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Factors contributing to the perceived effectiveness of the Kip McGrath Education Centres at Newholmes, Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

This study centred on factors contributing to the perceived organizational effectiveness within



an educational service provider. The guiding assumption of this research was that the general



public supports effective organizations because they are perceived as rendering an effective



and efficient service. This results in a reciprocal relationship between the organization and



its clients. The Kip McGrath Education Centres was studied since it is an organization that has



been rendering educational service in South Africa since 1996. There are to date thirty-five



centres operating in the country. However, while there has been phenomenal growth in terms of



geographical expansion, no studies have been done to establish what has contributed towards



this organization's perceived effectiveness. Literature sources informed this study of the



indicators that characterize effective organizations. Some of these indicators of effectiveness



were used in this research to determine whether the organization under study can be viewed as



one such effective organization. The theoretical underpinning of this study is that there are



inherent contradictions within models of effective organizations. As such, effectiveness should



be determined according to a given model and relevant indicators. This study surveyed



perceptions of the major stakeholders on matters pertaining to the organizational effectiveness



of the Kip McGrath Education Centres at Newholmes. Both the qualitative and quantitative



methodologies were used. That is, questionnaires were used to obtain information from large



samples of educational stakeholders and interviews schedules and check-lists were used to



collect qualitative data from small samples and observations of facilities and activities at



the centre. The findings revealed that the organization under study was rendering an effective



service that clients seem to have valued. This consequently led to their support of the



organization which led to its growth in size, judged by student numbers. The conclusions



derived from these findings were that an effective organization is one that is able to develop



because it possesses salient features necessary for delivering an effective and efficient



service to its clients, thus ensuring their continued support. A major finding was that parents



were willing to pay for the services offered by the Newholmes KMEC because they felt they got



their money's worth. This leads to the conclusion that when the public has confidence in an



education provider, the public is willing and able to pay for the services. A recommendation



arising out of this would be to determine the extent to which perceived effectiveness



translates into genuine effectiveness judged by the quality of programmes offered by a number



of private education providers. This would offer evidence and support for the role of the



private sector in educational provision which can guide government policy and practice. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/3040
Date January 2001
CreatorsRamnath, Linda Pearl.
ContributorsKaabwe, E. S. M.
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis

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