Bewertung des Arabian Journal of Business and Management

The theoretical and empirical debate on the effect of managerial autonomy on the efficiency of urban utilities is still ongoing, yet limited research has been conducted in the water sector in developing countries. To address the gap, this paper gives empirical evidence on the effect of managerial autonomy on the efficiency of urban water service providers in Uganda and Tanzania. Using the managerial autonomy index and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), information from performance and management contracts, utility annual financial reports, partnership deed agreements, water policy statements, and results of 66 respondents was used to determine the level of managerial autonomy and efficiency in the 30 Decision Making Units (DMUs) of NWSC in Uganda and DAWASCO in Tanzania. The effect of managerial autonomy on efficiency was determined using Tobit regression analysis. The results show the mean managerial autonomy level of 47% implying that Head Office (HO) of water utilities has given limited autonomy to the different Decision Making Units (DMUs). Most of the DMUs have no or limited autonomy on procuring assets for their units, entering loan agreements, approving the annual report, and determining staff compensation. The fully efficient towns (1.00) are four and the mean efficiency level is 0.63. The Tobit regression model indicates that the adoption of managerial autonomy significantly (Prob>chi2 = 0.0006) contributes to efficiency. The findings indicate a high likelihood of managerial autonomy causing a change in the efficiency of urban water utilities. The position that an increase in managerial autonomy will cause the likelihood for technical efficiency to decrease, could be expected in the event that the principal (HO) who grants autonomy may not keenly and continuously supervise and monitor the activities of the agent (DMU). Urban water utility managers should put in place an appropriate structural framework to govern the relationship between the water utility HO and the DMU. Besides this, the utility head office should delegate decision making powers to the DMUs based on a clear framework.

 The study evaluated the perception of secondary school students on population control measures. Three research questions guided the study and two hypotheses were tested. A sample of 1000 secondary school students was randomly drawn through a stratified random sampling technique. The study was carried out in Delta State of Nigeria. A 5-point Likert scale questionnaire containing population control measures was used to obtain information on the perception of secondary school students. Percentage, Analysis of variance and F-test were used for data analysis. Seven measures for population control were evaluated. The result showed that the most preferred measure by students is population control through education and counseling. Perception of students did not differ significantly. Recommendations were made for effective counseling on population control.

 The study examined the relationship between perception and attitudes of 640 students toward school counseling and the distribution along sex, class, school location and socio-economic levels using the Students Perception and Attitude Questionnaire (SPAQ) as well as simple percentage, Pearson product moment and t-test techniques. Results showed that a significant relationship exists between perception and attitudes to school counseling. While there was a general low perception which reflected on attitudes, all the variables in the study except sex were found to be significant factors that influence perception as well as attitudes towards counseling.

Students’ performance in English Language as a result of counseling on techniques of effective study was investigated. 80 students (40 boys and 40 girls) randomly selected in each of two mixed schools were used for the study. In both experimental and control groups, concept knowledge test and study habit problem inventory were the pre-treatment measures used to establish equivalence of the two groups, while the concept Achievement test, based on the English Language concepts taught, was administered at the end of the experiment to both groups to assess the effects of the counseling on students’ performance in the subject. The results revealed the counseled students performed significantly better than uncounseled students (t=3.62, df 88, p<.01).