Enterprise Resource Planning And Project Implementation In State Regulatory Agencies In Kenya

ABSTRACT

Over the past decade Project Management has acquired much significance and is gaining popularity in many organizations. According to modern business environment the feature that sets apart an organization and determines its success or failure, is basically its capability to suit its business process to new and innovative methods faster than the competition. A lot of organizations internationally and locally have adopted Enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation as a major business direction determinant in modern world, unfortunately ERP implementation success estimations are substandard and very low. This study sought to assess the influence of enterprise resource planning on project implementation in state regulatory agencies in Kenya. In particular, the study was guided by four specific objectives; to determine the influence of top management support on project implementation in state regulatory agencies in Kenya, to evaluate the influence of project planning on project implementation in state regulatory agencies in Kenya, to establish the influence of technological adoption on project implementation in state regulatory agencies in Kenya and to determine the influence of project monitoring and evaluation on project implementation in state regulatory agencies in Kenya. The study was founded on several theories such as pinto’s model of project management, project life cycle model, technology acceptance model and resource based theory. In attempting to fulfill the aforementioned objectives the study utilized a descriptive and correlational research design. The study’s target organizations comprised of all 25 state regulatory corporations in Kenya. The study used census and purposive sampling technique. This is because the 25 corporations were studied and from each corporation three respondents were handpicked, they included project manager, Business development manager and operational manager. The study collected primary data through administering questionnaires. The obtained data was further edited to ensure completeness; it was coded and computed into Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for analysis. Analysis of the data was done using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The descriptive statistics used included the percentages, frequencies, mean and standard deviations while the inferential statistics used by the study included correlation and regression analysis. Correlation analysis was implemented to understand the nature and strength existing between variables whereas the regression analysis was done to find out the influence of the independent variables on the dependent variable. Findings from the study showed that improved ERP project implementation in state regulatory agencies in Kenya which was associated with effectiveness of critical success factors hence successful project implementation. These factors included top management support, project planning, technological adoption and monitoring and evaluation. The study concluded that top management support, project planning, technological adoption and monitoring and evaluation influenced the implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning projects in state regulatory agencies in Kenya. The study recommends that the top management should improve on their involvement on ERP implementation to enhance and better employees’ attitude and also provide the resources required for ERP. There is need for the management of any business to continue providing required exposure to the top management in terms of trainings in application software to realize the importance or positive contribution it may have on the organization’s processes. This is expected to improve the management’s ability and understanding towards information technology.