Management Practices Influencing Performance Of Road Construction Projects: A Case Of Imenti North Subcounty Meru Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to evaluate management practices influencing performance of road construction projects, with the general objectives being; To examine the influence of management stability, staff expertise, team work and availability of resources on performance of road construction projects. In this study descriptive research design was employed. The reason for selecting descriptive research design was that design describes the state of affairs as it exists at present; in this case the researcher has no control over the variables. The target population of the study was 56 respondents from Kenya rural roads authority because they are the persons involved mostly in construction of low volume road projects in Imenti North Sub County. The study adopted a census approach where all the members of the target population were included into the study sample. Census approach is appropriate where the target population is small and all can be easily contacted as is the case for this study. Data was collected by the use of questionnaires. A full list of respondents to be interviewed was first prepared. The local administration offices were then informed of the research and an introductory letter was sought from them, permission was also sought from the national council of science and technology (NACOSTI) so as to make of the study conform to the set standards. The physical location of the respondents was established for ease of delivery of the questionnaires which were delivered and collected after a week. Raw data collected from the field was first be cleaned for errors, coded, analyzed and categorized as per the research questions in order to simplify it for presentation. Data was analyzed and presented descriptively using statistical package for social science version 21. The response rate was 96% since 54 out of 56 targeted respondents filled and returned the questionnaires. Majority of the respondents had attained academic qualification commensurate with their job designation and it can therefore be inferred that academic qualification influences Performance of road construction projects. As per the opinions, it was revealed that the factors under study influence performance of road construction projects. The study recommend that construction authorities must ensure that adequate plans and resources exist to recruit, motivate, train and develop employees; Key management practices are needed to hedge projects against many uncertainties i.e. resource shortage, contractors’ inability to meet completion dates and other types of happenings