Influence of Triple Constraint Management on Completion of Non-governmental Organizations Water Sanitation and Hygiene (Wash) Projects in Nakuru County, Kenya.

Abstract

The provision of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) projects has been a major concern globally. An estimate of 565 Million persons in Sub-Saharan Africa lack access to sanitation, and a population of about 330 million people lack access to safe water. There is a well proven link between poverty and sanitation, water and hygiene. Solving these issues leads to better livelihoods and increased productivity. (UNICEF/WHO JMP report 2010). The implementation of the WASH projects, however, has not matched the concerns, which have affected programme effectiveness and stakeholders’ satisfaction. Completion of projects is significantly impacted by the environment under which a project operates. This research focuses on influence of triple constraints on completion of projects implemented by Non-Governmental Organizations operating within Nakuru County in Kenya. Triple constraint is a blend of three core elements in any project: scope, schedule and cost. The Triple constraint is the what, when, and how of any project. The Triple Constraint measures effectiveness of the Project Management model. The constraints compete against each other in that an alteration of one causes an effect on the other or both of the other constraints. All the three constraints must be balanced off harmoniously to achieve a productive project completion. There has been a phenomenal increase in demand for successful completion of projects across the globe. Despite the growth in terms of conventional schools of thought and education on matters relating to the professional management of projects, still evidence indicates that projects miss being achieved within the stipulated scope, approved cost and within the agreed upon timeframe during the conception of every project. The general objective of this study was to examine influence of triple constraints based on project scope management on completion of projects, project schedule management on completion of projects and also project cost management on completion of projects. The study adopted the descriptive survey design involving quantitative research methodology. A sample size of 78 was obtained from a population comprising of 365 representing all project practitioners, managers, and supervisors of various NGO projects in Nakuru County, Kenya through simple random sampling technique. The research instrument used was the questionnaire, data was analyzed using the SPSS version 20 software package, and reliability of research instrument was established using the Cronbach’s alpha test. The relationship between project scope management, project schedule management and project cost management on completion of projects was established using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The study established that there is a significant relationship between the three predictor variables, Project scope management, Project schedule management and Project cost management all on completion of NGO projects in Nakuru County, Kenya. The study suggests that further studies should explore the effects of management practices on the triple constraint as a determining factor for projects’ completion, another suggestion is to research on the influence of Monitoring and Evaluation of triple constraint activities on improving performance of projects within the whole country. The study will serve as a theoretical model for achieving desired projects completion in future projects.