Effect of Collaboration on Service Delivery in Private Universities Offering Open and Distance Learning in Uganda

Abstract

Purpose: Open and Distance Learning (ODL) provision has expanded rapidly among private universities in Uganda, yet empirical evidence on how collaboration among staff, departments, and external stakeholders shapes the quality of service delivery in this specific context remains limited. Most existing studies on collaboration and service delivery are drawn from general education, public-sector, or blended-learning settings, leaving the ODL-specific mechanism underexamined. This study addresses that gap by testing the effect of collaboration on service delivery among academic staff in private universities offering ODL in Uganda, net of demographic controls, and by examining the associated role of organisational culture. Design/Methodology/Approach: Anchored in Collaborative Governance Theory (Ansell & Gash, 2008), the study used a pragmatic, mixed-methods, sequential explanatory design. Quantitative data were collected through a structured questionnaire from 283 academic staff (against a target sample of 305, determined using Yamane's 1973 formula) drawn from five chartered private universities in the Kampala Metropolitan Area, using constructs adapted from the SERVQUAL model (Parasuraman et al., 1988) and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2003). Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and hierarchical multiple regression were used to test the relationships among collaboration, organisational culture, and service delivery. Key informant interviews with human resource managers and IT specialists were subsequently analysed thematically to explain and contextualise the quantitative results. Findings: Collaboration was moderately-to-strongly and positively correlated with service delivery (r = .646, p < .01). After controlling for gender, age, education, experience, and position, collaboration alone explained an additional 42.7% of the variance in service delivery (ΔR² = .427) and was the strongest single predictor in the model (β = .639, p < .01), for a total explanatory power of 43.9% (R² = .439). Organisational culture was also positively, though more weakly, associated with service delivery (r = .291, p < .01). Qualitative findings corroborated the statistical results: key informants consistently linked collaborative working to improved problem-solving, innovation, and shared accountability for service outcomes. Originality/Value: The study extends Collaborative Governance Theory beyond its traditional public-sector application to the private ODL context and provides Uganda-specific, quantified evidence on the relative contribution of collaboration to service delivery. Practical Implications: Private university managers seeking to improve ODL service quality should prioritise structural mechanisms for collaboration, such as cross-functional teams, joint planning forums, and formal partnerships with industry and government, alongside, not instead of, attention to organisational culture, given that 57.3% of the variance in service delivery remains unexplained.