Influence of Stakeholders’ Engagement on Completion of Housing Projects in Kenya; a Case of Ngara Housing Project, Nairobi County

Abstract

The process of engaging project’s stakeholders entails including them in the decision processes so that they can feel part of the project by owning it in one way or the other. While the process tends to be cumbersome, it smoothens project implementation. In this context, the current study sought to unravel the influence of stakeholder engagement on timely completion of public houses constructed in Kenya. The study sought to achieve this though the following objectives: establish influence of stakeholders’ engagement in project design on completion of housing construction projects in Kenya, determine the influence of stakeholders’ engagement in project execution on the completion of housing construction projects in Kenya, examine influence of stakeholders’ engagement in monitoring and evaluation on completion of housing construction projects in Kenya and finally evaluate the influence of stakeholder engagement in reporting and communication on the completion of housing construction projects in Kenya. The study is anchored on two theories: stakeholders’ theory and the Kanter theory of change. The study was grounded on descriptive survey design with a target population of 150 respondents who comprised of project managers, project architects, physical planners, and site employees. The sample size of the study was 108 respondents obtained using the Krejcie and Morgan table for estimating sample sizes. Quantitative data that was utilized in this study was collected using structured questionnaire with 24 Likert-type questions. Inferential statistics collected was examined through the Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation. Inferential data was analyzed using central tendency parameters such as mean, frequencies, percentages and standard deviation with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 20.0. From the findings, this study establishes that there exists a significant relationship between stakeholders’ engagement in project design on completion of housing construction projects by r =0.244, (p-value< 0.01), there exists a significant relationship between stakeholder engagement in project execution and the completion of housing construction projects to an extent of r =0.244, (p-value< 0.01), there exists a significant positive relationship between stakeholder engagement in monitoring and evaluation and the completion of housing construction projects to an extent of r =0.244, (p-value< 0.01), finally there exists a positive significant relationship between stakeholder engagement in reporting and communication and completion of housing construction projects to an extent of r =0.244, (p-value< 0.01). This study therefore contributes immensely to policy formulation and the growth of Project management discipline in general. The study provides a pedestal upon which policy formulation on stakeholder engagement in project work can be anchored. This study also provides the needed empirical evidence on the importance and usefulness of stakeholder engagement in project management as a discipline.