Corporate Artefacts and Customer Satisfaction in Public Secondary Schools in Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

Purpose: Corporate artefacts are those things that are visible, obvious expressions, manifestations and processes of culture in an organization. They give implicit cues to users about the meaning of the place and norms expectation for behaviour in a place. They are an essential ingredient for superior organizational performance and have been linked to school performance. The purpose of the study was to examine the influence of corporate artefacts on customer satisfaction in public secondary schools in Nairobi County, Kenya. These artefacts such as practices and process, logo, mission and vision etc are important communication elements that customers use to create meanings of messages in an organization like a school.

Materials and Methods: This study used a mixed research design with a population study of 3588 students. It included both boys and girls from 12 public secondary schools in Nairobi City County. The students ages ranged from 14 years to 21 years and were in Form 2 to Form 4.  Stratified random sampling was used to sample the population and respondents were then calculated proportionately according to the actual sizes in the schools. A sample size of 369 respondents was selected with 296 respondents responding to the questionnaires and 11 principals or their deputies interviewed. Quantitative data collection was done through questionnaires while qualitative data was collected using interview guides. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse quantitative data. Analysed data was then presented using graphs, tables and charts. Qualitative data was analysed thematically and presented in a narrative form.  Inferential statistics used were descriptive, correlation, regression and ANOVA analysis. 

Findings: The findings of the study indicated that students in public secondary schools also referred to as customers were satisfied with the visible structures that existed in their schools that included the logo, the vision and mission. Additionally, the students were satisfied with the processes in the schools that included the teacher students interactions that influenced the learning environment.  The teacher student interaction is a critical process in learning because it helps teachers create a classroom environment that is helpful to learning as well as meeting student’s educational and emotional needs which then impact on the student’s performance, role clarity and behaviour conformity. From the interview findings, the teachers agreed that they have good teacher-student interactions that help to improve learning and students are encouraged to participate in class activities. However, the students were dissatisfied with the technological systems in their schools. This study revealed that technology is a challenge in most schools and has limited access to academic resources which affect their performance and ultimately their satisfaction. This study concludes that corporate artefacts had a positive influence on customer satisfaction in public secondary schools in Nairobi County.

Unique Contribution to the theory, practice and Policy: This study was guided by Edgar Schein Model. The study confirmed the critical role that corporate artefacts have on customer satisfaction in public secondary schools. The study recommends that schools management should device a curriculum to educate customers gain an understanding of the meaning of corporate artefacts in organizational settings such as schools. In addition, the findings from this study should provide a guide to policy makers in education and other areas to create policies that will highlight the importance of artefacts in organizations. Successful implementation of such policies should be emphasised.