Influence of Management Practices on Performance of Building Projects. A Case of Private Building Companies in Nakuru Town – Kenya.

Abstract

The study sought to examine the influence of Management Practices on performance of building projects in Kenya; focus was on private building companies in Nakuru town, Nakuru County. Even though Management Practices used by different companies are similar theoretically; they are applied differently that is why we have differences in performance of projects. Because of such differences, this research therefore seeked to address the influence of Management Practices on building projects in this country. There is need to transform building projects’ performance, geared towards improving customer satisfaction and unquestionable quality projects. This research was based on the following objectives: to establishing if planning as a management practice influences performance of building projects in Nakuru town; to examine if control measures influences performance of building projects in Nakuru town; and to assess if management skills influences performance of building projects in Nakuru town. Descriptive research design was used in this study. Stratified random sampling and purposive sampling method was applied in arriving at the sample size of 88 personnel in the building industry ranging from company managers to building support staff. Semi-structured personal interviews were carried out within the selected organizations for identification of practices undertaken in the management of building projects. Other significant project management practices were also captured in relevant literature. A structured questionnaire was developed to gather information for measurement of the project performance and determination of project management practices significantly relating to project performance. Performance indices were developed for measurement of the time, cost, managerial skills and quality performance. To test for significant differences between the performances of the categories of projects, each belonging to one organization, a pair-wise analysis, using independent t-tests, will be applied. Multiple Regression Analysis was adopted to determine the influence of project management practices on project performance. After the findings, it was proven that planning, control measures and management skills in building projects highly affects the performance of building projects, the study also determined that the function of analyzing projects performance through systematic procedures should be encouraged on every individual building project. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze data and presentation of the study. The research findings were shared for academic purposes. Further research has also been recommended to assess the challenge affecting building projects by construction companies in the country with reference to Wellsprings Construction Company, Nakuru County. A linkage between personnel e.g. managers, Project managers county officials and the support staff should be emphasized and always made to function in order to facilitate effective monitoring of projects. Failure of involvement of all the stakeholders in all the stages of the project will lead to poor project performance/ sustainability. Therefore there is need for increased participation. There is also need to strengthen monitoring and evaluation of projects. This can be done through evaluation initiatives and systems; provision of trainings and budgetary allocation to assist in continuous monitoring and evaluation; including post implementation review which should be a continuous and never ending process; this determines the project success rate. For further studies, it is recommended that more performance metrics be developed in other research works (like: benefit to end users, benefit to national infrastructure etc.) be included for measurement. With this, the projects should not necessarily be client-based. This should lead to the development of a predictive model for determining management practices that promote increased project performance as well as those that contribute to poor project performance.