Influence Of Project Management On Performance Of Nongovernmental Organizations Funded Projects. A Case Of Catholic Relief Services

Abstract

Project management has become increasingly important in the development of any nation. Various organizations have used project management techniques as a means of bridging the gap between failure and success in implementation of projects. Despite this increasing awareness of project management by organizations, projects still fail. The study seeks to determine the influence of project management on performance of Catholic Relief Services projects. The study was guided by the following objectives: to find out the influence of project planning, monitoring and evaluation, communication and risk management on performance of Catholic Relief Services projects. The study was grounded on the institutional theory, management by objectives theory, the systems theory and the agency theory. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The target population for this study was 148 senior, middle and lower level management staff of the Catholic Relief Services. A sample population of 107 was arrived at by calculating the target population of 148 with a 95% confidence level and an error of 0.05 using the formula taken from Nassiuma (2000). Primary data was obtained using self-administered questionnaires. The questionnaire was made up of both open ended and closed ended questions covering issues associated to organizational performance. The drop and pick method were preferred for questionnaire administration so as to give respondents enough time to give well thought out responses. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 24.0). All the questionnaires received were referenced and items in the questionnaire was coded to facilitate data entry. After data cleaning which entails checking for errors in entry, descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, mean score and standard deviation was estimated for all the quantitative variables. Inferential data analysis was done using Pearson correlation coefficient and regression analysis (multiple regression analysis). Data was presented in form of frequency tables. The study found that project planning, monitoring and evaluation, communication and risk management influence the performance of catholic relief services projects greatly. The study concluded that that project planning had the greatest effect on the performance of catholic relief services projects electricity transmission company limited, followed by communication then risk management then while monitoring and evaluation had the least effect to the performance of catholic relief services projects. The study recommends that there is a need to have more people with technical skills especially in information systems for monitoring and evaluation and that competent and experienced project managers should be hired to ensure that the right project leadership team is hired to lead a process of planning phase of the project. The study further recommends that there is need to increase training and awareness on monitoring and evaluation processes and procedures and that project managers should properly liaise between the project owners and the financiers to ensure that contractors are paid in time.