Organizational culture and performance of the orphan and vulnerable children (OVC) program of the Presbyterian Church, Njoro, Nakuru County, Kenya

Abstract

The contribution made by faith-based institutions in Kenya has been increasing in the provision of care and support for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) alongside government and non-government schemes. Performance issues continue to exist, especially in religiously linked programs. The OVC program of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) in Njoro, Nakuru County, has faced declining donor finances, high turnover of staff, and shrinking coverage of its intended beneficiaries. The research was guided by clearly defined objectives that aimed to examine the effect of employee engagement, reward systems, and organizational values and to assess the effect of stakeholder engagement, all on the performance of the OVC program in PCEA Church Njoro, Nakuru County. Schein’s Organizational Culture Theory provided a comprehensive lens for analyzing the performance of the PCEA OVC program. This theory explained how shared values, engagement, and internal cohesion affect organizational effectiveness. A descriptive survey design guided data collection of the qualitative and quantitative data. Data collection targeted a population of 2,592 beneficiaries who are in or using the OVC program. A total of 335 participants were realized from the population through stratified and simple random sampling methods in the bid to attain a wide range of representation. Structured questionnaires and key informant interviews were used in data collection. Quantitative data was tested against descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis in an attempt to determine the direction and magnitude of the relationship between organizational culture and program performance. Themes were employed to code qualitative data to complement and enrich the quantitative data findings. Research evidence identified that all four organizational culture constructs—reward system, employee participation, stakeholder engagement, and organizational values—each exerted a statistically significant effect on the OVC program performance. Specifically, the study found that employee involvement in decision-making, acknowledgement of good performance, reinforcement of common values, and involvement of stakeholders in planning and program evaluation were factors that promoted effectiveness, accountability, and satisfaction of beneficiaries. The above findings again affirm that there is a need to foster a better positive organizational culture as a strategic means towards maximizing the efficacy and sustainability of faith-based social programs. This study completes the existing literature gap by tackling the church-based OVC interventions, an issue that has been lightly touched under academic research in Kenya. It presents evidence-informed findings that are able to inform church leadership, program management, and development policy decision-making on what to do regarding making the decision to integrate inner systems for improving service delivery. The study is particularly relevant in the context of increasing calls for transparency, performance, and effectiveness by donor-funded child welfare organizations. According to the study, PCEA and similar organizations invest in employee development, equitable reward systems, values-based leadership, and involvement-based program management practices as a way of becoming sustainable in the long term when dealing with vulnerable children.