Influence of Team Diversity on Performance of Road Construction Projects in Mombasa County, Kenya

Abstract

The research was carried out to analyze the effect of team diversity on performance of road construction projects in Mombasa County in Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were; to assess the influence of project team demographic diversity on project performance; to establish the influence of project team knowledge and skills diversity on project performance; to determine the extent to which project team experience diversity influence project performance and to examine the effect of project team culture diversity on project performance of road construction projects in Mombasa County, Kenya. The respondents were selected through a descriptive survey design using a stratified random sampling. There was a total of 200 contractors and 108 supervising engineers involved in the study. The primary data was gathered through the use of semi-structured questionnaires to acquire the information. A statistical software was used so that the data could be examined, and so that the descriptive and inferential forms of statistics could be informed by the examination. The results depict that the main factors that drove road project performance in Mombasa County involved experience diversity, knowledge and skills diversity, cultural as well as demographic diversity. Findings revealed that project teams were frequently sponsored for training programs to sharpen their skills and boost their capacity in road projects implementation. Experience diversity had the highest contribution towards road project performance; project teams that were high experienced were found to be more competent and effective in their work. The study recommends the need for road constructions firms to improve on their integration among project teams through increased diversity in demographics and culture to boost performance and stakeholder satisfaction. Team diversity practices should be cultivated and entrenched among project teams so as to effectively contribute towards road project performance. Finally, a study on the same should be conducted in different construction sectors for example building construction projects and find out whether similar research findings can be obtained. The government needs to build adequate capacity to improve professionalism and overall performance of road contractors.