Njoh, AJ; (1990) Interorganizational relations and effectiveness in housing policy administration: The institutional development of the housing delivery system in Cameroon. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

Text Njoh_10127845_thesis_redacted.pdf Download (10MB)

Abstract

The general issue dealt with in this study is that of institutional weaknesses in less developed countries (LDCs). The focus was specifically on the housing policy field. The problem was treated as a function of insufficient interaction amongst institutional actors in this field. Thus, a positive relationship between interorganizational relations (IOR) and organizational effectiveness (OE) in the housing field was posited as a central hypothesis. Primary data generated through two standardized multiple choice questionnaires administered respectively to (29) heads of housing policy organizations (HPOs) and (113 of) their clients in four urban areas in Cameroon, the empirical referent of the study, were used. The former elicited information on IOR and the latter, on OE. The inability of extant models to deal with the concept of OE as employed in the study was noted. A more appropriate model incorporating client satisfaction, an inherent but largely ignored indicator of the concept, was developed and employed. The following questions were addressed: 1) what types of institutions participate in the residential development process in Cameroon? 2) what is the interorganizational structure of the housing delivery system in the country? 3) how and to what extent do organizations within the system interact with one another in fostering the country's housing policy objectives? and 4) what is the nature of the link between IOR and OE? Uncovering answers to these questions necessitated additional data from other sources such as key housing policymakers in the country, government documents, and published and unpublished works. It also entailed the use of both qualitative and quantitative approaches to social scientific enquiry. The former was used mainly to surface answers to the first three questions and the latter, to deal with the fourth. The statistical models used included, contingency tabulations, simple and multiple regression using a stepwise inclusion pattern. A test of the central hypothesis was conducted initially using the contingency tabulation model. A further test using the analysis of variance (ANOVA) procedure and F-statistic was carried out. Results of both tests supported the hypothesis. Based on these results, theory and intuition, a causal relationship between IOR and OE was inferred. It was thus concluded that, at least in the context of the study, the effectiveness of institutions such as HPOs operating in the development policy field depends to some significant degree on the extent to which they interact with one another. An important policy implication of this finding is that planners and other change agents interested in strengthening institutional capacity in LDCs must entertain IOR as a viable alternative and seek to encourage, rather than ignore or be passive about it as has customarily been the case.

Download activity - last month

Export as JSONCSVXML

Download activity - last 12 months

Export as JSONCSVXML

Downloads by country - last 12 months

Export as XMLJSONCSV

Archive Staff Only

View Item