FACTORS INFLUENCING PERFORMANCE OF ROAD CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN NAIROBI CITY COUNTY, KENYA.
Keywords:
: road construction projects, project management competency, project monitoring and evaluation, stakeholder engagement, access to fundingAbstract
Purpose: Despite immense allocation of the fund by the government in all its financial budget, the road construction projects sector face a challenge with poor management of funds, completion delays and poor delivery of services to the road user being mostly cited as the major drawback in the performance of the road sector. Performance of projects across the spectrum of all sectors of the economy requires skilled project managers in order for the projects to perform optimally.The objective of this research is to examine factors that influence performance of road construction projects in Nairobi, Kenya.
Methodology: The study applied a descriptive research design, while the target population were 72 companies involved in road construction projects in Nairobi City county. Census technique was prefered since the target population was relatively small and accessible. Questionnaires were employed in data collection. Data analysis was done using SPSS Software and findings were presented using tables , both descriptive and inferential statistics were applied in the study.
Results: It was found that project management competency has a positive and significant effect on performance of road construction projects since managers who are competent enhance effectiveness and efficiency of projects, they are in charge. Organizations involved in projects/programmes should leverage monitoring and evaluation tools as a basis of measuring progress of projects with a view to enhancing the efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability. Moreover, findings of the study reveal that project monitoring and evaluation is an indispensable process that enables project managers to continuously collect data for the purpose of measuring the progress of projects. The study concludes that access to funding is a major challenge to project performance in terms of scope, quality, costs, and time.
Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: The study recommends that organizations running projects should offer tailored and regular training to project managers with a view to augmenting and/or complementing their competence to manage projects/programs. Further research study should be conducted on different counties and different construction projects to investigate the factors that influence performance of projects.
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