Performance Risk Management in Higher Education and Training Institutions in Developing countries

Abstract

Over the past two decades, governments in Developing countries have continuously increased the funding of their higher education and training institutions without a corresponding HEI performance improvement. While a lot of research on developed countries’ HEIs clearly indicate the possible performance risks, it seems, very little research has focused on the performance risks in developing countries’ HETIs. As result, many unknown risks continue to impinge on the performance of the Developing countries’ HEIs. This study aimed to assess the performance risks in Developing countries’ HETIs with a view to developing a performance risk management framework for HEIs in developing countries. A quantitative study employing a structured questionnaire was carried out on 250 randomly selected respondents from the Higher Education Sector in South Africa. This quantitative study was also supported by an extensive documentary analysis of records from the sector. The general mean (average) of the sub-factors was computed and ranked to find the significance of discovered performance risks in the Higher Education Institutions in South Africa. The results provide an understanding of the risk factors on the performance of the HETIs a developing country demonstrating among others, that academic support and attitude of students pose some serious challenges to performance management in HETI sector in a developing country like South Africa. These findings have practical implications for the management of performance in a developing country’s HETIs which are contrary to established norms in the developed world. This suggests a need for a different approach to managing performance risks in developing countries.