Resource Management and Implementation of Development Projects: a Case of Productive Sector Development Project in Mogadishu, Somalia

Abstract

When implementing development projects, the project resource manager is responsible for careful planning of finances, human resources, time and materials needed at every successive phase of the project. In Somalia, there seems to be a missing link in the way development projects are being implemented. The key problem seems to stem from the fact that the available resources have not been carefully planned for. The inquiry aimed at establishing the influence of resource management on implementation of development projects in Mogadishu, Somalia. More specifically, the inquiry explored financial resource management, human resource management, time resource management and physical resource management on implementation of development projects in Mogadishu, Somalia. The study was guided by resource based view. The study would important to policy makers, practitioners in the field of project management, the management of the respective development projects in addition to contributing towards existing theories and literature. Descriptive survey design was adopted targeting 1045 project coordinators, project technical advisors, staff and beneficiaries of Productive Sector Development Project. Stratified random sampling was adopted in selection of 289 participants as the study sample. The concerns of the respondents were gathered through questionnaire as the tool. Validity was ensured through the views of the supervisor and the experts while Cronbach Alpha coefficients were computed to establish reliability. The analysis of the views of the participants was done using descriptive and inferential means. The results of the study were expected to demonstrate the positive and significant role played by effective management of resources in implementation of development projects. The study established that financial resource management (β=.161, p<0.05), human resource management (β=.195, p<0.05), Time resource management (β=.144, p<0.05) and material resource management (β=0.164, p<0.05) were significant predictors of implementation of development projects in Mogadishu, Somalia. The study concludes that resource management significantly contributes towards implementation of development projects in Mogadishu, Somalia. The recommend that finance managers of the Productive Sector Development Project should diversify their sources of funds and reduce overreliance on external parties like donors. The project should always track and monitor the progress in execution of the Productive Sector Development Project to ensure the activities are carried out in time. All the existing assets and other physical facilities of Productive Sector Development Project should be utilized effectively while maintaining them regularly