Behavioural Factors as Determinants of Effective Budgeting Process in Public Secondary Schools

Abstract

A budget is an action plan that is utilized by organisations, private or public, in order to attain their objectives. Budgets are used to ensure better financial performance for organisations. Public secondary schools also prepare their budgets to plan for their income and expenditure. The purpose of the study was to identify the behavioural factors essential for an effective budgeting process in public secondary schools in Gauteng South, South Africa. To achieve this objective a structured questionnaire with two sections, A and B was developed. Section A of the questionnaire aimed to gather biographical information about the respondents, whereas Section B dealt with key issues pertaining to the budgeting process. The reliability of the questionnaire was tested using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The feedback from the questionnaire was analysed by means of Exploratory Factor Analysis through which five factors were extracted and their reliability also tested. The factor loading matrix was computed to identify appropriate items for each factor. The findings from the study indicated that for effective budgeting process to occur in public secondary schools the following behavioural factors should be embedded in the process: participation and budget control, budget planning, motivation, training and development, including co-ordination and communication.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n23p205