Positioning Mbeya University of Science and Technology in Tanzania in the Systems of Innovation Perspective

doi:10.4236/aasoci.2014.41004

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Advances in Applied Sociology

2014. Vol.4, No.1, 20-23

Published Online January 201 4 in SciRes (http://www.scirp.org/journal/aasoci) http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/aasoci.2014.41004

Positioning Mbeya University of Science and Technology in

Tanzania in the Systems of Innovation Perspective

Zacharia Katambara

Department of Civil Engineering, Mbeya University of Science and Technology, Mbeya, Tanzania

Email: [email protected], [email protected]

Received October 6th, 2013; revised November 6th, 2013; accepted November 13th, 2013

Attribution License, which pe rmits unrestricted use, distribu tion, and reproductio n in any medium, provided the

original work is properly cited. In accordance of the Creative Commons Attribution License all Copyrights ©

2014 are guarded by law and by SCIRP as a guardian.

The chronological development of universities ranges from the state at which universities are considered

to be knowledge accumulators followed by knowledge factories and finally the knowledge hubs. The

various national systems of innovations are aligned with the knowledge hubs and it involves a substantial

amount of research activities. The newly es tablished Mbeya Univer sity of Science and Techno logy is recog-

nised as a knowledge hub in some particular niches. However, there are a limited number of research ac-

tivities conducted at the university and this study is an attempt to identify the reasons that limit research

activities. Well-structured research questionnaires were designed and distributed to academic staff mem-

bers and thereafter the respondents were analysed by using SPSS software package. The lack of knowl-

edge, skills and funds as well as equipment was earmarked as the reason that hindered the research activi-

ties. Therefore, resources are required to improve the capabilities of the staff members and the study

recommends on the need for deliberate efforts to improve the knowledge of the staff members with re-

spect to research activities.

Keywords: Mbeya University of Science and Technology; 3rd Generation Universities; Knowledge;

Attitude; Perception

Introduction

The national system of innovation constitutes several ele-

ments as well as their appropriate relationships which include

the production, diffusion, use, as well as transformation of new

and economically useful knowledge (Asheim & Isaksen, 2002;

Freeman, 1995; Lundval, 2007; Mwamila & Diyamett, 2006).

Among these elements are the national education systems (uni-

versities, research centres, scientific and technical institutes),

industrial relations, government policies and cultural traditions.

Mbeya University of Science and Technology (MUST) is one

such university located in Mbeya, Tanzania. Its major roles

among others include training of students who will be respon-

sive to the existing challenges at national and international

levels through the application of science and technology, con-

ducting research activities that contribute to the knowledge on

poorly understood issues as well as offering consultancy ser-

vices that adequately respond to the socioeconomic needs of

the nation (MUST, 2013). As such, the establishment of niches

that adequately respond to the needs of the nation in a sustain-

able manner is imperative. The evolving university context and

missions discussed by Youtie and Shapira (2008) show a time-

line of three models of universities. These models are known as

traditional, present and evolving. The traditional model posi-

tioned universities as the knowledge accumulators (storehouses)

with limited interaction with the rest of the society. The present

model which started in the beginning of the nineteenth century

witnessed the emergence of knowledge factories where univer-

sities were the supplies of the input and output of the needed

technology. Lastly, the evolving model is also called the 3rd

Generation Universities and it considers universities as knowl-

edge hubs and the institutions are integrated in an intelligent

manner to promote indigenous development and new capabili-

ties (Tjakraatmadja et al., 2008; Youtie & Shapira, 2008). In

another perspective that supported the evolving model, Tjak-

raatmadja et al. (2008) noted that knowledge sharing was the

only tool for the survival of any Academic, Business or Gov-

ernment (ABG) organization. Mwamila and Diyamett (2006)

explicitly discussed the role of universities in Tanzania with

respect to the national system of innovation, which was in line

with the 3rd Generation Universities. For newly established

universities like Mbeya University of Science and Technology,

contributions towards the socioeconomic development need to

be pronounced within the three pillars (research, consultancy

and teaching) so as to be in line with prospects of the 3rd Gen-

eration Universities.

Although the recently developed organisation structure of

Mbeya University of Science and Technology suggests other-

wise, currently the University has nine academic departments.

Among these departments, six departments offer ordinary di-

ploma, undergraduate programmes and in the near future post-

graduate programmes will be offered. The other three are: Con-

tinuing Education Department which deals with all short

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Z. KATAMBARA

courses, some of which are tailor-made, the MUST Consul-

tancy Bureau which is involved with all consultancy activities

and the Department of Research and Publication which deals

with all research and publication activities. For monitoring and

accountability purposes, all consultancy and research projects

conducted by MUST are registered under the respective de-

partments. With respect to publications, both consultancy and

research activities have the potential to be published when the

executors have the intention to publish. In addition, when a

comparison is done on the number of research projects regis-

tered with the Department of Research and Publication and the

consultancy projects registered with MUST Consultancy Bu-

reau (MCB), the difference is substantial as such: the number of

research activities lags behind. Challenges that contribute to the

limited publications as well as the lag in research activities need

to be dealt with in manner that seeks to increase the annual

number of journal publications and increase research related

projects that lead to promoting innovations that are highly need-

ed for developing nations like Tanzania.

Promoting these innovation related activities requires appro-

priate measures targeted at the upcoming researchers and the

university in general. At university level, an analysis of existing

policies needs to be done so as to identify the gaps that need to

be dealt with in order to create conducive environment. At in-

dividual level, the knowledge, attitude and perception with

respect to outreach activities (research and consultancy) con-

ducted by the academic staff members need to be studied.

Several studies that have involved the knowledge, attitude

and perception of various issues have been conducted world-

wide (Abasiubong et al., 2009; Adediwura & Tayo, 2007; An-

jum et al., 2008; Erhum et al., 2008; Tj akraatmadja et al., 2008).

For instance, in India the knowledge, perception, attitude of

adolescent girls towards STIs/HIV and safer sex education were

done and indicated the need to implement gender-based sex

education (McManus & Dhar, 2008). In another study, the

knowledge, attitude and perception of water pipe smoking were

done in Pakistan (Anjum et al., 2008) and the study indicated

that pipe smoking was prevalent among high socio-economic

groups due to cost, accessibility and availability. The situation

has improved after introducing health awareness sessions. In

Nigeria, the knowledge, attitude and perception were consid-

ered as the predictor of academic performance in schools (Ade-

diwura & Tayo, 2007). The knowledge of the symptoms of

malaria, attitude towards preventive measures as well as treat-

ment seeking behaviours among members of the Ile-Ife com-

munity in south-western Nigeria were conducted (Erhum et al.,

2008). The study concluded that public enlightenment efforts

needed to be intensified, effective malaria preventive methods

should be affordable, and support should be provided to make

malaria treatments at hospitals free (Erhum et al., 2008). In this

regard, there are limited studies that have looked at the knowl-

edge, attitude and perception towards the execution of research

projects in academic institutions. Therefore, the objective of

this study is to assess the knowledge, attitude and perception of

the upcoming researchers at Mbeya University of Science and

Technology in conducting research related activities.

Instrument a nd Method

In addition to the review of the existing policies, the extent of

knowledge with respect to executing research activities, the

associated attitude and as well as the perception of the upcom-

ing researchers at MUST, it was found necessary to conduct a

study to identify the reason behind the limited research activi-

ties. The study was conducted at the university campus and

targeted the academic staff members whose education level is

equal to, or above bachelor degree. Questionnaires designed to

capture all the necessary issues with regards to research were

designed and circulated. A covering letter accompanied the

questionnaire with an introduction and explanation of the pro-

ject and the required information that will thereafter be used to

enable the university to take necessary measures in alleviating

the identified issues. The number of questionnaires adminis-

tered to the staff members was 127 which was the actual popu-

lation of the staff members during the study period. The col-

lected data was analysed using the SPSS software package. In

addition, focus group discussions were held to further gather

more information.

Results and Discussion

Characteristic of the Responde nts

Although the number of the questionnaires distributed was

127, the number of respondents was 30 which represent 24%.

The high non-response rate suggests that the staff members

may have lacked confidence in this study and considered the

process as another fruitless exercise or maybe staff apathy.

With respect to the respondents’ characteristics, 73.4% of the

respondents were aged between 30 and 49 year old. Majority

(70%) of the respondents were male and is in line with current

trend of composition where females are less their male staff

members. Majority of the respondents where staff members

whose level of education is Master’s degree (57%) and bache-

lor degree (43%) (Table 1). The approach used involved hard-

copies of the questionnaires. Another suitable approach that

would have been used by the study should have involved online

survey distributed via e-mail.

Perception on the Advantages of Research Activities

Considering the advantages associated with research activi-

ties, majority of the staff members consider research activities

as among the processes of gaining knowledge (67%) so as to

improve their capabilities in handling issues under high de-

manding environments (Table 2). About 57% of the respon-

dents consider research activities to be suitable for socio-eco-

nomic development of a society and the nation as a whole. On

the other hand and for personal gains, 50% of the respondents

consider research activities are suitable for career development

and promotion purposes. With respect to the use of research

outputs for policy formulation, only 37% agree with the state-

ment. This suggests that academic staff members have varying

degree knowledge as well as the attitude towards research ac-

tivities. In general, research activities do require some demon-

strations in creativeness and innovativeness and is time de-

Table 1.

Response based on education level.

Education level Frequency (%)

Bachelor 13 (43.3)

Masters 17 (56.7)

PhD -

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Z. KATAMBARA

Table 2.

The importance of research activities.

Description strongly agree agree Not sure disagree Strongly disagree

For career development 15 (50%) 12 (40%) 1 (3.3%) 1 (3. 3%) 1 (3.3%)

For promotion 8 (26.7%) 15 (50%) 5 (16.7%) 1 (3.3%) 1 (3.3%)

For adding k nowledge 20 (66.7%) 4 (13.3%) 4 (13.3%) 1 (3.3%) 1 (3.3%)

For improve ment of vari ous activiti es of the organization 13 (43.3%) 12 (40%) 2 (6.7%) 3 (10%) -

For socio-economic development of the c ount r y 17 (56.7%) 9 (30%) 3 (10%) - 1 (3.3%)

For policy form ula tion 11 (36.7%) 10 (33.3%) 6 (20%) 2 (6.7%) 1 (3.3%)

manding. When compared to consultancy services a similar

approach may be applied somewhere else but the remunerations

are higher than those obtained from undertaking research ac-

tivities. However, research activities involves the developed the

tools some of which are usually used when conducting consul-

tancy activities.

Publishing and Its Challenges

On the other hand, in academic arena as discussed in several

studies (Clapham, 2005; Jones, 1997; Ali, 2012) the phrase

“Publish or perish” has been used to researchers and academi-

cians to describe the need to publish their research works.

However, it does not take into consideration other aspects such

the working environment which significantly contributes to the

quantity and quality of publications. The lack of publication for

academician indicates the injustice committed to fellow acade-

micians by denying them to learn from your work experience as

such the researchers keep the gained knowledge to themselves.

In this regard, the respondents indicated that only 23.3% are

published while 76.7 are unpublished (Table 3). Some of the

reasons for not publishing are shown in Table 4 in percentage

wise. Among these reasons include 1) limited funding 43.3%; 2)

lack of proper guidance from senior staff (26.7%); 3) limited

knowledge and skill to carryout research (20%); limited time

allocated for research activities (17%) and lack of motivation

(10%).

The respondents indicated three main challenges as indicated

in Table 5. These include limited of funds to undertake re-

search, lack of scientific knowledge and skills as well as limited

research facilities. Although, the lack of scientific knowledge

and skills was ranked the second, however, the knowledge and

skills plays an important role which includes the ability to write

a winning research proposal and the subsequent implementation

of the proposal. Once this is achieved, the limited funds as well

as limited facilities will be reduced since the research budget

does cover the necessary facilities, however it also depends on

the supporting organisation.

Focus Group Discussion

With regards to the need for conducting research, it was re-

alized that the limited knowledge on preparing a winning re-

search proposal was a challenge. In addition, there is a need to

have a database of the published papers in the library where

upcoming researchers can learn from. It was identified that

there is a need to establish research units based on selected

niches such as climate change group, water research unity,

materials research unity and other similar units. With such units

Table 3.

Status of published staff members.

Status Frequency (percentage)

Published

7 (23.3)

Unpublished

23 (76.7)

Total 30 (100%)

Table 4.

Reason for the academic staff not publishing.

Reasons for not publishing Frequency (Percentage)

Lack of fund 13 (43.3)

Lack of proper guidance from seni or staff 8 (26.7)

Lack of scientific knowledge/skills 6 (20%)

Inadequate time allocated for research activities 5 (17)

Lack of motivation 3 (10)

Table 5.

Challenges faced by upcoming researchers.

Challenges Frequency (percentage)

Lack of fund 14 (46.7)

Lack of scientific knowledge/skills 12 (40)

Lack of research facilities 6 (20)

in place, noticeable contribution to development will be real-

ized.

Opportunities, Challenges and Implication for MUST

Being a 3rd Generation University

Mbeya University of Science and Technology has been re-

cently established, as such, the university intends to expand its

facilities as well as the programmes and community outreach

activities. In this regard, the design and the subsequent imple-

mentation of the designed facilities should take into considera-

tion the future demands in offering education for sustainable

development. However this has some financial implications and

other resources as well. Majority of the respondents are either

Bachelor or Master’s Degree holders, there is a need to develop

these upcoming researchers so as to be equip them with the

appropriate knowledge that culminate to the increase in number

of research activities. With respect to this, the major challenge

is on how to design a suitable mode of identifying the willing

and unselfish tender hearts which will spearhead the research

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Z. KATAMBARA

activities in a sustainable manner for the benefit of the sur-

rounding communities and beyond. Several universities have

been in existence, and they have various degrees of experience

in offering education, MUST has an opportunity to learn from

the challenges experienced by other universities and thereafter

build from these experiences. When this is implemented ac-

cordingly, chances of using fewer resources (time, money and

material) exist since it will only be on critical review on ex-

periences. Also, there will be less chances of falling into similar

mistakes that were experienced by older universities. When

these are taken into consideration MUST’s contribution will be

substantial.

Conclusion and Recommendation

The study attempted to review the chronological develop-

ment of universities and the position of universities in the in-

novation systems. The 3rd Generation Universities’ systems are

integrated in an intelligent manner to promote indigenous de-

velopment and new capabilities and therefore they require re-

search activities be conducted. The number of research activi-

ties conducted at MUST as well as publications is low. An at-

tempt to identify the reasons behind this was done by using

questionnaires and the respondents were analysed by using

SSPS software package. The lack of knowledge, skills and

funds as well as equipments was earmarked as the reason that

hindered the research activities. Therefore resources are re-

quired to improve the capabilities of the staff members, and the

study recommends on the need for deliberate effort to improve

the knowledge of the staff members with respect to research

activities. On the other hand, learning from experiences gained

by other universities will walk a long way in reducing resource

use and increas ing chances of success.

Acknowledgemen ts

The author acknowledges the support received from the

Mbeya University of Science and Technology. Comments re-

ceived are also acknowledged.

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