Project leadership competencies, strategic factors and enterprise resource planning system project implementation, in selected energy sector state parastatals in Kenya

Abstract

By adopting Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems in place of the old stand-alone legacy systems, organizations stand to gain a competitive edge through enhanced business processes, increased productivity, reduced operational costs and improved service delivery. While the benefits associated with ERP systems are numerous and indisputable, studies continue to show that an average of 60% of all worldwide ERP system implementations, in both the developed and developing markets, face challenges and fail to achieve their intended objectives. Principally, ERP system projects are considered highly challenging to deploy, that not only requires rigorous efforts but also demands to have an exhaustive investigation of factors that influence the implementation and adoption of the same. Though several research studies have explored some of Critical Success Factors (CSF) influencing ERP system project implementation, a few of them have focused on project leadership competencies in relation to ERP system project implementation performance. This study therefore sought to investigate the influence of project manager leadership competencies on ERP system project implementation, while establishing the moderating effect of ERP system strategic factors, namely, top management support and implementation strategy on their relationship. For an in-depth analysis of these factors, data was collected and analyzed from Kenya Energy Sector State Parastatals which have implemented ERP Systems with a view of consolidating the benefits associated with them. While questionnaires were used to collect data from study respondent groups, namely; top management and ERP system project team member in their respective organizations, key informant interviews guide was used to collect data from Heads of ICT in these organizations for purposes of triangulation. The study took a pragmatic view which combines both qualitative and quantitative approaches, correlational design was used to determine the extent to which two or more variables related. Sample design used in the study is census given the target respondents from the population. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) application, version 23. While descriptive analysis made use of frequencies, means and standard deviations, Pearsons’ correlation analysis and Regression analysis were used to make inferential analysis from collected data. The findings indicate a significant positive relationship between the main predictor variable and the outcome variable, underpinning the importance of project manager leadership competencies in achieving ERP system project implementation success. The moderating influence of ERP system strategic factors on the relationship between main predictor variables and independent variable was equally significant. This study is expected to facilitate understanding and organizational policy transitions on ERP system project planning, management and implementation process in the Energy sector, and by extension to other organizations, while provide guidelines from lessons learned in regards to ERP systems projects.