Organizational Determinants in Adoption of Open Source Software (OSS) in Institutions of Higher Learning: A case of Innorero University, Kenya.

Abstract

With the rapid development of Information and Communication Technologies (lCTs) use in public and private sectors and the fast growing Internet access, Institutions of higher learning have no choice but to adopt these technologies if they have to be relevant in this information age. This study aimed at examining the organizational determinants affecting the adoption of open source software in institution of higher learning in Kenya with special reference to Inoorero University. The specific objectives of the study were; to find out how organizational size affects the use of OSS, to examine the effect of organizational structure on the adoption of OSS, to assess the effect of organizational culture on the adoption and use of OSS in the institution of higher learning and lastly to assess the role of the management in the adoption of OSS in institution of higher learning in Kenya. The study used descriptive survey in carrying out the investigation. This study adopted comprehensive qualitative analysis where a careful and complete scrutiny and understanding of the situations in the institutions was done. The target population of the study consisted of; students, teaching staff and management at Inoorero University, School of Information Technology who were 500 in total. The study used both the stratified sampling techniques and the simple random sampling in the determination of the sample. A sample of 150 respondents was selected from whom data was collected. The study used the questionnaire to collect the data of which 137 were returned and analysed. The Cronbach's Alpha reliability coefficient was used to test the reliability of the instruments which yielded a value of 0.891, hence the instruments were considered reliable. The data collected was summarized and presented using both descriptive such as frequencies and percentages and inferential statistics such as the correlation and regression analysis. The results show that the adoption of OSS in the institutions of higher learning was determined by organizational size, organizational structure, role of management and the organizational culture. The correlation analysis showed that organizational size had the highest influence in the adoption of OSS in the learning institution. From the regression analysis it showed that the four factors considered in the study influenced the adoption of OSS by only 22.5%. The study recommends that if the results of this research are implemented by the government of Kenya they can be beneficial to the students and staff of the university and shall form a basis for more research involving the public and private sectors in Kenya. The results would also help in ensuring quality and standardization of the various educational programs at the university level.