Gaps in the Decision-Making System at Makerere University, Uganda

The world over, drastic transformation of higher education systems is presenting universities with significant opportunities and challenges. Accordingly, universities need highly effective decision-making systems through which they can adopt the decisions they need to reap the opportunities whilst avoiding the challenges associated with transformation. At Makerere University (MU), Uganda, however, decision-making is ineffective, which is affecting the university's ability to respond to the opportunities and challenges its transformed environment is presenting. Informed by the propositions of Systems Theory as they apply to organisational decision-making, therefore, decision-makers' perceptions of the university's decision-making process were surveyed to ascertain whether there is cooperation, hierarchy, order and feedback among the units involved in the process. It was found that although the process is hierarchical, it is marred by uncooperativeness, disorder and poor feedback mechanisms. To enhance decision success, therefore, MU is urged to review its decision-making process to ensure that the units involved therein operate synergistically.