ISSN 2348-3156 (Print) International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research ISSN 2348-3164 (online) Vol. 10, Issue 4, pp: (349-374), Month: October - December 2022, Available at: www.researchpublish.com
Role of Project Management Practices on Performance Outcomes in Post-Disaster Reconstruction in Kenya 1
Daisy Chebet Ronoh, 2Dr. Jane Queen Omwenga, PhD
1,2
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7252123
Published Date: 26-October-2022
Abstract: Drought is a natural phenomenon which often impacts people, the economy and ecosystems. Prolonged droughts reduce food production and water availability and at their worst lead to significant human suffering and loss of life. Project management is one of strategic competency that enables entities to link project outcomes to it particular objective hence the primary objective of this study was to determine the role of project management practices on performance outcomes in post-disaster reconstruction in Kenya. The study was guided by four research objectives namely: to determine the influence of project planning process on performance outcomes; to examine the influence of project execution process on performance outcomes; to investigate the influence of monitoring and controlling of projects on performance outcomes; and to establish the influence of project communication processes on performance outcomes in rural water projects development in Kenya. The research employed cross sectional research design. The study targeted 238 projects heads and major stakeholders. Simple random sampling was used to obtain 204 projects heads and major stakeholders. The data from the field were edited for accuracy, completeness, consistency and analyzed using descriptive statistical tools (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences V.17.0 and Excel). From the findings, 67 % of the respondents indicated that project planning influenced project outcome to a very great extent; 44% of the respondents agreed that project execution influenced project outcome to a very great extent; 75 % of the respondents recommended changes to the project monitoring and control procedures to positively influence project outcome. Also, it was established that 55% of the project outcome was influenced by project management processes. The study concluded that there was a significant relationship between project management processes and project outcome. The findings led to the conclusion that execution had the least influence on the project outcome. It was also concluded that the project closure process had the greatest influence on project outcome. The regression model indicated that the project communication process had the largest magnitude. The study recommended that: effective project planning activities to be applied to projects; emphasis be given to implementation activities that will ensure plans are effectively executed in order to fully meet set objectives; introduction of effective monitoring tools; training of staff on use of monitoring tools; use of effective communication; and improved reporting and documentation. Finally, the study recommended that project outcome should be evaluated from the local acceptance and satisfaction perspective Keywords: Project Management Practices, Project Planning, Project Execution, Monitoring and Controlling, Project Communication, Performance Outcomes.
1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the study Drought is a natural phenomenon which often impacts people, the economy and ecosystems. Prolonged droughts reduce food production and water availability and at their worst lead to significant human suffering and loss of life. Droughts have a negative impact on ecosystem functions, reduce social, political and economic stability and can increase
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