. Giving employees clear, frequent and appropriate feedback on their performance and progress. It is worth noting that intrinsic feedback is usually inadequate in organisational learning and therefore it is essential that management strategically formulates and provides the relevant extrinsic feedback as well. c. Kyambogo University should focus on rewarding appropriate behaviours since punishment does not tell employees what they are doing wrong or what they have to do to improve but rather punishment for poor work done is likely to instil dislike, distrust and hostility in affected employees and reduce their motivation for learning.

Sambrook and Stewart (2000). From the positive perspective, clarity and understanding of roles, increased responsibility, a developed learning culture, senior management support, can make a significant difference in Kyambogo staff if the methods are employed by top management.

Garvin (1993) cited that for learning to be a meaningful organisational goal, it must be widely understood, have application to the work being performed, and be supported by the organizational leadership. Therefore the council can borrow from the operant conditioning theory to accept the good aspects that Professor Ndiege has and slowly work on modification of the negative.

Garvin reiterated that for an organisation to learn, a change must take place and newly gained knowledge must be intentional and managed. Learning practices and policies must therefore be the foundation of managed organisational learning. Garvin further suggested five basic practices that organizations can manage to enable organisational learning: systematic problem solving, experimentation, the use of demonstration projects, experiential learning, and learning from others on the outside (benchmarking).
He added that measurements must effectively gauge the stages of organisational learning: cognitive, behavioural changes, where members actually alter their behaviour based on new learning; and finally, performance improvement, where behavioural changes lead to positive business results in safety, quality, market share, and profitability.

Developing a sound learning culture plays a significant role in the organisational learning process. Amabile (1998) pointed out the following management practices in creating an effective learning culture within an organisation: providing employees with challenges; freedom to innovate; providing the resources needed to create new ideas; diversity of perspectives and backgrounds within groups; supervisor encouragement; and organisational support. The University must create an environment where individuals can share learning without it being devalued and ignored, so more staff can benefit from their knowledge and the individuals become empowered through participative styles of management. A learning organization needs to fully accept the removal of traditional hierarchical structures.
The staff should be encouraged and given the opportunity to get involved and contribute to policy making as part of the learning process. This way they own the policy outcome as this drives their motivation and commitment towards the achievement of the organisational goals. In the same respect the adoption of equitable human resource management policies and procedures by staff is very necessary.

The implications for effective learning are that people react to problem situations in different ways and so there should be harmonisation between the learning methods and the learning styles. The Vice Chancellor, Council and staff in different segments should be addressed differently as well as effective recruitment, selection and socialization. This involves use of more than a single structure in order that knowledge may be assembled across the boundaries of a traditional organisation chart. If people have less permanent places in the hierarchy they are more readily able to move across functional and geographical borders.

University management should understand the psychological contract they establish with their employees and be fair and equitable. This is not a written document, but implies a series of mutual expectations and satisfaction of needs arising from the people–organisation relationship. It involves a process of giving and receiving by the individual and by the organisation. The psychological contract covers a wide range of expectations of rights and privileges, duties and obligations, which do not form part of a formal agreement but still have an important influence on people’s behaviour. For example Professor Ndiege should treat members of staff with respect, demonstrate an understanding and considerate attitude towards personal problems of staff.

In order to resolve the issue of integration of staff into Kyambogo University, the law establishing Kyambogo University should be amended to allow restructuring and proper integration of staff into the University allowing for retrenchment/retirement of staff who cannot fit in the new structure, upgrading of unqualified staff within a given period and voluntary retirement accompanied with an attractive retirement package to motivate those who can retire voluntarily. Time frame must be provided and specific tasks should be assigned specific persons in the institution to avoid a repeat of what happened in the instant case.

Government should also reconsider the original proposal, as contained in the Education white paper report, 1992, of creating Kyambogo University, as a federal University with constituent colleges, and continued maintenance of special characteristics of the merged institutions and emphasis on promotion of Science and Technology. Each constituent college would be headed by a principal, in accordance with the provisions of Section 29 of the Universities and Tertiary Institutions Act 2001, with an overall Vice Chancellor.

There should be effective supervision by the Ministry of Education and Sports to ensure an effective and efficient merger process and to correct the errors already committed.

Computerization of the financial records of the University.

Establishing strong internal control system to safeguard the resources of the University including strengthening the internal audit function of the University.

Strict adherence to procurement procedures and public financial regulations e.g. eliminate cash transactions and haphazard purchases.

8.0 Conclusions

From the above discussions, it can be deduced that learning theories can be applied in various ways to influence organisational behaviours positively. The role of management in organisational learning has been to encourage continuous and collective learning and subsequently transform them into desirable behaviours and processes to create sustainable competitive advantage. The above recommendations can therefore be subdivided into 5 categories where different options can be employed. 1. Behaviour modification through classical and operant conditioning theories which mainly involves motivational strategies such as: • Pay increase • Attractive benefits • Employee Recognition • Flexible work / life balance • Positive working conditions • Sense of achievement • Employee empowerment through training and development • Involvement of staff in decision making • Opportunities for personal growth • Career advancement • Positive personal traits • Adoption of equitable human resource management policies and procedures 2. Strategies derived from the Social Learning Theory which may involve • Effective recruitment, selection and socialization • Accepted corporate culture • Benchmarking by comparing with how other universities operate in conflict situations • Provide employees with challenges hence the freedom to innovate • Supervisor encouragement including establishment of strong internal control systems 3. Recommendations derived from the Cognitive Learning Theory • Prestigious job titles • Acquisition of a valued skill • Offering trips • Clear, frequent and appropriate feedback on performance and progress • Clarity and understanding of roles • Human rights, privileges, duties and obligations through psychological contract 4. Computerization of financial records. 5. Strict adherence to procurement procedures and public financial regulations.

9.0 REFERENCES

1. Amabile, T. M. (1998), “How to kill creativity”, Harvard Business Review, 76(5), 76-87 2. Bandura, A. (1977), “Social Learning Theory”, New York, General Learning Press. 3. Griffin, R. W. (1999), “Management”, Houghton Mifflin Company, 6th Edition 4. Huczynski, A. & Buchanan, D. (2007), “Organizational Behavoiur”, Prentice Hall International 5. Laudon, K. C. & Laudon J. P. (2006), “Management Information System: Managing the Digital Firm”, Pearson Education Inc, 10th Edition 6. Lohman, M. C. (2005), “ A survey of factors influencing the engagement of two professional groups in informal workplace learning activities”, Human Resource Development Quarterly, 16(4), 501-527 7. Mullins, L. J. (2010), “Management and Organizational Behaviour”, Pearson Education, 9th Edition 8. Pavlov, I. P. (1927), “Conditioned Reflexes: An Investigation of the Physiological Activity of the Cerebral Cortex”, Translated and Edited by G. V. Anrep, Oxford University Press 9. Peddler, M., Burgoyne, J, & Boydell, T. (1991), “The Learning Company”, McGraw-Hill 10. Sambrook, S. & Stewart, J. (2000). “Factors influencing learning in European learning oriented organizations: issues for management”, Journal of European Industrial Training, 24(2-4), 209-219 11. Skinner, B. F. (1953), “Science and Human Behavoiur”, Macmillan 12. Torrington, D., Hall, L., & Taylor, S. (2005), “Human Resource Management”, Pearson Education Limited, 6th Edition

Annex I

UGANDA MARTYS UNIVERSITY – MBA CLASS (2013) PART TIME RUBAGA

ORGANISATION BEHAVIOUR CLASS

EAGLE 3 GROUP.

|No |NAMES |REG. NUMBER |
|1 |Lutimba Charles (Leader) |2013-M102-20014 |
|2 |Vunji Patrick Lopita |2013-M102-20090 |
|3 |Tumusiime Denis |2013-M102-20028 |
|4 |Mukonyezi Jackson |2013-M102-20042 |
|5 |Mulungi Grace |2013-M102-20019 |
|6 |Kamugasha Sandra |2013-M102-20069 |
|7 |Ssebuliba Joseph |2013-M102-20070 |
|8 |Nakubulwa Georgina |2013-M102-20045 |
|9 |Nangayi Peter Masaba |2013-M102-20042 |