Factors Influencing Adoption Of Project Management Methodology On United Nations Office For Project Services: A Case Of Infrastructure Projects In Kakamega County, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to establish factors influencing adoption of project management methodology on United Nations office for project services with special focus on infrastructure projects in Kakamega County, Kenya. The study encapsulates research problem in the objectives which are as follows; to determine whether support from top management influences adoption of project management methodology on UNOPS, to establish how organizational Structure influences adoption of project management methodology on UNOPS, to highlight how cross-functional teams influences adoption of project management methodology on UNOPS and to establish the role of organizational culture in influencing adoption of project management methodology on UNOPS. The study adopted a mixed method approach employing a descriptive survey and phenomenological research design. The population of the study was 71 participants who are directly involved in the adoption of project management methodology on UNOPS. The research used census when undertaking the study. Interview guide was used to collect data from 6 county government officials, 3 from contractors and 4 at the National Ministry of Health while questionnaire was used to collect data from 58 UNOPS personnel. UNOPS personnel consisted of those who are directly engaged in the implementation of infrastructure projects in Kakamega County. The literature review covered the adoption of project management methodology, support of top management on adoption of project management methodology, Cross-functional teams in project management methodology, organizational structure in project management methodology and organizational culture on project management methodology. A set of questions were developed to assess the opinions about each variable. The analysis of the data was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The information was analysed, presented and interpreted using tables showing relationships, or lack thereof. Finally, the researcher made a summary of his findings, like, majority of the respondents at 53.8% have heard of PMM hence it is an approach, which is not unique to them. These findings indicate that majority of the respondents agreed that organization culture influences successful adoption of PMM in UNOPS infrastructure projects as 53.4 % admitted to a great extent and 34.5 % admitted to a very great extent. The Recommendations are that infrastructure development in institutions and organisations in Kenya should be a joint venture project and should be done in collaboration with partners like UNOPS with strong project management expertise. From findings of the study, it is acknowledged that infrastructure development should cut across key teams in the organisations like project management team, design unit and project support team to enhance its success. It is crucial to engage all key stakeholders in the organisation in case of project implementations since it was realised from this study that staff turnover is quite high hence the need to train more on infrastructure development and PMM adoption strategies. This study suggests that another research be carried out on use of PMM in other projects apart from infrastructure that are implemented through private public Partnership in County governments in Kenya as well as how other international non-governmental organizations can tailor various existing project management methodologies to help in delivering their mandates.