Resource Management Practices And The Performance Of Road Infrastructure Projects In Wajir County, Kenya

ABSTRACT

The effectiveness of resource management practices can be measured in terms of the extent to which it influences project performance. Due to project management requirements to deliver projects within the specified time, budget and that satisfy client needs it is imperative that resources are managed so as to ensure high project performance. Therefore, there is need for project managers at County government of Wajir to know what they need to make a project successful so that they can effectively plan out the optimal way to use those resources towards better performance of the projects. Thus, the aim of this study was the assessment of how practices of managing resources are affecting performance of road infrastructural projects in Wajir County. This study determined how factors like the planning, scheduling, the allocation and monitoring of resources are affecting the success of road projects in Wajir County. The study was guided by the theory of project management, theory of constraints and the resource base view theory. A descriptive survey design was adopted in this research. The target was 193 project stakeholders consisting of 5 county officials under the County Transport and Infrastructure Department, 47 project managers as well as 141 project management committee members who were engaged in the 47 major road projects undertaken by the county government in Wajir North, Wajir East and Wajir South sub-counties as well as all the county wide projects for the period 2013-2017. Selection of the sample was done using stratified random sampling. Semi-structured questionnaires were utilized in gathering of primary data. There was an analysis by themes of the obtained data of the open-ended questions whereby there was coding and simple summarization extracted from emerging themes. Analysis of quantitative data was done using descriptive and inferential statistics with use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences. A multiple linear regression model aided in indicating links between practices of managing resources and performance of road projects within the county of Wajir. Resource planning, resource scheduling, resource allocation and resource monitoring were found to have a positive and significant effect on project performance. The study concluded that a key benefit to resource planning is that it helps organisations to fulfill task specifications efficiently. Successful resource scheduling allows in different ways to solve problems related to resource availability and job efficiency. Efficient resource allocation allows project managers prepare to allocate resources to the task and effectively manage them. Reporting requires daily tracking of key elements of project performance in terms of inputs, actions and outcomes. The study recommended that project planning should be such as to cope efficiently with the project's needs. On resource scheduling, the study recommended that project managers should use backward scheduling techniques when the date of delivery is set and the work has to be planned or scheduled to meet the deadline. Schedules were set and projected throughout the life cycle of the project. On resource allocation, the study recommended that project managers should be mindful of the scope of the project they are operating on, because the greater the nature of the project, the more they will decide how to distribute the money. On resource monitoring, the study recommended that project management during the execution of the plan and should include cost-control strategies, deadlines and deliverables techniques, quality standards approaches and more. The study suggests that further studies should be carried out on how project resource management practices affect the performance of road projects in other Counties in Kenya.