PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify gaps in the structure of organizations that hinder collaboration of organizations involved in the creation of graduate employment opportunities in Uganda.Design/methodology/approachData was collected from staff and leaders of 14 organizations that were purposely selected to represent government, private, and civil society organizations. These organizations were selected based on their mandates, which touch on the employability of university graduates in the country in very direct ways. This was a cross-sectional survey design—based on a self-administered questionnaire, key informant interviews, and documentary analysis.FindingsOrganizations were found to have “Tell”/directive decision-making, high power distance between employees, and jobs were not coded in a way that gives employees freedoms to interact and build collaborative relationships. Finally, rules and regulations were very restrictive, disorienting employee's abilities to collaborate.Research limitations/implicationThis research concentrated on the gaps that exist in the structure of organizations from which the results point to inadequate relational, interactional, inclusive, and democratic space among different stakeholders. It would be useful for future research to examine the extent to which the structure of organizations not only impacts collaboration but also measures the level to which it affects organizational performance.Practical implicationsThe knowledge economy of the twenty-first century demands for collaborative engagements with different stakeholders if they are to survive the competitive business environment. Collaborative engagement helps in the sharing of knowledge, expertise, and resources, development of more coherent services, facilitation of innovation and evaluation, avoiding duplication of work, and minimizing conflicts and competition while creating synergy among partners.Originality/valueUnlike previous studies, which have examined employability of graduates from a supply side perspective, this study investigates organizations from both the supply and demand perspectives and identifies synergy that is as a result of bringing organizations to work together.

Faced with an increasingly escalating problem of private school financing, the study examined the contribution of existing cost-related entrepreneurial management practices on the financing of private schools in Rubaga Division (Kampala). More specifically, the study considered the contribution of user charges and payment in-kind on school financing. It employed a cross-sectional survey design involving 150 teachers from 15 schools. Results revealed that there is a statistically significant but weak relationship between the two cost-related practices and financing of private schools. The study concluded that prevalent cost-related practices are neither adequate nor equally effective in ensuring a steady flow of financial resources for schools, hence need for both more enterprising alternatives and due diligence. Other recommendations for better financial resource mobilisation and management were made.

Due to the multiplicity of variables that come into play to explain employee performance, recent research has questioned the role of prevalent leadership styles in teacher performance. Inspired by such narratives, the current study set out to examine the prevalence of different leadership styles among head teachers, and to relate the prevalent styles to teacher performance in selected private secondary schools in Buikwe District. Using a correlational cross-sectional survey design, the study subjected 165 teachers and ten head teachers to a questionnaire and interview guide, respectively. Results indicated that teamwork is the most prevalently used leadership style, and that it has a positively significant but weak relationship with teacher performance. The study's strongest contribution lies in its extension of leadership style narratives to a rural private secondary school setting (in Uganda), and its identification of the teamwork style's limitations, its prevalence and immense value in educational administration and management notwithstanding.

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