The Effect Of Project Management Leadership On Performance Of Compassion International Projects In Kitui County, Kenya

ABSTRACT

Despite advances in project management methodologies many projects continue to fail. A

project’s success or failure is in part, contingent on effectively managing the constraints of

scope, time, costs, and quality expectations. In order to achieve this, it is essential that the

project manager possess and display appropriate project management leadership. The study

identified four aspects of leadership and investigated their effect on performance of projects.

The specific objectives of the study were to determine the effect of leadership skills,

leadership experience, leadership control and leadership style on performance of Compassion

International projects in Kitui County. Descriptive research design was adopted for this

study. The study targeted a population of 160 respondents who are involved in the

implementation of Compassion International projects in Kitui County and a sample size of

113 respondents was considered. Stratified random sampling was used to sample and select

the respondents. Data was collected by use of questionnaires which were sent via email to the

respondents. Quantitative data collected was analyzed by the use of descriptive statistics such

as frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations. In addition, the study conducted

a multiple regression analysis to establish the relationship between the dependent and

independent variables. Qualitative data was analyzed through content analysis. From the

findings, there was a positive relationship between leadership and project performance.

Leadership skills, leadership experience, leadership control and leadership styles all had a

positive correlation with project performance. The study concluded that there was a

significant relationship between project management leadership aspects and performance of

CI projects; project management control had the greatest effect on performance of CI

projects. The findings of the study are of great importance to policy makers in designing

policies with an aim of improving project leadership. The findings of this study will also add

to the body of knowledge on the effects of leadership on the performance of projects. The

study recommended that: effective leadership skills to be acquired by all project staff;

emphasis be given to the experience of project staff to ensure projects are effectively

executed; introduction of effective controls such a having a clear set of objectives, and well

defined roles and responsibilities The study suggests that further research should be carried

out to establish the other factors that are attributed to affecting 43% of the performance of CI

projects since the current study only examined skills, experience, control and style.