Managerial Competencies And Social Sustainability Of Domestic Water Supply Projects: A Case Study Of Mpwapwa District

ABSTRACT

This study aimed at examining the influence of managerial competencies on social sustainability of domestic water supply. Specifically the study addressed three specific objectives which were: to map the level of managerial competencies of operational managers who are part of village water committee; to examine the influence of personal competencies; and to determine the influence of professional competencies of operational managers on sustainability of domestic water supply projects. The study was undertaken in Mpwapwa District. Survey research design was adopted whereby a simple random sampling was used to collect information from 100 operational managers. Questionnaire and documentary review were used as data collection methods whereas descriptive and inferential statistics were used in analyzing the collected data by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 21.The Binary Logistic Model (BLM) was used to analyze statistical data for both objectives two and three and descriptive statistics was employed for objective one. The study findings showed that most operational managers had professional and personal competencies: planning skills, problem solving skills, and strategic thinking. However, organizational skills and ability to innovate as professional skills and self- confidence, self-control, personal-responsibility, awareness of ethics and self-management as personal competencies, were ranked high in descriptive statistics results with a highest mean score. The professional competencies in relation to sustainability (participation and equal opportunities) showed that planning skills, problem solving skills, and ability to innovate were not significantly related to water projects' participation. However, strategic thinking and organizational skills were significant determinants of social sustainability in water supply projects. Moreover, on equal opportunities as an indicator of social sustainability, the model showed that planning skills, problem solving skills, strategic thinking and organizational skills and ability to innovate are important managerial competencies. These findings suggest that planning skills and strategic thinking are the main determinants of social sustainability through equal opportunities in water projects. The study further recommends that future researchers conduct a study on the economic sustainability social water projects as the current study relied only on the social sustainability of water projects.